Tonight we lay what has been a very disappointing Season 10 to rest. The Idol wannabes sang fine all season--they may have been the best bunch of Idol finalists in the ten year history of American Idol, but this season proved that Idol is not the Juggernaut it was with a certain Englishman and his tight t-shirts.
That aside, it is finally time to crown the Idol that captured the most votes after last night's performances. Will it be Country Boy Scotty "the body" McCreedy (drink!) or Southern Girl Lauren Alaina?
As with finale shows in season's past, the best part of the night will likely be when the other eleven Idols who were sent home early make their final appearances on the Idol stage.
The night started with a Lady Gaga group sing. Dressed in white with silver, the thirteen Idols joined forces on "Born this Way" and moved around the stage in "Up With People" fashion. It was good to see the other Idols and was a fine start to the night.
The first solo performance was turned in by Idol's resident Rocker, James Durbin, who sang with Heavy Metal kings, Judas Priest. Watching James and the Priests rock it on "Living After Midnight" followed by "Breaking the Law" made me long for a more diverse Idol final and not the Hee Haw mish-mash we were forced to endure last night. Oh well...
While you think about what might have been, I will watch Jacob sing a tune with Gospel great Curt Franklin. Jacob and Curtis got the crowd going with a duet of "Smile" and just when you thought it couldn't get any better, on to the stage walked Gladys Knight...minus the Pips. And the emotion really started flowing Idol flashed a number on screen asking for donations for the Red Cross to be used to help the victims of the recent tornadoes that demolished the town of Joplin, MO.
So far the three performances we have seen tonight blow away (by a wide margin) anything we heard last night. And when we returned from commercial we were greeted by early season favorite, Casey Abrams, who sang "Flat Bottomed Girls" with School of Rock rocker, Jack Black! It wasn't necessarily a vocal master class, but so much more entertaining that anything we say 24 hours ago...and it only got better when onto the stage rode a bevy of girls on two-wheelers and wearing different colored spandex short-shorts. Good times!
The ladies of Idol took the stage next dressed in red and black dresses and moving around the stage as they sang a group medley of Beyonce hits starting off with "Single Ladies" followed by "Irreplaceable", "Get Me Bodied", "If I Were a Boy", and finishing with "Deja Vu" before inviting the former Destiny's Child star to the stage for a sing-along of "Crazy in Love". It was probably the best group sing in the history of Idol! If you don't believe me, YouTube it! You won't be sorry...and guess what? The only female missing...Lauren! Coincidence? You be the judge.
Fresh off of a great group performance, third place Idol finalist, hit the stage with Mr. Tony Bennett to sing "Steppin' Out"...and it was another smash hit! BTW: Any idea how old Tony is? If you guessed 85 (soon), you'd be right! But it is a very young 85! He sounded awesome and Hailey was up to the challenge.
In what I am quite sure the first time in history, Tony Bennett's performance was followed by one from Lil Jon (he of "Celebrity Apprentice" fame) who exploded onto the stage. After Lil' Jon got the crowd revved up, TLC appeared and sang a silky version of "Waterfall". To add an Idol flavor, the girls of TLC were joined by the four Idol girls not named Pia, Hailey, or Lauren. It was another good performance--and not a single country sound...
Until Scotty and Tim McGraw dueted on "Like You Were Dying". Tim kicked off the performance in his traditional look--tight tee and jeans, cowboy boots, and black hat. Bathed in a single spot, Tim made me like Country again...and then Scotty saddled up next to Mr. McGraw, turned his microphone sideways, and made me wish they didn't have phones in hillbilly country! Just kidding--Scotty did a fine job singing his genre (he always does), I just wish he would TRY something different...not gonna happen.
You know what else isn't gonna happen? Idol's obsession with self-promotion. This time it was Mr. J-Lo who got the special star treatment. That's right, Marc Anthony sang a Spanish language song...the best part of which was watching Sheila E. play percussion--bringing back sweet memories of her '80's hit "Glamorous Life". But Sheila E. wasn't the only special guest...J-Lo made an appearance reprising her role of fly-girl form the '90's hit, "In Living Color". I'm not a big Marc Anthony fan, but I found this performance quite entertaining...and something one might see on one of those shows on Univision.
Once they cleared the stage of the Latin lovers, they made room for the Boys of Idol who did their a medley of songs made popular by Welsh ladies man, Tom Jones: "Kiss", "She's A Lady", "What's New Pussycat","Green Green Grass of Home" (to help Scotty feel at home),"Love Me Tonight", "Delilah", and then the cherry on top of the sundae, "It's Not Unusual" with Mr. Tom Jones himself! It was a great performance--how can you go wrong when you are working with the songs of Tom Jones?!, but it wasn't quite as good as the medley turned in by the girls. So if you are keeping score, it's Girls 1, Boys 0 in the medley department.
Remember way back at the start of the show when the Idols did a Lady Gaga song? Well, it is now time to bring on the Lady herself! Dressed in a...oh, who am I kidding? Can anyone really describe what Gaga wears?! Let's talk about her performance of "On the Edge"...flawless! Although she may have been pushing a bit close to the edge with some of the simulated acts she was doing with one of her male dancers atop a structure on the Idol stage. But I'm quite sure her little monsters loved it...and why wouldn't they?!
With a little more than 30 minutes left in the Season, Lauren sang a duet with former Idol champ, Carrie Underwood. The two southern girls teamed up on Carrie's hit "Before He Cheats". Carrie looked great in a sparkly off the shoulder number with white short-shorts (the second use of that clothing item in the blog!) while Lauren was dressed in a black dress/top and black leggings. The girls did a nice job--especially Carrie who is one of the best singers...Idol or otherwise!
Beyonce made her second appearance of the night when she sang "1 + 1". I'm not sure what to think of the song--didn't seem much to it besides Beyonce asking the person to whom she is singing to make love to her. Beyond that, it was fairly boring song...I just kept waiting for her to hit the bridge and kick the song into second gear. But alas I didn't get my wish and foolishly resisted the urge to use the FF button to get to the next performance. The crowd seemed to like it...
But what would the crowd think of a special performance of a U2-written song from the much maligned "Spiderman" Broadway show? Said song was performed by Reeve Carney--who? Whoever he is, he looks about 12 and had the pleasure of singing the song with Bono and the Edge, so he must be someone, right?
After that performance and a couple of commericals (which did get the FF treatment), Ryan introduced judge Steven Tyler who was seated at the Idol Grand Piano and sang the very well known "Dream Weaver". If I can give Steven some advice (something he and the other judges refused to do this year), Steven should go back to performing ON the stage and leave judging to someone who actually WANTS to judge--I am available and come at a much cheaper price than Steven!
So, at long last, it is time to learn the results of the record 122 million votes casted last evening. Ryan was handed the envelope that contained the certified results while Lauren, dressed in a canary yellow dress, and Scotty held hands and awaited the words that you just knew were going to be uttered...that the winner of Season 10 American Idol is...Scotty McCreery!
Well, I would love to tell you that I am shocked or surprised, but I just can't go there. In a season that saw every front runner booted from the stage (some more than once!), it is a very young country boy who outlasted the rest. Congratulations, Scotty...now get to Nashville and stay there...Idol is for pop stars!
And that's how Season 10 of American Idol went. Until next time, I will continue watching TV so you don't have to...
Charlie
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