Data Backing Up Adam?

Adam Lambert is the most appealing American Idol finalist, followed in order by Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta and Kris Allen -- according to data from a brand marketing index.

Not only that, but Carrie Underwood is the most popular of past American Idol contestants, just behind overall entertainer leaders, Will Smith, George Clooney and Angelina Jolie. Followed by Kelly Clarkson and then Clay Aiken. Poor Fantasia is all the way at the bottom.

So we can all stop arguing about which American Idol is most popular--we finally have some real data to work with. The information comes courtesy of The Davie Brown Index® (DBI), which marketing companies and ad agencies use to figure out which celebrities can best get you to buy stuff.

Basically, each celebrity gets an overall ranking, which is based on how test audiences scored them on eight things: Appeal, aspiration, awareness, endorsement, influence, breakthrough, trendsetter, and trust.

I put in the full numbers for all the American Idol contestants below, with some other celebrities and musicians for comparison purposes. The Idol finalists haven't been around for that long, so of course their scores are going to be lower.

President Barack Obama is rated #1 overall. The numbers don't mean everyone loves President Obama, but that he'd make the most powerful pitchperson for a product.

Which makes sense -- I mean, imagine if President Obama were to suddenly show up in a commercial for like a new soft drink, saying it's all he drinks. A ton of people would probably rush out and buy it.

Does this data square with what you think about the finalists? Are you surprised that Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson rank so high? Tell us your thoughts in the comments, below.


Rating/Person
91.28 Barack Obama
90.85 Will Smith
89.92 George Clooney
87.46 Angelina Jolie

81.52 Elvis Presley
80.77 Carrie Underwood
79.68 Justin Timberlake
78.92 Kelly Clarkson
78.87 Miley Cyrus
78.59 Britney Spears
74.55 Michael Jackson
71.80 Clay Aiken
66.17 Mick Jagger
64.84 Jordin Sparks
63.45 Kanye West
61.10 David Cook
58.64 Chris Daughtry
57.70 David Archuleta
44.12 Fantasia

46.47 Adam Lambert
46.46 Anoop Desai
44.24 Danny Gokey
41.27 Lil Rounds
39.62 Allison Iraheta
39.26 Kris Allen
37.29 Matt Giraud

~http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/music/idol/blog/2009/05/data_adam_lambert_has_edge_on.html