Diana Degarmo and Melissa McGee attend the finale of "American Idol" in in Los Angeles, CA. May 23, 2007.
Josephine Santos/Pacificcoastnews.com

It was all smiles when former American Idol contestants met up after Wednesday night's finale.

Idols from Seasons 2-6 gathered at KIIS FM's American Idol viewing party in Los Angeles to watch the show, reunite with old friends, and for a few, perform material from upcoming albums. It all went down at the Renaissance Hotel at Hollywood & Highland, just steps away from the Kodak Theatre. As the Idol taping let out and the cheers of happy Jordin Sparks fans could be heard echoing around the complex, we set out to Twist restaurant to talk to some former Idol faves.

What we didn't count on was how much they wanted to talk to each other! Cross-season friendships were clear, as Diana DeGarmo(Season 3) and Melissa McGhee(Season 5) hung out (both in killer heels, by the way), Season 4 rocker Constantine Maroulis chatted up Elliott Yamin, and Vonzell Solomon hugged George Huff.

"We're just one big family!" explained season two singer Carmen Rasmussen, who had texted season-mate Clay Aiken with news of Jordin's win just minutes before. Season 6 Top 24 contestant AJ Tabaldo agreed with the sentiment, telling Usmagazine.com, "I'm happy to be part of the Idol family."

All the friendly talk wasn't just lip service. Elliott told Us that he has "mad love" for Season 5 guys Ace Young, Chris Daughtry and Bucky Covington, and is happy that “everybody's off doing their own thing." How do the busy friends manage to keep in touch? "We call and we text," said Ace. Texting keeps a lot of Idols together. "I would text Jordin back and forth after shows, telling her 'you did great today!'" revealed Tabaldo.

Perhaps the craziest post-Idol connection, though, is Paris Bennett and Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais, who rap together on Paris' forthcoming debut album. "It all came about from our free-styling backstage," Paris told Us. Chicken Little free-styling? Come on, Fox. There wasn't some time in those filler-bloated results shows to show us some of that?

So what do the former Idols think of their newest family members, and the finale results? "I'm ecstatic!" exclaimed Mandisa. Jordin is "rocking it for the teens" an equally happy Paris told us. "We all knew Jordin was going to win," said Season 4 heartthrob and new Bold and the Beautiful cast member, Constantine.

Don't feel bad for runner-up Blake Lewis, though, there's enough love in this group for him as well. "You don't have to win it to find success," said Mandisa. Constantine gave Blake even more praise: "Blake is going to be fine. He's so interesting, and not afraid to take risks."

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