Ruben Studdard's Still Standing
So what if Clay Aiken's Measure of a Man outsold Ruben Studdard's Soulful album. (Billboard says Clay's peddled 2.5 million discs vs. Ruben's 1.7 million so far, if you really wanna know.) The larger-than-life winner of American Idol 2 isn't bitter and harbors no regrets over his runner-up's success. "None at all," he insists. "My album's doing great, and I don't live in a busted apartment anymore! Everything is wonderful. God is just really blessing me."
Studdard says his post-Idol career has been "everything I expected and more. I've always wanted to do what I'm doing right now. I've never had any aspirations for another career for myself. American Idol afforded me the opportunity to live out all of my dreams, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be the same for Fantasia."
Speaking of Ms. Barrino, did he mind turning over the crown to the current AI winner? "I don't think that's the case," he objects, "because we're all American Idols. There's not just one. There's Kelly, me and now Fantasia."
Ahem, we stand corrected. By the way, Studdard credits himself with predicting Fanny's rise to the cream of AI's crop. "From the day I saw the top 30 show," he recalls, "I knew exactly who was gonna be the top three finalists. Fantasia's a wonderful singer and she deserves to be the American Idol."
Right now, Ruben's in the studio recording his second album. No, it's not a tribute to his fave soul crooner. "People really enjoy listening to me do Luther Vandross's music," he chuckles, "and I do, too. But I think I've come into my own. I'm doing a Christmas album that will be out in September."
