10. Ruben Studdard’s “Flying Without Wings.” This song could be either be about winning American Idol or doing heroin. It’s not the worst Idol song, but the title is cheesy and means nothing.
9. Candice Glover’s “I Am Beautiful.” This song comes in at No. 9 only because the others before it are so much worse. I don’t even remember this song. That whole season is such a blur. And that’s sad because Candice is talented. Idol fought so hard to get another female winner and then they blew on her first single and album that followed.
8. Caleb Johnson’s “As Long As You Love Me.” Caleb is one of my least favorite winners because of his standoffish attitude, but his winning song suited him. I’ve never listened to it since he won, but it’s definitely not the worst.
7. Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven.” I feel bad for putting Carrie Underwood so low on any list, but the bottom line is that there are better winning songs. This song, while the music and tempo and all that are great, the lyrics are plain silly.
6. David Cook’s “Time of My Life.” I remember thinking “finally a song that will make the radio” when David performed this his season. It’s definitely better than most coronation songs, if you can get past that line about magic rainbows or whatever.