Call it Rent-an-Idol. For the right price, "American Idol" castoffs, finalists and even champs will pay a visit to your wedding, Sweet 16 or bar mitzvah. "The average going rate for an ‘American Idol’ finalist can be as little as $15,000 or as much as $150,000," says a source familiar with the business of brokering singers, bands and other talent for corporate functions and exclusive private parties. "But it really depends on what you want them to do. Are they just going to show up at the party or are they going to sing? Do they have a song on the charts right now, or are they yesterday’s news?" A wealthy entertainment mogul once shelled out big bucks – more than $30,000 – to hire second-season "Idol" champ Ruben Studdard to sing just three songs at a party for his wife. "And I’m in the industry," he says. For gigs booked by less well-connected individuals, Studdard reportedly rakes in around $75,000 or more. Taylor Hicks, the latest champ, fetches as much as $150,000 for a private performance. He’ll be able to demand more if he ever becomes as popular as the original "Idol" winner, Kelly Clarkson, who sources say is paid as much as $300,000 to put on a private mini-concert. Carrie Underwood, who won the Fox TV talent show last year, commands upward of $250,000 to show up at a party and sing. On the lower end of the "Idol" scale are acts like second-season finalist Kimberly Caldwell, who garners around $2,000 a gig.. She pockets $3,000 if you ask her to sing. But she’s made bigger money in the past; at one gig, Caldwell got as much as $7,500 to sit for hours signing autographs, an industry source says. The people who now manage "Idol" finalists and winners are extremely tight-lipped, even slightly belligerent, about how much their clients are paid, because, one manager says, "the price can change overnight and is frequently different depending on who they’re singing for, where and when."
NY Post
Who would you pay for? I would pay for Clay Aiken, Jon Peter Lewis and Chris Daughtry! Granted I am only offering $100, you think they will still do it?
