It’s the darnedest thing. I know I was in the camp two years ago that thought Elliot Yamin should have won American Idol 5. However, I don’t think I would have imagined he would have completely trounced Katherine McPhee and Taylor Hicks in the musical marketplace.

According to an article on parade.com, Yamin’s first single — “Wait For You” — has gone gold, meaning it’s moved 500,000 units.

Compare to Taylor Hicks, whose bouncy, peppy single “The Runaround,” might not have moved 100 units. Compare to Kat McPhee, who I also enjoyed for reasons beyond music. She had a few minor hit singles but nothing with the selling power of the Yamininator.

Given that the past two seasons has been short on mega market starpower, it’s good to see one of the good guys have some success. Yamin has the vocal chops to do some serious work well, and while his pop offering wasn’t my cup of tea, I couldn’t be happier for the guy.