Idol 52 - Ruben Studdard

52. Ruben Studdard

Season 2, Winner

And just like that, two winners down. Haha. I don't have a whole lot to say about Ruben. So, this will probably be my shortest write-up of anyone as of yet. Here goes..

As you all should know by know, I didn't watch Season 2 when it was on, but of course I heard about Ruben. I knew who he was, but didn't know what he sounded like. Now, when I did get around to watching all of his performances on YouTube, I think he is a deserving winner.

To me, Ruben was very consistent. Nights on Broadway was the only performance I was not crazy about but other than that, everything was surprisingly good. But I think that Ruben's range between his best and worst performance is by far one of the smallest of any contestant on Idol ever - save for Melinda Doolittle maybe. So, yes, he was extremely consistent.

But why did he just rank 52 on this countdown? Well, while he was absolutely consistent during his season, his performances kind of run together for me. I mean, when I try to remember Ruben's performances I always think, "Well, that was good, but that sounded just like the week before."  I think Ruben could've been much more interesting on a newer season with the new bar that has been set. Good but boring isn't allowed anymore like it was the first few seasons. Plus the themes are a bit less generic nowadays. So it'd be interesting.

That said, I still think he's very good and I quite enjoy his voice.

Favorite performance(s): This is a little hard since there isn't much to distinguish from his performances, but I'd say Superstar is my favorite. He sounded nice and soulful. I also think Imagine is a very underrated performance from that season. He didn't do much with the song, but his voice sounded beautiful on it, for sure.

Superstar

#51 - Young Lauryn Hill