Posted on: Friday, May 9, 2003

For 'Idol' finalists, survival is triumph

By Bill Keveney
USA Today

A new "American Idol" won't be named until May 21, but the remaining competitors — the final four — already can consider themselves winners.

"We've all won, just to get this far. Even the person who leaves this week — please, God, don't let it be me — is No. 4 out of 70,000," says finalist Clay Aiken with a laugh.

But surviving to this point is more than just a symbolic victory. Based on the track record of the first "Idol," odds are very good that Aiken, Joshua Gracin, Kimberley Locke and Ruben Studdard will have entertainment opportunities that non-"Idol "singing hopefuls can only dream of.

Since being named American Idol in September, Kelly Clarkson has had a No. 1 single and album. She has a movie coming out June 13, "From Justin to Kelly," co-starring "Idol" runner-up Justin Guarini, who will release his own album this summer. Fourth-place finisher Tamyra Gray, who also is working on an album, has a featured role on Fox's "Boston Public."

This year's finalists already have a single under their belts, Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A," with a CD of love songs in stores now. Ten of them will take part in a 39-date summer tour. Top-10 finisher Kimberly Caldwell has lined up a correspondent's gig with Fox Sports Net's "54321." And, of course, the "Idol" winner will get an album, and offers are likely for other top finishers.

"Who knows? Tamyra said it the other night: There are just a plethora of opportunities," Locke says.

In interviews Friday, all four finalists, each stifling yawns at the end of a long week, expressed hopes of having singing careers, along with giving acting a try. But there's still three weeks of competition.

"I'm enjoying (the show), and I'm just going to make sure I take advantage of every moment," Studdard says. "My goal was really just to make the top 32. God has blessed me to (get) above and beyond what I ever imagined."

Each remaining week has a perk, too. The final three get to go back to their hometowns to film video packages for next week's shows. And the top two get to perform before more than 6,000 on May 20 at the Universal Amphitheater.

But none wants to look too far ahead. After the surprise of audience and judge favorite Studdard almost being knocked out last week, nobody takes anything for granted.

"That was a total shocker that Ruben was in the bottom two," Gracin says. "It just shows that anything can happen. Nobody's safe."

Correction: As of Friday, May 9th, three competitors remain on “American Idol,” and Joshua Gracin has been eliminated. This story was written prior to and posted after the elimination round.