Yes, American Idol contestants live the dream. No, as Fantasia Barrino's overdose sadly proves, their lives are not dreams.
Here are five other Idol alums whose lives took tragic twists after they auditioned and/or left the show:
Jennifer Hudson: With her 2007 Oscar for Dreamgirls, Hudson, who came in an unceremonious seventh place during Season 3, arguably became Idol's brightest star. With the brutal 2008 murders of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew, she inarguably suffered the worst blow of any of the show's grads.
Paula Godspeed: In 2008, the 30-year-old Godspeed, a tone-deaf Season 6 reject, committed suicide outside Paula Abdul's home. Police said Godspeed had a history of mental illness; Godspeed's brother denied to E! News that Godspeed was an Abdul stalker. Whatever the case, a lesson was learned: Sometimes the funniest Idol auditions aren't funny at all.
David Cook: Viewers came to know Adam Cook through his younger brother's emotional Season 7 rendition of "Always Be My Baby." The elder Cook, then recently diagnosed with a recurrence of brain cancer, had been flown in for the performance. The season ended happily for the Cook clan, with David crowned the winner. But sadly there was no happy resolution for Adam Cook's fight. He died in 2009 at age 36.
Angela Martin: Perhaps the most star-crossed of all Idol hopefuls, Martin has been passed on to the Hollywood round three times. The first time, she unsuccessfully competed one week after her slain father's funeral. The second time, she couldn't compete at all because she was in jail for traffic tickets. The third time, this past season, with her mother gone missing since Christmas 2009, she survived the early cuts, and made it all the way to the Top 24 selection show where…she wasn't selected. To date, her mother is still missing.
Jessica Sierra: Arrests, jail time, Celebrity Rehab. For a while after this Season 4 blonde's Top 10 run ended, it seemed Sierra's demons had all but destroyed the singer. On the upside of hitting bottom, Sierra got clean, marked two years of sobriety last December and had a baby. Take heart, Fantasia.