After being kicked off Idol, the brash wannabe promised, "I will be talked about." Turns out she was right. Last summer, Gethers, 26, replaced the lead singer of the Bomb Squad, a funk-rock band that won an American Music Award for Best New Music in 2003. "I feel so grateful," says Gethers, a former health-care-firm coordinator who lives outside Boston. And her Idol reputation remains larger than life. "I get recognized every day. People think I was Top 3, (but) I only made it to Top 20."

The identical twins, 29, had their AI stint cut short when they got arrested (they used another man's identity to buy a car). They had to pay court costs and restitution and perform 96 hours of community service. Cooking for, feeding and, yes, singing to retirement-home residents taught them some better values, says Derrell. "Being a helping hand makes you feel really good inside," he says. Up next for the pair? The March release of their R&B CD Here I Am.