Idol Worship - The Final Two Perform for the Crown

Thousands of would-be Idol wannabes dreamed of singing for your votes, but only two Idols remain standing and tonight is the night when they sing for your votes and the chance to call themselves "Season 8 American Idol".

It's down to arguably the greatest Idol performer in the history of the show vs. one of the steadiest artist of the season...it's California vs. Arkansas...it's Adam Lambert vs. Kris Allen.


With celebrities and former Idol contestants scattered throughout the Kodak Theatre, Adam and Kris were ready to put on a show for the ages. Tonight they will sing three songs: their favorite from the season, a selection made by Idol creator, Simon Fuller, and a single written by Idol judge, Kara DiGuardio. It promises to be a night filled with awesome performances, so let's check out the action.

• Up first is San Diego native, Adam Lambert singing "Mad World"--the song that most of us missed the first time around due to Idol running long. Adam came out dressed in a 7/8 length leather coat and walking down the Idol stairs set up at the back of the stage. To further set the mood of the song, there was smoke pumped onto the stage and with the eerie blue lighting, an air of mystery was created giving Adam a perfect stage from which to deliver his pitch-perfect vocals. Randy gave Adam an "A+" for the performance--as well as the long coat and the fog. Kara said he "rocked it tonight". Paula told him he did "a brilliant job". Simon said he thought it was a little "over theatrical"--which seemed a bit odd because he took exception with a similar comment from Randy a few weeks ago. In the end it is difficult to find much fault with this performance.
• How would Kris answer Adam's body punch? For his first round look, Kris rocked a white T-shirt and charcoal vest. Kris chose to sing "Ain't No Sunshine" and opted to accompany himself on the Idol baby grand. As he did the first time around on this classic, Kris started out strong and only got stronger. Randy began by referencing the NBA playoffs and, specifically the Lakers. He then went on to credit Kris for singing beautifully and giving everyone a glimpse into what type of album he will record soon. Kara and Paula blathered on about nothing much. Simon confessed to originally not thinking America got it right last week by putting Kris into the finals (over Danny), but said after listening to Kris tonight, he agreed with the voters.

And with two songs sung and eight judges comments given, Simon proclaimed Kris the winner of Round 1.

On to Round 2 and Simon Fuller's song choices.

• For Adam Lambert, Simon selected "Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke. Adam chose a silver two-piece suite accented with a sea-foam tie and white shirt for his Round 2 performance. Flanked by a couple of guitar playing members of Ricky Minor's Idol band/orchestra, Adam lent his theater-trained vocals to the song and the crowd absolutely loved it especially when Adam climbed into his upper register. When he finished, the crowd noise was such that Randy struggled to be heard, but when he finally was able to cut through it, he said that Adam "sang his face off!". Kara thought it was Adam's best performance of the season. Paula went a few steps further saying it was the best she has ever heard him sing and then called him "iconic". Simon chipped in by reassuring Adam that he is "100% back in the game" after that strong performance.
• Mr. Fuller chose "What's Going On" for Arkansas-native, Kris Allen. Keeping with his down-home look, Kris pulled on a long-sleeved gray T-shirt and jeans, grabbed his acoustic guitar and was joined on stage by Ricky Minor on bass, a bongo player, and a box player to sing the Marvin Gaye classic. Kris slowed down the song a bit and, for my money, matched Adam's awesome performance earlier in the round. Randy thought Kris' performance was "a little light for this room". Kara credited Kris for helping America gain a conscience. Simon said it sounded like three friends getting together in their room playing a song and thought it was too light for a night like this.

Simon gave Round 2 to Adam by "a million percent"--sorry for the math!

• With a final chance to win your votes, Adam hit the stage to sing "No Boundaries", the song co-written by Kara. Adam chose a black jacket with some bedazzling highlights on the left shoulder and a pair of white and black jeans. Adam has been given credit for being able to sing any song and make it sound good--and he needed every bit of that ability because the song pretty much was a mess. Randy pulled the "you can sing the phone book", but he didn't like the performance and even saying it was a little pitchy at times. Kara said it was "an honor to have you sing a song (I) wrote". Simon said "I am not going to judge that song, I'm going to judge you"--and then went on to say "I believe we have found a world-wide star in you".
• Kris took to the stage in a black Member's Only-looking jacket and gave his interpretation of "No Boundaries". Trying his best to rock what amounts to a song wreaking of desperation, Kris resorted to dragging the microphone stand around the stage in an effort to breathe life in to this train wreck of a song. As Kris moved to the familiar spot on the stage where the Idols go to receive their judge's comments, you could tell he didn't like the song. Randy said the song fit Kris' style a bit better than Adam's--which wasn't much of an endorsement. But then Kara said she wasn't going to judge him on the song--her reason: because the key was too high...how about the song being terrible?! Simon said his best performance was the first song and then he credited Kris for deserving to be on the stage tonight.

So which Idol did enough to earn your votes and join the elite 7 previous Idol winners? My vote based on the season as well as tonight goes to Adam. I think Kris is an amazing performer, but Adam has been the presumptive American Idol pretty much since week 1 or 2 of the Finals.

Tune in tomorrow and find out how America voted--it's scheduled for a 2-hour finale, but Ryan warned us that they are going to run long, so prepare your DVR to catch every minute...or read my blog after it happens.

Remember, I will continue watching TV so you don't have to...

Peace!