Last night’s American Idol finale held so much promise, and for two-thirds of the show it delivered, I thought–Adam bringing the drama with his dry-ice-aided, yet restrained performance of “Mad World,” Kris reeling off “Ain’t No Sunshine,” the two finalists being given songs about Big Ideas And Social Change from Idol svengali Simon Fuller, and performing them ably, albeit with Adam’s fiery, subtextually dripping “A Change Is Gonna Come” having much more potential for a post-Idol shelf life than Kris’ open-mic-night-ready “What’s Going On.” And then Kara DioGuardi, as she has done during pretty much the entire course of her first season behind the judges’ table, had to horn in and put the focus back on her, or rather on one of her worst efforts as a professional songwriter to date. (And yes, I’m including “La La.”) Further thoughts, and a chance for you to engage in the all-important ritual of postmortem polling, after the jump.
I enjoyed all four of the contestants’ pre-coronation-coronary performances quite a bit, if only because they showcased just how these two guys–one the front-runner from the beginning, the other the definition of “dark horse” who, like David Cook last year, chose the perfect time to peak–are quite divergent as artists, yet still respectful of each other’s take on popular music. The two takes on soul classics, in particular, showcased this; while Kris’ spin on Marvin Gaye was a bit too mellow for my taste, it provided a pretty nice chaser from Adam’s putting-it-all-out-there “A Change Is Gonna Come.” (Which I suspect Simon Fuller picked for Adam after seeing him in his first audition, and which further solidifies my belief that the Idol producers were trying to make A Political Statement with the final, only switching gears and supporting Kris at the last minute, when Danny Gokey’s negative numbers proved to be too similar to those of, say, Sarah Palin. If only you guys were GOP strategists!)
And then there was the coronation song. Oh, Kara. Somehow you–and Cathy Dennis shouldn’t be absolved here either, given the high, high highs her career has hit in previous years–managed to craft a song that had notes that were too high for Adam and words that were too shot through with cliche for Kris to bother remembering. Was your assignment actually to craft an obstacle course for the two contestants, hence the awkward key and awful lyrics? Or did you just write this when Danny Gokey had a prayer, figuring that he’d force-feed your church-ready cliches (“Every step you climb another mountain / Every breath its harder to believe,” “Break every rule coz there’s nothing between you and your dreams” … ugh, cutting and pasting these is giving me a headache, so go here if you need a heavy dose of saccharine) with enough volume-driven “meaning” to make the song actually sound OK?
So my final feeling on last night is that it was a draw, although I want to give the edge to Adam for Statement Reasons (i.e. to wash the icky knee-jerk Onward Christian Soldiersness of Pastor Rolex and his noxious ilk out of the competition entirely), not to mention that his “A Change Is Gonna Come” was probably the best single performance of the evening. (I’d bring up the fact that Kris muffed the words on Kara’s song, too, but c’mon, you’d want to forget that crap as soon as you learned it as well.) All the prediction sites would seem to be similarly unwilling to take a side as far as predicting a winner; DialIdol has a different person ahead based on which stats you look at, the comment sections of all the boards are a draw, and so on. So I ask you, readers of Idolator: Who do you think won? And you know that I’m live-blogging the action tonight, too, right?
(The poll’s also here, if the above form is giving you trouble.)
American Idol [Official site]
How the finale will play out:
After Adam is crowned and he thanks his boyfriend, Ryan will wheel Kara out, strapped to her Hannibal Lecter gurney, and both Adam and Kris will have a knife-throwing competition. Afterwards, Simon will come out dressed as Vince McMahon and scream, “YOU’RE FIIIIIIRED!” and all will be right with the world.
Adam Lambert should not do an album or tour but go straight to Vegas and start doing a variety type show. Doesn’t matter if he wins or not.
haha, the wordle of “no boundaries.” (via)
Listening to the clips of “No Boundaries” was even more painful the second time. The changes are so awjward that it almost feels like Kara wrote one song, Cathy Dennis wrote another one, and then they alternated notes from each one. Kris’s half-hearted attempts at “meaning it” reminded me of Blake’s “This Is My Now” – he looked like he knew that the song wasn’t for him and would sound terrible doing it. If they let Kara write the song in exchange for the seat on the judge’s panel, I think they got punk’d..Which is too bad, because like you, I’d really enjoyed the finale up to that point – even Kris’s “What’s Goin’ On”, whose strummy arrangement reminded me a bit of Richie Havens’s version (my favourite cover of the song).
Overall, I think it’s too close to call – dialidol’s giving Kris a slight lead, but they undercount the texting vote, and that could go either way (at first, I thought Adam would get it in a landslide, but then I remembered that his supporters – which includes, judging from the people around me, older moms, grandmothers, and casual idol watchers – may not be relentless texters).
As the music journo who hilariously only watched this season for the first time last night, I was actually floored by the monstrous gap in their raw talent. I can definitely see why they’d appeal to different audiences, but man alive, Adam is like Steven Tyler fantasizing that he’s Tina Turner, while Kris is like this one guy that all the girls wanted to do in college, plus extra melisma. No goddam contest. I do agree with the comment above that Adam should barely bother with an album after he wins, those lungs need a casino residency.
@Maura: Hey, that’s me. Maybe this will get my tumblarity up to 1!
I said this a few times before, Kris just wasn’t seasoned/confident enough to be in the finale. Even if Kara and Cathy’s song would have been good, Kris’s performance was very dismal(and the Marvin Gaye song wasn’t much better). He looked very uncomfortable without his guitar. Gokey, love him or hate him, would have done a better job and might have pulled off that horrible song. And you would have had someone to root against. That would have made it more exciting for everyone. Like Evie said, there is a huge gap in talent between the 2. A lot of Adam haters and right wingers will vote for Kris just to spite Adam and his supposed lifestyle. That would be pretty crappy. Obviously Kris is a very nice guy, but if he wins it won’t be for the right reasons.
What is wrong with America? TV viewers recognize American Idol as a singing talent contest open to all, regardless of orientation or religion. It is not a popularity contest among class of persons. In Season 8, Adam Lambert consistently proved to be the amazingly innovative artist and the best singer, gifted with a powerful voice. America’s vote for Kris Allen, or America’s vote against Adam Lambert, seems to be a contemptuous hate vote against various sectors of society that Adam Lambert appears to stand for. ADAM LAMBERT DESERVED TO WIN. Even Kris knows this within his Christian heart, so much so that when he was unexpectedly handed the undeserved crown, he hesitated and then asserted in open public that “Adam deserves this…” — in righteous adherence to glaring truth and instinctive repudiation of the unbelievable subsuming vote results. You could actually many seconds before perplexed Kris finally acquiesced to receive the undeserved crown, but only after Adam graciously approached to gesture an encouragement. Adam Lambert is the true winner. Now, since I’m a working mother of two boys and a devout Christian, too, should I instead ask… What is wrong with this American Idol TV Show?