Which American idol contestants did not win but became famous?

Answer 1

Jennifer Hudson

Katherine McPhee

Adam Lambert

Chris Daughtry

David Archuleta

While I can certainly appreciate the above answer, ultimately it's all governed by a subjective definition of fame. Truly, cases could be made for the comparative fame of Frenchie Davis and William Hung, neither of whom ever participated in the live competition portion of the show, as well as for contestants who didn't last very long (Ejay Day, RJ Helton, Ryan Star, Trenyce Cobbins, just to name a few from the first two seasons). Tamyra Banks parlayed her involvement with Idol into a recurring role on FOX's Boston Public, Justin Guarini appeared in a movie alongside Kelly Clarkson, Jim Verreos has appeared in three feature films, Nikki McKibbin has made appearances on multiple other reality shows, not least of which was Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab.

Thanks to the surge in reality television, of which American Idol is certainly a part, fame is certainly a relative term. Indeed, as the history of the show itself bears out, even being a non-semifinalist who gets air time on the show is elevated to a certain level of fame just in that.

If by fame you mean that a contestant achieved a certain degree of notoriety as a performer after the end of a particular season, you could use names like Clay Aiken (multiple albums, co-headlining tour with Kelly Clarkson, and Spamalot on Broadway), Constantine Maroulis (Rock of Ages on Broadway), Diana DeGarmo (Hairspray on Broadway), Josh Strickland (Tarzan on Broadway), La Toya London (Nettie in The Color Purple, before winner Fantasia was cast as Celie). The list goes on as far as crossover participation in both Idol and various Equity theater productions, both on Broadway and in national touring companies. Even more former contestants have been signed to deals with record labels, whether or not those contracts yielded any "successful" releases.