My Name is Kris and I Blah-g

I just returned from a trip to Las Vegas (which in about 2 years or so will probably be the home of Adam Lambert once his Idol star has faded). Upon walking through the airport, yesterday I was looking at magazine covers, etc and found that Adam graced the cover of Entertainment Weekly. He was also pictured on a few other covers of some other magazines and I found it very curious as to why he was on them and not the other Idol contestants? I just find it odd that in a competition, there is blatant favoritism of one contestant over another in the media. Media bias??? Mmmm… maybe. I mean, really could the media be biased? NAH!! Of course, we’ve had Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara yapping their chops to the media about how wonderful Adam is. How he’ll take the the title. He is the most wonderful contestant ever. Right? Is he really?Gee…guest artist Katy Perry seems to think so. Is this display by an established star in hopes of swaying votes for one contestant fair? Should it be allowed? This worship is reminiscent of the adulation that was poured on to Obama last year. It’s a blind following that seems so eerily similar in its scope and display of jumping on a popularity bandwagon. Well, gosh..this is only American Idol, after all. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not going to bring the world peace or provide a cure for the common cold but there seems to be a strange belief that maybe it just might!  I dunno…there’s been theories and accusations about the validity of Idol’s voting procedures and how whether one contestant is “pimped” more than the other and I usually am the first to deny that it exists because this show is one of my guilty pleasures. I just have to believe that it’s got integrity!! But after this season I am not so sure. I mean, if Adam Lambert was the Rock God the judges said he is, then why all the special stuff – dramatic entrances on stage, special blue lighting, singing last, magazine covers, etc. I mean, couldn’t he just win it on talent alone? How can the other guys compete with that?Well, they CAN’T. And that makes for a dull, predictable finale next week and a sullied reputation for Idol in my eyes.

Adam Lambert – One – This was Simon’s pick for Adam. And first let me say that I am so sick and tired of the special lighting and pomp & circumstance they give this guy. I think if they lit him like they did the others, we might see him for what he is – kind of a freak show. Don’t get me wrong. He seems to be a nice person. He is humble and gracious in accepting his praise but the praise has been so over the top, so misguided and blatantly one-sided. I try not to look at him as he sings because this is a singing competition afterall. So to listen to him on the merits of his voice and I find flaws – the main being that it is not a contemporary, radio voice. His is shrill. It’s loud and obnoxious. It works well for stage theatrics but not well for regular radio listening. I found his performances of this song and his other,  Cryin’ to be borish and the typical same ol’ same ol’. It doesn’t matter what I think though, he will sail through to the finals because he’s already been deemed the Second Coming. Coronation will follow next week.Kris Allen – Apologize & Heartless - I agree with Simon in his assessment of the Randy and Kara picked song “Apologize”. If they wanted him to sing it a certain way, they should have told him to do it that way. There were several flat notes in his first performance. The performance was also boring. His second performance was better but typical. His fall back is to turn someone else’s song into something folksy. And it’s different. It’s alright. I just wasn’t wowed by him like I was in week’s past. However, I would be thrilled if he made it to the finals WITH Danny. And it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he won, too.Danny Gokey – Dance Little Sister & You are so Beautiful - Honestly, I didn’t think his dancing was all that bad. It’s not like he broke out into a dance solo or anything. He was just feeling the music and going with it. I have seen much worse. What was he supposed to do, just stand there? Dance Little Sister is a pretty obscure song. In fact, I didn’t know that Terrence Trent D’arby had more than 2 songs ever. BUT, the tone of the original matches Danny’s and he did very well with the song. It was energetic. It was in tune. And vocally superior to the other two. That can be said for his final performance of You are so Beautiful which he changed up enough to make it unique to him but maintain the integrity of the original song. It was beautiful and tender. My biggest beef is that yet again, he was relegated to performing early. Preference was given to Adam who performed last (again) and was given different stage treatment than the others. I think that stinks.Who’s going home? Who knows! I really think it’s up in the air at this point. It could very well be a Danny/Adam finale which has been touted for weeks. Or it could be Kris/Adam. If it’s Kris/Adam, it’s over. There’s no point in watching next week because there is no way that Kris can win. If we want a real competition, then we need to see it be a Kris/Danny finale but that won’t happen. Dang it.

Is anyone really that surprised by the final 3 on American Idol? I mean, bloggers can feign shock and awe about Allison getting the boot but she knew her days were numbered. Now you can counter that she was talented and deserved to stay and all that stuff and while that is true, someone has to go. Allison has been battling a personality dilemma since the beginning. Fortunately for her, her talent is what carried her this far. And good for her, she’s got a great voice and with a little coaching and more experience under her belt, she may end up being really great. So, the Top 3 are Kris, Danny and Adam – no huge shocker there except for maybe Kris. He seemed to be genuinely surprised by making it into the final 3 and I couldn’t be more pleased he really held his own. He doesn’t rely on theatrics. He just plays his guitar and sings. Will he win? Doubtful. But he’s talented. He’s good looking. Yay for Kris. Danny survived his humiliating performance this week with humor. That’s really the only way to save face on this – to laugh at yourself which is what Danny did. Good for him! He’ll never live it down. But good for him for taking the assault from the haters. His fanbase came through and saved him. Now it’s up to him to keep their loyalty.This next week, the Idols will return to their hometowns for a visit and will be told about the songs they’ll sing. The judge’s choice is coming up and also the contestant’s choice. I certainly hope they have all given this some thought and will go out and perform what they’re most good at. This isn’t the time to step out of the box and be experimental. Just sing, dudes. Not like I’m expert… like most of America, I am an armchair Simon Cowell. Frankly, I just don’t want any of them to suck. And I don’t wish this competition to be as predictable as the bloggers and radio folk keep predicting – an Adam coronation. I would be pleased for any of the final 3 to take the crown but I think it’d be super to see either Kris or Danny step up and blow people away and take the top prize.