15 American Idol losers who found their own stardom

Lauren Alaina (Season 10)

Some people may say second place is just the first loser, but for Lauren Alaina, it was her chance at stardom. She got her start early, after auditioning for American Idol at the ripe young age of 15, but with her family behind her and the judges on her side, she was destined to do well.

Alaina was the last one of the day when she auditioned in Nashville, Tennessee for the tenth season of Idol. Despite being so young, judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson were majorly impressed by her mature voice. She performed “Like We Never Loved at All” by Faith Hill and the judges fell in love. After they gave her a golden ticket to Hollywood, she asked if she could bring her family in to meet them, since she was the last one of the day, and they obliged.

With her family by her side, she performed Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” for her parents, as it was their song. Steven Tyler joined in for an impromptu duet, and that was just the start of her Idol success. She flew through the competition, only landing in the bottom two one time, Top 5 week. She went on to the finale, and came in second to fellow country singer Scotty McCreary.

Following her elimination, she was signed to Interscope Records, Mercury Nashville and 19 Recordings. Her debut single “Like My Mother Does” hit the Billboard Hot 100 at #20 and sold 121,000 copies in its first week. She released her debut album Wildflower in October 2011, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200. She has now released two full length albums and appeared on a duet with Kane Brown, “What Ifs”, which went to #1 on the US Country and US Country Airplay charts.

In her career so far, she has won an Academy of Country Music award, two CMT Awards, and an American Country Award.