Why does America consistently get it wrong?

Ok….so the final blog for the season. Season nine was by far the worst season of the show. The contestants were for the most part fine…but there just wasn’t any outstanding far out and away great contenders. Season nine also brought us the end of the Simon era and it remains to be seen how the show will go on post-Simon.



So lets talk about last night. A couple of quick thoughts from the finale. While I LOVE the finale, this years lot of stars seemed extremely aged.

I think its great how they bring back old stars, but I wish they would mix it up with some newer artists. I mean…they kind of did with Christina Aguilera, but not enough.



Alice Cooper segment was great, but he sounded horrible. It was a fun segment though and I thought it was great.

Other great moments – Janet Jackson, The BeeGees (minus one….except they looked so old).



I have to admit that even Hall and Oates (who I can’t stand) actually did a pretty good job.



Christina Aguilera was just strange. I don’t know if I liked the song or not. I enjoyed the theatrics though.



Joe Cocker was just bad…he looked like a client from the seventh street corridor.



Other thoughts:



Pants on the Ground – was hit and miss. I loved the concept with the dancers, but the performance lacked the charm of the original and what was the point of bringing on William Hung? Seriously…that was just pointless and a big Idol shot off the mark.



I liked the idea of bring back all the Idol loud mouth freaks, but they didn’t stage it properly and again, it missed the mark. I get the feeling it was supposed to be something more but once they got on stage it backfired and they cut away to commercial.



The Simon tribute was great, but showed too many of the same clips multiple times. I loved Paula’s tribute and I loved how they brought back many of the old contestants. THAT was the highlight of the night.



Finally, we crowned the new American Idol and although Lee is fine (I like Lee…I really do)…he certainly wasn’t anywhere close to Crystal.

So why does America consistently get it wrong? Time and again America can’t get it right (which is shown by the sales of Idol albums where often the “winners” are outshined by runner-ups. The “Album-buying” public that votes with its wallet, gets it right, but the American voting public has gotten it wrong more often than they’ve gotten it right.



Season 1 – Kelly v. Justin – America got right

Season 2 – Ruben v. Clay – This was a tough one and while I liked Ruben, Clay was the better performer. America got it wrong

Season 3 – This one was a no brainer. Fantasia v. Dianna Degarmo. How Dianna got to the finale is a mystery, but there was no way that America could get this one wrong.

Season 4 – Bo v. Carrie – Any other year, Bo could have won. But Carrie (probably the strongest Idol winner ever) was clearly the best. America got it right.

Season 5 – Rivals Season 9 for the worst season ever. Taylor Hicks v. Katherine McPhee – America got this one WAAAAAAAAAY wrong before we ever got near the finale. Taylor Hicks was the worst pick in the history of idol.

Season 6 – Not a particularly strong year – Jordin v. Blake. I’m going to say that America once again got it wrong. Blake at least was unique and while I liked Jordin, she isn’t distinguishable as an artist and has flopped.

Season 7 – A great season…and another close one, but again, I’m going to say that America got it wrong. The battle of the Davids, Cook v. Archuletta. David Cook has done fine, but Archuletta has had better album sales and is the more marketable contestant.

Season 8 – Another one that America got WAAAAAAAY wrong. Kris Allen is a cute/sweet guy, but doesn’t come close to the star power that Adam Lambert has and the record sales have shown this.

Season 9 – America once again picked the generic performer over someone who was clearly more talented and more unique.



This doesn’t even take into account America’s fascination with keeping the horribly bad performers on longer than they should (Josh Gracin, Phil Stacey, Michael Lynche……etc)

Or the truly great performers that got voted off way before their time (Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson……)…



So why does America consistently get it wrong? Well….if you were expecting an answer from me…I’m sorry…I haven’t a clue. All I can say is that these are the same people that gave us GWB, not once…..but twice. So there you have it….Another season behind us and another long 7 months before the return of AI…..



I think I’d better leave right now……before I fall any deeper.





Rubbertoe……Out!