Four Months is Longer Than You Think

As we're often reminded, "Idol" is a journey. Most of these contestants are complete unknowns when we first meet them, and before the season is over they become stars in our eyes. At the same time, our opinions of certain contestants can change for the better or for the worse. With the "Idol" finale just around the corner, I thought I'd look through my blog's archives and see what my earlier impressions of these contestants were. Some of my opinions then are vastly different now, and others were surprisingly perceptive (if I do say so myself).

Let's start with the two men still standing. One of them will be American Idol #8, so let's see what I was thinking way back when.

Let's start with Adam Lambert, currently the favorite. Here's what I wrote about his audition:

Adam Lambert from Hollywood, CA is a musical theater type, so he probably fits right in in old San Fran. His song is "Bohemian Rhapsody," which he pulls off well. It's a theatrical song, which is perfect for his style, and he has sort of a rock edge to his voice too. The judges all say yes, and he personally thanks each judge with the kissing or shaking of hands. Good singer, but something about him bothers me. I think I've heard he's somewhat planty, so maybe that's what it is.

It looks like even back then Adam was simultaneously theatrical and rocking. I mentioned the "planty" thing because Vote For the Worst had dug up a ton of stuff on him before the season began and it seemed that he was already something of a local celebrity.

Later, when I previewed the Top 36, here's what my comments were:

Vote For the Worst fell in love with him when they discovered he was a flamboyant, campy, makeup-wearing wild man. He was sure to rankle the fans who love their "Idol" simple and non-controversial. Then they showed his audition and we found out that...he was actually a fairly regular dude. [...] Adam comes across as a cool, charismatic guy who, oh by the way, just happens to be gay. Vote For the Worst isn't as high on him as they used to be.

I remember not liking him very much at first, but he's kind of grown on me to the point where I don't mind him sticking around, even if he's not one of my favorites. I've picked him for the Top 12, since he's got the right combination of talent, charisma and screentime to make it. I have a hard time seeing him as a winner, since I don't think his appeal is broad enough, but I can definitely see him making it to the second half of the Finals.

Well, it looks like I wanted to get the elephant in the room about Adam's sexuality out of the way early on. It seems I underestimated his chances of winning though, as most people now expect him to take the title.

I don't think it took me too long to get onboard with him as a potential winner though, as I had him at runner-up in my initial post-Wild Card Power Rankings. A few weeks later, after he did "The Tracks of My Tears," I actually titled the post "Is it Too Early to Declare Adam the Winner?"

What about the other guy, Kris Allen? It seems that all I could say about Kris was that he was probably fodder, since he was only shown in passing. In the Top 36 preview my comment was:

This guy's gotten some screentime in sporadic snippets, but it's nothing that'll help him build a fanbase. I couldn't even tell you what he sounds like, since I've never heard him long enough to commit it to memory. He seems like a funny guy based on his interviews, but I doubt it'll be enough to overcome his fodder-ness.

What are the chances of him making the Finals? About one in a hundred? I'd say more like one in a million. So you're saying there's a chance! Yes!!!

Now that's funny. There was so little to say about the guy that I resorted to quoting Dumb & Dumber. I immediately liked Kris when I heard him in the Semifinals though:

Kris Allen is next, and they show us that in Hollywood he was known for playing his guitar. Tonight he's doing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror." At least it's not an overdone song choice. The performance starts out slightly boring at first, but as the song picks up, so does the performance. He hits some incredible notes, and despite his face looking a little goofy at times, I actually really like this. This guy deserves some votes. Kara says the second half was better than the first, but it doesn't compare to what he did in Hollywood. Um, you are aware that contestants aren't allowed to play instruments in these Semifinals, right? Paula says he showed personality and nailed it, Simon pimps Danny Gokey by saying Kris isn't as good as him, but that he's proud of him. Randy says he proved he can do it without the guitar. Good on him. Rise above your fodder status, Kris!

Wow. Even back then Simon was comparing Kris unfavorably to Danny. He would later say Danny sang better than Kris in their duet and that the finale would be between Danny and Adam because Kris wasn't good enough. Was Simon prescient enough to see that Kris had the talent to upset his dream showdown between Adam and Danny? I'm probably giving Simon too much credit, but you have to wonder.

I had Kris low in my power rankings every week early on, since I figured his lack of screentime would come back to bite him. How happy I was to be proven wrong! At this point, Kris being named the winner on Wednesday would be poetic justice. Simon and Co. have done all they can to manipulate this competition, so how about America sticks it to them and votes for the guy from Arkansas?

And just what about Danny Gokey, that frontrunner-turned-nuisance? I, like most of America, was initially moved by his dead wife story. After his buddy Jamar's audition I wrote:

Next is Jamar's white "brother" Danny Gokey, also from Milwaukee. We see that there's a sob story coming up during the pre-break promos, but this one is actually pretty moving. His wife died four weeks before the audition, and he almost didn't have the strength to try out. Now that's sad. I can only imagine what it's like to lose the love of your life. [...] He sings "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," and it's actually really good. He makes it through, and the judges rave about him, saying he's one of the best they've had all day. Good on him.

I still was OK with him by the time he reached the Top 36. In the Top 36 preview I wrote:

This guy has gotten more pimping than anyone else so far. We know that his wife passed away a few months before he auditioned for "Idol," and then there was the ongoing storyline during Hollywood of him and his buddy Jamar taking the "Idol" journey together. He's definitely a talented, likable guy, so it'd be a shocker if he didn't make the Top 12.

While he's currently the early favorite to win, I have a feeling he won't. First of all, there seems to be some backlash setting in from all the people who are tired of the pimping. Second, how would he be marketed if he won? Blue-eyed soul? He auditioned with "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and has that straining quality to his voice, so I'm just guessing that's how he sees himself artistically. After Taylor Hicks' lack of commercial success I doubt the powers that be are going to want to encourage the voters in that direction. Still, even if he doesn't win he's definitely Top 12, probably even Top 3.

Yep. I called Danny "likable." At the time he hadn't yet turned into the Smuggie, and we could sympathize because he was still dealing with the loss of his wife. I was dead on with the Top 3 prediction, which I later repeated in my first Power Rankings. I guess I just didn't see him in the finale like Paula did.

My own personal backlash toward Danny began the moment he was named to the Top 12. I'd given him a glowing review the night before, but my feelings quickly changed in the midst of that shameful scene. It was down to Danny and Tatiana Del Toro and...well, here's my recap:

And the one who makes it is: Danny. He lets out a "whoo!" when he finds out. It's so touching how humbled he is to be in the Top 12, isn't it? Tatiana starts crying. Poor girl. I don't care how annoying you thought she was, you can see that this really meant a lot to her. Like Anoop, I hope she's a Wild Card, but I wouldn't bet on it. During Danny's reprise of "Hero," one of his friends watching on the side holds up a picture of Danny and his wife that the camera zooms up on. Is it too early to predict (or hope) that Danny is this year's shocking elimination?

His elimination wasn't quite "shocking" by the time it happened, but mercifully, it happened before the finale. I got my wish about both Anoop and Tatiana being invited back for the Wild Card show though. Too bad only one of them made it after that.

What about our favorite redhead, Allison Iraheta? Like Kris, she barely had any screentime, and after she was named to the Top 36 I wrote the following:

We're introduced to Allison Iraheta, who sang a really poorly overdone "Because of You" in Hollywood. She's kind of scary-looking, with her unnatural bright red hair and the face of Buster Poindexter [...]. She gets through. The judges make a few comments about her being a dark horse or something. Yeah right. She needs to have the performance of her life just to make the Top 12.

In the Top 36 preview I wrote:

She has the same initials as "American Idol"! Is it a sign? Of course, she also has the same initials as Allen Iverson, Andre Iguodala and artificial intelligence, so maybe it's just a coincidence.

From what little we've heard of her singing, I'm not that impressed. She sort of reminds me of Camile Velasco for some reason, though I imagine if I went back and compared them they'd probably be nothing alike. I'm known to make associations that have no rhyme or reason to them. I'm not a big fan of her look, either. Her bright red dyed hair combined with a face reminiscent of David Johansen from the New York Dolls is just...bizarre. She seems like a nice girl, I guess, but nothing about her so far makes me want to vote for her.

We never saw her until the "chair" episode, but the judges seemed pretty high on her "raw natural talent" there. If they really had high hopes for her though, I imagine we would've seen more of her in Hollywood or the auditions. As it stands, I don't think she has much chance of making the Top 12.

Man, I really harped on that David Johansen/Buster Poindexter thing early on. Thank you to all my readers for being nice enough not to point out that the joke couldn't have been less funny. I realized it myself in time. I was wrong about when she was first introduced, since we actually did see a brief clip of her audition, but I'd already forgotten it by the time the "chair" episode aired. What little we saw of her singing in Hollywood didn't sound that good to my ears, so I honestly wasn't expecting much from her. It was refreshing when she turned out to be one of this season's three biggest stars (along with Adam and Kris, of course).

I won't go through the rest of the contestants in as much detail, but here are a few interesting bits I found:

Lil Rounds' audition:

Finally we get Lil Rounds from Memphis, TN. She's a mother of three, and she had to move her family to a motel when a tornado hit their house. [...] She sings "All I Do" by Stevie Wonder, and does an incredible job. Good pitch, good tone, even a cool rasp in there at times. She's a definite yes. The judges smother her with compliments, which overwhelms her. They comment on how she doesn't know she's so great. I believe she's probably sincere, but if she keeps showing this sort of humility she'll probably get bashed by the same cynics who thought Melinda Doolittle was fake. I guess genuinely humble people are so rare these days that nobody believes them when they see them. [...] Lil seems like someone I wouldn't have a problem with.

How ironic that Lil turned into a complete diva with an inflated sense of her own talent shortly afterward.

Megan Joy in the Top 36 preview:

The judges adored her at her audition. They were having a dull day full of underwhelming singers until Megan came in and lifted their spirits with her quirkiness! I like quirky and different, but I can't get past her annoying arm that's covered with tattoos. It's ugly and reminds me of Carly Smithson. What happened to the lost art of pure, beautiful, unaltered skin? Even without the tattoo, I'm not all that impressed with her.

If the judges still love her as much as they did at her audition, I could see her making the Top 12 based on the judges' response to her. After that I don't think she'd be well-rounded enough to go too far. Her "quirky" vocal stylings will probably get annoying quickly. I say mid-Finals is the farthest she could make it.

Did I call that one or what?

Matt Giraud's audition:

Next is a dueling piano player from Kalamazoo named Matt Giraud. He sings Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want to Be" in a voice that's boring, run-of-the-mill and not even all that powerful. He's not horrible, just uninteresting. With that as my initial reaction, what do the judges think? Paula says he's unique. Huh?? Kara likes him. Well, OK. I like '80s hair metal. Simon says he reminds him of Elliott Yamin. OK, maybe there's a slight similarity in their voices, but I don't think this guy has the same soul that Elliott did. He gets a yes, though I would've said no.

While I would now agree that Matt's a pretty talented guy who had a few good performances in him, I still never quite became a fan of his.

Finally, the audition of the girl who was made into a villain, Tatiana Del Toro:

First up is Tatiana Del Toro from San Juan, Puerto Rico. [...] She's a singer, actress and model, and a psychic told her she was going to make the Top 12. I guess we can pencil her into one of those slots right now! They show a montage of her laughing, then show her giving a Miss America-like speech about why she wants to be the next American Idol. It seems like they're setting her up to be bad. [...] She sings Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man" and turns out to be pretty good. Well, she's pretty, period, but she's also a decent singer. Simon thinks she's a copycat, but Paula and Randy say yes, and Kara says no to the voice but yes to the vibe. So she's through, and she's extremely excited, because this means soooo much to her. Despite the mocking, I think her nervous laughing is kind of cute...and unless she turned out to be a snob, I could see myself throwing her a few votes. Musically she's not my thing, but she seems likable.

Yep. I liked Tatiana from the beginning, and I defended her until the end. While she may only be remembered by most people as the psycho girl from "American Idol," I hope she's successful at whatever she does.

What a season it's been. Only two more days until the finale!