slightly OT, but I also think it's ridiculous that when the question of who the most successful Idols are is posed, Adam stans have the audacity to suggest him. Sure, he's an amazing vocalist and might have deserved to win his season (and I even like some of his songs on his albums) but he just doesn't have the receipts to back it up. In terms of commercial success, he doesn't even come close to Kelly/Carrie/Daughtry/JHud or even McPhee at this point.
I don't recall any of that. The closest I remember is a thread about American Idol LOSERS. I didn't even ask about "commercial success" but about who was the most memorable one.
Vocally, no I admit, there isn't anyone really in Pop who can outdo Adam. With that said, I find he tends to oversing and do that scream thing way too much, they've almost become like a gimmick and have lost their impact because he does it all the time just for the sake of doing it.
To put it in shorter words: I feel like Adam's vocals are robotic: technically flawless (Power, check. Range, check. Vibrato, check. etc.) but they just don't DO anything for me. My fave says it all the time, it's not about being technically perfect, it's about making someone believe you've got your heart ripped out when you sing about heartbreak. Adam just puts on this face like "look, my life is so hard" when he's trying to emote and the way he intonates just makes all the lyrics lose their impact, imo. I feel like I'm listening to a computer.
This argument, while fair, loses all its impact considering I am a part-time Kelly stan and it's ****ing pointless that you're coming for Adam for screaming too much. Kelly is very controlled right now but her voice was HUGE and super LOUD up until the Breakaway era (reason she strained her voice before the My December era). Trouble With Love Is @ Ryan Seacrest, her cover of Aerosmith's Crying, any vintage performance of Since U Been Gone, they all prove this. She probably doesn't feel the need to prove herself anymore so she sings differently now. You can't come for Adam when he's still trying to make it.
I can point you the aspects in which Kelly is better than Adam and the other way around too. I know my tea, sis.
So far the trinity according to ATRL is:
Usher 10 mentions.
Bruno Mars 9 mentions.
Adam Lambert 8 mentions.
Usher has a pretty wide vocal range, spanning over 3 octaves, his voice is raw and smooth, his belting range is powerful, and his falsetto is clear. Just in case you need proof here is a video of him singing live
Just because he does dance songs sometimes, doesn't mean he can't sing. Overall though they all are amazing vocalists, so its really, REALLY hard for me to choose.