We haven't had a finale gap this big between performers since The Battle of the Davids. Of course, in that finale year, I had Presumptive "American Idol" Winner David Archuleta dominating David Cook on my score card. The voters didn't care (and they made the right choice). I have no objection to people voting for Lee because they liked him all season. He had a good season. He also saved the worst for last. Crystal, in contrast, delivered one of her best performances at the end of her biggest night and didn't seem to be at all in awe of the environs.Tomorrow night, this predictable and uninspiring season ends. We have not been inspired to CoverItLive, but we'll be around to talk.
added: Claire Zulkey: "In general I find it tedious when people say of any TV show 'This season sucks compared to season X,' because generally I think previous seasons always seem deceptively warm, genuine and sepia-toned in hindsight while the current one always seems played. But I mean it when I saw I think this season of Idol sucks compared to last season."
WNTS: "As Season Nine of American Idol limps to its repose, all eyes are already on Season Ten. Thus far, we know only two things about it. One, the rightmost seat at the judges' table will have a new occupant. Two, if that's the only significant change the producers make this off-season, then there won't be a Season Eleven.... Our colleague The Idol Guy has theorized that American Idol runs in three-year cycles, which he calls "epochs". Year One of the epoch brings significant change to the fabric of the show (AI1: genesis; AI4: musical diversity; AI7: well-rounded musicians and artists). In Year Two, most of the bugs are worked out and the cycle reaches its apex. Finally, Year Three brings a sharp downslope as the motif becomes predictable, at which point the epoch naturally plays itself out."
Ann Powers: "After a season that included several highly individualistic singers who never turned into Sanjaya-style jokes (Didi Benami, Siobhan Magnus, Casey James) and only a couple of achievers in the classic eager-to-please mold (Michael Lynche, Aaron Kelly), we were left with two of the most insistently unadaptive top singers in the show's history. There was Lee, beloved by his fans for his bold and often pitch-oblivious way with a ballad, and Crystal, a generally more accurate singer but one also fond of roughening up what Simon might prefer she prettified. Neither brings a particularly new flavor to the pop scene, but both have that quality American fans have treasured throughout the rock era: They can't help but be true to themselves."
