Former Idols Account For 15% of Pop's Top 40

I was glancing at the Mediabase charts this morning, and noticed something pretty remarkable -- now that Elliott Yamin's "Wait for You" has entered the Top 40 Pop chart, there are now a whopping SIX songs from former American Idol contestants on this chart. That is 15% -- astounding by any measure. The six songs on this chart are:

7. Daughtry, "It's Not Over"
14. Carrie Underwood, "Before He Cheats"
21. Daughtry, "Home"
23. Kelly Clarkson, "Never Again"
27. Katharine McPhee, "Over It"
40. Elliott Yamin, "Wait For You"

Wow.

The radio airplay domination doesn't end there...there are 12 (twelve!) former Idols with a song on either the Pop, Hot AC, AC, Urban AC, or Country charts (including all five of the show's winners), and 15 different songs overall. What does this prove? Anyone who suggests that Idol isn't having a huge influence on the music biz is full of crap!

Here's a breakdown of how the Idols are currently looking on the radio:
(*note, these numbers are from Mediabase charts, which are updated about twice a day, and not from Billboard's weekending charts)

• Daughtry's two singles ("It's Not Over" at #2 and "Home" at #18) as well as Underwood's "Before He Cheats" (#9) and Clarkson's "Never Again" (#22) are all in the Top 30 on the Hot AC chart. That's 13%.




• Kimberley Locke's "Change" (#12), Daughtry's "It's Not Over" (#18), Taylor Hicks' "Just To Feel That Way" (#20), and Underwood's "Before He Cheats" (#25) are all in the Top 30 on the Mainstream AC chart, with Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" still receiving a ton of weekly spins.




• Carrie's "Wasted" is currently the #1 song on the Country chart, with Bucky Covington's "A Different World" (#23) and Kellie Pickler's "I Wonder" (#25) also doing well. Carrie's "Before He Cheats" is recurrent on this chart.




• Ruben Studdard has two songs in the Top 15 on the Urban AC chart ("Make Ya Feel Beautiful" at #7 and "Change Me" at #15), while Jennifer Hudson's "And I Am Telling You" is at #10 and Fantasia's ""When I See You" is at #13).

I'll say it again...wow.