Kris Allen for the win! Nobody will ever be able to top his version of Heartless.

Loved David Cook's Billie Jean so much. When has angsty anguish ever been so beautiful?

one of my favorites is when Carrie Underwood sang "Alone".

Kris Allen will always be associated with that unforgettable performance of Heartless on Idol. It was one of the most unexpected performances from an idol to date. Very creative and bold. Bravo Kris.

I loved Bo Bice's acappella performance of "In A Dream." One of my favorite AI performances ever.

kelly clarkson's final performance of 'a moment like this' was a good one.
kris allen's 'falling slowly' from the movie once was amazing, too.

David had me at Billie Jean !!
His angsty voice still gaves me chills !! ♥ ♥
It was the moment I became sure David Cook would be the winner !!!

And Kris "Heartless" performance was awesome and I'm sure helps him to win the competition !

Kelly Clarkson - Stuff like That There
Katharine McPhee - Over the Rainbow
David Archuleta - Imagine

so many more......

How on Earth was Adam Lambert not on this list?! Which Adam Lambert performance to pick??? Maybe Smokey's "Take a Good Look." Even Smokey was impressed! And Carrie Underwood singing "Alone" was one of my faves also.

George Huff-Aint too proud to beg
Carrie Underwood-Alone

I think Clay Aiken's Bridge Over Troubled Water was a defining performance. His original arrangement combined with flawless vocals should have won him the competition.

David Billie Jean, amazing, also Davids ''always be my baby, and i believe that was his own rendition,was truly AWESOME and memorable!!

Wow, so many memorable performances. I love all 10 of the ones you chose. I do think Clay's Bridge Over Troubled Water was his best vocal & should have won him the competition.

I do think Kris Allen's Heartless will be remembered as being a huge game changer.

David Cook's performance of Billie Jean was amazing!

However, Ryan clearly states in the introduction to the performance that it was Chris Cornell's version. He did not take credit for the arrangement as you state.

Where is Adam Lambert on this list??? Tamyra and Rueben?? But no Adam!? WTH? Adam was by far the most creative and talented person ever on the AI stage. This list is whack!

Love David Cook - just to clarify - he didn't take credit for this arrangement - if you watch the complete AI video of this performance Ryan Seacrest clearly introduces the performance as David singing Chris Cornell's version of Billie Jean http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4uvhg_david-cook-billie-jean-top-10-am...

I would have chosen Clay Aiken's "Bridge Over Troubled Water as the #1 in this list. However, I do agree with most of your list. There are a lot of very talented young people who were on this show.

Loved your top 10 list..all great performances. I would add Kelly Clarkson's "A moment like this", Chris D. singing Adam Ant ' Ever loved a woman" and Adam Lambert had some unbelievable performances.

Wow! They are all great - thanks for these fantastic standouts!

Clay Aiken's Bridge Over Troubled Water was spectacular!

Fabulous top 10! Yay Kris!!!

My top 10 (in no particular order):

Alone - Carrie Underwood
Heartless - Kris Allen
Natural Woman - Kelly Clarkson
Mad World - Adam Lambert
Imagine - David Archuleta
Billie Jean - David Cook
Hallelujah - Jason Castro
Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Katharine McPhee
In A Dream - Bo Bice
You Give Love A Bad Name - Blake Lewis

I agree with Hallelujah and Heartless but I'd definitely add Bohemian Rhapsody from Constantine Maroulis and I might change Clay's Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me to his Finale version of Bridge Over Troubled Water. I'd also add in Natural Woman by Kelly Clarkson.

"Natural Woman" by Kelly Clarkson...can't believe that wasn't on your list...most insane vocal performance on AI hands down

Ummm...Did you not hear Adam Lambert's "A Change Is Gonna Come"? Nothing can top that!

What no Kelly c'mon now. Nothing beats her performance of "Stuff Like That There", best Idol performance ever and then "Natural Woman".

Adam??? He was mentioned in an ad for this site of top 10. Then you had TWO kris (good for sure) but NO Adam! I was absolutely expecting to see Ring of Fire - the one that made me notice that I was enamoured with Adam - surely unforgettable. But maybe if I were to go for the less controversial - Whole Lotta Love - which was great or even Mad World - with a standing ovation from Simon (possibly a first)!!

My all time favorite AI performance is David Cook's finale rendition of The World I Know. It had the power of Cook's vocals, the simple beauty of the stripped down acoustic arrangement, and the ballsy unexpected decision making that Cook became famous for that season. Simon didn't get the brilliance of this choice at first, but America did.

I also can't believe you left off Kelly Clarkson's Stuff Like That There. That performance was better than the Tamyra Grey and Jennifer Hudson ones you chose put together if you ask me.

And Blake Lewis's You Give Love A Bad Name was THE most memorable Bon Jovi tune performance. Sorry Daughtry!

I can't believe Adam Lambert isn't there...every single performance from him was just so....WOW!!!

Great list!!
Kris' Heartless and Fantasia's Summertime are some of my all time favorite too from Idol stage ^.^

My other favorites are...
1. Katharine McPhee - Over the Rainbow
2. Adam Lambert - Mad World
3. Kris Allen - Falling Slowly
4. Carrie Underwood - Alone

I am reasonably okay with this list but would take out Ruben's song and put in Bo Bice's In a Dream( which for me is tied with Kris's Heartless for most memorable)....I also think that Lambert's Mad World belongs in there somewhere

Here's my list, in no particular order, but I believe these were show stopping moments that should have sealed a win for each person.
Kelly Clarkson - Natural Woman (unbelievable that this was not on the list)
Clay Aiken -- Bridge Over Troubled Water (I agree with all above, this song should have won him the competition)
Carrie Underwood - Alone (after this song Simon said not only would she win but she would go on to sell more records than anyone)
Bo Bice - In a Dream (first acapella ever)
Fantasia -- Summertime (I don't even like the way she sings, but you can't argue with this phenomenal performance)
Adam Lambert -- Seriously? Not even on the list? I can't choose between Ring of Fire and Mad World, even though RoF is my all time favorite Idol performance.
Kris Allen -- Falling Slowly (this is when I sat up and took notice of the kid)
Elliott Yamin --- (geeze, now I can't remember the name of the song, but it's the one by Donny Hathaway that made Simon say he was the best voice of the season)
David Cook -- Billie Jean seriously made me jump off my couch and scream "what was THAT?" (in a good way) but my favorite David performance was The World I Know in the finale.
Jason Castro - Halleluia (one of my all time favorite songs)
OK, I'll have to admit, Katherine McPhee's Over the Rainbow was amazing. It's still unbelievable that Taylor Hicks won that year.

Go Kris! Checkout his NEW Heartless version on his album! It's so cool! Love David's Billie Jean. I think David Cook could have gotten 3 spots on that Top 10, the other two being ALWAYS BE MY BABY and HELLO! Another notable miss is Blake Lewis' version of Bon Jovi's You Give Love A Bad Name.

Love reading all your lists--keep 'em coming! I wish we were able to do a list of the Top 25, 50, 100... performances since there are so many great ones!

I agree that I can't believe they left Adam off the list completely. And, George Huff's Take Me To The Pilot should be on there. As for what they chose for Clay, yeah, I would have chosen something else, but not Bridge. I would pick something like Mack the Knife.
Did anyone else notice that they mislabeled Tamyra's clip?

I can't believe Chris's "Dead or Alive" made it over "Walk the Line!!"

Bo Bice "Stand By Me" deserves it over his other pick too.

Adam's "The Tracks of My Tears" should also be up there (as mentioned).

Kelly should be included over Ruben (really?)

I remember when Kris finished "Heartless", just saying "Wow!" Even though I wasn't that invested in the season, I knew it was SPECIAL! Also, Bo Bice's "In a Dream" was extraordinary. There have really been a lot of excellent performances in the last 8 years. And they usually have just a week to prepare the song!! So many of these AI contestants sing better than these auto-tuned "stars" who are making millions...life just isn't fair!

I agree almost totally with your list. Love Kris Allen, he is so talented! I would have added Kelly Clarkson/Natural Woman and Carrie Underwood/Alone.

I agree with those, thank you for not pimping Adam. Adam Lambert is part of the reason society is on the decline, he thinks he gets a free pass because he is gay. He cries foul and does not take any ownership for his actions. Finally an honest site!

wow, anonymous 39, i could not disagree more. Adam does not think he gets a free pass. He worked hard before idol and then worked hard on the show. I really do not know where the vitriol is coming from. Especially with a comment like "part of the reason society is on the decline." To blame a contestant on a reality show for society being on decline is a foolish and ignorant comment to make. I would think that things like crime, corruption, and unemployment would be reasons for society on decline...not someone who is in the entertainment industry and happens to be gay. Of course, these are just my thoughts on the matter. Not trying to stir anything up here, just grossly disagree with you.

Bo Bice acapella In a dream!
Adam's Tracks of my Tears

David Cook ftw, w/ Kris allen in a close second

Adam with "Take a good look" by Smokey

Can't believe you didn't choose "Bridge over trouble water" for Clay
or that Ruben's disney song is on the list at all. Sorry, didn't care for Tamyra's song, Kelly definitely should be on there for Natural Woman or A Moment Like This. Loved Kris Allen's: Falling Slowly, Heartless, and They Way You Look Tonight.
Agree with David Cook's: Billie Jean but most importantly would have The World I Know! . Absolutely, loved it.

Also, Phil Stacey's: Blaze of Glory and Bo Bice's: In A Dream.

Yes, Kris Allen! Great picks, PopSugar!

Clay Aiken - Solitaire

my golly.......Adam wasn't there what kind of list is that? !!!!.......

A decent list with a few exceptions -
I would have included KC's "Natural Woman", Bo's "In A Dream" and Carrie's "Alone" and chosen either Clay Aiken's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as several others have mentioned or "To Love Somebody" or even "
Build Me Up, Buttercup" lol. Yeah, too many to choose from but still...
And I definitely would not have chosen THAT one for Rube! Any other but that one.

There are at least three other songs I would have picked for Clay's best performance before "Sun". But then everyone of his performances was great. He has a beautiful voice and and was always so poised and gracious in his critiques from the judges. He has that "one" voice in a mass of voices. You hear it and go to a special place .......it's mesmerizing! Like Sinatra or Karen Carpenter.

For me, no other Idol performance comes close to Clay Aiken's Bridge over Troubled Water, although many of Clay's performances were exceptional.