And The Winner Is...
Ok, I need to see a show of hands for those of you who watched last night's American Idol. I know that once again I am about to alienate half of the 10 or so of you who faithfully read this blog by writing about this, but so be it.
Last night, we were down to the final two, Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice. Those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning of this season know I have been a Carrie fan since before day one, with day one being the first time we actually voted on who should go through. No, I was for Carrie as soon as I saw her audition. Not that I'm trying to rub it in or anything, but then again, when a girl's right, you gotta give it to her.:)
Still although Carrie has always been my personal favorite, Mr. Bice is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, for the first time in AI history I believe we FINALLY had ourselves a proper finale of strong talent, unlike the uneven, horrific mismatches of previous seasons.
Early on, (yet still after I called it), Simon Cowell predicted Carrie would win it all. And if we are looking strictly at the odds, Carrie has them in her favor since she is the only contestant who has never been in the bottom three. On pure, raw vocal talent alone, I say Carrie takes it.
HOWEVER, Bo has long been the dark horse of this competition. He outlasted fellow rocker, Constantine Maroulis (although I still miss you more, Connie!) and held his own in a variety of genres. Bo also won a lot of people over with the energy he exudes on stage, a quality that "the deer caught in headlights-like" moves of Carrie, unfortunately do not surpass. So in terms of stage presence, the scales tip in the favor of Bo.
Then we have the finale itself. Call me crazy, but the week before the finale actually included better performances than last night's showing.
Bo kicked it off with this God awful, I hope I never hear you again as long as I live, repitious crap of a song called, "Long, Long Road". In case you didn't get the hint, I didn't like it. If I had to venture a guess I'd say Bo didn't like it either. In fact, the whole evening he seemed rather disenchanted like he was just a little bit off. I couldn't quite put my finger on why or how. Maybe it was just nerves, but was it nerves that he would win or that he wouldn't? That, my friends, is the real question. While his next two songs were better, they still weren't the winning Bo performances America had grown to know and love him for.
Then we have Carrie "thank you Lord Jesus" Underwood who sang songs entitled "Inside Your Heaven" and "Angels Brought Me Here". Bo also sang "Inside Your Heaven". To me Carrie slightly outsang him on this one. For the record, both of these were credited as "original" tunes, original here meaning complete and utter shit.
In the end, I've always felt the performer who sings last sings last for a reason. Yes, I know there was a coin toss involved, but don't think AI doesn't have their ways. Last night's performances were no exception. The performance of the night, hands down, went to Carrie's "Angels Brought Me Here", complete with the "dramatic, choking back the tears, I can't believe I'm really here" slightly ironic moment at the very end. I couldn't have scripted it better myself. I mean, sang it.
So there you have it. It's really anybody's win, and to be honest, I'd truly be happy with either one. But when I vote, I don't vote on one night alone, or one factor alone. There is a whole season of work to look at and being the teacher that I am, I have to give Carrie a higher overall average. Of course, there are no losers here, just people who walk away without an official AI contract, which in reality, might not be such a bad thing. This is also why I kinda think Bo shouldn't win because AI wouldn't really know what to do with the Bice man and creatively, Bice would be stifled. Carrie is the better choice for the AI queen and all that entails.
Besides, individually they are both excellent, but together, they can "Islands In The Stream" the hell out of a reunion.
UPDATE: Here she is...Miss America-n Idol, Carrie Underwood.
So tell, me do you think the right person won or are you out there right now, rioting in the streets in protest?
Last night, we were down to the final two, Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice. Those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning of this season know I have been a Carrie fan since before day one, with day one being the first time we actually voted on who should go through. No, I was for Carrie as soon as I saw her audition. Not that I'm trying to rub it in or anything, but then again, when a girl's right, you gotta give it to her.:)
Still although Carrie has always been my personal favorite, Mr. Bice is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, for the first time in AI history I believe we FINALLY had ourselves a proper finale of strong talent, unlike the uneven, horrific mismatches of previous seasons.
Early on, (yet still after I called it), Simon Cowell predicted Carrie would win it all. And if we are looking strictly at the odds, Carrie has them in her favor since she is the only contestant who has never been in the bottom three. On pure, raw vocal talent alone, I say Carrie takes it.
HOWEVER, Bo has long been the dark horse of this competition. He outlasted fellow rocker, Constantine Maroulis (although I still miss you more, Connie!) and held his own in a variety of genres. Bo also won a lot of people over with the energy he exudes on stage, a quality that "the deer caught in headlights-like" moves of Carrie, unfortunately do not surpass. So in terms of stage presence, the scales tip in the favor of Bo.
Then we have the finale itself. Call me crazy, but the week before the finale actually included better performances than last night's showing.
Bo kicked it off with this God awful, I hope I never hear you again as long as I live, repitious crap of a song called, "Long, Long Road". In case you didn't get the hint, I didn't like it. If I had to venture a guess I'd say Bo didn't like it either. In fact, the whole evening he seemed rather disenchanted like he was just a little bit off. I couldn't quite put my finger on why or how. Maybe it was just nerves, but was it nerves that he would win or that he wouldn't? That, my friends, is the real question. While his next two songs were better, they still weren't the winning Bo performances America had grown to know and love him for.
Then we have Carrie "thank you Lord Jesus" Underwood who sang songs entitled "Inside Your Heaven" and "Angels Brought Me Here". Bo also sang "Inside Your Heaven". To me Carrie slightly outsang him on this one. For the record, both of these were credited as "original" tunes, original here meaning complete and utter shit.
In the end, I've always felt the performer who sings last sings last for a reason. Yes, I know there was a coin toss involved, but don't think AI doesn't have their ways. Last night's performances were no exception. The performance of the night, hands down, went to Carrie's "Angels Brought Me Here", complete with the "dramatic, choking back the tears, I can't believe I'm really here" slightly ironic moment at the very end. I couldn't have scripted it better myself. I mean, sang it.
So there you have it. It's really anybody's win, and to be honest, I'd truly be happy with either one. But when I vote, I don't vote on one night alone, or one factor alone. There is a whole season of work to look at and being the teacher that I am, I have to give Carrie a higher overall average. Of course, there are no losers here, just people who walk away without an official AI contract, which in reality, might not be such a bad thing. This is also why I kinda think Bo shouldn't win because AI wouldn't really know what to do with the Bice man and creatively, Bice would be stifled. Carrie is the better choice for the AI queen and all that entails.
Besides, individually they are both excellent, but together, they can "Islands In The Stream" the hell out of a reunion.
UPDATE: Here she is...Miss America-n Idol, Carrie Underwood.
So tell, me do you think the right person won or are you out there right now, rioting in the streets in protest?
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