Idolites –I know I was going to wait until the weekend to write this, but I can already feel my interest fading as we look in the rearview mirror. I can’t imagine my thoughts would be any more enjoyable to read (if they ever were anyway) as we move farther away from the show. So, I’ll leave you with my final thoughts now before you forget who won…did you remember that it was Kris Allen? Crazy!
THE FINAL SHOW
My random thoughts:
What a great Finale! Usually, about 30 minutes into the final show, I’m looking at the clock just wanting them to announce the winner already. Wednesday’s show was spectacular in so many ways that I was sad to see it end…until Kris was crowned, then I couldn’t wait to shut it off.
Best moments:
- Norman Gentle…simply the 2nd best performer on the show this season. Comic genius and great entertainer. I was beaming when he tore off the sweat suit and broke into I’m Not Going one last time. The fact that I dressed up as him for the party was icing on the cupcake.
- Adam with KISS…No secret I love Adam. Did you also know that in 1978 at the Cow Palace in South San Francisco, a 9-year old Pool Boy saw his very first live concert? Who was playing? That’s right, my favorite band at the time…KISS! So, when Adam was up there singing Beth (which fired up Idolite & Season 2 pool champ Beth Shanaman), I told everyone at our viewing party “If KISS comes out to sing with Adam, I may just have to use the bathroom.” 30 seconds later, I ran into the bathroom…just to scream, though. When Adam first came on stage with the platform boots and wings, I thought he had decided that this was the time he was going to come out of the closet. Heck, the voting was over now, so why pander to the prejudice voters anymore? It was Adam as I hope to see him in the future…larger than life and over the top! Fabulous!!
- The very end of the bit with Kara and Bikini Girl. At first, I was just rolling my eyes when Bikini Girl and her fake cans strutted up on stage to sing. I was, however, impressed that she was able to turn her 15 minutes into 34 DD’s. During her initial audition, Kara lost points with me when she started singing the song. I was wondering why she thought she had to prove herself. Out singing Bikini Girl is like me beating Lucky at basketball…who cares? (and kinda desperate). Then, when Kara came on stage to sing last night, I realized that she was poking fun at herself a little bit. That gained her a little credibility from me. As I was watching the song, I was thinking “ What would have been cool is if Kara came out in a bikini.” Less than 30 seconds later, I got my wish (as if my mind controlled the whole thing…creepy!). That moment pretty much counter-balanced No Boundaries. She’s back to even in my book.
- Allison’s duet with Cyndi Lauper…I realized why Allison didn’t seem intimidated singing Time After Time right next to Cyndi…she was born about 8 years after it’s release. It wasn’t an iconic part of her childhood. She did a very nice job!
- Rod Stewart. I mostly respected the fact that he obviously big-timed the producers and said “Um, yeah, I’m Rod Stewart…so go ahead and let the Top 13 do a hack medley of Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? and I’ll sing Maggie May by myself, thank you.”
- Adam completely out singing Kris with Queen doing We Are The Champions.
How is it that Lil Rounds get to perform a duet with Queen Latifah? Anoop finished higher and he didn’t get his own duet. Even in the Finale, the Idol producers are in denial that Lil just wasn’t that good. She had all of us fooled.
I was brutally reminded that instead of Alexis Grace, America gets to see Michael Sarver on the Idols tour! I’m sure the mic-tapping oil-rigger will put on an excellent show…not!
SEASON 8 FINAL THOUGHTS
Adam Lambert was simply the most creative and interesting contestant to ever be on the show. Whether you liked him or not, I’ll bet you found yourself on Tuesday mornings this Spring wondering “What will Adam sing tonight?” You probably also found yourself talking about him on Wednesday mornings much more than any other contestant…and about how cool or unusual his performance was, not because he was so awful. That’s a star. Many think Adam screams too much and were too distracted by his awesome performing skills. I downloaded the studio versions of Mad World, If I Can’t Have You and Feeling Good. All of them sounded even better than on the show, and were very subdued. They demonstrated to me that he isn’t just a performer…he can sing and sing well. The “screaming” he does on certain songs happens when he performs live. I happen to love it, because there are very few singers that can do what he does. There are a bazillion singers that sound like Kris…in my humble opinion.
All my love for Adam aside, in most circumstances I would be the type of person that would have rooted for Kris. I tend to support the underdog. Heck, Kris is even a really nice guy that seems genuinely humble and surprised by all of his success. I could just never get beyond his boring (in my opinion) music style and bland personality…and where I do love an underdog, I also appreciate when someone is unique and memorable. A perfect example was during last night’s show. I was in the other room and heard a song being sung by a guy. My first guess was that is was Matt G., then Kris. Turns out it was Anoop. If it were Adam (even Allison, Danny or Megan..that’s right, I said Megan) I would have known instantly who it was, because of the unique vocals. One of the reasons I think Kris did so well along the way was because he was singing songs that were current. I obviously hadn’t heard of a lot of the songs he was singing, but the millions of teen girls (ones that have the stamina and time to dial in votes for two to four hours at a time) most certainly did. Adam sang songs I liked. Kris sang the songs voters liked. Damn!
We’ll see if Kris will go the way of David Cook, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood? Or will he see sales more like Ruben, Taylor or Fantasia? My guess is that it will be somewhere in the middle…just like Kris, safe and middle of the road. That being said, I don’t think anyone should ever bet against this guy. He obviously leads a charmed life.
I think the Top 36 format produced some interesting results. With essentially just one performance to get into the Top 13, we weren’t given much to go on when the Top 13 finally began. It made all of us think that Lil Rounds was a shoe in for the Top 3. It allowed for us to be caught up in the fact that Scott was blind and his story was so compelling that we should vote him in. Had he needed to sing a week or two more to get there, he may not have made the Top 13…or at least would have been eliminated sooner than he was. Trust me, I was caught up in it too. The format also allowed someone like Kris Allen to sneak into the Top 13 and quietly gain momentum all the way to the title.
The judges save ended up being more of an exercise in cruelty, than a way to assure the best singers made it through. Now, instead of just singing because you’re sad you just got voted off, you’re singing scared, because you may have a chance to get saved. Then, you get rejected by the judges too…brutal. Using it on Matt Giraud really diminished its credibility. They should have used it on Alexis. I’m sure it will be back next season. I just hope it actually does something. If not, it would be nice if they just didn’t use it.
Was this the best season ever, with the most talent (as the judges mentioned on several occasions)? This is hard to say right now. Certainly, when you line up the contestants from each season, it seems as though the singers this year were the strongest. With the exceptions of Jasmine, Jorge, Michael and, yes, Scott, the vocal talent was pretty solid this year. When you add the fact that you had a freak of nature, once-in-a-lifetime vocal and performing talent like Adam, the scales are tipped in Season 8’s favor. The bottom line is that the talent should get stronger each season. More and more people know about the show and how it can change their lives. The competition breeds excellence. I think this is one of the reasons this show is so popular. As soon as we have a season where there is a drop off in singing talent, American Idol will have jumped the shark. Until then, it will remain the most popular and successful show on TV…or until Simon leaves.
POOL RECAP
The Top 16 (15%) of our 105 pool entries are getting paid. Here are the winners again, along with their payouts:
1. Kathy Hunter - $300
2. Jen Davies - $150
3. Kim Skorupa - $80
4. Tiffany Sannes - $70
5. Isabel DeVera - $60
6T. Daryl Bakke - $52.50
6T. Presley Ruona - $52.50
8. Richard Venneri - $45
9T. Christian Wiehl - $32.50
9T. Kelly Gallagher - $32.50
9T. Lizanne Grothkopp - $32.50
9T. Muddy McCoy - $32.50
13T. Dawn Capecci - $22.50
13T. Paul & Jessica Brotherton - $22.50
15T. Jennifer Harowicz - $20
15T. Tami Duryee - $20
As soon as I have all fees, I’ll send out the winner’s checks.
In the meantime, if you are on this list, please e-mail me your mailing address so I know where to send your winnings.
…and now some extra special props to our pool champion, Kathy Hunter. Unlike Kris Allen, she cannot be considered an underdog. Not only was hers one of only five entries that picked Kris to win, she was one of only seven entries to pick David Cook to win last season…also finishing in the money. WAY TO GO KATHY!!!!
POWER OF THE POOL….AGAIN! (WISDOM FOR NEXT YEAR’S PICKS)
At the end of last season, I made a point about how the favorite to win Idol NEVER does. Kris made sure that streak stayed in tact.
In past seasons, going into the Top 10 or 12 or 13 (whatever the start of our beloved pool), there was a prohibitive favorite or two. This season was no different. The only exception was that there were three strong favorites this year (Adam, Danny & Lil). This was according to our pool, as well as betting lines, the judges, etc. So, when filling out your pool next season please keep the following free and valuable advice in mind.
With season 8 now added, this is how most of our pool members fail each and every year:
Here are the Favorites and Actual Winners of Each Season (plus how many pool entries correctly picked the Winner):
Season 1 - Fave: Justin Guarini Winner: Kelly Clarkson (n/a)
Season 2 - Fave: Clay Aiken Winner: Ruben Studdard (2 out of about 20)…10%
Season 3 - Fave: LaToya London Winner: Fantasia (5 out of 32)…16%
Season 4 - Faves: Bo Bice/Anwar Robinson Winner: Carrie Underwood (4 out of 34)…12%
Season 5 - Fave: Chris Daughtry Winner: Taylor Hicks (2 out of 57)…3.5%
Season 6 - Fave: Melinda Doolittle Winner: Jordin Sparks (0 out of 52)…0%
Season 7 - Fave: David Archuleta Winner: David Cook (7 out of 77)…9%
Season 8 - Faves: Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey & Lil Rounds Winner: Kris Allen (5 out of 105)…5%
My mom just pointed out another very interesting (and potentially valuable) piece of information about the winners of Idol. Six of the eight winners have been from the South. I looked at it even further (of course I did). The only two winners not from the South were Jordin Sparks (Arizona), who beat Blake Lewis (Seattle) and David Cook (Kansas City), who beat David Archuleta, (Utah). The young Southern voting block is a force to be reckoned with for sure. Keep that in mind next March.
STATISTICAL ODDITIES
I’m several pages through this last blog entry and I’m still fascinated by how unlikely Kris’ victory was. Let me point it out one last time:
1. Was 30 to 1 to win it all by bodoglife.com at the start of the Top 13. Even Jorge (25 to 1) and Scott (10 to 1) had better odds this season.
2. His average rank in our pool was 9.18, which was 11th best.
3. Only 20,000 votes separated he and Anoop during the Top 36 performances. Anoop came back as a wild card. Even the most hard core fans of Kris (which have come since then) might say that if he didn’t get into the Top 13 that night, he probably wouldn’t have made the wild card round.
4. Of the five entries that picked him to win, one was a random pick out of a hat. Two were made by Tiffany Sannes, who had not seen any episodes leading up to the Top 13. She made her picks solely on the short video clips of their Top 36 performances on the AI website. Maybe Tiffany should replace Kara next season. Tiffany obviously knows what America wants better than her…and can figure it out in a much more succinct manner. Nice job Tiff! Kathy Hunter and Jen Davies are just plain psychic.
How did this year’s pool compare to seasons past, you ask? Well, let’s take a look at how the scores break down:
Season 3: 32 entries, High Score:102, Low Score: 52, Avg, Score: 70
Season 4: 34 entries, High Score: 90, Low Score: 47, Avg. Score: 63
Season 5: 57 entries, High Score: 86, Low Score: 45, Avg. Score: 68
Season 6: 55 entries, Couldn’t find standings for this season. Hmmm???
Season 7: 77 entries, High Score: 91, Low Score: 46, Avg. Score: 66
Season 8: 105 entries, High Score: 94, Low Score: 35, Avg. Score: 63
In theory, one would think the scores for this season would be higher, given the fact that there was a Top 13 instead of a Top 12, giving one more week’s worth of scoring.
In reality, there were two reasons I believe the scoring was a bit lower:
1. A few contestants really drove this year’s average scores down. The most notable were:
*Alexis. Her average pool rank was 5.83, which was 5th amongst the contestants. Nine people picked her to win (none of which was a randomly picked pool to my knowledge). Her 11th place ousting really screwed up some pools early.
*Lil: She had the highest average pool rank at 2.78. Over 70% of us had her in the Top 3. 24 people picked her as their Idol. Her fall from grace didn’t so much kill anyone, as we all had her ranked high, but it sure did drive down the overall scores.
*Kris: I’ve already exhausted you with how improbable his run was. In turn, he drove down the average score even more than Lil.
2. Randomly picked pools. I’m not sure of the official number, but there were a lot of pools picked at random. A few folks picked their winner and then randomly filled in the rest. While our consensus wasn’t spectacular as far as results, I do think that people that actually watched the show prior to picking did better. Ironically enough, our last place pool (sorry to throw you under the bus James Munger) actually tried to pick correctly…or at least I assume so. The double irony is that James was the one that asked me about comparing the scoring to past season. The triple irony is that James’ score of 35 this year set the record for lowest score in pool history, crushing the previous record low of 45.
James is another pool boy who runs an awesome NFL weekly picks pool, NCAA Tournament pool and Oscar pool to name a few. Let me know if you’re ever interested and I’ll hook you up. I may be teaming up with him on the standings page for this pool next season, as he is way more technologically advanced than I am.
PARTING WORDS
I’m sure you weren’t ready for that novel of a recap, so I apologize for being so verbose.
I wanted to thank everyone for being part of this pool and my blog. My absolute favorite part of the Idol season is getting to hear from my Idolites when I say something stupid or just to give me a word of encouragement. It’s nice to have a place to spout off about my favorite show and not have to hold back.
I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
Until next January…
Pool Boy Out!
