The Idol is up

I haven’t been blogging about the Idol recently, but I have still been watching. I think the week of the finale is a good time to bring the Idol back to my blog.

The Idol and I have had a one-season-long romance and it’s about over. In the beginning, as you know, I was captivated by the complete lack of talent and the way the judges casually dismissed contestants and shattered dreams of so many hopefuls. In the weeks to come, some of the poor singers were shaved off and the talent that was there was molded by the show into American Idol contestants, contestants that very rarely have an identifiable persona/style on the stage, but still, contestants that can be rooted for. I found Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey, Melinda Doolittle, and Blake Lewis to be entertaining, but not great singers all the time. After the midpoint of the season I was over American Idol. I don’t mean I stopped watching, but I began to see the Idol voting base start to shape the show to its tastes. For a while this was the explanation for Sanjaya’s long stint on the show. And last week this was the explanation for Melinda’s elimination. Melinda was, without a doubt, the best singer and all-around performer this year. So, the best singer doesn’t win. I don’t really like that. Also, I don’t enjoy getting hooked on any TV show. Even though I recorded most of the Idol nights, I still didn’t miss one show. That is a lot of TV. In years to come I might watch here and there, but I am not going to watch another full season. I loved seeing what all the hype was about. The Idol is just that though. The show has yet to produce an artist I enjoy listening to and I don’t think it ever will. What do I mean by that? Well, despite there being many good singers on the Idol through the years I have yet to hear one whose CD I will rush out and buy.

I just finished watching the performance finale and was a little disappointed by the judges anointing of Jordin Sparks as the Idol winner even though the votes aren’t in yet. They kept on saying “this is a singing competition” and Simon ended the show by saying to Jordin about her last performance “you mopped the floor with Blake.” Jordin has an incredible voice, but Blake will be a bigger star than her because he is the one contestant with his own style that doesn’t seem American Idol-made. With that said, I think Jordin will win tomorrow. The tween voting base is going to vote for one of their own—another reason I don’t like the Idol. There is no stopping the droves of teenage girls that would never let Jordin slip through the cracks, would eliminate Melinda, and torture us with Sanjaya every week. I confess though, at this point in my life, the teenage female is my least favorite chunk of humanity and this is a big reason I don’t want Jordin to win. For that reason alone, I think I am going to see her get all giddy and then sappy tomorrow when Seacrest says something like, “Blake, the votes are in. You are the American Idol runner-up.”