American Idol 2011

It was very difficult for me to maintain internet silence the last two days so that I didn’t get spoiled on the winner of this show. That being said, here’s my review as I watched on the DVR. I apologize for the length right off the bat because I had a lot of thoughts about these final two episodes.

Tuesday:

Scotty “Gone-“-> This song has kind of grown on me since he first sang it. I still don’t like his crazy eyes and I’m not a huge fan of when he tries to speed it up but it’s a bit catchy. I wasn’t really impressed by the performance, it was just kind of meh.

Lauren “Flat on the floor”-> Lauren looks drugged up but I guess that makes sense because of her “voice” problems which I’m not sure I entirely believe. Makes too good a story for my liking. If she did have a problem though, besides looking incredibly nervous, then I think she did a good job here. Apart from the point where she looked like she held back. But she’s been doing that all season so that’s nothing new.

Scotty “Check yes or no”-> Kind of weird they haven’t had any judges’ comments or pre-song segments. Is that typical for the finale? (First time watching a finale). As for this song, I liked it but that’s because it’s got all the things I like about Scotty. It was a slower song, all he had to do was stand in place and let his voice do the work and it had a nice beat to it. Strong effort here.

Lauren “Maybe it was Memphis”-> Lauren’s idol is Carrie Underwood? Really? I mean, I know she’s 16 but come on. Carrie Underwood? I like her and all but that’s your idol? Makes me shake my head. Song wise, I liked this choice for her. If I closed my eyes, it was very enjoyable. Problem is this is a show where, you know, the visuals matter and everytime I looked at Lauren’s face it looked like she had the most miserable look on her face. Kind of ruined it all from me. I give Scotty round two, even though the judges did their best to speak for three minutes without saying a damn thing. At least Steven Tyler was honest when he explained why he was voting for Lauren. Not a big shocker.

Taio Cruz “Positive”-> Best part of this crapfest was where the vocals went out. Fitting. I feel without the lyrics this could have been a good song. Oh, and without the beat. Yeah. I’m positive this song sucked balls. Of course, when the same people who voted Scotty and Lauren into the finale helped put this song together, that seems about right.

Scotty “I love you this big”-> First problem I have here is Jimmy simply giving Scotty his first single, like he found it in a book. Lyrically, if you review the words, it seems like this was written by a third grader who misses his mommy after she goes to the grocery store. I love you this big. Really? In the words of Randy: Wow, man, let me tell you something. That was some boring shit. Speaking of Randy, how can he say Scotty has grown in this contest when from the top-13 to now he’s done the same stuff? I don’t like this song and if this is an indication of what we can look forward to from Scotty, I guess I should enjoy it while it last because it won’t last very long.

Lauren “Like my mother does”-> rfijrjirjifr Sorry, I drifted off. Nice to see Lauren flat out refuse the high note, seems to be a theme for her. I give her credit for playing to her base though. This is essentially a generic cookie-cutter country song that could be on the radio today but I don’t sense anyone rushing out there to scoop this off of a CD shelf. Guess I’ll give Round three to Lauren simply by default.

Overall reaction: I’ll give the night to Lauren but, my god, what a boring finale. There was absolutely no emotion in this entire show. See what happens when you keep advancing two country singers with no range whatsoever? If Haley were still here, she would have crushed both of them and won. Same thing for James. Hell, Casey would have been more interesting than this. Easily the worst episode of the season (That I watched). I think this showdown did reveal one thing, though, and that both of these two are going to have some trouble in the real world. I still feel Scotty is the better of the two but he’s going to struggle trying to break out of that Josh Turner characterization.

 

======
Finale show->

First off, 122 million people voted in this? I mean, I know those number are inflated but good lord, that’s a lot of voting.

“Born this way”-> Even though this sounded like a Ford Music Video snoozefest, I kind of liked it. Much better than the other big group numbers this season but that doesn’t sound much. Also, Naima is hot as hell in white. Don’t know what it is about her but definitely does it for me.

James Durbin-> How many people do you think were ultimately disappointed James didn’t get to sing with Aerosmith as had been teased all season long. Also, don’t know who dressed him but he looks like a sex worker. Fun performance though. Just the shot in the arm Tuesday’s show could have used.

Fitting Randy’s segment was nothing more than him asking questions and saying “In it to win it” because he said that about everyone and I questioned why he was actually there.

Jacob-> Not gonna lie, I was sick of this dude when he got booted but this effort tonight had me rocking along. Fun stuff. Wish he would have felt this refreshing all season long instead of being a tired borefest.

Casey-> Oh, this could have been awful. Jack Black and the return of crazy bearded Casey? Not a good recipe. But it worked for me. Might just have been song choice but this was kind of cool and fun, apart from the random gibberish the two were singing towards the end. Wonder how many people were asking why Jack Black was singing though. Don’t know how much appeal Tenacious D has in mainstream America.

Ladies-> God damn I hate “All the single ladies” so, so, so much. I imagine that’s the song that will be playing if I’m ever abducted by a serial killer who wants to torture me to death. The second song which I know but don’t know the name of was fun. Nice to see Thia open up a bit. Also, Ashton is WAY hotter now than she was when she was on the show. She looked entirely different and Me likey. Even Pia wasn’t boring me to tears here. Great group number. Absolutely fantastic.

Haley-> WTF is this? Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Haley but, my lord, this was some slow, dull and boring crapola.

TLC-> I was just thinking of these girls the other day, wondering if they still don’t “want no scrubs” or if they’ll settle now that they’re old. Don’t know what’s up with Idol refusing to show the TLC girls up close but from what I could tell Chili was looking hot as hell, maybe even more so than ever before. Te-boz (sp*) looked like crap and I’m convinced she wasn’t actually singing. Not a very good return for TLC, one of the best all-girl groups I can remember.

Scotty-> I was wondering why I was enjoying this show so much and then I realized it’s because there was a noticeable lack of Scotty and Lauren. That said, when they said he’d be singing this, I was excited. I love this song and love Tim McGraw. Makes sense that I would like this, just the right amount of Scotty not to ruin the song. Heck, I kind of wish he had sung this on the show.

Marc Anthony-> I have no idea what this guy was saying but, damn, J Lo has a nice ass.

The shocking elimination segment was great. Very, very funny. Wish they’d had more of Pia talking about her elimination but I’m sure that wasn’t very Idol-friendly.

Guys performance-> So Scotty sings with the guys but Lauren doesn’t sing with the girls? Interesting. Maybe she actually is sick. As for the group number, kind of weird collection of songs, no? It’s like they threw a random collection of songs into a hat and picked these ones out. Love the reveal of Tom Jones though. Fit right in.

Mrs. Clayton is freaking hot. Wow.

Lady Gaga-> God, I love me some Gaga. She may be the strangest mainstream artist in America but there’s something about her that works for me. I haven’t gotten around to picking up her latest CD (Yes, I’ve bought the other two) but this was a pretty cool song and a great performance. Might have to go get that album soon. Just wish I didn’t feel like such a freak when I listen to her music.

Lauren-> Oh, no, there she is. And there’s Carrie Underwood! (Sorry, I dig this song). Unlike Scotty and Tim McGraw, though, this performance didn’t really work for me. I liked Carrie when she sung by herself, same with Lauren, but together? Meh. Nothing special.

Contestant’s thoughts segment: “They’re just learning cursive!” That’s really all I can say. What a great line that sums up my thoughts exactly.

Beyonce-> Did Beyonce just spend five minutes asking America to bone her? Can’t imagine there would be many people saying no to that request.

Rise Above-> Was I the only one expecting Spiderman to bust his ass because of all the trouble that play has had? As for the song, this is the first time I heard this and even though I’m not the biggest Bono fan, this song rocked. Kind of hope they’ll release this as a single, this was a really, really cool song.

Steven Tyler-> All I could think here was ‘Please sing with James!’. Kind of disappointed they didn’t do that but, still, Tyler rocking “Dream On” is always a great, great, great moment. One of the most underappreciated songs I can think of. Truly beautiful music.

The result-> Lauren looks like she’s going to have a heart attack. Wow. Talk about tense. So, Scotty wins! Wow. Surprised because I felt Lauren did a better job in the final performances but I’m happy with it. Scotty was one of the front runners early so I’m OK with it. Interested to see what he does next. Nice to see him get a little emotional at the end there. I thought that was a really cool moment.

 

The guy who should have won was eliminated a couple weeks ago: James Durbin. Nothing I saw after that made me change my mind.

It's the problem with the "interactive" thing, and having "America" vote.

 

Just a note - I don't think 122 million people voted. 122 million votes were cast. . AI needs to change that rule.

 

My 71 year old mom, who I couldn't believe was even watching the show since she hated it for seven years or so, said she wanted the Billy Joel dude with the beard or Pia, then, Durbin. A 71-year-old admiring a heavy metal guy? I think she's losing it.

 

nothing can top Jack Black's 'Kiss from a Rose' from the most sensitive of all the Batmans

 

This2.

 

Especially when Seacrest makes a dimwitted comparison to that being half of America.

Main reason I'm always glad for the AI final to pass is that we get a seven-month break from Seacrest.

Looking at the DVR of the show, I saw the kiss that was cut away from then I saw the last one where Lauren attacked Scotty. I think she's got this "power couple" vision in her head.

 

I think we all get caught up in the year-to-year happenings on this show, and put each season in its own little bubble. Only when I went back to look at this did I realize this season, even the best performances, from a talent standpoint, wasn't all that great.

 

I lost interest in the competition long ago, but I always tune in for the finale. Great performances from a lot of old and new acts. The producers did a good job of keeping me interested. My personal highlights were Tim McGraw, then Bono and the Edge and the Spider-Man guy.

 

They just showed a sneak preview of The X Factor on the All-Star pre-game. Starts Sept. 21.

Looks promising ...

 

Yeah, some more pissing matches between Simon and Paula.

Haven't missed Paula.

But Simon, yeah.