Well, I made it. It's the last week of Idol, and I found something to say about every week till now. That's not as easy, fun, or useful as it sounds. I've missed on my predictions for weeks on end, but the finale of Candice vs. Kree was possible, if not preordained, from the start. Amber had the best voice, Angie was the most marketable, but they made the mistake of being good looking enough to be threatening to the people who vote for this show. Shoulda thoughta that before wearing leather pants every week, Angie. Ah, who am I kidding, those pants were one of the best things about this season. On that note, here's my ten favorite things from American Idol Season 12 in no particular order:
-Angie's pants
-When Seacrest confused one of our contestants' moms with her stepmom because all women look alike to him
-Candice's family's accents
-Candice's "Love Song", the hands down best performance of the season
-Every time anyone else had to talk about how Lazaro's badness affected their group performance
-The judges completely ignoring the fact that Amber Holcomb is basically a 17-year-old Whitney Houston
-Our finalists' performances of "One" and "She Talks to Angels", two truly great songs that somehow snuck past the producers
-Burnell's "You Give Love a Bad Name", the only non-Lazaro VFTW performance of the year
-The day I decided to stop listening to Mariah Carey
-Devin Velez taking every opportunity to say something that made AI voters like him less
OK, so the finale will be three rounds in an hour: producer Simon Fuller's choice, the contestants' first single, and finally, the contestants' favorite performance of the season. Kree kicks it off with- gasp- a good song: "Angel" by Sarah Mclachlan. There's a little slide guitar to give it a country vibe, but it's not obtrusive. I kind of like it. Kree's voice is a great fit for the song. It feels a little short and a little unambitious, but i enjoyed hearing it. Kree does a lot of performances like that. They don't go to the judges, which makes me a happy Dave.
Candice gets another good song, "Chasing Pavements" by Adele. I'm psyched. She's spot on for the beginning, and then just starts doing runs. It's pretty good, but I give the slight edge to Kree. She felt more in the zone. Randy and Mariah get to comment on Round One, so nothing gets said except Randy didn't like the songs. Nobody will miss you when you leave, Randy. You've got the down-home humility of Kris Kardashian and the intellectual integrity of Paul Ryan.
Before we get to round two, we get to the crowdsourced Carly Rae Jepsen performance. Since it's about taking pictures, there's someone taking pictures of her on stage. It's too bad nobody who contributed to the performance said "Maybe we should get someone who isn't terrible." That was nowhere near the level of unintentional comedy I've come to expect from Idol Finale performances. By the time this show is over I will have completely forgotten about it. Boo!
Kree's first single, should she win, is called "All Cried Out". Is this a new song written for Kree? I have no idea. If you'd told me this was a Carrie Underwood song, or a Miranda Lambert song, I wouldn't know the difference. Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing stands out either, as I don't even know how many country ballads I've seen on this show. Mariah and Keith give her a standing O.
Candice's song is called "I Am Beautiful". About 20 seconds in, there's no denying the score. I've said it many times this season, but Candice's voice is for real, and this is up there with her best performances. She's just getting bigger songs, bigger moments, better arrangements. This performance is the eighth-inning two run double that should put the game out of reach. Nicki says Kree had good composure and her performance showcased her range, but she liked Candice's song better. Keith calls the competition "Soul vs. soul", not soul vs. country. Keith and Nicki are split on who won round 2.
Kree's favorite performance of the season was "Up to the Mountain", from the Vegas weeks. Crystal Bowersox kicked this song's ass Season 9 and still couldn't beat Lee Dewyze. Kree's gotten three midrange ballads, and even though her voice has probably never sounded better, it's a sandbagging of the first order. Nobody's going to care if she's technically perfect if Candice gets bigger notes. Kree does hit some wonderful high notes on this one, though. The judges stand up. I'm not sold sold on Kree in the sense that I'd pay to see her, but if she goes on to be very successful, I won't say she doesn't deserve it. Keith: "It's all connected, baby." Nicki: "All three performances showcased your beautiful voice and your beautiful soul." Randy: "That right there is a winning-type performance."
Candice gets to throw down last, with "I (Who Have Nothing)". A brilliant a capella first verse, going big right away on the chorus, this is a victory lap. Better than Jordin Sparks' winning performance from Season 6, and really, it was a LOT better. Standing O from all four judges. Keith: "It's like a planet exploding to life." Nicki: "Did your legs just make a debut on American Idol? I loved that performance." Randy: "That's, like, a winning performance!" Mariah, fittingly, gets the last judge's word. More like the last thousand words, but still.
Anyway, regardless of who was better, there's always the chance America gets it wrong. Allen over Lambert. Dewyze over Bowersox. Season 10, where the best person was voted off something like 5 weeks in a row. Phillips over Sanchez. All mistakes. Harrison over Glover wouldn't even crack the five biggest Idol voting screwups ever. I'll be back tomorrow if the Finale gives me anything worth writing about. If not, Terrible TV will be on hiatus until I figure out the next show to cover. Probably X Factor. Maybe Master Chef. We'll see.
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