Real Kato Blog: Television: American Idol Update

It's down to the two finalists, Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice.

Carrie and Bo gave their final performances tonight, and tomorrow they'll pick a winner. Of course, they'll do it right smack in the middle of the "Lost" season finale. Good thing there's technology that lets us deal with conflicts like this.

I have a few comments about the show in general. As far as the judges go, Simon Cowell is the only one who's consistently right in his assessments. Randy Jackson sometimes says people are good when they're not. Paula Abdul is essentially just a cheerleader at the end. And about the fans in the audience: they're just plain silly. They'll cheer for any hint of positive feedback from the judges, and boo at anything negative. It seems like such phony adoration.

Okay, so on to Carrie and Bo.

As Andrea said, I was so right and so wrong. I predicted Carrie would be here; she's cute and charming and you can definitely see pop-star potential in her, even if she thinks she's a country singer. But I was wrong about Bo; I predicted his lack of versatility would hurt him, but he was never pushed out of his element. He always managed to find a rock song, no matter what the assigned genre was. I'd say it was song selection that kept him alive, and his garage-band everyman appeal that got him to the finals.

I think both of them are great singers. I think they both need work learning how to play to an audience. They're so stiff sometimes.

Tonight they sang three songs each.

Round One

Bo sings "A Long Long Road". Man, this is a terrible song. Who wrote this crap? Bo doesn't seem comfortable with it; a ballad is definitely stretching the limits of his versatility. He's vocally tentative, and he misses some high notes. Randy gives a mixed review, Simon says it's dreadful, and Paula is a cheerleader.

Carrie sings "Inside Your Heaven". This is also a terrible song. Carrie's nervous, and the song is pitchy. Sometimes she gets a little shouty, but she finishes well. Randy gives a mixed review, Simon says Carrie won this round, and Paula is a cheerleader.

I give this round to Carrie.

Round Two

This time they get to pick their favorites from during the season. Bo picks "Vehicle", which really suits him. It's not really an original rendition, but he does a good job with it (again). Randy likes it, Simon likes it, and Paula is a cheerleader.

Carrie sings "Independence Day", which wouldn't have been my choice, but it fits her country style. (I would have picked "Love is a Battlefield". THAT was HOT. Or, "Cryin'" from last week.) She starts a little pitchy. She's better by the time she gets to the chorus, but then the song ends soon afterwards! Why so short? Randy likes it, Simon does not, and Paula is a cheerleader.

I give this round to Bo.

Round Three

Bo Bice now sings "Inside Your Heaven". I still think it's a terrible song. He's pitchy all the way through. But the judges all say they now LIKE the song, and they all rave! And Paula is a cheerleader! I think they were told by the producers to be complimentary at the finish.

Carrie Underwood sings "Angels Brought Me Here". This is the best ballad of the night. She starts strong, has one off-pitch note, but she finishes really well. Randy gives a standing ovation, Simon says she's done enough to win, and Paula is (surprisingly) a cheerleader.

I give this round to Carrie.

I think Carrie will win it all. I think her appeal is wider than Bo's, and I think she's got more potential as a star. But it'll be close, and I've underestimated Bo before. At any rate, this has probably been the best Idol season yet, as far as talent goes. And I'm STILL NOT EMBARRASSED that I watch this show, so just CAN IT, okay?

I'll come back and comment here tomorrow, after the results are in.

Permalink 7 Comment

Posted by Ken in: television

Comments

Comment #1 from Speaker (Guest)
2005 May 25 - 9:14 am : #

yes, thank technology for TiVO.

I must disagree, I think Bo will win for one simple reason - female fans are more ravage and will have calling groups set up voting every second!

plus, I think people will forgive them the crappy original songs and vote on the "best from the season."

I really felt like this season was set up. Last year they had themes like "Barry Manilow" . . . this year it was, "This weeks theme is: ANY SONG YOU WANT!!! EVAR!" I think they wanted to rockers to do well.

And I dunno about you, but I really missed the "guest judges" this year. Quentin Tarantino was the best!

Comment #2 from Ken (realkato)
2005 May 25 - 10:25 am : #

Well, yeah, Idol fans are mostly female, but a lot of them will vote for Carrie... because many of them are eight years old, and boys are YUCKY.

Yeah, Quentin Tarantino was a great guest judge. You know who else would make a great guest judge? JAVI. Oh, that would be amazing to watch. "You know that scene in 'Brazil' where Jonathan Pryce was getting holes drilled in his head? Your song felt kind of like that."

Comment #3 from Speaker (Guest)
2005 May 25 - 11:13 am : #

OMG that would be BRILLIANT! he'd be all dressed up and have his yellow glasses.

"That song made me feel, honestly, I haven't felt like that since I watched Battlefeild Earth."

"I imagine that's what it would sound like if Twiki had sung that song..."

"Blah Blah Blah Phillip K. Dick Blah Blah Blah you suck."

"I'm going to go find my Tardis now, so I can go back in time and tell myself not to guest judge on this episode, cuz you all suck, you all suck like Flukeman in the X-Files episode 'The Host'!"

Comment #4 from Ken (realkato)
2005 May 25 - 10:21 pm : #

YAY! YAY! More later.

Comment #5 from Ken (realkato)
2005 May 25 - 11:48 pm : #

So, yah, it's CARRIE. Hooray! She deserves it for being consistently good all year. What's more, she needs this. She needs the American Idol engine to mold her into a pop star. Bo, he'll go back to being a local club rocker and he'll be fine. But if Carrie had lost, she would have slunk away into the Jasmine Trias pit of obscurity.

Comment #6 from Speaker (Guest)
2005 May 26 - 7:29 am : #

i disagree, I think Bo needed it to rocket to stardom (i liked him).... Carrie is in Country, and it's SOOOO Undercrowded in country right now, nashville would have welcomed her with open arms no matttttter what.

Comment #7 from Nicholas (Guest)
2005 May 31 - 9:09 am : #

Are you going to see the Pop Tarts? American Idol live that is.

http://www.kelloggs.com/promotions/americanidol/track.shtml

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