‘American Idol’ Legend Clay Aiken Reveals the Real Reason for Lack of Success From Recent Winners

In 2002, American Idol set out to find the world’s next pop star. They found it in Kelly Clarkson, who went on to sell 28 million albums and top each one of Billboard’s charts. The show struck gold again three years later with Carrie Underwood, who remains the highest-certified woman in country music of all time. However, the show’s 22-season track record suggests that Clarkson and Underwood are the exception, rather than the rule. And season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken thinks he knows why that is.

Clay Aiken: The Network Has “No Vested Interest” in Creating ‘American Idol’ Stars

American Idol was still in its infancy when Clay Aiken belted “Always and Forever” by Heatwave. Viewers couldn’t get enough of the geeky North Carolinian with the voice of an angel. After finishing runner-up to winner Ruben Studdard, Aiken won four Billboard Music Awards and sold more than 5 million albums.

Those kinds of numbers are all but nonexistent among contestants from later seasons. And Aiken says that has a lot to do with who produces and owns the show. Initially, Simon Fuller created American Idol to fill his label, 19 Entertainment, with the next generation’s musical superstars.

“The people who came off the show would then become artists on their record label and for their management company,” Aiken, 46, said during a recent appearance on The Zach Sang Show. “Which meant that the show had a vested interest in making sure that those artists became career artists.”

@zachsangshow

@clayaiken reveals the real reason why singing competition shows don’t create stars anymore #clayaiken #americanidol #singing #thevoice #xfactor #kellyclarkson #carrieunderwood #zachsangshow #zachsang #fyp #foryou @Amazon Music

♬ original sound – Zach Sang Show

In 2005, Fuller sold 19 Entertainment to U.S.-based company CKX for about $192 million. By 2010, the British producer’s involvement in Idol had greatly diminished, leaving Fox mostly in charge of producing the show.

“The network needed a good show that rated well, that now got shared well on social media,” Aiken said. “And if the artists did well, who cares? Because they didn’t have a stake in them afterwards.”

[RELATED: 5 of the Most Successful ‘American Idol’ Contestants Who Didn’t Win Their Seasons]

These Days, It’s More About the Judges

The Voice aired in 2011 as NBC’s answer to American Idol. While the show is still going strong 26 seasons later, Clay Aiken attributes that largely to the celebrity coaches rather than the artists themselves.

That sentiment surfaced on social media during season 26, which just wrapped up Dec. 10 with Sofronio Vasquez as the winner.

“[The contestants] used to be much more engaging,” one viewer wrote on X/Twitter. “Please do better!”

The most disappointing part about @NBCTheVoice this season is how their Twitter is nearly exclusively about promoting the coaches, who we all love, and very little about the actual contestants. They used to be much more engaging. Please do better! #thevoice

— sunny (@sunny20092) December 10, 2024

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