The Return (2006)

He'll always be linked with his Idol runner-up, Clay Aiken, but Ruben Studdard is obsessed with another singer: Luther Vandross. On The Return, you can hear Vandross' influence in every creamy falsetto note, delivered amid a storm of wind chimes and the rustle of silk sheets. In an age of coarse R&B lovermen, Studdard carries the torch for old-fashioned romance, pledging fidelity and bliss in PG-rated ballads like ''Make Ya Feel Beautiful.'' The production's bland, but his sweet singing carries the day. And he's still better than Clay.