Forbes unveils top-earning "American Idols" in 200

    BEIJING, May 31(Xinhuanet) -- The ninth season of "American Idol¹(偶像)" has dropped the curtain. Lee Dewyze was voted as the new most popular idol for Americans though he just started his performing career.
    However, the pop music market is fluctuating while the audience’s taste is ever-changing. Looking back on other vocalists（歌手） from this television's biggest music show in the U.S, some of them became not so attractive to their fans after the show ended.
    Forbes（福布斯） magazine has just unveiled a list of 2009 Top-earning "American Idol" contestants². The rankings are based on earnings³ from album sales, concerts, endorsements⁴ and other income for the year from June 1, 2009, through May 2010.
    Following are the ten most successive alumni from the past eight seasons.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

2 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网