Kris Allen was the winner on the season 8 of American Idol in 2009, despite Adam Lambert being the heavy favorite to win.

 

Kris Allen's full name is Kristopher Neil Allen. He was born on June 21, 1985 in Jacksonville, Arkansas to Kimberly (née Wood) and Neil Allen. He has one younger brother named Daniel who is a student and cheerleading coach at the University of Central Arkansas.[6] Allen attended Murrell Taylor Elementary School, Fuller Middle School and Mills University Studies High School, where he was active in the school's orchestra as a viola player and later went on to win a spot in his state's all-state orchestra. Along with the viola, Allen taught himself how to play the guitar at age 13, and is also proficient with the piano and the ukulele.

 

Kris Allen is a Christian. He was a worship leader at New Life Church in Maumelle, Arkansas, as well as at the Chi Alpha campus ministry of the University of Central Arkansas, where he was a business major. He has done missionary work around the world, including in Burma, Mozambique, South Africa, Spain and Thailand. On September 26, 2008, he married longtime girlfriend Katy O'Connell Allen.

 

Kris Allen auditioned for American Idol in Season 8 (2009) . He, along with fellow performers Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert, avoided the bottom three positions on the show, which often lead to elimination.

 

On the final episode of the season, Kris Allen faced off against Adam Lambert, who was heavily favored to win. At the end however, Kris won. It is presumed that many of the conservatives voted for him and voted more than once. Adam Lambert's sexuality may have also worked in favor of Kris. Kris is the first ever married winner of American Idol.

 

During the finale of the show, Allen performed duets with Keith Urban and Lionel Richie. He then sang a duet with finalist Adam Lambert: "We Are the Champions" by Queen. Kris and Adam both performed the song "No Boundaries" in the finals, which is going to be Adam’s first single.

 

In 2009, Allen released "Live Like We're Dying," which was the first single off of his self-titled post-American Idol album. The single went to No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually achieved Platinum status for sales of more than one million units. Kris Allen was released on November 17, 2009, peaking at No. 11 in the Billboard Hot 200 and selling 320,000 copies in the United States. Allen has also been involved in disaster relief efforts in Haiti and Rwanda.

 

Kris Allen's Offical website is at: http://www.krisallenofficial.com/
There is also a good Kris Allen fan website at: http://www.krisallenation.com/