Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter from Conway, Arkansas and the winner of the eighth season of the reality television series American Idol. Prior to Idol, he self-released a 2007 album entitled Brand New Shoes.
In 2007, he wrote and self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes with college friends and bandmates Michael Holmes (drums) and Chase Erwin (bass). Songs from the album began being widely distributed during his time on Idol.
Allen auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol in Louisville, Kentucky with his brother Daniel, who did not make it to Hollywood. In the early stages of the season, he was among the finalists (along with Allison Iraheta) that received the least screen time as only several seconds of his first audition, and neither of his Hollywood Week solo performances, were shown, although his group performance with White Chocolate (including fellow finalist Matt Giraud) was aired in its entirety.
After being voted into the Top 3, Allen returned home to Arkansas and his hometown to film the material for the next two American Idol episodes. Allen was greeted by a crowd estimated to be greater than 20,000. Allen performed concerts in Little Rock and Conway, playing many of his popular songs during the competition, including "Man in the Mirror", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Falling Slowly" and "She Works Hard for the Money" at the venues, as well as "Come Together" at the local Fox News studio. He accompanied all of these songs with his guitar. During the final show, he performed with Keith Urban, singing Urban's single "Kiss a Girl".
On May 20, 2009, Allen was declared the winner of the eighth season of American Idol, becoming the first married contestant to claim the title. Commentators labeled the win as an "upset" since runner-up Adam Lambert had received a significant amount of media attention throughout the season and was widely perceived to be the show's front-runner.