I Am So Ready For the End of American Idol

So now there's three:

I'm referring to this current season....but perhaps the entire series as well. It's been 8 years and these manufactured pop stars are just getting tired. Besides I already think my favorite, Adam Lambert is not going to win. Not unless he tones down the "theatrical" which is code word for what? Oh there are so many things wrong with it. If as a performer you can't be your authentic self (musically, image-wise) then what are you? A manufactured pop star. Just pluck one off the assembly line and insert coin. Wind them up and let them go...until next year that is. 

On the other hand our human interest in seeing the underdog win drives some of the enthusiasm for these genres. Talent contests will never go out of style. We see a little bit of ourselves in these contestants. So the Evangelicals have been voting for Gokey and Allen. Perhaps they'll cancel each other out. Allison Iraheta was voted off last week and I wanted her to get to the Final Two. Oh well, she'll be told to lose 20 lbs and dye her hair blond or ELSE. Just Watch. Any originality she had will be sucked out of her and she'll do interviews where she talks about losing her "baby fat" and will be sporting a push-up bra and high heels in no time. Forget her spunkiness and talent. 

What's different this season from others is the front-runner is so off the beaten path for people that tend to enter these types of competitions. Lambert's been around and eligible to enter the contest its entire existence.  I believe there's an underlying story as to why he hadn't done so until now. Since it's down to the wire we'll see how he strategizes to stay in the competition. For this is serious and it requires the skills of seasoned chess player. How palatable does Lambert want to be and how big of an audience does he want? Is he willing to shrink himself and round out the edginess for a wide appeal? 

Why can't the majority of people accept him as an artist without taking offense to his lack of portraying an intentional hyper-masculine role? I think it's time to address our expectations of gender roles and why.

Update: Now Idol goes into the final week. Kris Allen & Adam Lambert are the finalists. We'll see if America votes safe or edgy. 

Danny Screams, Adam Gets Aggro, Allison Hangs On and Kris Who?

Slash served as this week's mentor to the Idolings as they churned out Rock Week. There were three memorable performances and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. I also realize Fox keeps pulling the videos so what's available at posting time may be gone a few hours or days later. I've changed out video from last week's show twice and they're still gone! Don't they realize we're giving them free advertising! Er...okay that could be the other way around too. 

In what can only be called the Dean Scream of the pop world Danny Gokey squandered ALL of his currency from last week's excellent performance by trying to out-Adam his competitor. Dude, somebody should've warned you NOT to even think about it! He butchered Aerosmith's Dream On. Ah well. It was nice knowing ya!

Well that brings us to Kris Allen who performed the Beatles' Come Together. I think he may have gotten lost in the shuffle of spectacular highs and lows - but turned out a respectable performance. Or as judge Kara DioGuardi said, "the softer side of rock". Seriously these judges need to start a comedy act and take it on the road. He's just meh overall to me and always has been. Being white may afford him many privileges in life but not in a singing competition against the Heavyweight Champion of Vocals.

Which brings me to Adam Lambert. Seeing him in the bottom three last week really pissed me off. As I've stated in previous posts if he doesn't win it's because some people don't want a fey Idol. He's very fey, okay and an excellent performer. So get over it! It's 2009. He shouldn't have to be forced to do the latest imitation version of glam to seem acceptable in today's market either. Though he did do a classic prog rock song and butched it up for the squeemish. He should be able to sing whatever he likes. Now having said that, he belted out Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love like it had never been sung (to a woman) before. Our ears have been touched for the very first time. Oooh those high notes make my toes curl! He is NEVER boring and I love him for it! Go on with your bad self.

Finally (though not in order of their performances) Allison Iraheta sang one of my personal favorites, Janis Joplin's Cry Baby. Love that song! Liked her rendition, though the judges didn't. Little Ally got sassy with them, too! Good for her. At least somebody else messed up which should carry her through to next week. I was concerned when Simon told her he wasn't sure how badly she wanted to win last week. He tried to tank her. She's only 17 years old! Of course she wants to win. She's still trying to figure out who she is and hasn't yet graduated high school. How quickly he forgets. 

Kris + Danny = Boring. Allison + Adam = Fiyah.  That's my assessment of their duets and their individual performances last night. I'm hoping the voters don't go for the contrast of ho-hum vs. spectacular in the final because I have a feeling Kris would win for the ease of marketing not because he was the best this year. I'm rooting for Allison vs. Adam and would be happy for both. Adam will definitely have a career regardless but I think it would be a shame to have him taken out of the running prematurely.

Watch the videos while they last!

Adam

Allison

Danny

Kris