May 21, 2009

Idol finale thoughts…

Posted in Television tagged , , at 11:53 am by myrlinn

I tuned in to the Idol finale not expecting anything much, but it was actually a show that’s worth rewatching, with very good guest artistes, and memorable performances from the idols

David Cook was AMAZING, vocally and performance-voice. What an intense, heartfelt performance.

And in what turns out to be a foreshadowing of the results… Kris Allen more than matched vocals and paces with Keith Urban; while Adam Lambert was overshadowed by KISS.

Not a result many in the media would have expected, and I guess many people will point to excuses like:

* Adam fans pissed off Gokey fans, causing them to vote for Kris
* People who liked Adam were more complacent about voting
* Kris was the “safe” choice for middle America.

Perhaps all that contributed to Kris’ win, but I’ve been thinking for a while now that Kris has been gaining votes through his obvious affinity for catchy melodies and rhythms that people enjoy listening to, thus consolidating the popular vote week after week. His clear enjoyment of and passion for music-making is also very infectious, and endearing. He may also have been inadvertently helped by the coronation song. Sure, he didn’t sing it as perfectly as Adam, but I think Randy was absolutely right in that that song suited him better.

And Adam sure wasn’t helped by Simon Fuller’s choice of song for the final. Sure, he did really well on the song, but I think he would have had a better chance of a water-cooler moment with a more dramatic rock song which would have allowed him to give full expression to the outlandish side of his personality. Without that type of “moment”, his performances on final night only slightly edged out Chris’s, and only because he had better vocals.

I’m rather curious as to the vote difference. I’ve been speculating for a while now that Adam hasn’t been getting as many votes as the show would have liked you to think (I mean, Simon asking people to vote for him in the Top 3 show.. that’s telling, I think).  The fact that they didn’t announce the vote difference makes me think that Kris won by a decisive margin.

And, I must say I’m actually looking forward to checking out Kris’ CD. Not sure I’d be buying it, but well, with his talent for arrangements, I’d be waiting to see what original ideas he comes up with, what he does with the plate of generic-pop most Idol winners have been served with.