That's such a sad statement....... First off it is not the fault of the contestants, the sad state is that it is a reality show.... These contestants are not getting proper support or promotion from any of the record industries that were suppose to market them once winners. Sony, Interscope, Disney did really nothing to promote what they had.. And lets face it the best singers of any given season ended up not being the true winners based on the way voting was and of course the crazy and absurd remarks from the judges..... Most of your runner-ups ended up seeing more success from the show then the winners...... Perfect examples are Adam Lambert and Katharine McPhee, IMO they have done better than both perspective winners those years.....
To me, its not all about becoming a superstar or having great commercial success but what some have done with the talent once off the show, some went on to do what they love to do and that is sing and pursue other area's of the musical industry......
I was just at Andre Bocelli's concert over this past Christmas and his guest singer was Pia Toscano, imagine she got to tour with one of the greatest tenors of our time and his shows are always sold out...... She put on an amazing vocal performance...