RollingStone has revealed the best selling albums and songs on iTunes in 2008, and season six winner Jordin Sparks was prominent on the list.  She nabbed #7 of the iTunes top selling songs for her duet with Chris Brown, "No Air".

Congratulations, Jordin!

Last year, Jordin fans had a chance to ask her questions via our MyIdol section--watch the Q & A session now.

It was easy to see Jordin's confidence grow as season six progressed--check out her Transformation Gallery!

Clay Aiken has more than proven himself in the Christmas music realm, and fans will be thrilled to know that he's added to his extensive holiday catalog.  He has released an EP, All Is Well-Songs For Christmas, that features the classic "O Come O Come Emmanuel," along with some with a more modern spin, like "All Is Well," "Christmas Waltz," and "My Grown-Up Christmas List".  Care to buy it AND spread goodwill?  If you access iTunes via goodshop.com, 3.75% of your purchase price will go to Clay's foundation for inclusion, the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, or a charity of your choice.

Taylor Hicks sat down for an interview with BLOGCRITICS Magazine and, as author Sherry Lipp says, Taylor is exactly where he wants to be at this point in his career.  Not only has the season five winner started his own record label, Modern Whomp Records, but he is also reprising his role as the Teen Angel in the production of Grease as of today.  This time, however, it's for a national tour due to its tremendous success on Broadway.  The most intriguing part about this is the fact that he will be incorporating his new album within the national theater tour.  He will be performing songs off the new CD in intimate venues in the various tour cities.  Interestingly enough, he will also be incorporating one of his singles into the play itself.

As far as the album goes, Taylor says, "There will be a few surprises on it. What's been great about this record is I've had total creative artistic freedom. That's really a great thing for me, because I allow myself to focus on what's best for creativity's sake and what's best for the audience's sake. It allowed me the opportunity to pick songs, like I was allowed the opportunity to pick songs on Idol."  If you like albums that have a consistent style and sound throughout, this might not be the CD for you.  As with his song choices on AI, Taylor doesn't limit himself to one genre of music.  "I think with this record I've been able to hopefully take the listener on a musical journey into the songs I've written, and a lot of them touch on different styles. But the common thread is my voice."  He hired studio musicians for the record, and even landed Paul McCartney's drummer.

The album has a February 10 release date while his new DVD, "Whomp at the Warfield," has been recorded but does not have a set date.  As Taylor puts it, "It's been in the hopper for awhile, but we're about to put a bow around it and present it to everybody."

Another thing that changed was Taylor's style over the Idol season--visit his Transformation Gallery to re-live the fun of season five.

If you're an AI fan living in Los Angeles and are looking for great (and FREE!) family entertainment this weekend, you're going to love this event at the Hollywood & Highland Center.  On Saturday, December 6th, the Hollywood Christmas Tree will be lit, along with an appearance by Santa Claus and various celebrity guests.  Even better, David Archuleta will be performing!  While the event is free of charge, guests are invited to support One Heartland, an organization that helps to improve the lives of kids impacted by HIV and AIDS.  How can you help?  Sponsor one of the 30,000 lights on the 35-foot high Christmas Tree, or donate $100 or more to become a part of the VIP pre-reception.  Find out more about the event and pre-reception on oneheartland.org.

Hot cocoa, holiday treats, and David Archuleta...what could be better?

Luke Menard got an early birthday gift this year--he was given a cancer-free diagnosis recently and, although he is set to receive radiation as a preventative measure, he is feeling very fortunate about his health and his prognosis.

Check our our recent article on Luke's diagnosis, his determination to record a solo CD while receiving chemotherapy treatments, and his exciting plans for the future.  Luke also sent us some great photos of his post-Idol life thus far--take a stroll through the gallery.

Happy Birthday, Luke!

Carrie Underwood has proven herself to be an amazing Pop and Country crossover artist, so it should come as no surprise that she is part of a revolutionary new Christmas album.  Carrie croons with the legendary Elvis Presley...yes, Elvis!  Carrie is just one of the many talented artists featured on the Elvis Presley Christmas Duets CD, in stores now.  Through the magic of modern technology, the award-winning performer sings "I'll be Home for Christmas" alongside the late rocker.

Find out about an exciting AI alum Christmas concert in this thread on the americanidol.com forums!

Supporters of The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, the organization started by Clay Aiken and friend Diane Bubel, helped to raise over $500,000 at its recent gala honoring the 2008 "Champions of Change."  The funds raised by the inspirational event will be used to provide children with disabilities the opportunity for inclusion--to play, learn and grow side-by-side with their peers.  Attendees were able to participate in both a silent and a live auction in support of the Foundation's programs.  The pinnacle of the evening was a special performance by Clay, including songs from his newest release, On My Way Here.

Look for Clay in our new Smile Gallery!

Luke Menard has a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, as he is now cancer-free and feeling better than he has in years.  Just after his stint on American Idol this past season, Luke went and had some tests run due to a persistent cough and a very tight feeling in his chest.  Although he is faithful about working out, Luke said he was suddenly winded while walking from his house to the car.  After years of being told he had allergies, the doctor ran some scans, and it was discovered that Luke had Hodgkin lymphoma.  Having received twelve rounds of chemotherapy, there are no cancerous cells detected in Luke's body.  Unfortunately, the hard part isn't necessarily over, as he is now set to receive radiation treatments once a day, five times a week, for the next month as a preventative measure.

While most people in the midst of chemotherapy treatments would probably slow down, this was not the case for Luke.  Wanting to strike while the AI iron was hot, Luke drove to Nashville in between chemo treatments to begin working on a solo album in the Christian Contemporary genre.  While his family thought he was crazy for doing this, Luke's doctor gave him the "all clear" for the Nashville trips, and so Luke continued to do so until he recorded about half of an album.  Toward the end of the treatments, it simply became too difficult to manage.  However, Luke is not deterred.  In fact, he is hoping to move to Nashville in January or February in order to shop the album around to several labels.  Interestingly enough, he worked with season six's Chris Sligh, as Chris is enjoying success in the Christian music realm himself.  Luke says the album is very piano-driven and has a kind of a "British pop" feel to it.

As if his solo work wasn't impressive enough, Luke also managed to help his a capella band, Chapter 6, complete their latest album.  He is doing some touring with them in the next few weeks for their Christmas shows.  His long term future with the band is uncertain, however, as Luke really wants to focus on his solo album.  He is also taking advantage of his free time right now to travel with his wife of four years, Lara, who is doing her tour of Christmas shows as a member of the famous Rockettes.  For six years, with both of them touring, they lived to meet up in the middle in between shows.

Besides the obvious thrill that comes with being told he is cancer-free, Luke is ecstatic to have full use of his lungs.  When he was first diagnosed, the fluid was being compressed in his right lung so much; the doctor said he was basically living off the use of one lung.  He is now able to breathe deeply again, which is great for exercising as well as performing.

It's safe to say that it has been a bittersweet year for Luke, as he loved being on American Idol.  He said that he was in awe of the professionalism of the musicians and everyone behind the scenes on the show, and that it definitely helped him to grow as a performer.  He still keeps in touch with quite a few people from AI, and even got together with the Top 10 while they toured in Indianapolis near Luke's home.  While he was at the show, each of the Top 10 Idols signed a guitar, and it was then auctioned off to help Luke pay for his mounting medical bills.

Of course, it was next to impossible to interview Luke Menard without asking him if he had heard the buzz surrounding the many celebs people thought he resembled.  He laughed and said that he not only heard about it, but there was some mention of it in every email that he received while on the show.  Who were some of the Luke doppelgangers?  He heard everything from Luke Perry to Patrick Dempsey to Orlando Bloom, with Ryan Seacrest even calling him "Dawson's Creek" in reference to his resemblance to James Van Der Beek.  Luke took it all in stride, of course, but what confused him is how he could look like so many different people!  Good looks aside, Luke most certainly has a renewed outlook on life these days.

Luke sent us some great photos of him and some Idol friends!  Check them out now. 

David Cook enters the Billboard charts at #3 with his self-titled debut album (19 Recordings / RCA Records) selling 279,578 units. The Rob Cavallo produced album is also the #1 CD on the digital album chart and is the best debut from an American Idol winner since 2006.

“Light On," the first single from the album, has been dominating the AOL Top 40 Songs chart at #1 for the past 6 weeks and is currently #1 on the ClearChannel On Demand Chart. It was also the #1 gainer at adult radio and debuted as the breakout track on this week’s American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest.  In late September, “Light On” premiered on AOL Music’s pop culture news site, PopEater.com, receiving over 1 million plays in less than week.

The ClearChannel premiere of the Wayne Isham directed “Light On” video became their best performing video premiere ahead of Linkin’ Park, The Eagles and Ne-Yo.

The American Idol single “The Time Of My Life” (which is featured as a bonus track on David Cook) has reached platinum status with over 1 million tracks sold.

The still-humble David sat down with us to talk about his surreal existence since his season seven win--watch the video now.

American Idol had a very strong presence at last night's 2008 American Music Awards.  Not only did Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta, David Cook, and Daughtry (with lead singer Chris Daughtry) present awards, but there were also a number of wins in the AI camp:

Daughtry-Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Rock or Pop Music

Jordin Sparks-Favorite Artist, Adult Contemporary Music

Carrie Underwood-Favorite Album, Country Music--for Carnival Ride

David Cook was also a featured guest as he performed live from the red carpet prior to the show.  Congratulations to Jordin, Chris, and Carrie!