American Idol — Recap & Review — Finale

photo: fox

American Idol
Finale

Original Air Date: May 24, 2011

Patricia Morris Buckley — Sr. Staff Writer
pmb@thetwocentscorp.com

Scotty McCreery got screwed tonight and part of it might be his own fault. Last week he won the coin toss to decide who went first and he let Lauren choose. Of course, she chose to go second. There’s being a gentleman and there’s being a competitor – at this point, it’s no time to be a gentleman, as he will sadly learn Wednesday night.

Granted, I have been predicting for weeks now that the producers have been stacking the deck for a Lauren Alaina win. Tonight they went into turbo gear. For instance:

• They mentioned FIVE times that Lauren is 16 years old (the wonder kid!!) to ONCE saying that Scotty is 17.

• They kept comparing her to Carrie Underwood all night long — flashing her picture up on the screen after Carrie, having Carrie select one of her songs and even singing a Carrie song as her own choice.

• They gave her the sympathy vote by leaking before the show that she’d hurt her vocal chords during dress rehearsal and she might not be able to sing. Then they just happened to have a camera-happy doctor available to explain in technical terms such as “blew out her vocal chords” to “calm” all our fears. Funny how, except for a little raspiness that actually added to her performance, she sounded just fine.

• Then they practically handed her the crown with a killer original song “Like My Mother Does,” which really could be a hit song (a first for Idol, which usually makes the singer record drippy messes). Not only did it pull at heartstrings by being an ode to motherhood, but they allowed her to go out into the audience and hug her sobbing mother. Then Lauren teared up.

• Then the judges voted her the winner of two out of three rounds, saying that Scotty won one, but “only slightly.” Worst of all, Steven voted her the winner of all three rounds, telling Scotty he did so “because she’s just prettier than you.”

Tell me again why we’re even bothering to have a results show Wednesday?

But let’s go ahead and recap it anyway. Each finalist sang three songs: One of their favorite performances from this season, one their idol picked for them, then an original song they will release as a single if they win.

ROUND 1: Favorite Past Performance

SCOTTY MCCREERY: “Gone”
Scotty is a lot looser and confident than when he performed this song before. He does a lovely job. I loved the baseball swing at the end.

LAUREN ALAINA: “Flat on the Floor”
Her raspiness really plays nicely in this up tempo number (interesting that they both started with an up tempo song). She messes up the tempo slightly once, but she’s got great confidence and does a fine job.

ROUND 2: Songs Their Idols Chose

SCOTTY MCCREERY: “Check Yes or No”
Scotty’s idol is George Strait. This song allows him to show off his newly developed upper register and his guitar playing. But, please excuse the pun, it’s a rather “strait-forward” number that doesn’t show off his voice much.

LAUREN ALAINA: “Maybe it Was Memphis”
This is a Carrie song and she gives a solid performance, but without bringing anything new to it. This has been one of my problems with her that she doesn’t do anything original to what she sings — and the judges always say they want “artists,” but give her a pass anyway.

ROUND 3: Original Songs

SCOTTY MCCREERY: “I Love You This Big”
This song deserved to be on a Hallmark card or in a Care Bear movie. Scotty gives it his best, although he wavers on a few notes with vocal fatigue of his own. His suit jacket looked sharp.

LAUREN ALAINA: “Like My Mother Does”
Total manipulation of the audience and unfortunately the last song the audience gets to hear. She’s won it. Or should I say the producers have made sure she’s won it?

We also heard two other artists sing. With a full-on light show, Taio Cruz gave his best with the Idol original “Positive.” It had to have the most insipid lyrics ever. “For me, it’s the only way to live, I’m gonna be positive.” Then scream “positive” 20 more times to make up the chorus.

S7 winner David Cook performed his “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” which has been singing the eliminated singers out all season. I love watching David perform (and did you notice his finale buddy, David Archuleta, in the audience?), but my attention was divided between him and the screen behind him showing a review of the season.

Do you feel manipulated by the producers? Do you think Scotty has a chance to win? Could Lauren’s final song be a bona-fide hit? Give us your TwoCents…