We have reached the end of the road and what a night it was. It feels like this season flew by and I can honestly say that this season has been full of firsts and some unexpected events. I have a lot to cover so let’s dive in…
Kris won the coin toss and chose to go 2nd which is, obviously, a very smart move. You never want to go first…you want to be the last impression in voter’s minds. Fun fact: In all 7 previous seasons of the show, only 2 winners who went 1st on finale night actually won (Ruben Studdard & David Cook). The other 5 winners all went 2nd in the final round of performances. Now, either Kris will keep tradition and going 2nd will win it for him OR Adam will keep with tradition and will win going first on a Finale with 2 male contestants (Ruben was against Clay Season 2 and David was against…David season 7).
I am going to break this down in 3 sections for each group of performances and look at who I think did better, or “won”, each section of the night.
Round 1: Contestant Pick
Both Adam and Kris chose the songs that have been considered their “turning point” performances in the season. Both chose to change it up a little in this performance.
Adam – The trench coat, the dry ice…all a bit over the top and I think to the casual viewer it will be too much. To me it felt disconnected and a bit robotic.
Kris – Kept it simple yet powerful (in typical Kris fashion) and gave a great performance that definitely connected to the audience.
Round 1 Winner: Kris
Round 2: Simon Fuller (show creator) Pick
First off…why do we need this? It made much more sense to have Clive Davis come in the night of the Final 3 and pick a song. Why the show creator on Finale night?? Anyway…
Adam – Did a good job. He didn’t make the whole thing shrieky and showed a little soul vibe.
Kris – This song plays perfectly into Kris’ deck of cards. Not sure what all you can really do to change this song up, other artists who have done this song have kept it pretty much like the original too.
Round 2 Winner: Adam (but barely)
Round 3: Winner’s Single
I hate when they have the same song for both contestant’s AND this song did not even fit either contestant completely. Both performances struggled. To be quite honest, this could have been the worst Idol winner single ever written. However, I am going to save my judgement on the song until I can hear the studio recorded version and really be able to tell how it sounds, cause the live performances by both guys was bad! Fun fact though…did anyone else notice the teleprompter in the audience behind the judges scrolling the lyrics?
Adam – The song was definitely in Adam’s key but NOT his style. Adam did not connect with this song and it seemed off from start to finish.
Kris – This song was WAY TOO HIGH for poor Kris (why did they not re-arrange it??) but I feel this song is more suited for Kris and could see him recording and performing this song once it has been changed to a key that fits his voice.
Round 3 Winner: Neither, or a tie
I believe this will be the closest race we have ever seen on this show. I believe that both contestants have done what it takes throughout the entire season to deserve to win the crown.
I know most people are, and have been, hailing Adam as the obvious winner, but I think that is a foolish call to make. Yes, Adam is an uber talented vocalist with a range that is reminiscent of Steven Tyler, Steven Perry and Axel Rose all in one. Yes, he came out in the beginning and gave us performances that we never saw coming and kept us guessing, but here is where I feel he slipped up a little bit. After a few weeks of surprising performances, it seemed Adam got in a rut. After his performance of “Mad World” (which was great) it seemed that he got stuck in this cycle of 1 week is Adam in a suite and spotlight seeing a low key song all in falsetto and then the next week he would come out in glam rock fashion and wail through a rock song and honestly, the rotation never changed after that. To me, in this area, Kris began to excel over Adam in bringing variety from week to week. There is also the issue of marketability and I think Adam may struggle here as the winner. Obviously, Adam has to make a rock album, but not a David Cook style rock album…a glam-80’s-old school rock album. The question is, where is the market for this in today’s pop music? Would a song of this nature get airplay on a pop radio station? Would it get played on a rock station?
Now, Kris has been the biggest surprise, I believe, this show has ever had. This is a contestant who we basically never saw on screen until his performance in the Final 36…he was virtually unknown to us. Aside from that, his performance in his round of the Semi Finals was not even that stellar AND he did a Michael Jackson song which is normally the death of a contestant! He defied the odds of making into the Finals. I would never have picked him to be in the Final 12 (or 13). Once he did make it, I was certain he would be gone within a week or 2…but his performance that first week of the Finals showed me I might be wrong and with each week he has continued to impress me and slowly, but surely, turn me into a fan. His original takes on each song he picked made him an exciting contestant to watch each week on the show. He continued strong and steady while Danny (who was my pick to win from day 1) started to coast along. Eventually, I found myself rooting for Kris more than Danny and being way more entertained by Kris as well. In regards to being marketable, I think Kris wins over Adam on this. I can hear Kris on the radio tomorrow; his style is exactly what is hot in the charts right now with the likes of Plain White T’s, Matt Nathanson, Matt Kearney to name a few. Kris would have no issue fitting right in on any pop radio station right now.
So all things considered, with the race being so close and both guys being so deserving of the win, I would say that the journey Kris has taken and the odds he has overcome as the underdog on this show are what gives him the edge in my mind to win this season. Obviously, I will not be surprised by either guy winning and both completely deserve it. Results night should be an interesting one for sure!
I hope everyone has enjoyed another season of my babbling…I mean, blogging, on American Idol. See you next year!
Kris won the coin toss and chose to go 2nd which is, obviously, a very smart move. You never want to go first…you want to be the last impression in voter’s minds. Fun fact: In all 7 previous seasons of the show, only 2 winners who went 1st on finale night actually won (Ruben Studdard & David Cook). The other 5 winners all went 2nd in the final round of performances. Now, either Kris will keep tradition and going 2nd will win it for him OR Adam will keep with tradition and will win going first on a Finale with 2 male contestants (Ruben was against Clay Season 2 and David was against…David season 7).
I am going to break this down in 3 sections for each group of performances and look at who I think did better, or “won”, each section of the night.
Round 1: Contestant Pick
Both Adam and Kris chose the songs that have been considered their “turning point” performances in the season. Both chose to change it up a little in this performance.
Adam – The trench coat, the dry ice…all a bit over the top and I think to the casual viewer it will be too much. To me it felt disconnected and a bit robotic.
Kris – Kept it simple yet powerful (in typical Kris fashion) and gave a great performance that definitely connected to the audience.
Round 1 Winner: Kris
Round 2: Simon Fuller (show creator) Pick
First off…why do we need this? It made much more sense to have Clive Davis come in the night of the Final 3 and pick a song. Why the show creator on Finale night?? Anyway…
Adam – Did a good job. He didn’t make the whole thing shrieky and showed a little soul vibe.
Kris – This song plays perfectly into Kris’ deck of cards. Not sure what all you can really do to change this song up, other artists who have done this song have kept it pretty much like the original too.
Round 2 Winner: Adam (but barely)
Round 3: Winner’s Single
I hate when they have the same song for both contestant’s AND this song did not even fit either contestant completely. Both performances struggled. To be quite honest, this could have been the worst Idol winner single ever written. However, I am going to save my judgement on the song until I can hear the studio recorded version and really be able to tell how it sounds, cause the live performances by both guys was bad! Fun fact though…did anyone else notice the teleprompter in the audience behind the judges scrolling the lyrics?
Adam – The song was definitely in Adam’s key but NOT his style. Adam did not connect with this song and it seemed off from start to finish.
Kris – This song was WAY TOO HIGH for poor Kris (why did they not re-arrange it??) but I feel this song is more suited for Kris and could see him recording and performing this song once it has been changed to a key that fits his voice.
Round 3 Winner: Neither, or a tie
I believe this will be the closest race we have ever seen on this show. I believe that both contestants have done what it takes throughout the entire season to deserve to win the crown.
I know most people are, and have been, hailing Adam as the obvious winner, but I think that is a foolish call to make. Yes, Adam is an uber talented vocalist with a range that is reminiscent of Steven Tyler, Steven Perry and Axel Rose all in one. Yes, he came out in the beginning and gave us performances that we never saw coming and kept us guessing, but here is where I feel he slipped up a little bit. After a few weeks of surprising performances, it seemed Adam got in a rut. After his performance of “Mad World” (which was great) it seemed that he got stuck in this cycle of 1 week is Adam in a suite and spotlight seeing a low key song all in falsetto and then the next week he would come out in glam rock fashion and wail through a rock song and honestly, the rotation never changed after that. To me, in this area, Kris began to excel over Adam in bringing variety from week to week. There is also the issue of marketability and I think Adam may struggle here as the winner. Obviously, Adam has to make a rock album, but not a David Cook style rock album…a glam-80’s-old school rock album. The question is, where is the market for this in today’s pop music? Would a song of this nature get airplay on a pop radio station? Would it get played on a rock station?
Now, Kris has been the biggest surprise, I believe, this show has ever had. This is a contestant who we basically never saw on screen until his performance in the Final 36…he was virtually unknown to us. Aside from that, his performance in his round of the Semi Finals was not even that stellar AND he did a Michael Jackson song which is normally the death of a contestant! He defied the odds of making into the Finals. I would never have picked him to be in the Final 12 (or 13). Once he did make it, I was certain he would be gone within a week or 2…but his performance that first week of the Finals showed me I might be wrong and with each week he has continued to impress me and slowly, but surely, turn me into a fan. His original takes on each song he picked made him an exciting contestant to watch each week on the show. He continued strong and steady while Danny (who was my pick to win from day 1) started to coast along. Eventually, I found myself rooting for Kris more than Danny and being way more entertained by Kris as well. In regards to being marketable, I think Kris wins over Adam on this. I can hear Kris on the radio tomorrow; his style is exactly what is hot in the charts right now with the likes of Plain White T’s, Matt Nathanson, Matt Kearney to name a few. Kris would have no issue fitting right in on any pop radio station right now.
So all things considered, with the race being so close and both guys being so deserving of the win, I would say that the journey Kris has taken and the odds he has overcome as the underdog on this show are what gives him the edge in my mind to win this season. Obviously, I will not be surprised by either guy winning and both completely deserve it. Results night should be an interesting one for sure!
I hope everyone has enjoyed another season of my babbling…I mean, blogging, on American Idol. See you next year!
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