Thoughts on the Idol finale
I can’t say I was disappointed by that conclusion. I wanted Kris to win, but I warmed up to Adam enough by the end of the season (I initially couldn’t stand him) that I wasn’t going to be too upset if he won. He was just likable enough to overcome what I dislike about the screechy vomiting of all of his songs.
Though I was glad Kris won, but I couldn’t help but feel the live audience was kind of stunned by the announcement, and the show kind of felt like the audience never recovered. He hugged and thanked and sang like he needed to at the end, but there was still just kind of this shocked “Wow, Adam didn’t win?” vibe to it all.
I think what really made me at peace with the idea of Adam winning was that KISS performance. For all that Adam has been through to groom him for a lifetime on stage, and being essentially everything that Kris isn’t, you could just see it on his face — that guy was having the time of his life. It’s hard to root against someone who’s loving what they’re doing that much. That’s something I never got from Gokey, who always looked like he was smugly calculating his way through so he could get his album deal. There was nothing sincere at all from that guy, so I found it very very easy to root against him.
The last three years have really seen what I consider a rejection of the judges’ obvious favorites — Melinda Doolittle, David Archuletta and now Gokey and Lambert. I don’t know if the judges have ever gone so in the tank for any contestants like they did with those two, and they were really in the tank for Doolittle and Archuletta. Could there be some kind of voter backlash against the Chosen Ones? Or is it nothing more than the viewers disagreeing with the judges?
One thing that I thought helped Kris was the idea that Gokey and Lambert supporters seemed pretty harshly divided. I’m not sure I can think of anyone I know who liked one and also liked the other. So I wonder if some angry Gokey voters didn’t vote for Kris as anti-Adam votes. Still, I thought Kris was great on Tuesday, and as much as I hate those sappy ballads they have to sing on the last show, I thought he actually made it sound like a really good song, whereas Adam sounded like everyone else always sounds — like a good singer plodding their way through an awkward song.