** SPOILER ALERT **
I chose to watch tonight’s show unfettered by technology, so I’m trying to write the wrap-up from memory and the four pages of chicken scratch I have here beside me. First of all, I have to say, they pulled out all the stops tonight. I generally hate results shows, and I expected to fast forward through 3/4 of it, but as it turns out, I watched almost every minute minus the commercials and the Golden Idol Awards.
Instead of doing a play-by-play recap, I thought I would start with the highlights of the night, then the “low lights” and finally some random thoughts, because I always have a plethora of those.
HIGHLIGHTS
1) David Cook. Nuff said.
2) Alexis’s boots in the Jason Miraz number.
3) Allison and Cyndi Lauper. Tears. Two such distinctive voices. AMAZING. I wish Allison were in the finale. Over who? I don’t know. But I think she is PHENOMENAL.
4) All Night Long — Lionel Ritchie and Danny Gokey. Their duet came alive for me at this point.
5) This one may surprise you as much as it did me. Steve Martin with Megan Joy and Michael Sarver. Loved it.
By the way, have you seen the movie Parenthood recently? If not, you must.
6) Rod Stewart and Maggie May. This is the only Rod Stewart song I have on my iPod and I just adore it.
7) We Are The Champions. OH. MY. WORD. Parts of it were Cheez-Whiz, I know, but still. LOVED IT.
8. Did I mention Cyndi Lauper and Allison singing Time After Time? Just making sure.
Low Lights
1) Queen Latifah. I have always found her intriguing and enjoyable, but tonight I didn’t care for her performance as much as I was hoping I would.
2) Nick Mitchell. ENOUGH ALREADY.
3) Tatiana. I refuse to give her melodrama any more air time than that.
4) The guys singing If You Want My Body and You Think I’m Sexy. As my 3-year-old says, no tanks.
Random Thoughts
1) What was with all the white on the first number? Couldn’t they do better than that?
2) I found Kiss A Girl an odd song for a male duet number, although I enjoyed the performance. I think I would have preferred it sung by one artist or the other (either, really) but the two together seemed a bit strange.
3) For a moment there I was afraid Megan was having some sort of seizure in the aisle during the Black Eyed Peas number, but then I realized she was just dancing.
4) I’m not going to touch the Bikini Girl/Kara DioGuardi bit with a ten-foot pole. I’m just glad I sent my son to bed at 9:00.
5) I’m not sure what to make of the Black Eyed Peas number, but if I could come back in my next life and look like Fergie, I would be one happy housewife.
6) How many face lifts can a person have? {Rod Stewart}
FINAL WORDS
So you all probably know by now that Kris won the night. I had a feeling that he might. The concensus on Twitter seemed to be that it was a big upset, but I figured that he already got as far as #2 being the underdog, and he would probably get a hefty portion of Danny’s votes. Plus, American Idol is all about the underdog. Just look at past years.
I’m happy for him. As much as I adore Adam and think he’s super talented, so is Kris in a very different way, and he grew SO much this season. That was fun to watch. Alltold, I thorougly enjoyed tonight’s show. I mean, from Kiss to Queen to Keith Urban to Steve Martin, for goodness sakes! And did I mention Cyndi Lauper and Allison? Alrighty then.
Well it went as I expected (and wanted) it to go, yet my immediate reaction was to feel sad for Adam. I root for the underdog/outcast, no matter who it is! I’m a softie.
But I think Adam will be just fine no matter what. I also think he will be best on Broadway or live performances, and not as popular on the radio as Kris will be. He was in his element performing with Kiss tonight!
Add Lionel to the face lift count. And Bikini Girl if we are discussing plastic surgery in general. I feel bad for the boy who ends up bringing her home to mom. Her future ain’t so bright. Loved the season, loved the finale, loved the outcome!!
Did you see dancing???? I was surprised at who won!
I thought the finale was awesome. I too expected to FF through most of it but did not.
I LOVED that KARA outsang Bikini Girl by a mile and then totally ROCKED a bikini! Take that Bikini Girl!
And even though Adam didn’t win, I loved that he sang “Beth”…and yes, I am a little biased…
Thoughts – I’ve been reading your American Idol recaps all season, but I decided that I should participate in the comments on THE FINALE.
I’ll just say it right up front – I CAN’T STAND Adam. Do I think he’s talented? ABSOLUTELY. Without a doubt, that kid has talent coming out of his eyeballs. More than anyone on that stage this year, he has talent. But he’s TOO dramatic. My husband got it right when he called him disingenuous.
I also LOVE the Cyndi Lauper/Allison performance and am equally upset that she wasn’t in the final 2. (over who? Adam, of course)
I can see where you’re coming from with the Keith Urban/Kris performance. Although, this is how I chose to look at it: Two buddies singing about girls. Look at it that way, and it doesn’t seem so strange.
Megan and Michael should NEVER sing in public EVER again….I think my ears are STILL bleeding. I LOVED the song, and Steve Martin is just WONDERFUL, but those 2 should just quit while they’re ahead. (which was before they ever graced the AI competition)The fact that Megan stayed longer than Alexis Graces still peeves me.
I was SO GLAD when Kara showed bikini girl up. Kara may be annoying every now and then, but she’s been in the biz for a while and girlfriend can sing. When she came out on stage and embarrassed the snot out of that little twit in the suit, I couldn’t have been happier.
Although, I do agree with you that it wasn’t the most…..family friendly moment
And I think that’s it….now what will I do with my time?
I’d given up on watching early on but got hooked again a few weeks ago. I am so glad Kris won. I just couldn’t picture myself ever buying any music by Adam but I can totally see myself buying Kris’ music.
I may or may not have a few American Idol participants’ songs on my ipod, and I may or may not listen when I am on the treadmill. I could not see Adam being added to my ipod. He is very talented but…
I gotta say, I LOVED the Kris/Keith Urban duet. I thought it was fantastic and will definitely be downloading it today (once I get my daughter to show me how to do that). I thought the whole show was great. Loved the duets, the awards (come on now, you have to admit that Norman Gentle guy is hilarious), and even the bikini girl part. I know many people were offended by that, but I thought it was pretty funny.
But mostly, hooray for Kris!!
Thanks for the recap. I’m going to miss them. I saw bits and pieces last night but have it on tape. I wasn’t sure it would be worth watching but after reading your recap I think I will.
I’m happy for Kris. I liked Adam too but just not exactly my style. I think he will do great though.
It was a great show (excepting the stupid Idol awards things- OMG WHY DO THEY DO THAT!!!!)! We were so excited when Kris one.
yay Kris! And he seemed genuinely surprised- which is nice.
I thought the Steve Martin song was weird- I didn’t think it really fit either of their voices as well as it should have. The song wasn’t bad- it just didn’t work right for me though. dawg.
And thank goodness they changed the key of the victory song- it was soooo much better than during the performance show. whew!
I spent all season whining about how “I’m not Idol’s demographic”…but then again, maybe I am? The night was filled with music from my high school days! Lots of fun and topped off by ADAM LOSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, but I just had to say it. Kris is not 1/100 the singer that Danny is, but now I don’t have to hold to my promise that I wouldn’t ever watch again. See ya in January!
I was so happy when Kris won. And to see his genuine humbleness afterward prooved to me why I like him so much. I will listen to him definitely. He may not be the superstar Adam will be but I like his style!:)
I missed Cara’s showing up bakini girl because I turned the channel away when bakini girl started singing. The comment about her breasts was pretty offensive and so not family friendly television. Not that my kids were watching, but I’ll definitely ff that part when they see it on dvr today.
Boy will I miss your rundowns that amazingly I concur with each and every week. Today’s was no exception. LOVED the finale, was out of my skin when Kris sang with my all-time favorite next husband, Keith Urban. And Adam singing with Kiss was such a phenomenal match. I agree totally that Queen Latifah let me down, and again, couldn’t stop looking at her outfit and asking what stupid stylist let her walk out on stage in that number?????? And Fergie, hot, hot hotness. Top all that off with Kris winning and I was one happy Idol watcher. Now on to “So you think you can dance?” I’m hopeful that you will be recapping that as well!
Man it was a long show! I agree…cut out all the lowlights…and Rod Stewart, and make it an hour.
Enough already! I was not surprised that Kris won…I think he totally pulled the teeny bopper vote.
I too am giving So You Think You Can Dance a shot. Meh…so far, just meh.
I’m also totally going to watch I’m a Celebrity…on NBC. Now that our (completely nutso) ex-first lady of Illinois has signed on. I’m telling you…she’s crazy!
“Spill it.” hahaha Haven’t been here in a while, sorry!
I enjoyed your recap!
I, unfortunately did not get to see the whole show, but I am with you on it being one of the best finales EVER!
And I knew Kris would win all along
hehe I love Kris. 