Just ask O'ahu's Jasmine Trias or Maui's Camile Velasco, who finished third and ninth, respectively, last season and have spent the past year working to capitalize on their "Idol" exposure.

With no blueprints to follow, both have been carving very different paths in their quest for stardom.

Trias has a movie, "All Girl Band," scheduled to begin production this summer that may also star Hilary and Haylie Duff. She's completed a full-length CD, scheduled to launch July 12. And while the projects are her first major ventures, she spent much of the past year in the public eye cutting a commercial single with Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, singing "Tiny Bubbles" at the Pro Bowl with Don Ho, and marketing herself in the Philippines. She also has done other local commercials and appearances.

To do so, she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in music school, signing with Universal Motown. Her first single is due out this summer, followed by her first full-length CD — but for the most part her career has been on simmer. The real evidence of her progress comes when she speaks. Last year's hesitance and nervousness have disappeared. She's relaxed. Confident. Eager.

Two different paths, one ultimate goal. Will Trias and Velasco make it as pop stars?

While not impossible, history shows it's an uphill climb.

Tuning in

Camile Velasco, left, and Jasmine Trias, held a news conference together last fall in Honolulu. Both will release CDs this summer. Advertiser library photo • Sept. 27, 2004

We know the contestants on a first-name-only basis. Kelly. Clay. Ruben. Fantasia. Jordan. Jasmine. Camile.

But does the show really pay off in the long run? A better question may be if anyone remembers Justin Guarini, Leah LaBelle, Ryan Star, EJay Day or Amy Adams. All were top-12 finishers in the first three seasons who've faded into obscurity.

Many contestants have gone on to release CDs, but few have managed to really capitalize on the show.

Clay Aiken, Season 2 runner-up, continues to make girls swoon. Kelly Clarkson, the Season 1 winner, is a bona-fide star despite her big-screen flop in 2003, "From Justin & Kelly." But Fantasia Barrino, last year's winner, has yet to make a splash.

Most of the other contestants have struggled, making for little more than good trivia questions as they remain Almost Famous.

Velasco, 19, and Trias, 18, would like to change all that.

The Also-Rans

In Season 2, Kimberley Locke, who released "One Love," placed third while the ninth-place finisher was none other than Corey Clark, who extended his 15 minutes of fame recently by claiming he had an affair with and got personal help from "Idol" judge Paula Abdul. Clark says the announcement has nothing to do with the fact his new CD will soon be released, or the fact that he was shopping a tell-tale book, but he is the contestant who was kicked off for lying about a criminal past.

Measuring up to past finishers? Trias and Velasco have loftier goals.

Reinventing Jasmine

She started her journey as the "Maryknoll mystery girl," but Trias has maintained a high profile commercially here in the Islands and in the Philippines since her run on TV.

Her supporters would argue she's maintained her appeal and name recognition with kids through her CD single "Flying Home," released by Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Trias publicized the single with in-restaurant appearances. Three trading cards with her image also have released as part of the fast-food promotion. A recent autograph session at Pizza Hut saw nearly 200 fans of all ages show up, so admirers are out there.

Trias has popped up here and there over the past several months. She made an appearance at this year's auto show, and she modeled and endorsed INspiration furniture in full-page newspaper ads.

On the other hand, you might debate whether all the commercial cross-promotion was the best way to kickstart Trias' career.

Naysayers might argue Trias' first single, which had an instrumental track for karaoke singing at home and sold for $1.99 at participating stores, flopped. About 200,000 were ordered, all for the Hawai'i market, but the disc now is given away with a purchase, perhaps an indication it has peaked as a for-purchase item.

"I think Jasmine made a mistake to release a song that was linked to a fast-food conglomerate, at a time when record stores really could use the sales," said John Iervolino of Quiet Storm Records.

That's one point of view, though Iervolino isn't completely disinterested: At the height of Jasmania, right after her third-place finish, he made news when he sent out press releases stating he would offer her a $100,000 recording contract. (The Trias family said they never received an offer, dismissing it as a publicity stunt).

Lincoln Jacobe, Trias' Hawai'i-based agent and management honcho, disagrees. He said Trias' single raised her visibility during the latest run of "American Idol" and in the weeks leading up to release of her first full-length CD.

"The single was totally a different type of music — something that would benefit both Jasmine and the sponsors," Jacobe said.

While the Pizza Hut single was an ultra-sweet pop song, Trias' new CD will be R&B-flavored, Jacobe said, "with a national push. The single and the album are two different streams to enter the market."

Trias' image will change in the months to come. "You have to reinvent yourself, over and over again," Trias said. "Like Madonna. It's kind of what you have to do — expand your fan base."

Maui's wowie

A year ago Velasco gained national attention not only for her singing (likened to Lauryn Hill), but also for her bikini-clad appearance on the beach when "Idol" followed her home to Maui.

Her path since then has been quite the opposite of Trias'.

"I moved to Los Angeles at the end of October, and I've just been hanging," said Velasco by phone from California. "I'm still writing. I'm still working on my album."

In Los Angeles, Velasco enrolled in the Musician Institute in Hollywood. The six-month program teaches songwriting, engineering and "all kinds of stuff in the music biz," Velasco said. "It's building my foundation — and the homework's great. ... It's so cool. Super cool."

Velasco appeared on one segment of "Idol" this year. Otherwise, she's been deliberately reclusive.

Not Trias. Before announcing her movie plans, Trias' big move had been the release of her Pizza Hut/Taco Bell single, with print, radio and TV spots.

But "Flying Home" didn't fly too high, according to local radio sources.

"We played it in the beginning, but our station hardly plays local music unless it's established," said Tiny Tadani, who hosts morning drive on KUMU Lite (94.7 FM) in a simulcast on Oceanic Cable. "And after a few spins, people stopped calling about it."

Still, it's tough for most local artists to glide into the rotation of airplay when the music isn't reggae or Jawaiian. "She doesn't do that stuff; she might get a better chance on the Mainland," Tadani said.

Ed Kanoi, program director at KUMU-FM, said KUMU and sister station KQMQ-FM gave the disc a boost "when it first came out." Then interest tapered off.

Paul Wilson, program director at KSSK, said Trias' tune played for about five weeks. "Normally, when we add a song to our playlist, it has to be familiar or established," he said. Response has been marginal.

The new CD may strike a bigger chord with fans. Samples online at www.myspace.com/jasmine_trias reveal a hipper, edgier sound, combining rhythm 'n' blues with soul and pop riffs, That's very different from Trias' heavy ballad orientation during the "Idol" competition.

What's ahead

When her new CD comes out July 12, Trias will engage in another round of autograph sessions, concerts and promotions "that will intensify and give her more visibility," Jacobe said.

The plan is to gain a wider fan base, startle her avid followers and win over skeptical critics.

Trias' new sound is fueled by some high profile behind-the-scenes names, like songwriter Diane Warren and producer Rodney Jerkins, who have worked with entertainers such as Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton, Gloria Estefan, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez. Trias also plans to work on an album expressly for the Philippines market, performing tunes in Tagalog in the homeland of her parents.

Her debut movie, meanwhile, will feature songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, who wrote the music for Disney hits "Mary Poppins," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "The Jungle Book."

Trias is already a household name in the Philippines. There, she released a CD single, "Love Ko 'To (I'm Lovin' It") that was linked to a "Jasmine Trio" meal at McDonald's. (The meal included a strawberry float, french fries and the single.)

Her image is plastered on billboards and on the sides of buses. She also has several other endorsements in the Philippines, pumping up business for Happee Toothpaste, Bench clothing and Smart Telecommunications cell phones.

Step by step

Velasco is taking it one step at a time and has no immediate plans in the Philippines, but she's open about her impending deal with Universal Motown Records. Her new album is being developed under the scrutiny of folks who want to retain and embellish her interest in hip-hop and blues, as well as her newfound embrace of jazz. She'll work in live shows, too — possibly with Diana DeGarmo in Hawai'i.

A June release is planned for Velasco's CD — so both Trias and Velasco could be battling for radio air time, promotional slots and sales this summer.

"I started writing music when I was 16 or 17, and as I get older, my writing gets better," Velasco said. "I'm getting the sound I like, discovering more styles, and listening to more jazz, smooth jazz — which influences what I do. I think I'm a lot more knowledgeable now; I've been recording at home. And with the program I'm taking, called RAP (Recording Artist Program), by the end of the school, I will have a whole album done."