Carol
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 |  Subject: American Idol Finale- Will America Go With Commercial or Unusual, Lee Dewyze or Crystal Bowersox?  26.05.10 18:55 | |
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- Reading Entertainment Weekly just now stressing the fickleness of the American Idol judges this season, especially as we approach the finale, made me start to think. Finally, right? There is always a lot of speculation on how the judges comment, and if they are pushing one contestant over the other. As a fan, I sometimes fall into that same trapping, and sometimes I see it more as them calling it like it is. But with the switching around of the judges' allegiances the past few weeks, it's making me rethink this several seasons-long argument.
Let's compare the final two and what the fans said/thought/did through the years. Kelly Clarkson vs. Justin Guarini. Kelly definitely had talent on her side, but the judges seemed to be pushing Tamyra Gray all season. When she was voted out, they had no choice but to stand behind Kelly. Both Kelly and Justin got contracts, but Justin's career didn't pan out nearly as well as the winner, Kelly. To say she was commercially successful is an understatement.
I don't think the argument over Ruben Studdard vs. Clay Aiken will ever be settled to anyone's satisfaction. Clay seemed to certainly have the fans on his side, if you listen to what was being said and done at the time; he even had his own Claymates group, but Ruben had a whole area code on his side. The judges seemed to want Ruben to win, and he did, leaving Clay fans aghast. In American Idol groups, this one is still argued out. They both saw success after the season, although Clay seemed to see more, but that is most likely because of his tabloid appearances and dsicussions of his lifestyle. Neither proved to be very commercial in the long run. I say this as I prep myself for Clay fans to his the comment area below. I know he's had success, but not in terms of what Kelly, Carrie, and Daughtry have seen.
Season three came down to Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo. Fantasia definitely led in talent, and had the judges on her side after Summertime, but being more commercial could go either way. Fantasia didn't always have the fan's support, as many at the time were upset that she was a single mother and didn't think young girls should be idolizing her. She won and achieved success in her career, while DeGarmo moved on to Broadway. By the way, I think her success helped set up later single mothers, including Crystal, to be accepted more.
I don't even think we have to explain season four, Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice. Simon Cowell had championed Carrie all season, but the judges had to give it to to Bo after final three when he sang a cappella on In a Dream. Yet the "coronation songs" chosen definitely favored a more commercial contestant, and Carrie won, then achieved possibly the greatest success so far of an Idol. Talent was possibly on Bo's side, but she had commercialism on her side, and he also had some arrests behind him.
Taylor Hicks vs. Katherine McPhee. This season didn't really pan out the way the judges wanted. Up to final four fans were discussing who would face off against Chris Daughtry. Being unusual was on Taylor Hicks side, but commercial was on Chris' side. Chris was voted out, leaving the judges to champion Katherine who lost to Taylor. His diehard fans will argue for him to this day, just like Clay's, but commercially, Taylor didn't pan out.
Season six was another where the better talent was voted out before the final two. Melinda Doolittle, prevoiusly a backup singer, was championed by the judges, along with young Jordin Sparks. Then there was the unusual beat boxer Blake Lewis hanging around. Melinda, arguably the most talented, but definitely the least commercial, was voted out before final two, leaving Jordin vs. Blake. Commercial won out as Jordin took the title and achieved some commercial success as well.
The season of the two Davids was another where the judges liked the talent they saw in young David Archuleta, but they also had to give credit to David Cook who was extremely talented in flipping a song to suit his style. His style was much more commercial than young David's, and Cook has gone on to commercial success, just as young David did. In the end, they both proved commercial.
Last season was the first time the judges instituted the "save," and was widely thought to be because of them watching Chris Daughtry be voted out when he's been one of the largest commercial successes so far. This came down to the mild Kris Allen against the much more outrageous Adam Lambert. There's no argument Adam has the larger talent and the judges thought so too. Kris was more mild, though, and the vote went to him probably as the one with the least future offensiveness. His success right now doesn't seem to be anywhere near Adam's, who is probably offending some with his lifestyle and antics, but he's bankrolling it.
So now we come to this season, Crystal Bowersox or Lee Dewyze. Kara DioGuardi has been telling Lee all season he has a really commercial sound and she can hear him on the radio. All of them have told him he should record the songs he has been doing. Yet for unusual talent, you have to give it up to Crystal. She's like Adam in a way in that whether people like her or not, they still admit to her being really talented. Yet, she offends some of the fans. She's different and doesn't hide it at all.
And it's true, the judges have been fickle. Simon championed Crystal all along, but jumped on Lee's bandwagon with the others when Crystal cooled off some. Both he and Randy Jackson spoke up on talk shows this week predicting a Lee Dewyze win, meaning they thought it would go with commercial success, and judging by the past few seasons, they wre saying it wasn't going to go to the controversial Idol or the one least commercial. Yet by last night, they were falling all over Crystal telling her how great she was.
Lee will go on to sell records, and lots of them. He is commercial, whether he wins or not. While some fans are like me and love Crystal's folksy style, it's not necessarily the most commercial sound right now, as Ellen even said there's no one out there like her right now. But really someone like Jewel probably comes pretty close.
So that's what we're left with tonight. Will the winner be the arguably more talented, more controversial, less commercial, or will it be all commercial? http://randomposts.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978260532&grpId=3659174697243100 | |
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