Musical future looks bright for most ‘Idols’

It’s always nice to win “American Idol,” because it brings a million-dollar record deal and a trillion dollars worth of publicity to jump-start a musical career. But winning isn’t necessary to get a shot at the music business.

Eight of the 12 finalists last season have albums either on the shelves or in production, so there’s a good chance that each of the remaining six candidates for this year’s honor will soon find their CDs on the shelves in record stores everywhere, or at least on their MySpace pages. Therefore, it’s worth trying to figure out what those albums might sound like, and the most likely musical future for each contestant.

Here’s one way it might pan out.

Phil Stacey: Opening for Josh Gracin on his next tour
Stacey has spent more time among the bottom three vote-getters than anyone remaining in the competition, and is close to setting a record for the number of times anyone has been in that group without being voted off. That places him in a more precarious position than the rest of the finalists, because his fan base is more uncertain. Either it’s too small to keep him safe each week, or too indifferent to call and vote.

That doesn’t mean there’s no hope here, particularly after his effort last week. Stacey showed with that performance that he’s most comfortable singing country. Regardless of what he came into the competition thinking he’d be good at, it’s no accident that he ended a three-week streak of being in the bottom three during the week Martina McBride was the guest star. The fact that he did so despite the disadvantage of leading off the show is just an added bonus.

Slide show   Season 6 of ‘Idol’ The votes — and the surprises — are adding up and the 'American Idol' hopefuls now number 6.

Stacey’s no threat to Carrie Underwood, but he can still seize inspiration from a different former “Idol” finalist. Like Josh Gracin, who parlayed his fourth-place finish in “Idol” season two to a career in country music, Stacey has military ties and a likable personality.

He’s probably not going to outsell Gracin, which means he’s unlikely to be able to afford mansions and yachts anytime soon. But there’s no reason he couldn’t use that career path as a model to secure moderate musical success.

Jordin Sparks: Kelly Clarkson, the sequel?
While she’s still an underdog as far as winning the competition is concerned, Sparks has left herself in great position for long-term success. She’s young, she has a wide vocal range, and she shows personality both on-stage and off.

Sparks’ background is more in gospel and Christian music, but she’s versatile enough to succeed in pop music and will almost certainly get strong pressure to move in that direction once “Idol” ends. That would give her the widest possible audience, and she’s popular enough that she’ll sell a lot of albums even as she continues learning the craft.

Clarkson won the first season of “Idol,” then continued to develop to the point where she’s a legitimate pop star even without the hype.

Though Sparks may not have that kind of success, she’s talented enough to take on a similar career path. Her future grows brighter each week, and if she makes it to the finale that career path may be accelerated.

Chris Richardson: Lead singer of next ‘great’ boy band
Richardson looks like a pop star. There’s no doubt about that. And for a few seconds each week, he usually sounds like one as well.

But Richardson has had a tough time putting together a full-length, top-notch performance even in a format that requires him to sing just one song per week. It’s hard to imagine him doing so for an extended set, although a studio could do him a lot of favors in the mixing and editing process.

So far, the only consistent part of his game has been his smoldering glances at the camera each week. That makes him a natural fit for an ensemble act, where he could take center stage for short riffs, fade back into the scenery, then quickly reappear as needed. In fact, he may be the only “Idol” finalist who’s a natural at those weekly group sings.

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