(TNS) — “American Idol” alum Mandisa’s recent death is just the latest tragedy related to the popular singing competition, as more and more of its finalists have passed away over the last several years.
The full list of past contestants who’ve died includes 8 Top 12 finalists, one third-place finisher, and a runner-up.
Seasons 5 and 7 seem especially cursed, the website Taste of Country opined, as there have been three deaths from the latter and two from the former.
Before Mandisa’s untimely death, tragedies befell Katharine McPhee, whose nanny was killed in a car accident last year and Kellie Pickler, whose husband Kyle Jacobs committed suicide in February 2023. Before that, there was a woman who in 2008 auditioned and then died near Paula Abdul’s home.
Michael Johns from season 7 was the first finalist to pass away, dying in 2014 due to dilated cardiomyopathy
Out of the 21 completed seasons of “American Idol,” the show has produced 252 Top 12 finalists. Eight have died in the last 10 years, with vehicle accidents being the common cause for 4 of them. Others have died from heart attack, brain aneurysm or drug and alcohol-related causes.
The “American Idol” singers who make up the list are: Paula Goodspeed from Season 5; Alexis Cohen from Seasons 7 and 8; Michael Johns from Season 7; Joanne Borgella from Season 7; Marque “Tate” Lynch from Season 3; Rickey Smith from Season 2; Leah LaBelle from Season 3; Haley Smith from Season 11; Nikki McKibbin from Season 1; Willie Spence from Season 19; C.J. Harris of Season 13, and Mandisa from Season 5.