Season 2 was a classic. It was the closest finale ever. Ruben Studdard only beat Clay Aiken by 134,000 votes. 24 million votes were cast.
The Final 2 Performances had 25.7 million viewers. The Finale Results had 38.1 million viewers according to wikipedia.
It was the best Battle in Idol history. Two evenly matched contestants with distinct stories. You had.
Ruben Studdard. An African American singer whose style was R&B and Soul. He was a frontrunner of Season 2.
Clay Aiken. A Gay Singer whose style was Pop. Clay started off as kind of an underdog. The Public chose him as a Wild Card Pick. But he quickly became a frontrunner.
The Finale was tight. Paula, Simon and Randy did not know who would win. Ruben Studdard's "1st single" cover of Flying without Wings was phenomenal(better than Clay's "1st single" original.. This is the Night). But Clay had a phenomenal cover of Bridge over Troubled Water that night.
It was time to vote! I was not of voting age then but my parents were. They picked up the corded phone and voted for Clay. The phone lines were off the line but they got through.
My family was all for #TeamClay. I knew it was going to be a very close vote but we thought Clay would win. I was stunned when Clay lost. I Could not believe it. Was stunned all night after the results. Still the most shocking Idol moment in history to me.
Luckily both Ruben Studdard and Clay have had good careers post Idol. And are still friends.
I was watching Jordan’s old clips from The Voice and even read comments with so many calling him the best singer ever on the show. Some even said that he sang better than the artists he covered, so my question is can he be compared to Ruben? So many fell in love with their voices, but they didn’t really become stars (basically no one from The Voice has become one). Both are successful, but not as big as Kelly or Carrie. They are still well-respected and well-loved today though so thoughts?
Hello, I am Ruben Studdard, also known as The Velvet Teddy Bear. Excited to have just wrapped up the 2nd leg of the "Ruben Sings Luther" tribute tour and looking forward to the next leg of the tour. I am very excited to announce that in between tours, I am back in the studio creating new music... and it feels great.
Website: http://www.RubenStuddard.com Facebook: Facebook.com/RubenStuddardMusic Instagram: @RealRubenStuddard Twitter: @RubenStuddard
I’m answering questions as u/therealruben
Coworker says that style doesn't exist anymore. Does anyone have any examples we could listen to?
My mind is blown right now. I could have sworn the finalists sang original songs in the finale. I especially thought the winning idol always got an original song. I could have sworn they marketed Flying Without Wings as an original song for Ruben Studdard. Like they did for Kelly Clarkson with A Moment Like This. They never once mentioned it was a cover. I feel so lied to all these years later.
Was A Moment Like This a cover too?
Sorry if this is stupid and out of touch I havnt watched American Idol since 2005 but I just learned this and figured this would be the appropriate subreddit.
Here’s the updated schedule of this season’s AMAs:
- February 20: Clark Beckham (season 14 top 2)
- February 27: Catie Turner (season 16 top 6)
- March 6: Cade Foehner (season 16 top 5)
- March 13: Brooke White (season 7 top 5)
- March 15: Ruben Studdard (season 2 winner)
- March 20: Gabby Barrett (season 16 top 3)
- March 22: Blake Lewis (season 6 top 2)
- March 27: Vonzell Solomon (season 4 top 3)
- April 3: Ada Vox (season 16 top 10)
- April 10: Matt Giraud (season 8 top 5)
- April 17: Trenyce (season 2 top 5)
- April 24: Elliott Yamin (season 5 top 3)
- May 1: Casey James (season 9 top 3)
- May 8: Crystal Bowersox (season 9 top 2)
- May 15: Colton Dixon (season 11 top 7)
All AMAs will be held at 3pm Eastern. Each AMA will open for questions a few days in advance.
Probably a long shot but thought I’d ask
I remember very clearly seeing various documentaries where Ruben Studdard is brought up and he is dead. I remember seeing video of people crying over him dying shortly after winning American Idol. Which is why he never went on to create anything noteworthy musically. I don't care about American Idol or Ruben Studdard in the slightest but when I saw him when passing through TV channels the other day it freaked me out.
I specifically remember reading about him dying years ago.
