Prior to that huge Idol extended family of former finalists taking the stage during the tribute to Simon Cowell of "Together We Are One" in conjunction with seven of the show's former winners, it seems the dozens of alums had some fun backstage thanks to Blake Lewis. Watch his mini documentary below:
Before we were on stage we partied!! Boooyakasha. Love my idol peeps!Yep, that's Blake alright.
We've finally arrived. Yes, we've all survived Idol's ninth season and tonight we will celebrate the last woman (or man, just to have my bases covered) standing. But more importantly, we will celebrate the fact that everything is over! Yes it's been great chatting with everyone during these long five-and-a-half months, but I think it's safe to say we all deserve a break.
Tonight's two hour extravaganza will feature plenty of guest performers like Carrie Underwood, Kris Allen, Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias in addition to an all-star send-off for Simon Cowell featuring Paula Abdul. I wouldn't be surprised if they reprise their stupid "Golden Idols" or whatever they're called, which would all but guarantee a performance of "Pants On the Ground" by General Larry Platt. Awesome.
And of course, the rest of the Top 12 will return to perform a few medleys in an effort to eat up time before news of the winner is revealed in the last five minutes of the show.
To see who I predict will win tonight, click here. And as usual, please feel free to add your two cents throughout the two-hour blogcast. Coverage starts just prior to 8 p.m. ET.
Can't you just feel the excitement? Tonight marks the final performance episode of the ninth season of Idol, quite a feat for the music competition reality series. Although this season has been the biggest letdown to date in terms of contestant quality, Crystal and Lee are the best of the worst and will duke it out to earn the crown by performing two personal choices and one selected by the almighty Simon Fuller (the coronation single will be held until the winner is announced)
Will Crystal and Lee opt for repeat performances or new choices? Don't be surprised if Crystal sings some original tunes based on her reaction to last week's hometown concert.
As usual, please feel free to add your two cents throughout the one-hour blogcast. Coverage starts just prior to 8 p.m. ET.
As we look ahead to Wednesday's grand finale for Idol's ninth season, it only makes sense to revisit the finale that gave this show a reason to continue. Kelly Clarkson was never the front runner to take the title on the first season of the show until her main rival, Tamyra Gray, was sent home in the first shocker of the series during Top 4 results night.
Kelly proved she had exactly what it took to become the American Idol, and her crowning moment and performance of "A Moment Like This" were extremely memorable. Relive the moment below:
And with that, Season 8 is no more. Kris Allen proved that even in the face of insurmountable odds, the underdog can never be counted out, and he did it an style tonight when word came in that he was crowned the American Idol of the eighth season.
I have to say that when I called Kris as the winner this morning, I was a little hesitant to type his name out. How could a no-named contestant that received zero air time before making it to the Top 36 make it all the way to the finale and defeat one of the most talented performers this show has ever seen grace its stage? But something in me said to go with my gut, that Kris' All-American image was really what this country was looking for and his vocal style is exactly what would be defined as "current." Kris is marketable and a record label's dream, and he will surely be able to move past Kara's dreaded "No Boundaries" single (which, by the way, he sounded better on tonight).
When the results came in, Kris looked as shocked as the next person. His surprise left him at a loss for words, which gave Ryan a reason to ask him to "show more excitement," but he really couldn't. It was too unexpected for him.
Adam Lambert should be very proud, though, because he will be much better off in the long run without the Idol stigma attached to his name. Besides, he delivered the single best performance of the night on his duet with KISS. Nothing can beat a little pyrotechnics and good old fashioned glam rock from the '70s and '80s. The performance was definitely the highlight of the night and will be remembered for years to come.
As for the rest of the show, it was leagues more entertaining than last night's performances. The guest performers were abundant and the duets kept on coming, and even though the silly "Golden Idol Awards" were brought back, they were actually epic this time around, with Nick Mitchell making a reappearance as Normund/Norman Gentle and Tatiana Del Toro was back to sing "Saving All My Love For You" for a fourth time while escaping security (yea nice try producers, that was so stage it almost wasn't funny). Those segments were funny, but kind of overshadowed by the performances.
Not all of the duets worked out well, though. Lil and Queen Latifah was kind of a shout fest and Lionel Richie seemed discombobulated when he sang his new single and "All Night Long" with Danny. In fact, Danny sounded so much better than Lionel it was kind of sad. Allison and Cyndi Lauper were soft and somber on "Time After Time" but once Lauper went off on a tangent near the end, things fell apart and the performance devolved into a contest between the two at who could sing the word "time" more.
Kris actually sounded really strong with Keith Urban on "Kiss a Girl." So strong, in fact, that he could actually pass as a country singer if he so chose to pursue that route. But the biggest "huh?" moment of the night had to have been Steve Martin and his folk band's duet with Megan and Michael. The whole thing seemed like a joke, only it wasn't. Poor Megan, she should have just said "caw! caw!" repeatedly and it would have been better than what she came up with in the form of singing. Michael sounded better but it was still rough in spots.
The Top 13 performed well together, but Allison should have had a bigger role on "So What," as the song has her name written all over it. The guys' rendition of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was kind of creepy, especially seeing them all dressed in suits. It was cheesy and boring until Rod Stewart came out from under the stage, only to nearly trip and fall on his journey across the stage to the micstand. It's possible he had one too many sherries before he was given the go-ahead to take the stage.
One of the most exciting moments of the show was when Katrina Darrell (aka "Bikini Girl") and her new assets and tan emerged onto the stage to perform "Vision of Love" in her signature bikini when who else but Kara burst out from behind the big ol' Idol door and joined her on the Mariah Carey track. As if that wasn't enough, Kara pulled off the most hilarious moment of the season when she ripped her dress wide open to reveal a black bikini, which she immediately covered up and told Ryan she only did it because the rest of the judges dared her to do it and they agreed to donate to charity if she followed through. For all the pain and suffering she caused as a judge and songwriter, though, this moment did a little bit to take away the sting.
Another performance worth noting were Adam and Kris' duet with Queen on "We Are the Champions," which was an amazing moment with fog overtaking the stage and the rest of the Top 13 serving as a backing choir of sorts up above on the stairs, looking down at the last two men standing. This was definitely not what most expected for a duet between the final two, but nevertheless it did not disappoint. And David Cook's emotional performance of "Permanent" was surely one that will be held near and dear to his heart. It would have worked better had he sang it later in the night but he still did an amazing job.
A performance that could have done without was the Black Eyed Peas and their No. 1 single "Boom Boom Pow," as the foursome brought an awkward five-second "Idol blackout" courtesy of Fergie and her potty mouth (apparently she didn't get the memo that they were to sing the edited, family-friendly version of the song for this special occasion). Santana, on the other hand, did not disappoint, and the Top 13's take on "Smooth" was actually pretty solid.
But now that all the glitz and glamor has ended, it is important to acknowledge that this season was not very good. In fact, it was downright disappointing. Kris and Adam were bright spots in the season, as were a select few other finalists, but the rest of the season was just awful. I will address my thoughts on the season in a forthcoming post on here.
But for now, IDOL LIVE would like to congratulate Kris on his big night. You deserve it buddy.
After last night's exhilarating performances, it's all down to the results. Who did American voters decide was worthy of the title of winner of Idol's eighth season? You'll have to tune in tonight at 8 p.m. ET for the special two-hour finale in what promises to deliver huge surprises. Also, be forewarned that comments will only be published during commercial breaks to provide for the most enjoyable live blog experience possible.
Tonight's finale was set to be a one-sided wipe-out, and although it may not have been as clear cut as expectations had us all believe, it was still a wipe-out based on the judges' comments. The three songs per finalists thing must have not really been a big hit with Adam and Kris, as it seemed like the two of them ran out of gas near the end of the show.
But who can be blamed for that? No one but Ms. Kara DioGuardi. Her co-penned coronation cheese-fest "No Boundaries" was set in a key so foreign to the two contenders that each of their takes on it came off sounding like two amateurs were attempting to sing something they just overheard someone playing in a cheap bar.
Adam took on the song first, which would have showed he was pretty brave had he not been required to do the duty before Kris. The result was something that was not very pretty. Adam was off pitch a couple of times, just as Randy noted, and his theatrical style just sounded all wrong on the poppy track about mountains and hurricanes and whatnot. In fact, it would probably be best for him not to win if only for the sake of his credibility not being damaged. But on the other hand, David Cook survived the blunderful "magic rainbow" line in "The Time of My Life," so anything can happen.
Kris took the same approach, as they were barred from playing instruments during the final performance. This left him virtually naked and a little uncomfortable, as he had to grapple with the high key and used the mic as his crutch to prevent any nervousness from seeping out. That did not really work, though, and in addition to slipping up on the lyrics for a half-second, his voice just sounded like it was giving out at times. Still, this faltering was nothing compared to Blake Lewis' surrendering back on Season 6 when he was given "This Is My Now" as his final song. As the judges noted, "No Boundaries" was probably fit more for Kris' vocal style, but he may or may not be able to call the song his own depending on how tomorrow's results go.
The judges were easy on the song itself, with even Simon stating that he would ignore the song and focus just on the individuals as vocalists during the show. This was all to spare Kara any embarrassment that is usually directed toward the writer(s) of the coronation tracks. But even Kara said something in a "yea yeah" sarcastic tone when Simon mentioned the "mountains" part of the lyrics, so she must agree that it did not work all that well on the two of them.
I will go into detail with my thoughts on the song following this post, so be sure to look for it (I promise I won't disappoint).
As for the two thirds of the show that didn't suck, it was pretty evenly split. Adam opened the show with a bang when he re-did "Mad World" in Broadway garb that would make any character from the Great White Way proud. The fog machine (or dry ice? as Adam said following his performance) was probably the thing that sent the performance over the edge into the category of ridiculousness, as Simon made sure he got in a word about. Vocally, it was strong, perhaps on par with his version back on Top 8 night but must likely not equally matched.
Simon Fuller's choice, on the other hand, was the most awkward, unfit song for Adam to sing that it sucked out any momentum that he gained from the first round, no matter what Simon said about him being "a million times better" than Kris in the second round. Although Adam sang the song well, the fact that he was tasked with finding a more soulful sound deep within the layers of his signature style kind of resulted in an odd final product. Still, the judges loved what he came up with, as Kara applauded him for finding his own interpretation of the song and Paula went as far to say that it was the best she had ever heard him sing on the show.
Kris, on the other hand, had the best performance of the night with his reprise of "Ain't No Sunshine." It's just too bad, as Simon pointed out at the end of the show, that Kris had to waste his best showing at the beginning of the night. The fact that he tried it out on the piano showed that he really is a true artist and is very versatile with playing instruments while performing. He was able to show his softest side on "Sunshine" and won praise from the judges,hearing everything from "awakening spirits in all of us" courtesy of Paula to "creating an intimate bond with the audience" from Kara. Simon was more effective in his turnaround in which he said Kris deserved to be in the finals after the performance.
On the Fuller choice of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," however, he lost a little bit of his luster. The vocal was raw and very Jason Mraz-y, which was good, but Randy and Simon had a point when they said it was a little "light" for the finale. Acoustic is great, and works extremely well on the much smaller Idol studio stage, but in the Nokia Theatre it gets a little lost in the air. And once again, Simon was right on the money when he compared it to something that could be heard in a bedroom with three friends just playing around on the guitar (where does he come up with these comparisons?).
Fortunately for us, Carrie Underwood was there to sing us out in what was probably the most exciting (and best) performance of the night when she took on this season's goodbye song "Home Sweet Home." She looked as good as ever and sounded pretty strong.
And for a few bragging rights, Adam and Kris did take my advice into consideration by picking "Mad World" and "Ain't No Sunshine" for their encores, respectively, so that was good to know.
So when all was said and done, this finale performance episode definitely ranks among the lower rungs of the finales when compared with the past seven seasons, as the excitement factor just did not live up to expectations. Still, whoever wins tomorrow night will have a lot to live up to and he better get to making "No Boundaries" work with his voice, because the song is not going away.
In the usual tradition, the Top 2 finalists will sing three songs each, only one of the songs will be chosen by Simon Fuller instead of music mogul Clive Davis. The actual formula for Tuesday's performance set list includes one song chosen by Fuller, a reprise of an earlier performance picked by Adam and Kris, and the coronation song as written by Kara. Although things have been switched up in the finales over the course of the series' lifespan, both finalists will perform the same coronation song this time around, as they did in Seasons 1, 3, 4 and 6.
Since Adam and Kris have even less control over what they will be singing, their personal reprisal choices will be all the more important. They will have to be strategic in what they choose, and even if they feel their best showings were on certain songs, they might have to resist giving them another go and take on a song that was not as great instead. That leaves me with the following suggestions for both the personal and Fuller picks:
Adam Lambert: "Mad World" (reprise), "Don't Stop Believin'" (Fuller)
Adam has a ton of options for his reprise on Tuesday. Too many options. In fact, if he goes with something like "Ring of Fire" or "Born to Be Wild," that could be the downfall of his chances. Therefore, he has to pick something on the slow side, preferably not "Tracks of My Tears." "Mad World," which closed the Top 8 show, would be a great decision because it was one of his stronger moments and would not sound out of place amid the rest of the night's performances like "Tears" or "If I Can't Have You" would.
As for Fuller's song choice, everyone is predicting and hoping for something by Queen. That would be predictable, over the top, yet it could work. But for an up-tempo selection, Adam would easily be able to rock out Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and make it sound theatrical without it being as predictable. It's true that the song was used in a group performance during Top 9 week, but it would sound much different coming just from Adam. Plus, it would be an automatic crowd-pleaser and the the Nokia Theatre would be on its feet for the whole performance.
Scott MacInytre is currently in Hollywood with the rest of the Top 13 finalists rehearsing for Wednesday's finale, so it's not surprising to see that he's tweeting about his goings on. But it seems that either he only tweets when he's rehearsing or he's doing nothing but rehearsing (and eating at the Olive Garden). From the past week he wrote:Rehearsing my Finale duet with the band.31 minutes ago from txt
Still choreographing for the Finale May 20th.about 3 hours ago from txt
Choreography for the Finale.. Jordin Sparks's band is across the hall rehearsing:)
Rehearsing music for the Finale..across the hall from Michael Jackson's band:)4:16 PM May 13th from txt
Rehearsing for the American Idol Finale.7:42 PM May 12th from txt
As we all know, practice makes perfect, and it's good to know Scott is rehearsing as much as possible before the finale. He better not be doing all this rehearsing at the piano, though. That would not be considered all that exciting.
Although it seems the entire press was shocked upon hearing the revelation that David Cook had defeated David Archuleta at last night's Season 7 finale, I try not to sound cocky when I say I had it right all along. What needs to be acknowledged here is that this competition is a marathon, not a sprint.
First, let's analyze the results.
Although the online fanbases do not always reflect the general public's demographics, the online polls at various outlets all seemed to be going in Cook's favor throughout the duration of the Top 12, and an even better indicator was how he was able to sell his downloads. Remember back to "Billie Jean"? Despite the fact that none of the Idol studio versions were allowed to show up on the official iTunes charts, the popularity bars in comparison to the then-#1 song, Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body," were astoundingly higher when viewed through the loophole iTunes had.
For a song to be selling that much, you know the people buying it are invested fans, and voting is free, while buying the song on iTunes is not. So you do the math.
And then, of course, Simon and his infamous "subtle wink" at Cook after giving him a rather harsh criticism of his third performance sealed the deal. At the finale last night, Simon apologized to Cook for "verging on being disrespectful" with his comments, and on the red carpet minutes before the broadcast began last night, Simon had taken back his declaration that Arch delivered "a knockout."
Regardless of what he'll admit to, Simon was more likely than not using his signature reverse psychology with Cook to rile up his fans and give him the surefire victory. But by 12 million out of 97.5 million votes? A 56-44% split? That seems a bit of a landslide, which no one would have expected. One good thing to know is that DialIdol.com was more accurate than ever at this finale, as the two Davids were separated by 12 points in their results, too.
As for his reaction to hearing the good news, Cook was overwhelmed with emotion and had to walk it off, but he recovered very nicely and was spot on in his performance of "The Time of My Life." I'll admit, it was hard to keep a straight face hearing him sing about "magic rainbows," but he gets all the slack cut in the world because Idol fans know the coronation songs are about nothing but sugar and cheese. It was great to see everyone surrounding him and supporting him at the end, and even Arch seemed all smiles.
As for the show itself, it was better than last year's, but not as good as some of the finales from seasons past. The performances that stood out for me were the duet of "The Letter" by Michael Johns and Carly Smithson, Arch's duet on "Apologize" with OneRepublic and Carrie Underwood's performance of "Last Name."
With Michael and Carly, the two of them had so much chemistry during the performance, and the way they acted it out, it made it even more special. I had picked them to be the Top 2 at the beginning of the season and they sure looked like a Top 2 last night. With Arch and OneRepublic, I thought Arch outsang lead singer Ryan Tedder by a mile and a half, and I kind of wish he had performed it on Top 3 night rather than "With You." And then Carrie's performance was (in the words of one Randy Jackson) blazin', molten hot! She looked beautiful in her short white dress and sounded better than she ever has on that song.
Some other good performances were Cook's duet of "Sharp Dressed Man" with ZZ Top, during which he showed his true rocker cred, and Brooke White's duet with Graham Nash on "Teach Your Children," which was touching to say the least. Jason Castro's reprise of "Hallelujah" was another treat, though it lacked the magic that his first performance had. And George Michael's performance of "Praying For Time," although a little too long, was very moving considering the atmosphere of the ominous, dimly-lit Nokia Theatre.
Some letdowns were the Jonas Brothers (big surprise), the hologram performance of Gladys Knight singing "Midnight Train to Georgia" with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Iron Man himself - Robert Downey, Jr. and (as much as I love her) even Jordin Sparks' performance of her new single, "One Step At a Time." I also thought Syesha Mercado would have been better off singing "Waiting For You" without Seal, but that would have taken away the cool factor, so it is what it is. And then the Top 6/12 numbers with Bryan Adams and Donna Summer were kind of nice, but nothing special. It was great to see all 12 of them on stage together again, though.
And like all finales, it would not have been the same without a visit down memory lane to look at the trash that were bad auditions, taken out long ago and forgotten about until now. The "let my peebul gohhhhh" guy and the "frosty mountain" guy were classic, but of course it was Renaldo Lapuz who finally got a golden ticket to Hollywood, albeit not the one he was expecting, and landed a prime performing spot at the finale. He belted out "We're Brothers Forever" accompanied by a marching band and cheerleading squad (I knew we would be seeing more of him for the finale as soon as his audition aired). And surprisingly, there was no sign of Josiah Lemming, the famous British-sounding, car-inhabiting 18-year-old who just missed out on a spot in the Top 24.
So all in all, this was a pretty good finale to end an above average season, but there are still many problems that need to be worked out. This season will be remembered for many things, among them the issue of having "plants" as contestants, the legitimacy of the judges' comments thanks to Paulagate, and a continuing slide in the ratings. Yes, there were many great moments that came out of this season, including memorable performances from many of the contestants ("Billie Jean," "Angels," "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right," "Here You Come Again," "Hallelujah," "Imagine," "Always be My Baby," the list goes on...), Simon's "WTF face" during Fantasia's performance and the many great Idol alums' performances.
So no matter what, this season will be remembered infinitely more than Season 6. Now the question is, will this season's batch of finalists be able to hold onto solid careers, or will they suffer "flash in the pan"-itis? It's way too early to tell, but it looks like David Cook will for sure be a bona fide star. Thanks America, for getting it right.
At long last, the end is here. Tonight we blog during the seventh season's two-hour grand finale at 8 p.m. ET, which will be held at the Nokia Theatre and will feature countless special guest performers, Idol alumni and surprise collaborations. Which David will win? There's only one way to find out, so please follow along!
David Cook, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "Eleanor Rigby (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "The Music of the Night (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Cook, "Innocent (Studio Version)" - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Smoky Mountain Memories (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Longer (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Sweet Caroline (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
David Archuleta, "Think of Me (Studio Version) - download on iTunes
Top 2 Week Poll Results - Favorite Remaining Finalists
David Archuleta - 167 (40%)
David Cook - 245 (59%)
Total votes: 412
