American Idol: Final Stretch

It's hard to believe next week is the season final of American Idol already! Even though I really didn't have a contestant I truly felt connected to this season compared to last, I have really found season eight to be rather enjoyable. Obviously there is a lot of talent amongst this group and many of them have a bright future ahead of them. I will say the elimination order this year has been fairly predictable. I'd have to look back to be 100% sure, but I believe I had the correct elimination order since the top 13 began, except for this past week where I thought Kris would be eliminated instead of Allison. Despite that, I still have been enjoying this season quite thoroughly. And after next week, all us Idol nuts out there will have to wait another eight months for the new season to begin!

There are a few things about the show that bug me; things that do not make it perfect in my mind. Clearly there have been front runners that showed their star power in the very beginning of the season. A couple still remain yet others have floundered. If all was right with the world, Danny Gokey would've been voted out last week if not sooner. I was a Gokey fan in the beginning. But I no longer find him to be all that appealing. I don't fault him for the producers pimping the backstory about his dead wife from the very beginning. I do, however, fault his inability to step up and deliver more memorable performances than he has. You compare him to Adam Lambert and you should be able to tell this season's winner based on that comparison. Yet for some reason, Danny has a strong contingent of fans. In their eyes, Gokey can do no wrong, especially butchering the last few notes in a classic Aerosmith song. In a perfect world, we would end up with a Kris vs. Adam finale. However, with the producers and judges behind him, Danny will more than likely withstand tonight's onslaught of voting to make it into next week's finale.

The whole Danny Gokey pimping by the judges has been just as puzzling for me than anything else. Kris Allen has proven to be a very versatile singer; changing arrangements and performing in a style unique to all of the others. He's the most musically inclined as well; mostly playing the guitar but also sitting behind a piano, too. Rightfully Kris should be up there with Adam in the finale next week. But get ready Kris Allen fans, he will most likely be thrown under the bus like he has been the past few weeks. Thankfully the fans stood up for him and voted him through to this very point. Instead of praising Kris for his musicality, he'll likely instead be criticized for not showing confidence, not displaying a more likable personality, or not connecting with the song. Meanwhile after Danny performs, if he lays an egg on stage, that won't matter. They'll praise him for taking risks and handing out A++ for effort. After all, Paula Abdul has visions of seeing Danny all the way through to the finale. Honestly, has Danny lived up to that early hype? Not by a long shot. But with a strong backing of fans and the judges absolutely drooling over his mediocre performances, the writing is on the wall that we'll see Danny next week. And that really makes me sad.

This, for me, is where the show gets frustrating. Last year I was upset at negative comments from people against David Archuleta. I hate to say it, but I am finding it to be a similar situation to what Danny faces this year, except that Archie was A LOT better. He put together a whole slew of memorable performances while Danny lays a large pile of mediocre crap. I just don't feel Archie got the praise and respect that he deserved and in my mind, he still isn't getting it. But I don't believe David got nearly the amount of pimping that Danny has gotten this year. I mean it's so obvious that it's ridiculous. And Danny isn't nearly as good of a singer as David Archuleta! Check out some of the videos out there of from Danny Gokey's hometown celebration this past weekend where he attempted to sing Micheal Jackson's "Billy Jean." He barely remembered the chorus let alone the rest of the song! I mean it honestly got embarrassing after awhile. This is going to be our season eight runner up or *gasp* the eventual winner? I shutter to think about that scenario actually happening.

So everyone out there in Idol land, please be sure to vote for Kris Allen or Adam Lambert so we can have the very best singers and performers in this season's finale. If there's going to be a shocking elimination this season, it has to be this week and it needs to be one of the prodigal sons from the start of the competition; the one who's wife passed away and whom the producers kept reminding us about it over and over again for several weeks in the beginning. I'll change my mind if Danny puts together a couple of memorable performances tonight. However, if Kris Allen is just as good if not better than Danny, then my support will quickly go towards Adam and Kris. I don't care how good Danny is tonight; if Kris is good if not better, then that's all she wrote. The only way, in my mind, for Kris to be a loser tonight is if he totally lays an egg for both of his performances and/or forgets his words. As I said before, if all was right with the world, our finale would consist of Adam and Kris. Danny needs to go after last week's horendous solo performance. Will we be in for a surprise tomorrow night? I certainly hope so!

American Idol 7 - Season Wrap-Up

Now that American Idol season seven is officially in the books, I thought I'd do a final wrap-up of some of my thoughts regarding the season that was. Now that we no longer have Tuesdays and Wednesdays to look forward to regarding the show, it's time to look back on some of the sights, sounds, and situations that made this season so memorable. The finale was truly one to remember, with the final two contestants giving it their all helping to put a final exclamation point on everything. I thought it was strange how Simon, who initially gave negative reviews to David Cook's three performances, retracted what he said from the previous night and said the race was actually a lot more closer after he watched the show back. I wonder if he only said this because he caught wind of the results and wanted to make himself look good, praising Cook instead of what he initially said. See, Simon likes to spin things around to make himself look good whenever possible. In fact, I'd consider himself to be two-faced because on the show, he can say very nice things about the contestants, but then during interviews with the Hollywood shows, he turns around and says they lack personality, have no charisma, and just aren't that interesting. He pretty much stated that during interviews before the top three performed this season. He's one of those individuals who can be your best friend to your face, but once you're no where to be found, he stabs you in the back. Thank god he's so high up in the world that us average folk only has to deal with him while watching the show. God forbid we deal with backstabbers as it is in real life.

The finale results show was one of the best that I can remember because it brought forth some of the most amazing singers onto the show to sing with the top 12. First it was Seal performing with Syesha - and what a great combo they made. They both performed one of Seal's most recent hits and I couldn't help but find myself singing along. Then the top six girls performed a medley of Donna Summer's hits along with Summer herself. She also sang one of her singles off her new album. All in all, it wasn't bad, although I still can't help but notice how uncomfortable Amanda Overmyer looks whenever she sings a group number. She just can never enjoy it! The next performance was a duet by the top two, singing "Hero" by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback fame. The song was also made famous by the Superman soundtrack. I didn't really dig the performance at first, but once I watched it back again, it was really great. The two David's really did a nice job of harmonizing and what else was great is that it was a newer song. They both did an admiral job with it. Then we had the top six guys sing a medley of Brian Adams hits and eventually, Adams himself took the stage to sing along. What made this especially great for me was Cookie and Archie singing "Heaven." Remember Archie sang this in Hollywood week and did a phenominal job. Archie fans were able to hear David sing not only a reprise of "Imagine," but also a small solo of "Heaven." It was truly magical and this was really one awesome medley for me. Carrie Underwood also performed and what can you say, how can you not love her? Each and every season, she performs and stays loyal to the show that brought her to the top. That is absolutely fantastic and she did a killer job singing her newest single. I've always been a fan, even though she stays true to the country genre. We were also treated to another duet between Brooke White and Graham Nash singing "Teach Your Children Well." This song is definitely in her comfort zone and she did a nice job singing along with Nash. It's nice to see a happy and comfortable Brooke without worrying about what the judges were going to say. And then Jason Castro, even though I didn't love his rendition of "Hallelujah" earlier in the season, his reprise was absolutely stunning during the finale. Wow, I was blown away. I might even buy it from iTunes it was so enjoyable for me. No wonder they didn't stick him with a star singer like the rest of the top five. Probably the hottest performance of them all on results night was the duet by Carly Smithson and Michael Johns. They absolutely smashed the heck out of the classic song "The Letter." They performed it in a new soulful, edgy kind of vibe and it was fantastic. Heck, I think it could be a hit song on today's radio. Then we had David Cook's performance with ZZ Top singing "Sharp Dressed Man," and Cookie sang all of the song that he could remember! Let me say I am not completely familiar with the song so I didn't even realize he didn't sing the final verse, but I guess Cookie didn't know the third verse of the song so there was one long musical pause. Oh well, I didn't even notice! It was still rather enjoyable. But the highlight for me personally was One Republic's performance of "Apologize." You may remember that it showed up as one of the top five songs I dug late in 2007 and to see it performed on American Idol was stunning. Then to hear David Archuleta come in and sing the second verse and harmonize the rest of the way, it was amazing! I think his duet impressed a lot of other media critics out there as well and it showed he can sing the newer stuff and not just the golden oldies. Then you had Mike Myers and his shameless promotion for his new summer movie and a review of some of those bad auditions that started the season, including Renaldo Lapuz singing his "hit" song "We are Brothers Forever" (or whatever the official title is), and all in all, it was one heckuva finale. Definitely one I won't soon forget! Oh, and how can I leave out the "surprises" of the night when not only David Cook but David Archuleta as well took part in a pair of Guitar Hero ads that aired during the finale. How fun were those (look them up on YouTube if you haven't seen them)!

This season had all sorts of ups and downs that it's going to be hard for me to remember them all. Probably one of the most controversial events of them all was when Paula Abdul critiqued Jason Castro's second song when he didn't even sing it yet! Was she drugged up or was it an honest mistake? That'll probably be up for debate for a long time. Another issue of note was contestants forgetting the lyrics to their songs. David Archuleta started it off with "We Can Work it Out" during the first Beatles week. Eventually Brooke White and Jason Castro suffered similar fate. And even Carly Smithson had a blunder that wasn't all that noticable to the common folk when she mixed around a lyric duing her performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar." Hey, it happens and you can't blame them too much because it is such a tremendous high-pressure situation that they are in. At the start of the season, Carly Smithson received the biggest backlash of all the contestants who had previous record deals out but thankfully, that controversy eventually died out. And who can forget when the media was speculating whether she was pregnant or not? Man, that had to be super embarassing for her. Then of course we had David Archuleta's stage dad that pretty much dogged him right through to the finale. Whether Jeff Archuleta is truly a stage dad or not, you have to admire the way that Archie didn't let all the tabloid junk get to him and he remained grounded throughout the whole competition. That says a lot for someone so young. Then I can't forget about David Hernandez and the whole gay-stripper debacle. He was soon eliminated after that story broke out. I have to wonder if he would've stuck around longer if that part of his life was never revealed. There was also Amanda Overmyer getting a DUI a year or two prior to Idol but that never affected her in anyway (she doesn't seem like the kind of person that would be bothered by that kind of news). We also had the controversial eliminations of Michael Johns and Carly Smithson (top eight and top six respectively). I really don't think their surprise eliminations will hurt them in anyway - and I've got to believe their duet in the finale will only help their cause. There were also allegations of producers "pimping" certain contestants to make sure they made it as far as the did (basically the two David's). I am sure some of that went on behind the scenes but nobody can be absolutely sure of it. I believe that's about all that I can remember for now. Just think, eight months from now this season will be all but a memory as season eight will be well underway.

That just about wraps it up for me for season seven. I still plan on writing one final Idol blog detailing some of my favorite performances from all of the contestants at some point in time. Whether that comes this weekend or next week remains to be seen. Whenever it comes, you'll definitely see it here sooner rather than later. Hope everyone else enjoyed this season of American Idol just as much as I!