The Navigator: American Idol Farewell: Ranking ALL 15 Winners

Tonight marks the end of an era. American Idol ends tonight. Although it had its ups and downs, it's truly forever going to be one of the most iconic and influential shows in television history. It cranked out a whooping 14 (15 tonight) winners and although I may throw a little shade here and there they were all clearly special in their own way and won America's hearts over. Tonight we crown a new winner, but for right now here's a ranking of the last 14 winner's from all seasons of the show!

Update (4/7/16): I've added in the finale winner to the rankings!

15. LEE DEWYZE
?!?!

Best performance(s): Girl, I don't know.

14. TAYLOR HICKS

When you think of Season 5, here's what comes to mind: Chris Daughtery, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler...the song "Bad Day". What doesn't come to mind is Taylor Hicks, the dude who actually won the season. Simon was (unfortunately) terribly wrong when he proclaimed Taylor would never get voted through to the finals and Taylor just ended up winning the whole thing. Hicks was definitely entertaining but...where has that gotten him now? He all but dropped off the face of the Earth and his last album went Triple Plexiglass on Billboard.

Best performance(s): Jailhouse Rock, Play That Funky Music, Takin' It To the Streets

13. NICK FRADIANI

This is the one season of Idol I paid no attention to, aside from a few select contestants...that were not the winner. I have nothing against Nick Fradiani. In fact, I get why he won. He had much more of a marketable appeal than his runner up, Clark Beckham, but that still doesn't account for the fact that he wasn't really all that good. On the plus side, the single for his debut album (which still hasn't come out...is he waiting for The Messiah) is amazing and I review it right here.

Best performance(s): Lol, idk tbh.

12. SCOTTY MCREERY

As a non-country fan, I have absolutely no room to speak on why Scotty McCreery won that season of Idol. The crown will always be a joint title between Pia Toscano and Haley Reinhart for me. His voice was very, very unique and he seemed to be a pretty dope guy so I guess I'm still happy for him anyways. I'm sure he's doing great stuff in country.

Best performance(s): Once again....I really dk.

11. KRIS ALLEN

Very cute moment for the dark horse of the season and all that good stuff but...Adam Lambert was standing RIGHT next to him. The real winner stood right next to Kris and watched as someone else's name was called. Excuse me, I still need a minute to process. All I remember about Kris Allen was his bottom lip just not agreeing with the direction his top lip decided to go. Overall it was a nice moment for American Idol. It was the birth of the dark horse winner.

Best performance(s): Heartless, Falling Slowly

10. PHILLIP PHILLIPS
PP! I'll be honest, I wasn't that big of a fan of Phillip's back in the day and I'm still not but there's something about him that intrigues me. His voice too me was just very...vulgar, and that's what made him so original. It played to his strength because he got the feeling out for his song and his leg kick thing was cool too. Of course, Jessica Sanchez will always be the queen of this season of Idol for me.

Best performance(s): Volcano

09. CALEB JOHNSON

Let's get one thing clear, Season 13 of Idol was awful until we got to the top three because essentially those were the three strongest in the competition. While I would have preferred Jena Irene to win, you have to admit that Caleb Johnson could sing his rocking ass off. His finale performances were absolutely stunning. It took me until his performance of "Skyfall" to really by him as a viable candidate to win the season but, ooh child, after that he was on roll after roll after roll. He had a rich tone and a wicked range. If only he wasn't so cursed with being on the dud that was Season 13 because...can anybody tell you who won American Idol 13 without googling? Billboard sure can't, considering he was the won winner not to chart.

Best performance(s): Skyfall, Faithfully, Dream On, Maybe I'm Amazed

08. RUBEN STUDDARD

Season 2 of Idol was home to the most narrowest of margins for the voting of the top two in Idol history and I can sort of see why. While Clay Aiken clearly had the better voice, Idol came out in 2002 when R&B/Soul music was still topping the charts and souring. Ruben Studdard may have not had the better voice, but he had an amazing voice and a great personality and I'm pretty sure by top five people were just voting to see him use that sweat rag and see Ryan get sandwiched between him and his brother.

Best performance(s): Superstar

07. TRENT HARMON

Trent Harmon was the definition of an underdog. He was more of a quiet storm than the clear winner from the beginning. It was as his Trent became a completely different person come top four week. He had just come off one of his weakest performances in the show and he needed something to bounce back with, and he didn't just bounce back, he bounced all the way to the top. With a charismatic first number and a show stopping, vocally insane second performance, Trent lept from dark horse to front runner. For the next two weeks, he continued his uprise until he shocked the country by actually winning the whole competition.

Best performance(s): Chandelier, Sharp Dressed Man, Waiting Game.

06. DAVID COOK
Even though I'm not a big fan of rock you can't deny that David Cook pretty much owned his season. His reinvention of "Billy Jean" set the tone for re-arrangements of music in American Idol for many, many years to come. David Cook helped prove that this show was more than a karaoke contest that got you signed to a record deal and that this show churned out true artists.

Best performance(s): Billie Jean, Always Be My Baby

05. JORDIN SPARKS
Let me just say for the record that I predicted that Jordin Sparks would win Idol from the moment she walked into her audition (granted, I was nine at the time and I just thought she was really pretty and had a small crush on her). Her voice was just pure magic. I remember watching her perform songs like "I Who Have Nothing" and "Broken Wing" being mezmorized by how beautiful her voice was. Remember during Idol Gives Back when Ryan made is think she got eliminated? That was my first heartbreak (well, second to Vonzell getting eliminated). And commercially, Jordin Sparks was uber successful with her first five singles peaking in the top 20 on Billboard. I still know all the words to "One Step at a Time" and remember those iconic footsteps.

Best performance(s): I Who Have Nothing, Broken Wing

04. CANDICE GLOVER
I am so glad she got kicked off of Season 11 (and every other season she auditioned for, I think she auditioned nine times?) because Candice Glover absolutely owned her season. The amount of raw talent in her voice was just absolutely exquisite. It's as if she was teaching a singing masterclass to everyone else when she stepped on the stage to sing. She had an amazing voice, she was beautiful, she performed the hell out of every song she sung, she was extremely versatile She deserved so much more recognition than she got, but her (and a few other really magnificent contestants) were shoved to the side behind the highly publicized fights between Nick Minaj and Mariah Carey. Regardless, she earned her spot as the winner of season 12 and she earned her spot in Idol history with "Love Song".

Best performance(s): It Doesn't Matter Anymore, I Who Have Nothing, Don't Make Me Over, LOVE SONG, When You Believe, When I Was Your Man, Somewhere, I Am Beautiful, Inseperable

03. FANTASIA BARRINO
I am so happy one of the three divas won that season of Idol because everything else would have just felt like a waste. Fantasia was unstoppable during her season of Idol. The way she performed on stage you could see that she was passionate about her craft, it exuded out of her whenever she got up on that stage you could tell she left it all out there on the stage every week. She delivered one of the best moments of the show's history with "Summertime" and her winning single "I Believe." I wish she was still bigger today because even if her relevancy has faded, that voice and that star power has not.

Best performance(s): Summertime, I Believe

02. CARRIE UNDERWOOD
Carrie, Carrie, Carrie. She may have the personality of a protractor but this list, and Idol, wouldn't be complete without her. Her voice was so powerful. The thing about Carrie Underwood is that, although she is a country singer, she could sing absolutely anything. She stayed within her little country zone for the beginning of the competition but then she started singing pop, rock, ballads, up tempo songs and managed to keep her voice in top form and do a little bit of entertaining as well. "Alone", and Simon Cowell (accurately) proclaiming she would win the show and sell more records than any previous winner, still ranks in the top moments of the show for me. That's all well and good but her impact AFTER Idol was also extremely impressive. My girl Carrie Underwood got me to listen to COUNTRY MUSIC. I still know ALL the lyrics to "Jesus Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats". All but two of her singles have charted handsomely in the Billboard Hot 100 but nearly all of them either peaked at #1 or #2 in the country charts.

Best performance(s): Alone, Independence Day, God Bless the Broken Road, Inside Your Heaven

01. KELLY CLARKSON
I mean, she's THE Idol. Kelly and Tamyra Gray were the only standouts during their season of Idol. And we don't have to sit here talking about how she owned her season week by week (that was meant to be a pun of Piece By Piece...) and how her vocals soared every week and how she wasn't just a great singer and a pretty face but her personality on and off stage were just so charming. What we CAN talk about is how she still his the best winner's single after fifteen years of Idol, she has four #1s, twelve top ten songs, three Grammys, her vocals kept improving after she won Idol and was able to, even after fifteen years, ball on stage singing a song and making us cry along with her. Kelly Clarkson is THE Idol, and while I love our top two contenders and mostly everyone on this list there was NEVER a contestant on this show that measured up to the absolute POWERHOUSE Kelly Clarkson is. She was the biggest joy to watch and is still extremely humble and funny to the day.