Ryan Seacrest started last night’s season finale of American Idol with the announcement that coming into the final vote, there was less than two percent separating the total votes of Crystal and Lee. Which is of course a meaningless statistic since the voting habits change every week with one less contestant.

 

That’s typical of a show that tries to infuse drama in any way that it can. Because if the final vote between Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox was indeed close, you know American Idol would’ve exploited it. Sadly, my sources tell me it was not.

 

Who would have guessed that Crystal Bowesox and Lee DeWyze had so much in common? Thanks to Ryan Seacrest, we learned that both auditioned in Chicago, both are 24 years old, and both are in it to win it on American Idol!

 

Brilliant, Ryan. (Not.) But aside from inane judges’ comments about “This is what the show is all about!” after virtually every performance last night, the far-stretching comparisons end. As far as I’m concerned, the title fight ended with a knockout before a crowd of 7,000 at the Nokia Theater.

 

This Idol season’s weakest of weeks continued last night. No surprises. No drama. No great performances. And what a dull opening interview with the finalists with questions about how hard their week is between Tuesdays, how badly they each want to win, and how much they each wish they were home with friends and families. At least we learned from Crystal that they get good health care, but man, this hour was padded with tedium.

 

But at least we had the homecoming video footage, which I for one absolutely love every year. It’s the time in the season when we finally see how much these Finalists’ lives have truly changed (for the short term, if not the long term). Just 4 or 5 months ago, hardly anyone knew who these three were. Now they’re budding superstars with motorcades, TV interviews, and screaming fans filling fairgrounds, football fields, and racetracks.

The ironic thing about American Idol is that the closer we get to the finale and the more excitement that builds in selecting a new winner, the more predictably things play out as they reach their inevitable conclusion. Granted, we’ve had a couple of photo-finishes in recent years with Kris vs. Adam and the Battle of the Daves. But in the course of a season, it’s so much more fun when we have a wide field of candidates with varying styles and personalities, as “Survival of the Fittest” weeds out the pretenders from the true talent.

 

And so it goes this year with season 9. I’ve no complaints about which contestants have made it this far, save for my incessant whining about the final week of semi-finals, when Lily, Katelyn, and Alex were unceremoniously dropped. But is there really any doubt which two contestants this year are going to duke it out at the Nokia next week … and which one is soon to be a forgettable also-ran?

I had forgotten the significance of this stage in the American Idol competition. Those who make the Top Three get to return home after months away, making appearances and performing a concert in their hometown before handling multiple songs on stage next week. The homecoming week is always an enjoyable highpoint for me, seeing the enthusiastic fan response to the local heroes that made good.

 

In addition to the drama of the results, what a pleasure to see some honest to goodness performances this week! Nothing over the top. Nothing emphasizing spectacle over singing. And admittedly, it’s nice to see former contestants return to the show. As the Idol alumni association grows, there are increasingly more singers worth checking in on to see how they’re developing as artists. So without further ado … the recap!

 

 

Most every season, the American Idol producers throw a “Songs of the Cinema” week our way, which seems like a very open opportunity for contestants to pick a song that suits their style or interpret a well-known favorite through their artistic lens. Except, of course, not all songs are cleared for copyright purposes, limiting the singers to 50 or so pre-selected choices that may come across as predictable, dull, and cheesy. And that’s kind of what we got with this year’s list.

 

Let’s not focus too much on song selection, though. A good performer can still make the most out of a halfway decent song, even if it’s treacle or cliché. That seems to be what guest mentor Jamie Foxx was going for with his return visit. The guy’s so self-assured with his own artistry that he comes off a little cocky and arrogant with his advice—especially since most of that advice stemmed from him staring at the contestants up close while they performed.

 

Is American Idol the weirdest season yet or is it the most predictable? Things have been pretty rote as far as which contestants have been voted off—including last night’s exit—but at the same time, the performances have been all over the map.

 

Take last night’s festivities, which included guest mentor Harry Connick Jr and … and Lady Gaga. (Cue theme to The Odd Couple.) You’d think the producers would try to keep their focus on the theme from week to week, but where would we be without at least one insanely over-the-top stage production desperately vying to be the next day’s water cooler conversation?

 

We’re now down to the American Idol Top 5. It’s the point where (arguably) all the iffy contestants are gone. We’ve been listening to these five individuals sing for more than ten weeks now and have a solid understanding of what their strengths and weaknesses are, what their personalities are like, and more or less what kind of artist each one wants to be: the rocker, the country-pop singer, the blues man, the tender R&B crooner, and the rootsy alt-pop gal. At least one of these five (if not two or three of them) will be securing a record contract in the near future.

 

And so, in the infinite wisdom of the producers of American Idol, these five talented individuals with defined musical identities are forced to sing … the songbook of Frank Sinatra?

 

There was indeed some drama with this week's Idol Results, though it was severely downplayed for an overabundance of (lackluster) country performances from Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, Sons of Silvia … and Shakira???

 

Well, at least there was no group-sing for once. (Thank you Idol producers, for showing us mercy!!!) It only makes sense at this point with half of the finalists out of the picture. Of course, the show still found time for a stupid vampire themed Ford commercial, a long commercial for the forthcoming Shrek Forever movie, and the four musical performances. My memory isn’t what it used to be, but weren’t the results shows just 30 minutes once upon a time?

Country superstar Shania Twain was one of the better guest judges during the early pre-Ellen rounds on American Idol this season. And she was also a decent enough mentor tonight, giving some practical advice to the contestants concerning performance and arrangement. But did they need to go overboard by making her relatively limited catalog the theme of the night?

 

Country music night, for me, is usually one of the low-points of the Idol season. It usually comes across forced and awkward to every contestant but the one or two who happen to specialize in the genre. Of course, there’s no rule that says they have to perform a country song in a country style—especially since Shania isn’t pure country, but country-lite gone pop. (I blame her for blazing the trail that Taylor Swift now follows.)