What does it take to be an Idol? If reigning American Idol Kris Allen's advice is anything to go by, the secret is pretty simple. "I think playing an instrument helps."

Sound advice as he handled quite a few instruments during his performances on the show including the acoustic and electric guitar, keyboard and the piano.

FOR obvious reasons, the name Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are never far apart.

Besides going head to head in one of the biggest showdowns in American Idol history with a surprise win for Allen — it seemed like head honchos in the music industry found it a great idea to pit them against each other one more time by placing their album release dates very close to one another.

He’s the reigning champion. Kris Allen, American Idol winner, released a self-titled album on Nov 17. This debut record will finally test his marketability post-American Idol success.

It will also show how much better his record will sell as compared to fellow Idol finalist Adam Lambert, who also released his debut album at almost the same time.

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NEW YORK: A year ago, American Idol winner Kris Allen was planning on finishing college and getting a “regular job’’. The 23-year-old singer from Conway, Arkansas, says he was looking forward to getting married and knew he needed a career plan. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve got to figure something out.’ I went back to college and I was gonna finish school and hopefully something would happen.

This finale, however, was much more than a mere singing competition. It’s was the representation of acceptance of diversity vs. acceptance of the boy next door. Finalist Adam Lambert, 27, had earlier in the competition said he is gay .

The straight/gay thing was touted as the deciding factor. All of the other winners have been openly Christian and Allen’s marriage and religion may have given him a slight advantage.