Did you ever notice how some contestants who win American Idol seem to fall off the face of the planet after the season is over? Then there are other "Idol" winners who become huge successes. So why does this happen?

There's no doubt about it, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are not only beautiful but extremely talented. Carrie Underwood covered Heart's "Alone" during one of the "Idol" episodes, and it was such an amazing performance that Simon Cowell said to her, "I'm going to make a prediction: you are not only to win this competition, but you're going to sell millions of records". And she did just that.

Kelly Clarkson has also not only sold millions of records, but she's received several Grammy Awards as well. To be quite honest, she deserves it. Her voice range is absolutely amazing, and she blew every other contestant away on "Idol's" first season.

So why is it that artists such as Clarkson and Underwood make it big but artists such as Fantasia Barrino and Taylor Hicks seem to disappear? Is it because Clarkson and Underwood are more marketable since they're young, attractive women? Or could it be that the majority of people in society who vote for their favorite "American Idol" contestant simply don't know how to accurately judge who is the most talented?

It seems to be unanimous that Chris Daughtry was much more marketable than Taylor Hicks. Daughtry was a young, attractive artist with a unique sense of rock and roll style that America loved. Yet, for some strange reason, Hicks won the fifth season of "American Idol." Hicks was recently dropped by his record label J. Records, while Daughtry is constantly played on radio stations all over the country and is selling millions of records.

It was a similar situation with Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. Studdard won the second season of "Idol," however Aiken was the star who took over the public eye once the season ended.

Fantasia Barrino hasn't had much press attention either, with the exception of her lifetime documentary film about her life and her stint on Broadway. As far as radio airtime goes, she's nowhere to be found.

There's no doubt that Barrino and Studdard can both sing, but what is it that made them less marketable than Underwood, Clarkson and Daughtry?

Jordin Sparks won last the last season of "American Idol," and she seems to be played quite frequently on radio stations today. Could it be that it's because she's a young, attractive, marketable artist? Or could it be because she has a good song writer and society likes catchy tunes?

Everyone has their own opinion on what drives the success of artists and what fails them. It could be a popularity contest based on the best-looking contestants. It could depend on the song writer one gets and how catchy the songs are. It just doesn't seem to make sense that if the majority of society is voting for one artist, why that same majority of people wouldn't buy their albums once they win a record deal. I guess we'll just never know.

Story by Rachel Burke
Starpulse contributing writer