I write weekly articles discussing the American Idol TV series.  Yesterday when I was thinking about my weblog, I had a thought: Which already famous performers (present or past) would have made good Idol contestants?

Let me set out a few criteria:

• The artist should be American (sorry Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Robert Plant, Seal, and Geddy Lee.)
• The artist should have a melodic (or at least nice-sounding) voice with the ability to sing various genres of popular music.
• Good looks, personality, and intangibles count for a lot.
• Major, Major superstars need not be included. (No Madonna, Michael Jackson, or John Lennon -he'd be disqualified according to prior criteria as well. The likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, or Gwen Stefani would be acceptable.)

Here's who I think would do well.  Tell me whether you agree or disagree, and feel free to add your own.

Jon Bon Jovi- Has the looks, the singing voice, a little bit of range, and tons of intangibles.

Skid Row's Sebastian Bach- Awesome voice, lots of charisma, and can probably sing a wide variety of music. Does power ballads and hard rock very well.

Styx's Denis DeYoung- Good voice, plus able to sing a few different genres.  May suffer in the "likeability" area.

I can't think of any women off-hand.  I doubt that my favorite female performers (Liz Phair, P.J. Harvey, Suzanne Vega, or a few others like that) would do very well anyway.