Top 9 Best American Idol Finalists (Who Didn't Win)

Sanjaya! J-Hud! Bo Bice! David Archuleta! Here are our fave American Idol songbirds who didn't quite go all the way

You guys! There's only three weeks left till the American Idol finale! Which means there's only three more weeks until Adam Lambert is our country's first, um, truly fabulous Idol! (Right? Right!)

After seven seasons, we all know that it doesn't really matter who wins—just as long as they make it to the finals. Past finalists have won Oscars, conquered song charts, and stormed Broadway, while winners like Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks are belting power ballads at county fairs.

So with universe's cruel indifference in mind, let's celebrate our Top 9 favorite Idol finalists (but not winners), with No. 10 left open for you to decide:

1. Sanjaya Malakar (season six): What if a unicorn could gallop into the Idoldome, stand upright, highlight his bangs, and hold a microphone? Would he be as jaw-droppingly amazing as Sanjaya? Unlikely.

2. Bo Bice (season four): Like bathtub hooch, some contestants get better with age. Bice the Elder (a descript 29 years old) rode the lightning all the way to second place. And some say that with the declaration of Bo Bice Day in Alabama (May 24, y'all!) all the old wounds of the Old South were healed.

3. Melinda Dolittle (season six): If grown-ups could text as fast as tweens, Melinda could have taken top prize over Jordin Sparks. Sadly, her brassy vocals and unshakable sweetness were no match for the lust of the ruthless training-bra voting block.

4. David Archuleta (season seven): You could wear a purity ring on each finger, but you'd still never come near the soft-spoken innocence and eerie fragility of this little man-angel. Watching him sing was so pure and beautiful it was like a butterfly landing on a baby's face.

5. Jennifer Hudson (season three): Hudson proves our E! Theory of Idol Finalists, that contests are better off lost. Since her sixth-round elimination, Hudson, an undeniable talent, has racked up more praise and awards than any B-list celebrity judge could ever dream of.

6. Jason Castro (season seven): When Hippie McDreadlocks botched some Dylan lyrics, we knew it was time for him to go. It was painful to hear Simon hiss that Castro's final performance was "a massacre," but take heart, Castro. In the words of Dylan: "Everybody must get stoned."

7. Nikki McKibbin (season one): Nikki took a page from the Courtney Love playbook of fame: This pixie did a little too much dust and landed herself in Celebrity Rehab and Sober House. But she'll always be the punky upstart that gave the toothless talents of Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson a run for their money.

8. Clay Aiken (season two): Who knew he'd be the best thing to happen to comedians since cocaine?

9 Tamyra Gray (season one): Tamyra had one of the most scandalous, premature exits in Idol history. Questions still remain about shadowy cell phone conspiracies and tweens' unquenchable thirst for diva tears.

10. You tell us! The E! Online offices have split into hostile camps with hourly knife fights because of this list. Time for you to weigh in: Who did we miss? Daughtry? Blake Lewis? Nadia Turner? Tell us!
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