Plan on joining American Idol to get rich? Unless you’re going to be among the top contestants you can forget about it. My recent research to find the answer to the question of how much the idol contestants actually make while on the show lead me to these findings:
1. No one is paid anything until they’re on the top 24.
2. The top 24 contestants get paid about $30 a day for food and an additional $500 a week for clothing. They are not allowed to spend the $500 on anything else.
3. They go home empty handed if they don’t make it to the top 12.
4. The longer the contestant stays the bigger the check they get when they are eliminated (this makes sense of course). The top two contestants get a car on top of the money.
5. Contestants get a cut from the compilation album.
6. Contestants are paid a nice enough amount for going on the AI tour. For each appearance they rack up $5000 (per show) and they also get a cut from the all the merchandise sold during the tour.
7. Of course we all know the AI winner goes home rich.
Lesson learned? If you plan on joining AI just for the money you’d better make sure you make it to the top 12!
Originally posted on April 14, 2008 @ 11:03 pm