IDOL RECAP: And Suddenly All Is Right With The World

Photo courtesy of Rickey.org

I should have more faith in America. After David Cook pulled the surprise — and deserved — upset over David Archuletta on last year’s American Idol finale, I should have realized that often America doesn’t blindly follow the misguided praise of the judges. If I had remembered that, I wouldn’t have been so delightfully surprised last night when Danny Gokey finally got the boot, thus sparing us one week (or at least one night) from hearing his forceful growl. I don’t think he expected to be going home in the least. In fact, I think he thought he was gonna win it all. He probably thought he’d pull a surprise upset over Adam Lambert — David Cook style. But thankfully, things just didn’t turn out that way.

My theory is that after last week’s dreadful Aerosmith performance, animosity towards the Gokester really hit a new high. It wasn’t strong enough to send him home initially, but when poor Allison Iraheta got the boot, people felt angry. Someone would have to pay — justice would have to be served. And that happened last night. Over the past week, anti-Gokey sentiments really took hold of the internet and media, and really the only way he could conceivably stick around was to be absolutely amazing on Tuesday or motivate his base like never before. Clearly he did neither.
And now he’s gone!
Tra la la la la!
While I don’t usually like to trounce on someone while they’re at their lowest point, I can’t help feeling tremendously excited and victorious in the wake of Gokey’s departure. Now we’ll truly have a noteworthy finale. Granted, Glambert will most likely walk away with it, but while he’s not my style of music, I can’t deny that he has talent. I would be able to live with such an outcome.
Of course, I’m pulling for Kris, whose understated presence (tender puppy!) and easily marketable style makes him a true contender for radio success. Plus, I can actually listen to his voice without wanting to stab my cranium with the nearest sharp object. Either way, Kris and Adam should make for a great showdown, if only because their styles are so drastically different. Maybe now the judges will give Kris some of the credit he deserves. To paraphrase Simon, the show should be QUITE the ding-dong! (Memo to self: bring Ding Dongs to viewing next week)
I still kind of wish we had Allison and Adam in the finals instead, if only because the two seem to really feed off each other in wonderful ways, but let’s face it: as much as we all love Allison, she simply does not have the commercial appeal. At least with Kris, there is an outside chance that he could pull off a major upset. And if that were to happen, I’m sure Adam would be perfectly fine with it. Because while he does sound like a kitten stuck in the washing machine, he also seems like a truly nice guy (not that kittens suck in washing machines aren’t nice, but you get the point). I for one am excited.
As for the rest of the results show, what else is there to say? Alicia Keys made a surprise appearance to talk about Africa — and for whatever reason, that warranted a standing ovation. Look, she’s good, but she’s not a legend. Sit down, people. Alicia then introduced a kid from Rwanda (I believe — I was only half watching) who got up and bounced around and sung. It was all sweet and nice and everything, but damn was it annoying.
Then again, there really weren’t many non-annoying performances on the telecast. Jordan Sparks — who looked great, by the way — took to a smokey stage and sung about battlefields while later Katy Perry (shamelessly endorsing Adam by stitching his name onto the back of her costume) warbled her way through a forgettable ditty about Vegas. All in all, the songs were pretty miserable last night.
We also were treated to the hometown visit videos, which afforded us a view of Danny’s friend Jamar, a guy who most certainly should have been on the show this year. I hope he tries out again because he had a great voice and actually seemed cool. In San Diego, we saw Adam visit his old high school and theater troupe where a cherubic little boy asked him how he sang and danced so well. I’m sure half of America let out an “awww” in unison (I, however, maintained my cold outer façade).
As for Kris’s hometown welcome, it pretty much centered around him hugging his family for about four hours. It was very sweet — tender perhaps — but I couldn’t help feeling amused by the implication that this was the first time he’d seen his parents in months. I mean, they’re right there in the audience every night! Side note: I really like his parents, mostly because they cry. I love when parents do that on TV.
Unfortunately for Kris, the windy Arkansas air revealed that he’s developing quite the bald spot in the back of his head, but on the upside, he’s gonna get free cheese dip for life at a local restaurant; so really, I think everything turned out A-OK.
Was there anything else? If I missed anything, talk about it in the comments. What did you think about the results? Shocked? Happy? Sad?