AMERICAN IDOL

KRIS ALLEN IS YOUR NEW "AMERICAN IDOL":

In what has to be considered a HUGE upset, KRIS ALLEN is your new "American Idol". He defeated ADAM LAMBERT . . . who's been treated as the Anointed One by the media AND the "Idol" judges since about Week 2 of the competition.

Almost 100 MILLION votes were received . . . which is an "Idol" record. There's no word how many votes each contestant got. Nobody was more shocked than Kris. When he found out he'd won, he said, quote, "It feels good, man, but Adam deserves this. I don't know what to feel right now, this is crazy."

Last night's show was LOADED with guest stars . . . most of whom performed with this season's Top 13 finalists. The guests included the Black Eyed Peas, Lionel Richie, Kiss, Rod Stewart, Keith Urban, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Martin, Carlos Santana, Jason Mraz, David Cook, Queen and Queen Latifah . . . By the way . . . there was an edit during the Peas' performance of "Boom Boom Pow". For a few seconds, the sound dropped out, and the picture cut to an "American Idol" logo. Well, Fox claims it was WILL.I.AM'S call to edit out an expletive.

Perhaps the show's most AWESOME moment was when RYAN SEACREST brought out BIKINI GIRL . . . a.k.a. KATRINA DARRELL . . . and gave her another shot at singing MARIAH CAREY'S "Vision of Love". As you may recall, Katrina and KARA DIOGUARDI almost ended up in a CAT FIGHT during the auditions, when Kara told Katrina that the song was too big for her. That resulted in an impromptu sing-off. Well, as Katrina . . . (--who was sporting new breast implants, by the way) . . . was making another losing attempt to conquer the song last night, Kara came out from the backstage area and turned it into an impromptu duet. And while it could have all been planned, I'm pretty sure Katrina had NO IDEA that was going to happen. She looked both SHOCKED and PISSED. And she never recovered. By the way, Kara wore a long coat with a BIKINI underneath. "Idol" told her they'd give money to a charity for her if she flashed it onstage. She did . . . and she looked HOT.

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THE TOP-EARNING FORMER "AMERICAN IDOL" STARS:

We all know that you don't have to WIN "American Idol" in order for the show to launch your career. Sure, the success can be short-lived but others have been able to sustain some SERIOUS momentum.

So how much are the most successful former "Idols" raking in???

Check this out:

--CARRIE UNDERWOOD has topped a "Forbes" list of The Top-Earning "American Idol" Stars. Over the past year . . . (--from June of last year up to the present) . . . Carrie has reportedly banked around $14 MILLION. That includes revenue from things like album sales, live performances and tours, sponsorships, and various TV, movie, and stage acting gigs over the past year.

--Here's their list of The Top-Earning "Idols":

#1.) CARRIE UNDERWOOD, $14 million . . . (--WON Season Four.)
#2.) JENNIFER HUDSON, $5 million . . .(--came in seventh on Season Three.)
#3.) KELLY CLARKSON, $4.2 million . . . (--WON Season One.)
#4.) JORDIN SPARKS, $3.1 million . . . (--WON Season Six.)
#5.) KELLIE PICKLER, $2.3 million . . . (--came in sixth on Season Five.)
#6.) CLAY AIKEN, $2.2 million . . . (--came in second on Season Two.)
#7.) CHRIS DAUGHTRY, $2 million . . . (--came in fourth on Season Five.)
#8.) DAVID COOK, $2 million . . . (--WON Season Seven.)
#9.) DAVID ARCHULETA, $1.3 million . . . (--came in second on Season Seven.)
#10.) TAYLOR HICKS, $300,000 . . . (--WON Season Five.)

(--If you want more information on all this, hit up Forbes.com, here . . .)
http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/18/top-earning-american-idols-business-media-idols.html