Talent overshadows changes on ‘American Idol’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
“American Idol” tweaked a few elements to keep things fresh in its eighth season. The show added a fourth judge, rejiggered its semifinal round and added a “save” element.
But what really matters is the talent. And this year was packed with quality singers and performers.
Frank Micelotta/Fox
‘American Idol’ finalists Kris Allen,and Adam Lambert have very different styles, making it an interesting race to the finish.
ON TV
"American Idol," 8-9 p.m. Tuesday and 8-10 p.m. on Wednesday, Fox.
“There were no Sanjayas this year” in the top 13, said David Bloomberg, who has run the Web site Foxesonidol.com since season one. “Nobody really stuck around longer than they should have. As a whole, I enjoyed the season.”
“Idol,” which has its final week air Tuesday and Wednesday night, is not immune to age. Ratings are down about 7 percent this year and more than 15 percent off its peak in season five. Among younger viewers, the drop is sharper.
But the show still remains America’s No. 1 pick by a wide margin, with a weekly average of 24 million viewers.
The final two contestants make for an intriguing contrast. Adam Lambert brings an undeniable theatrical flair to the stage, while low-key Kris Allen has shown surprising creativity, especially with his unusual take last week on Kanye West’s “Heartless.” That performance might have pushed him past early favorite Danny Gokey, who made the top three.
“Kris has been a dark horse,” said Justin Guarini, a season-one runner-up who co-hosts “Idol Chat” on the TV Guide Channel. “He will hit you with a velvet glove you didn’t see coming.”
Allen’s only downside, Guarini said, is he could be overshadowed by the “larger-than-life” Lambert, a heavy favorite to win in recent weeks by online oddsmakers.
“Adam’s going to win,” predicted Richie Arpino, an Atlanta hairdresser who has followed the show for years and worked on 2008 winner David Cook’s hair and makeup when he came to Atlanta in December. “He’s going to go to Broadway or become a big rock star.”
But not everyone thinks Lambert has it in the bag.
“The producers of the show seem hell-bent on having Adam win,” wrote Dave Della Terza, who runs the subversively fun Web site VoteFortheWorst.com, in an e-mail. “I would love to see Kris win because it would make the manipulation all for naught, but seeing Adam tied to a contract where he has to sing about ‘magic rainbows’ would be pretty funny, too. It’s a toss up for me right now.”
Linda Thonnesen, a 61-year-old Athens legal secretary and regular on ajc.com’s Idol Buzz blog, said she could barely remember Allen the first few weeks, when the “Idol” producers were focusing on people with better back stories such as Scott MacIntyre, who is visually impaired, and Gokey, whose wife died last year. But she now thinks Allen can win it all.
“He has consistently tried different things, yet he hasn’t ever tried to be someone else,” Thonnesen said. “He’s used the criticism the judges have had about him and made himself more visible, more unique. I give him a lot of credit.”
Aware the show’s ratings have been falling off, producers made more changes than normal this year. Not all of them proved popular.
Some found the judge’s “save,” in which they were allowed to keep a singer who had been voted off by the public, gimmicky at best. “It was pointless,” Bloomberg said. “I thought they only used it because they had to. It was just silly.”
Guarini likes the new fourth judge Kara DioGuardi. “She stands up to Simon” Cowell, he said, “which is fantastic.”
But Bloomberg and Della Terza agree that DioGuardi added little to the mix and often caused the show to go overtime, annoying DVR users. (The show has not said yet whether DioGuardi will be back next year.)
“The show this past week had six performances at a minute-and-a-half each,” Della Terza wrote. “That’s nine minutes. How can a show take more than an hour to feature nine minutes of actual singing? The director should be fired.”
THE FACEOFF
Kris Allen
• Who he is: A married 23-year-old Arkansas native, he’s a worship leader at his church and majored in business at the University of Central Arkansas.
• Musical style: John Mayer meets Jason Mraz.
• Why he will win: He’s got Teen Beat-friendly looks, an understated small-town Midwestern appeal and impressive musical chops. Text-crazy teen gals love him. And Danny Gokey’s fans are more likely to gravitate toward Allen than Lambert.
• Why he won’t: He’s a dull personality off stage. (But that didn’t stop Carrie Underwood from winning season four and make her the most successful “Idol” winner to date.)
• Odds to win: 4-5
Adam Lambert
• Who he is: A 27-year-old San Diego native, he’s a professional musical theater guy who has toured with “Wicked.”
• Musical style: David Bowie meets My Chemical Romance.
• Why he will win: He’s amped-up on talent and confidence. From his Indian-style “Ring of Fire” to a mesmerizing “Mad World,” he’s taken command of the stage every week. “Idol” has never seen the likes of him before.
• Why he won’t: Some people hate his flamboyant vocal stylings, his penchant for eyeliner, his tongue wagging and his periodic reach-for-the-stars screechings. And many resent the way the judges and producers seem to have promoted him extra hard, possibly generating a backlash.
• Odds to win: 5-4
