JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum American Idol Finals

I haven't read the above posts because I still haven't seen the final show, but I did hear who won, not that I cared much. As I see it the 2 best performers went out in 6th and 4th, so who cared whether the 3rd and 4th best won or lost. I think over the course of the season, if you removed the two far superior performers who were eliminated early, the winner may have been the most consistent of those left. Haley should have been out in 10th place, give or take a spot or two so she was the real winner in terms of exposure. If not for her 2 duets with Casey, she'd have been long gone. Those were her first 2 great performances. He Led Zep performance was her best solo shot, but otherwise, she was lacking. Of the two finalists, we had a 16 year old who has nothing but upside. She needs experience and practice performing but has the raw materials to be a legit star. Scotty is what he is. Just another old school sounding voice in the country field with a lot of built in fans assuring some hits and some awards but after a few years, it will be surprising to see him elevate to a top tier male country star like Carrie Underwood did.

The real surprise (and the REAL winner) was that the country vote was strong indicating Country is ready for another big push like it was in the Garth days. We may see an explosion of popularity in that crowd now that the rap/pop/r&b mix has finally worn out it's welcome. I think as we see a shift to more conservative politics, we'll see a similar shift to more conservative values in music meaning country has a shot at reviving itself if they don't blow it (sort of like if the conservative politicians don't blow it). People are ready, but only if both deliver.

Right now I have the biggest respect for Lady GaGa who, though a copy of Madonna, is the most interesting and entertaining performer in music right now. (If she isn't, I'd like to hear those who are better?). I was disappointed the rockers didn't do better. James was the real deal in that field, but it appears kids and parents just aren't interested. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, sort of like last 2 years runners up, but like Daughtry, he might still come out of this with a career. If hair band metal has a future, he's one of those who will have to bring it back (even without the long hair).

I hope the last couple shows are entertaining. Like I said I haven't seen them plus big chunks were missed as we were in the middle of serious tornado warnings which kept cutting into both episodes (I think 4+ times) where the warning buzzer shut down all shows on all channels, and then local stations cut off the shows as well. Must have KILLED local ad income missed. But we're still lucky we didn't have terrible touchdowns like they had in other parts of tornado alley.

Brian