American Idol Season 8 Winner

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A Star is Born, or is it Two Stars?

Well, the finale week of American Idol has come and gone, and I imagine there are lots of Adam Lambert fans with their mouths hanging open after Kris Allen’s victory this year. I can’t say that I’m not feeling pretty good right now, as Kris emerged several weeks ago as my choice for the win, although I knew it would be a fight to beat Adam in the competition. All in all, I’d say as much as anything, Kris’ win boiled down to his likability as much as anything. Throughout the contest, he showed excellence, extreme musical talent, vocal consistency and prowess and humility. In light of Kris Allen’s ongoing professionalism and excellence, I think ultimately (and contrary to what Simon kept saying), his humility paid off in the end. He’s just a super-talented likeable guy.

American Idol is about talent, but it’s also a popularity contest. While there were almost 100 million votes cast to make the final decision, Kris’ likeability, combined with his talent, overshadowed Adam. There’s no doubt that Adam Lambert truly could “sing the phone book” and make it interesting – on pitch and in the rafters – but the question remains, do people want to hear him sing as much as they prefer hearing Kris? Given the final outcome, the answer to that question seems to be “NO!” I know I much prefer to hear Kris Allen sing over Adam Lambert. As one of my friends put it, Kris sings from the heart, Adam sings to impress. That particular issue could be what kept Adam from claiming the top spot. At any rate, Adam Lambert has well-established himself as an amazing artist, one who will be around for a long time.

Before I really discuss the finale, let me just say that Kris and Adam’s competitive performances on Tuesday of this week were forgettable (in my opinion) when cast in the light of their previous performances overall. I thought the song choices were crappy and not so great to listen to. In particular, I have to say that Kara’s song – “No Boundaries” was a very poor choice for Kris, in particular. I think the words were appropriate, but the melody obviously was not written to suit Kris’ voice, which is unfortunate, given the fact that it was his final performance on American Idol. Actually, the song seemed more vocally appropriate for Adam, given his range, although I don’t think Adam did such a great job performing it either. Ultimately, I don’t think this week mattered one bit in terms of the winner. I think most people had already made up their minds for whom they’d vote. The only clincher would have been if either had done overwhelmingly good or terrible, which wasn’t the case.

The American Idol Finale

I don’t care to comment on the long list of performances during Finale night, but I do care to mention what I thought were some of the best.

It was entertaining and interesting to see the whole crew of 13 back on the stage – very enjoyable. However, I thought several of their performances were kind of cheesy and not so great – nevertheless, I still enjoyed most of what I saw.

Queen Latifah and Lil Rounds

I couldn’t even tell you what the name of the song was that they sang and quite honestly, I don’t even want to look it up. But, I thought Lil looked better than she’s looked during the whole season. Her performance was pretty good, from what I could tell, although both Queen Latifah’s voice and stage presence overshadowed her during the song. Overall, I thought it was okay, but not so memorable.

David Cook Sings “Permanent”

This song, “Permanent” by David Cook was a moving rendition. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially in light of his brother’s recent death of brain cancer. David’s tribute to him and contribution to the Accelerate Brain Trust Cure, was both memorable and admirable.

Kris Allen and Keith Urban Duet – “I Wanna Kiss a Girl”

What can I say? I thought this performance was fantastic, heartfelt and interesting to watch. Kris seemed right on and blended well with country star Keith Urban. I didn’t think one outshined the other, but both seem to compliment the other well on this song. It was really cool to watch, although it was obvious that Kris Allen still had that hyper-humble look on his face, almost seeming in awe that he was on stage performing with the likes of Keith Urban. This was one of my favorite performances on American Idol Finale night.

Danny Gokey and Lionel Richie

Honestly, I haven’t been the biggest Danny Gokey fan over the course of this year’s Idol, but this was one of my favorite performances on Finale night. I thought Danny sang great and sounded fantastic harmonizing with Lionel Ritchie. I truly enjoyed watching and listening to this performance.

Adam Lambert and KISS

What, you thought I wouldn’t mention this one? Watching Adam Lambert and KISS sing was a spectacle to say the least. What’s even more interesting is the fact that Adam looked like he was finally at home, finally where he should be – singing and screaming with a Rock group like KISS. It’s no doubt either, that he outsang Gene Simmons and definitely breathed new life into the classic song – “Rock and Roll All Night”.

Evening Shocker – Kara DioGuardi “One Ups” Bikini Girl

I’m not even sure what to say here, but that I was totally flabbergasted – as was everyone else, after reading responses on Twitter about Kara DioGuardi’s “unveiling”. In fact, not only did she blow everyone away with her bikini body, but also with her singing. I suppose I should have known, but the girl actually has a really nice voice. Hmm, I wonder who the next Idol judge will be to release a new album?

All in all, it was a great season on American Idol. There’s no doubt that this year came loaded with talent, more big named musicians and a bigger following. Just when you think that it’s time for American Idol to lose it’s momentum, they up the stakes by adding a new judge, Kara DioGuardi and then giving her more of a debut on Finale night than any other time. Very interesting stuff to say the least. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next season.

Oh, and by the way Congrats to Kris Allen! I’m thrilled that you’re this year’s American Idol! I hate to say it, but “I told you so!”

Tagged as: American Idol, home recording, Singers

{ 6 comments }

peajune May 21, 2009 at 8:34 pm: yeah, totally agree with you!kris deserved to win the American idol title this season.adam has talent likewise, but his performances are all theatrics (of course, this mainly due to his theater roots). and who would want to hear a song with all that loud, wailing and shouting? i guess, i must be getting pretty old— am not used to listening to rock music. lols!
Adam Lambert fan May 21, 2009 at 8:38 pm: Kris Allen won the vote of the huge Christian community probably because of the possibility that Adam may be gay which, of course, the Christian community can’t tolerate.Musically, Kris Allen types are a dime a dozen. Lambert, on the other hand, the creativity, talent, artistry and sheer showmanship that translates into true star power.When Kris Allen’s American Idol contract runs out he’ll be left playing church socials while Adam Lambert is selling out concert venues across the country.
Rick Osborn May 22, 2009 at 6:53 am: “Adam Lambert fan” – The awesome thing is that everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don’t think it was the gay issue that kept Adam from winning, but I do think the fact that he was so ostentatious may have hurt him a bit. Nevertheless, I do think that he will have a great career. I beg to differ with you about Kris Allen though, but we’ll just have to wait and see. The way I see it, both of them deserved to be in the top two of Idol this year.
Rick Osborn May 22, 2009 at 7:41 am: “peajune” – Sounds like we think alike. I think Adam’s amazingly talented, but I enjoyed Kris more with his guitar and piano skills. I also think that since Kris came in unassuming and humble that his rise to the top made people want him to win all the more. Adam was already set in his abilities before he ever got to Idol.
Kyle May 22, 2009 at 8:55 am: Kris Allen and Danny Gokey (sp?) were similar styles, once Gokey was out his voters migrated to Kris Allen. Adam is a fantastic singer but I think he over did his high pitch sound a little too much. It was great for a few songs but after he first used that card and it gave him success, he used it at every single possible moment and it got old.
Rick Osborn May 22, 2009 at 12:24 pm: Kyle, thanks for the comment! I couldn’t agree with you more about Adam. I think he really needed to hold back some and sing softer from time to time to appeal to a wider range of listeners, but like you said, he was in the rafters on every song. I think you nailed it with that point. As for Kris and Danny, I really don’t think their styles were all that similar, maybe because to me their voices were very different, but I do agree that Kris probably took Danny’s votes, once he was no longer in the competition. Either way, Adam’s not going anywhere.