These are numbers that any record label executive would salivate over. But, and it’s important, “American Idol” is not a record label. That the Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, has become a true, consistent pop star seems incidental; no other winner — save, in moments, Kelly Clarkson from the show’s inaugural season — has come close.

Success on “Idol” has long been confused with music industry viability, but the show requires a different set of skills. Singing well is nice, but so is the ability to perform one’s emotions, to have an easily relatable and neatly sketched back story, and to understand what the camera will forgive and what it won’t.



“Idol” requires its own metrics, and accordingly, on this tour, the show’s stars were not just singing songs, they were also playing their characters. Brooke White (No. 5), the clean-scrubbed folkie, performed barefoot while torturing the Beatles’ “Let It Be”; Jason Castro (No. 4), the dreadlocked hipster, appeared just as dazed as he did on the night he was eliminated, and all the nights before that, though he snapped to attention for a ukulele-driven version of “Over the Rainbow.” Kristy Lee Cook (No. 7) used gratuitous patriotism to distract from her thin voice on Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” as well as some jiggles of her behind. (“That’s not very ladylike,” one mother could be heard telling her daughter.)

The winner, Mr. Cook, was a great television character: the humble beginnings, the ailing brother, the journey of self-discovery. But his set captured only the final installment of his growth: resignation. In a tight T-shirt, lace-up pants and eyeliner, he managed to appear both smug and glum, his performance carrying an air of the perfunctory about it. Perhaps thousands of screaming fans are not enough to lighten the burden of being the one who has to shout, at the end of the night, “Give it up for Pop Tarts, Guitar Hero and the band!” (In that order.)

Losing might have put things in perspective. Mr. Archuleta’s versions of Robbie Williams’s “Angels” and Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” were charming and impressive. And the night’s best performance came from Carly Smithson (No. 6), a major-label refugee who was an early favorite to win this season. (She released a flop, “Ultimate High,” on MCA in 2001 under her maiden name, Carly Hennessy. The next year, in an article on music-business excess, The Wall Street Journal reported that MCA had spent $2.2 million on the project.)

Ms. Smithson has a pleasantly brassy voice, though she was erratic on the show. But while television might not have suited her, the stage did. Here, her three songs — Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life,” Heart’s “Crazy on You” and Cyndi Lauper’s “I Drove All Night” — were stunning. She hit the big notes. She drew the audience close through careful deployment of volume. She dramatically dropped to her knees. All in all, it felt strangely like a concert.

The American Idols Live tour stops at the XL Center in Hartford on Friday and at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass., on Saturday; tour.americanidol.com.