Two men have entered Reality Singing’s ultimate proving ground, and one will leave as American Idol Season Eight Champion. Our judges at stageside are Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. And when the action begins our referee is Ryan Seacrest.
Now, from the Nokia Theatre – Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s TIME!!! Three rounds in the Pop Idol American Division.
Introducing first, in the blue corner. He is an acoustic rock singer and church leader from Conway, Arkansas. Krrrrrris Allen!!!
And in the red corner. This man is an actor and glam-rock singer. From Los Angeles, California by way of San Diego, Adaaaam “Emo Boy” Lammmmmmberrrt!
Ahem, a bit too much UFC for me, I think.
Round One: Personal Pick
Adam Lambert went with “Mad World” for this round. It failed to capture the magic of his first performance of the song, maybe because he was a bit TOO dark and emo with the song. I know, that’s been something of his M.O., but the moving around and the Phantom-style mood really took away from what gave him that vulnerability the first time.
Kris Allen sang “Ain’t No Sunshine”. I felt won Kris round 1 as he changed the song up enough and actually showed a lot more versatility than Adam out of the gate. Adam may be the favourite, but Kris is definitely not going down without a fight.
Round 1: Kris, 10-9
Round Two: Producer Picks
Adam, “Change is Gonna Come”. Really good bluesy number from Adam, ruined by some unecessary wailing. I realize that it’s the guy’s signature, but witness his Star Search moment at the end – not a wail, and it was quite good and fit the song.
Kris, “What’s Goin’ On”. Kris kinda got screwed with this song. You can’t really reinterpret the song too much, or else you end up with that horrid various artists benefit jam from a few years back. Going “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” with it was about the best he could do. But still, Adam was that much better.
Round 2: Adam, 10-8
Round Three: Hit Single, “No Boundaries”
Adam. This was not good. We’re not talking the level of Blake Lewis not good (I still say Blake was screwed because of the nature of the Hit Single – he wasn’t gonna be able to do his style of song with it) but as they say, the song owned Adam and not the other way around. Which is strange given how Adam has owned every single song previous to this. Even the background singers overpowered him at one point.
Kris. This was, well, better than Adam. Kris successfully made this into a contemporary rock piece, and I think he did well enough to win. Certainly, well enough that the judges felt that they had to bury him at this point in order to give Adam a little extra push. Seriously, that was not in the least bit subtle.
Round 3: Kris, 10-8
Scorecard:
Well, my scorecard has it as 28-27 Kris, but I figure Adam will win based on the sheer momentum he’s had up until this point. But if he does win, it’ll be backing into the title because this was definitely not his night. Of course, I’ll take Adam as winner over Jordin any day of the week, so either guy winning is fine by me.
Kevin Wong is eagerly anticipating the start of So You Think You Can Dance on Thursday.
