Thursday, May 21, 2009

This was going to be Hope Part 3 - but, scratch that. Kris Allen wins American Idol.

Adam Lambert (Left) and Kris Allen


Just after announcing Kris Allen as the winner of this year's American Idol contest,

Ryan Seacrest: How does it feel?

Kris Allen: It feels good, man, but um, Adam deserves this.

Yes he does.

Sigh.

Oh, America. What the Hell? Kris is cute and a good singer, but Adam is a star and an AMAZING SINGER!

I guess the best revenge will be that Adam will end up being the biggest star that was ever on American Idol.

And I'll be first in line to download all his songs!

I guess we'll get back to "Hope" tomorrow.

Heavy sigh.

Namaste,
Lee

***UPDATE***

this post-show interview with Adam from EW:

I want to just get this question out of the way first, something that's been dangling a bit over you for the whole season: Would you like to put to rest all the speculation about your sexuality?
It's not dangling over my head. [Laughing] It may be dangling over yours, but it's not over mine. Yeah, I think speculation keeps things really interesting.

So you don't want to say anything one way or the other?
Like I said, I think speculation keeps things very, very interesting. [Laughs]


All I can say right now to that is:

Aaargh!!!

11 comments:

Deiter said...

Our house resisted the swirling eddy that is AI until this year. I'm afraid the tidal wave assault of our kids overwhelmed us at last. Rockstar was always more our kind of cup o' tea. (Tho, easy to argue in both cases these shows are the musical equivalent of processed cheese.)

My kids were hoping for Kris. Before the announcement was made I said "Of the two Kris Allen is going to be much easier to sell." Adam might be better suited for the next Las Vegas cast of We Will Rock You or an Andrew Lloyd Weber revival. As a pop singer he's pure Ethel Merman, if his rendition of Born To Be Wild wasn't testament enough. Hey, I love the big production number: Give me Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian Wilson, Divine Comedy, Ute Lemper, et. al. Whatever his other appeals may be, a pop singer he ain't. One Sam Harris is enough, doncha think? (Whatever happened to him, anyway?)

BTW, enjoyed the Schmooze the other night. Thanks for going to the trouble.

Best, Daniel

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

I've been struggling with this all day. Um, "speculation" is a newer word for "closet," isn't it?
I don't find closets very interesting.
I certainly don't find the people in closets to be very very interesting.
Sigh.
I'm so disappointed it's hard to express.

MotherReader said...

I wrote this on some AI blog where no one will read it, but here at least you will.

Early on we get into the phrase "this is a singing competition," which the judges say all the time, and we start to forget that yes, it is a singing competition, but an American Idol branded singing competition. It's not literally about the best singer in America. If it was, opera singers would come in and sweep up with the most vocal skills.

The song written as the first single has all the information you need to understand how Kris won. AI wants a winner to "fit" that song. (Okay the key was high for him, but they'll change that. I'm talking about the kind of song it is.) Last year the song "fit" Cook better. The Blake year, the song was a total mess for him. He lost. The Fantasia year, the song couldn't have been written more with her in mind. The song defines the kind of contestant they want to win.

I think America got it right. Kris is a better American Idol. Adam will go on to have an amazing career with more control about his personal and artistic choices. To me, it's great that we've grown so much in our musical appreciation and acceptance that Adam made it so far in the competition and will go on with a huge fan base. Win/win as I see it.

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

Pam,
thanks for your kind and calm perspective.
I needed that.
Still disappointed, but now almost more about his press conference "speculation" comment...
But I'm feeling more upbeat... and I think I get can back to "hope" posts tomorrow!
namaste,
Lee

MotherReader said...

Glad to help. And the fact that the "speculation" comment gets to you makes my point for me. I'm willing to bet that he can't say anything while he's under AI contract.

Anonymous said...

I kept thinking you were wrong, Lee, that America wouldn't be that STUPID - and, yet, my AOL headline is "America not ready for Adam's guyliner"

SERIOUSLY? David Bowie, Billy Idol, for pete frickin' sakes the Jonas boys wear it on stage and we can't handle makeup on men?

People are so stupid.

(Though, I did have a friend who just preferred Kris, from the very beginning, and is feeling offended people think she's narrow-minded, since she's a lesbian.)

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

You know, I was wondering about that. I also thought it was fascinating that whenever they wanted to hear Kris' family's take on things, they always talked to his parents, rather than his WIFE. Another Fox move to make him seem more available??? I would have been pretty mad about it if I had been her...

Karol S. said...

I agree with a couple comments here - about Kris being more the "AI brand"and the very real possibility of Adam being contractually barred from saying, "Yes, I'm gay" to the media. He seems to get little "acknowledgments" in whenever he can - like in an interview w/Fox 11 news when he spoke about the honor of performing with Queen and how inspiring Freddy Mercury was to him...he said, "Freddy's talent...HIS STORY..." with a significant emphasis on "story" -as if he was saying "ou know what I mean."

How completely wrong & awful would it be if AI did have a bar on being out? I hope if that's the case, Adam outs them once he's no longer under contract. His contract w/them will probably be shorter and less restricted since he didn't win. It will probably be a huge blessing for him. He's bigger & better than all that AI schmarminess...

Karol S. said...

I agree with a number of the comments here - about Kris being more the "AI brand"and the very real possibility of Adam being contractually barred from saying, "Yes, I'm gay" to the media. He seems to get little "acknowledgments" in whenever he can - like in an interview w/Fox 11 news when he spoke about the honor of performing with Queen and how inspiring Freddy Mercury was to him...he said, "Freddy's talent...HIS STORY..." w/an emphasis on story in a "you know what I mean" kind of way.

How completely wrong & awful would it be if AI did have a bar on being out? I hope if that's the case, Adam outs them once he's no longer under contract. His contract w/them will probably be shorter and less restricted since he didn't win. It will probably be a huge blessing for him. He's bigger & better than all that AI schmarminess...

Lee Wind, M.Ed. said...

Karol, that's really interesting - there was a moment in this interview with Adam and Kris from Tuesday night where Adam talked about how the significance of his second song was about civil rights, and how today there are civil rights issues, too - and then some guy cut him off, and re-directed his answer before Adam could say more. It fits in with the theory that he's not "allowed" to come out or talk about being gay or talk about gay stuff at all...

check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t660m9rqEzQ&feature=player_embedded

cay said...

Empirically, Adam was the superior singer. Unfortunately, the system of voting is undemocratic, so who knows what the "truth" is? The only reason I watched it is because of you! Ugh.