I was hoping she'd drop a thanks to American Idol for helping her on her way, and a bigger thanks to Simon Cowell (a bigger slightly sarcastic thanks) for helping to inspire her.

Regardless, I was glad to see her win.  I think she earned the win, and am glad to see her do well in her career.

Several other (non-winning) Idol Finalists have had a lot of success too, and I've been glad to see that too.  Most of the "winners" -- with the exception of Kelly Clarkson in the pop world, and Carrie Underwood in the country world -- have had fairly forgettable careers so far.  They've produced a few records, sold a few of them too, but generally made hardly a peep when compared to some of their competitors.

As an example, check out Clay Aiken's continued popularity, Josh Gracin's record sales as a country artist, Kimberly Locke and a few others.  Not to mention Chris Daughtry, Bo Bice, and a few more.  These folks don't seem to have needed to win Idol to prove themselves to be winners or stars.