American Idol Season Finale - 5/22, 5/23 2007

This is it! Season 6 is wrapping up. Now that Melinda has been voted out, it is a toss up between Jordin and Blake. Neither of them have the talent to compare with Melinda, so whoever looks cuter would walk away with the Idol title...

I'm going to have to wait and watch it via VHS as I'm on a plane this evening and tomorrow night, missing both shows!!!

I hear there is the new reality show from Steven Spielberg scheduled to follow the AI Finale. It sounds interesting... I will be TiVo-ing that too...

I can't believe I forgot to set the DVR! Anyone know if you can watch the show elsewhere?

Flying out to Colorado today. Headed for Estes Park first, should be there by 4:30 MT. I'll be lying in my bed with the fireplace lit, hoping to stay awake to watch - Jordin WIN!

Yawn.

Who wants another stylish interpreter like Jordin? Throw her in the deck with the other 51 soundalikes, shuffle and deal the next song onto the top hit radio station!

And the world hardly needs another Blake/Maroon5/Matchbox20/Sugar Ray.

And that song.... UGH. That is just about the only song that could make "Do I Make You Proud" sound good. All we need is 20 more years of Jordin pumping that dreck out at the world via 19E.

Thank God for XM Radio and my choice of music.


Tom

gah. The only thing I liked about this show was seeing a commericial for Hell's Kitchen.

I thoguht Blake held the entertainment title, but Jordin did sing a bit better than him if you like someone just standing on the stage and singing ballads at you.

that "this is my now" song. On Goodness that is a bad one. Although I enjoy blake more and think he's a better performer, I actually hope Jordin wins I don't think he'd be happy or have much creative freedom if he were to win, and it would do him more harm than good. (IMHO). I almost wondered if he threw the competition.

Oh my. Certainly taste in music is an individual thing. And it's great that there are now so many choices to allow us to indulge in whatever kind of music we like.

But I have a serious question. Tom and BSQ, if you dislike this kind of music so much, why do you watch AI?

This was my take on last night.

First round goes to Blake, but not by much.

Second round to Jordin by a considerable margin. I've always loved her performances of "Broken Wing". She outsang Blake.

And in the third round, in the inimitable words of Simon, Jordin "wiped the floor with Blake."

I like Blake as a performer. But as a singer, his voice is pretty weak. I think Jordin ran away with this competition. I probably shouldn't say that; it may jinx the outcome. I rarely pick the winner.

What I found interesting, though, was that I had to reassess their relative talents as musicians. I've always said, and still agree, that Blake is a better performer. I had also said that he was a better musician, but Jordin, Melinda, et al were better singers.

But I have to reassess that "musician" comment. Consider. They were both given the same brand new song that nobody has ever heard before. (And yes, it's a bad song. That's not the point). Jordin found a way to arrange it beautifully for her voice, and actually make it sound like the song wasn't a dud. Blake sang it as written, and it came out extremely dull. I think that Jordin demonstrated her talent as a musician, as well as a singer, in how she adapted that song for her voice. Kudos.

well, this is only the second season I've watched AI. Sorry, but not every singer in the competition is a ballads only singer. I like music with energy.

ease up, it is a television show for entertainment purposes. Just because I'm not entertained the same way you are doesn't mean I shouldn't watch. I'm certainly not the only person who found that final show not so great.

Blues said:

Oh my. Certainly taste in music is an individual thing. And it's great that there are now so many choices to allow us to indulge in whatever kind of music we like.

But I have a serious question. Tom and BSQ, if you dislike this kind of music so much, why do you watch AI?

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My taste cuts across lines; I like entertainers, genre notwithstanding. I liked Tony Bennett before he became hip again.

I like to watch and listen and feel like an expert as I critique the performances. We listen to these people differently than we do to established stars, and we listen differently under the pretense of judging their performances than we would if we were listening to them in concert.

Sometimes, just every now and then, a performance on this show will blow me away; a performer just connects with the song and the moment transcends the scene. This year, Sanjaya's performance of "You Really Got Me". Jordin's first performance of "I Who Have Nothing". LaKisha, "You're Gonna Love Me." Those are worth watching for, because they show the human potential for beauty in art, the power to invest a performance with life no matter how sterile the stage.

Otherwise, hey; who'd want to miss making fun of Randy, Paula, Simon and Seacrest? Who doesn't like to laugh as Haley Scarnato gets more and more desperate to get off the show? Who wouldn't want to see how far the anti-Idol fans can push the worst singer before the producers jimmy the votes? It's a stone cold blast to watch from that angle, too.

Just about the only one I'd pay to go see over the last 6 seasons is... well, there's two. I'd pay to see Kelly Clarkson, and I'd pay to see Melinda Doolittle. The rest of 'em... meh. Second level talents spun into stars, all.


Tom

I was out of town so I could not vote for Blake...I did catch the show last night though. All I can say is...that last song was not so good for Blake. I'm afraid that Jordan won the titel with her redention. It was miles better than Blake's version. The song was pretty bad though. I refuse to watch two hours of fluff tonight. The TIVO will be set, and unless I hear that something really exciting happened, I plan to watch only the very last few minutes.

I'm keping my fingers crossed but IMHO the judges almost ruined any chance that Blake may have had.

I'm looking forward to the finale tonight. Last year it was really good, for the most part, lots of good singers. There is a lot of fluff, though so we usually record it and flip through as well.

For those of you who can't resist "spoilers", you can go to www.dialidol.com and click on "Predictions". You will see their analyis of the voting and who is predicted to win. I've peeked but I'm not telling!!

Kelli called in for Jordan apx 250 times last night!! She will totally be po'd if Jordan doesn't win. shaggy

I was hoping the torture would end but Blake kept "singing"

Once you saw three head to head performances, including one of the same song, there can be no question that Jordin is the better singer - and singing IS performing. So that most likely means the tone deaf teenyboppers of America and VoteForTheWorst will get their way and Blake will "win". I hope not, Jordin deserves it. And it would have been a better finish if Melinda or even Phil had still been there. Blake, IMO, was no better than a top 5 talent. I do wonder how they plan to fill 2 hours before announcing the (hopefully) obvious winner. 2 hours? Yikes.

I am hoping that next year AI get's rid of their final ALWAYS cheesy finale song that they make the two finalists sing. That cheesy ballad song is always favorable to a female singer and it gave Jordin a clear unfair advantage against Blake (as bad as if they had picked a male rock song for them both to sing would have been favorable to Blake).

I also can't help but comment on Jordan's breaking down in tears at the end of her song. You know when they do the playbacks at the very end of the show to give you the phone numbers to call they are always taped from earlier practice performances (it's never the actual performance on the show). Did you notice that on that practice replay Jordin tried to make herself cry on the last note as well but didn't quite get there. I give her an A on her acting abilities, I mean surely it's an emotional moment but to make yourself do it to garnish "aaaaw shucks the girly is crying" votes it just really annoyed me. All you who have Tivo and can play that end back do it and you will totally see what I mean.

I'm not a Jordin hater, by the way. I think she is a very talented young lady----just nowhere near as talented and original as Blake. Yes, she had the stronger love ballad voice. Her huge flaw is that on the radio she is not recognizable. And as a performer on stage she is absolutely boring compared to Blake-she just stands there. And someone else once wrote about how AI messed with the sound when they felt like it and geez, I so noticed that last night when Blake was singing sometimes the male background singers were louder than him! I really don't care if Blake doesn't win-he's still going to be HUGE. I still think Jordin will be a great actress and be on t.v. all the time (great personality) but her singing career...she'll never be Kelly or Carrie or as good as Chris Daughtry. Blake doesn't need to win AI-he's going to be huge. Melinda was a way better singer than Jordin. If Lakesha had ever gotten a personality she would have been able to show she was a better singer than Jordin also. We kept being told on last night's show that it was a singing competition. For all of you who like to say that's why Jordin should win then remember, if that was 100% true then it would have been Melinda standing there last night, not Jordin. I think it's 50% singing 50% personality/performance (how else can you explain Chris Daughtry not winning and Taylor Hicks winning?) So Melinda was 100% a great singer but Jordin had an overall better average than Melinda. Blake was 40% singing and 60% performance. I think Jordin is going to win tonight but Blake is the one I'm going to be really happy for when he hits it big like Chris Daughtry.

Posting from the West Coast where the show just ended. The outcome was predictable. The show itself was terrible, a pale comparison to last year's finale.

My prediction - one, maybe two more seasons and it'll be a wrap. Next year I'll be smarter and record it.

Wasn't it fun to watch Melinda outshine and outsing the group she used to sing backup for??
Connie

When the six guys sang there song at the beginning of the show, they were absolutely awful. Also, when they gave out the trophies, that was really not necessary. I would have rather seen the show shortened then make fun of those people.

Ann-Marie said:

When the six guys sang there song at the beginning of the show, they were absolutely awful. Also, when they gave out the trophies, that was really not necessary. I would have rather seen the show shortened then make fun of those people.

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They also couldn't dance for crap!

As for the show, I caught up on both nights (three hours) in about 45 minutes via the VHS. I didn't like the results show either. Way too much fluff and unnecessary junk.

And what about Bette Midler?? Am I the only one who thought she was shrill and horrible??

I was glad that Jordin won, even though I did like and was "entertained" by Blake & the beat box stuff. My hubby hated it though . . . both on his Tuesday performance and on the results show with Doug E Fresh.

As for next year, they're going to need to do something to make sure they have relevance, particularly when you consider the bombs that some past winners have been . . . Rueben S, Fantasia and soon to be recognized as a bomb, Taylor (the weakest of all the Idol winners in my opinion).

It was nice to see Doughtry live last night . . . that may have been the highlight of that show for me.

grest said:

Wasn't it fun to watch Melinda outshine and outsing the group she used to sing backup for??
Connie

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I also thought it was cool to see how clearly the Idol producers favored Lakisha and Melinda in the song with Gladys Knight in the positioning of them with her. It was clear in my mind that they were giving those two more "prime time" on that part of the show to get them out in front of America, almost to say "See how good these two really are?"

New judges

I really don't know how Taylor won. He is a so-so talent at best. I didn't watch last season after the tryout rounds so how he managed it, two better contestants splitting the vote?, whatever, he just isn't going to sell many cd's.

Bette Midler was awful. Gladys Knight was good as was Smokey Robinson. But most of the 2 hours - and they went OVERTIME - was pure filler and self promotion. The Golden Idols could have been fun but they ended up seeming quite cruel. Overall it is a guilty pleasure show that thinks its a milestone in entertainment history. It is like the King David Seagull self aggrandizing on a national level. Show those celebrities in the crowd, talk about how great things are, make a 90 minute presentation go over 2 hours. It was pretty sad.

At least the best of the final two won. I don't really know if either has a great future in pure music but Jordin at least has a shot at a fair singing career and maybe acting. Blake would have been yet another in the Rubin and Taylor type that are quickly forgotten when the season ends.

The best thing they can do for next season is replace Paula and maybe Randy with people who can actually give honest feedback like Simon. He is rough but truthful. What does "they are all winners" or "I don't know dog" add to the process? And maybe try to find some legitimate practitioners of music other than show tunes. Again a change in judges might help bring that about.

Anyway now we'll find out if Jordin has any mass market appeal and, most likely, next season will be a success again despite the many shortcomings. This is American Idol after all.

My husband and I, who are both loyal watchers of AI since the first season, didn't even bother to watch the finale.

I've figured out why I'm so annoyed with Jordin winning. Every year the finale has been a match-up between the best singer and the best entertainer

Kelly (singer) v. Justin (entertainer)
Rueben (entertainer) v. Clay (singer)
Fantasia (singer) v. Diana (entertainer)
Carrie (singer) v. Bo (entertainer)
Taylor (entertainer) v. Kathryn (singer)

This year Jordin was neither the best singer nor the best entertainer. It was like Ms. Personality snuck in and stole the award. That's why her planned "cry" at the end of the final cheesy song was the last straw for me. While I admit she was probably the most improved during the last 2 months on the show if you think back to the top 20 you would have never picked Jordin to win-she is super talented for a 17 year old but there were so many better singers. It was like watching a job interview with several applicants and Jordin was maybe about the 5th best applicant but she flirted the most with the boss and then cried when he was about to make the decision. I agree that Chris Daughtry (and Kelly Clarkson) are probably the best talent that has come out of this show. I also think Taylor Hicks is going to prove to be probably the least successful idol winner. I also think AI is drying up and as more people get tivo they will realize they are watching about 1 minute of the show to 2 minutes of commercials. I'm over it.

So what about the talk that Simon Cowell is quitting? He said it himself. That the traveling is too much.

Well....Blake had a good run. He seemed very gracious and pretty happy. It was great to see him beat-box with Doug-E-Fresh. He is indeed a great entertainer. I also thought that Jordan and Reuben sounded great together. I still don't see Jordan selling that many records other than possibly that god-forsaken song that they will put out soon enough. Blake has me a liitle worried too as he was talking about putting out an album circa the 1980's and techno and such. URGH!!!

Simon quit? I wonder if his feelings are hurt that America didn't put through Melinda. This makes two years in a row that his pick didn't win as he can't stand Taylor. IMHO, he hand-picked Kelly, Reuben, Fantasia(my fav), and Carrie to win each season. He was never subtle about his favs and often pushed them down our throats. Maybe his ego is bruised.