<h1>American Idol Season 1 - Where are they now? </h1>Wow, can you believe we're about to begin American Idol 8? It seems like it hasn't been that long ago when the Idol Craze first began to sweep through the nation. There are now 7 people who have fulfilled their dreams of winning this talent competition and been catapulted into the national spotlight. 70 contestants have made it through to the Top Ten slots over the past 7 seasons and countless others have gained other forms of notoriety. Certainly, there have been many who we just had no notion of whether they thought they had talent, or were merely going for their 15 seconds of dubious fame. Good or bad, the public has developed a fascination with AI and especially with those contestants we came to know well.Once all of the hype from the show has dissipated, many people want to discover what the former contestants have been doing. This is fairly easy when searching for the winners or even the runners up, but what about some of those less famous top 12 personalities? Let's take a look at the season 1 list of competitors and find out some inside information on where their journeys have taken them since they appeared on the stage of American Idol in 2002.Season 1 was the start of this all and most everyone remembers perky, Kelly Clarkson and runner up Justin Guarini who was 23. But how many people remember much about Ryan Starr or Jim Verraros? They were also contestants on American Idol Season 1.Kelly Clarkson was the first winner of the American Idol title at the age of 20, and she was able to ride the tide of popularity to stardom. She released her debut album titled "Thankful" the same year that she beat Justin Guarini for the honor. Since then she has released two more albums, and has sold over 19 million albums worldwide. She even co-starred in a movie with Justin Guarini that was created to capitalize on the success of American Idol; unfortunately, the box office numbers were pretty bad. Singing is Clarkson's strength and she has had 8 singles that became Top Ten Hits on the Billboard list of Top 100 songs. Kelly has been working on her fourth album, which is now set to be released in late 2008.Justin Guarini was the also ran in the first American Idol voting contest. His loss to Clarkson was by only 16 percent of the audience vote. The popular opinion was that he did not have the talent or the vocal pipes to really achieve stardom, but he was getting more than his fair share of votes from his doting female teen base. The original release date of his debut album was delayed for quite some time. It wasn't until 9 months later in June of 2003 that the self-titled album "Justin Guarini" was released. Since American Idol, he has managed to find some things to keep himself occupied, but no real stardom has come his way. He has co produced his second album,"Stranger Things Have Happened", and released it through his production company, Justice Entertainment, Ltd. He has also made several TV appearances and even filled in as a co-host on occasion. Most recently, he has released an EP titled,"Revolver"Although Ryan Starr was the first person to perform live on the show, she may not be quite so memorable to the public. Her name only ranked seventh (in terms of being memorable to fans of AI) out of the top ten contestants. Unfortunately, her music career seems to be stalled as well. Ryan says the two-year contract she had with RCA is the source of her career troubles. She claims it was too restrictive, and now blames her lackluster vocal success on a three-year legal battle to break her original recording contract. She did have some musical success with her iTunes single entitled, "My Religion". This song landed her a spot on the US Billboard Hot Digital Songs Chart. This one tune sold 360,000 copies. Ryan Starr has made several TV appearances in "That 70's Show" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". Fans can also find Ryan appearing in the Fox network's "Gimme My Reality Show".Do you remember angelic faced, Jim Verraros? He was the first person from the Top Ten voted off on Season 1. Now this is a distinction most people do not wish to have as a benchmark in their career. Jim is talented, quirky and is a truly unique individual. He was also reared by two deaf parents who are unable to hear his vocal talents.Verraros's celebrity status grew in the gay community after a controversial move by Fox Broadcasting Company. When Fox forced Jim to remove some pro-gay comments that had been left on his American Idol Website, which was under the network's sponsorship, they created an instant buzz about this Idol. Although his stardom has not been as strong as some of the others, he does have some accomplishments to talk about. He won the 2004 Out Music Award for Outstanding New Recording - Debut Male, with his independently produced CD titled, "Unsaid and Understood". His newest album, "Do Not Disturb", is set to be released on his website, sometime in late 2008. He is presently shopping for a major label to release this album nationally next year.Others who were part of this revolutionary group were Nikki McKibbin (23), Tamyra Gray (23), RJ Helton (21), Christina Christian (21), Ryan Starr (19), 17 year old A.J. Gill, and EJay Day (20).Tamyra is another star on the rise, who has not yet realized her full potential. She sings, writes songs, acts, and has been appearing on Broadway. She wrote the #1 hit song, "I Believe", which has been featured on American Idol and recorded by several singers, including Fantasia Barrio and Diana DiGarmo.Find out more and buy American Idol merchandise at Idol Season 8 [http://www.idolseason8.com]