Some Reflections on Season 8

I know I haven't posted anything here since the finale, but hey, I got a little Idoled-out after the long season I'd just endured (I've been busy too). Now that it's been about three weeks and I've had some time to look back and collect my thoughts about it, I thought I'd discuss some of them.

First of all, as anyone who regularly reads this blog knows, I was a Kris Allen fan from day one, so his victory made me ecstatic. Watching his interviews after winning was great, because he accepted it with as much humility and class as ever. You couldn't help but be happy for the guy, except...there was so much hype surrounding Adam Lambert that the story almost became more about Adam losing than Kris winning. I had a gut feeling that would follow when I predicted Kris' victory, and I have to say I'm disappointed that so many fans and media members couldn't give Kris his due.

While this "controversy" seems to have died down somewhat, I will say that I don't think Kris won due to America's inability to accept a gay Idol, an AT&T plot to power-text for Kris or any other conspiracy theory someone wants to throw out there. I think Kris simply appealed to a broader range of people than Adam. You didn't know it because the media who cover "Idol" are generally out of touch with the average American, but that's a separate issue which is probably bigger than I'm capable of discussing here.

Our friends at What Not to Sing wrote an excellent two part article about Kris' road to victory, and if you have the time you should check it out. If you don't feel like taking the time, I'll throw in my two cents about why I think Kris beat Adam.

Adam is obviously a better technical vocalist than Kris. What type of music is normally associated with Adam's wailing vocal style though? I don't know about you, but I think of 80's hair metal, one of the most maligned subgenres in the history of rock. Don't think I'm bashing Adam when I say that, because I'm a fan of 80's hair metal. I've seen my share of pretentious statements made by wannabe hipsters on the internet who dismiss that style as artless, unemotional and illegitimate, and as a fan I know how wrong they are. The fact remains though, that even Adam admits his vocals sound like 80's glam (he himself prefers the 70's variety), a strain of rock despised by many. Kris' style, on the other hand, isn't likely to make anyone hate him. His style is popular these days, and most people will find him uninteresting at worst.

I don't think the anti-gay religious vote is as much of a factor as people think either. Obviously there were probably some people voting that way, but I highly doubt there were enough to change the results. Let me tell you, I myself am a Christian, a (gasp!) conservative one at that, and I can honestly say I would've voted for Adam in the finale if he'd been facing church boy Danny Gokey instead of Kris. I also believe most of America would've done likewise. To say that Kris only won because America couldn't accept a gay Idol is to discount the fact that a lot of people genuinely liked Kris. He didn't hit the Bottom 3 until the Top 5, the exact same as Adam. Clearly he had a lot more support than most people (including me during most of the competition) gave him credit for.

I think this season made it clear how much control the judges have over our perception of fan support. While Kris and Allison Iraheta overcame a lack of early pimping by performing well each week, most of us still felt that the producers' pre-planned Adam-vs.-Danny finale was inevitable. While lots of evidence pointed to Kris being more popular than believed, it was still hard for many of us to view him as a real contender. Even though most of the audience wanted Danny gone by the later stages of the competition, all the pimping he'd gotten made it seem like he had a place in the finale locked up.

While I'll admit it's a small sample size, I got some interesting insights about Danny based on my talks with a couple of people. One was a friend of mine in the Army who told me he'd gotten into "American Idol" for the first time this year because his girlfriend was a fan. He said he was rooting for Danny because of his dead wife backstory. Another was a high school girl I work with (yes, I have a crappy job) who said she liked Kris' version of "Heartless" but thought Danny should've been in the finale instead of him. I thought they were both interesting, because they suggest a possible answer to how contestants like Danny last as long as they do.

Perhaps older, more hardcore viewers are inclined to find a dead wife backstory somewhat exploitative, while newer viewers might be more receptive to it. As for the high school girl, it suggested to me that many younger viewers are more easily manipulated than older ones. After all, every generation has its stars who seem cool at the time but look embarrassing and cheesy in retrospect. You think the kids who love the Jonas Brothers today are going to look back on them in ten years and think they were cool? If kids hear Simon say that Danny is one of the best in the competition they're likely to believe it even if his style shouldn't logically appeal to them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash anyone who genuinely liked Danny, it's just that he proved frustrating for many hardcore fans due to his consistent inability to give a standout performance and his failing even to hit the Bottom 3. His success came across as unwarranted.

To be honest, I think the Top 4 will be the only ones people remember much of from Season 8. Three were capable of wowing us and the other was an interesting case study. I have several thoughts on each of them.

Many are assuming that Kris, despite winning, will be outsold and outshone by Adam in his post-Idol career. It's possible he will. On the other hand, I won't be surprised at all if Kris does better than Adam. As I mentioned earlier, Kris' style is more current, and he does likely appeal to more people than Adam. I remember lots of people saying "Jordin will win, but Blake will sell more records" back in Season 6. You can probably still find old articles saying "it doesn't matter that Carrie won, Bo will have the better career" after the finale of Season 4. How are those predictions looking now? Before any elitist snobs dismiss Kris as a mere symbol of America's fear of change and preference for mediocrity, they might want to remember that the guy took risks, made almost every song his own and basically built a fanbase from scratch. Unassuming generic college kid with a guitar? Don't be fooled. There's a lot more to Kris Allen than meets the eye.

I, for one, hope Kris continues to prove all the doubters wrong and outsells Adam. Not that I hate Adam, I just don't want his Claymate-esque fans and the haughty, self-absorbed media to have an extra reason to whine about Kris. He was worthy of the title, and hopefully his career will prove it.

What about our runner-up Adam, anyway? Well, if you haven't heard by now, he's gay! In the words of Hurley, "um, we kind of knew that forever ago." Still, he never said so publicly, and it meant a few fans out there actually believed he might not be. Now that it's "official," I guess we can stop talking about it and focus on what's important, like the music. While I enjoyed many of Adam's performances, I can't see myself ever buying his stuff. I imagine he'll tone down some of the screaming, since he no longer has to blow America away with every song he sings, but judging by the pre-Idol recordings I've heard, I don't think his style is my thing. I wish him well though.

Then there's Danny, our third-placer. I know I already discussed him a bit earlier, but I have a few more thoughts on him. Danny's run made me realize how much this show brings out the worst in people. I can even see it in my own behavior. Danny got so much pimping, so much hype, and didn't do nearly enough to earn it. Because of that (and the perception that he used his wife's death for sympathy votes), there was already backlash before the Finals began. Even I jumped on the "hate Danny" bandwagon. He represented everything we didn't like about the show: judges' pet, manipulative sob story, middle-of-the-road performances, etc. It got to where we looked for reasons to hate him. He came across as smug. He didn't give Adam a hug when he was sent to the couches. He couldn't stop talking about himself. After a while it seemed he could do no right. When he was eliminated it was a relief that we wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. And yet...I'm not so sure I hate the guy the way I did when he was on the show.

I watched his exit interviews. He talked about how he was still grieving his wife throughout the competition. Indeed, I can only imagine how it would feel to be married to the love of your life and then lose her at such a young age. He also said that he felt uncomfortable with the way the show portrayed his backstory, as it gave the impression of opportunism even to him. His Idolatry interview with Michael Slezak was particularly uncomfortable, as it only made me realize how insecure and possibly naive he is. It truly bothered him that so many people hated him. He has several ideas about what to do next, but they don't seem like they'd appeal to anyone except the church crowd he's been in a bubble with his entire life. I no longer dislike the guy. If anything, I feel sorry for him. I have a hunch his post-Idol career is going to be crueler and full of more heartbreak than he realizes. I just hope the legions of haters who want to spin everything he says or does into "Danny's an arrogant D-bag" will take a step back and realize that he's a human being and probably not as bad as they think.

Finally, we have little Allison. Even though she finished one slot behind Danny, the people at 19E skipped right over him and picked her up. How funny that two of the three contestants 19E ended up signing weren't even part of the producers' original script. I'm very interested to see what type of album Allison makes. She was this season's "rocker," but I get the impression that she has a wide range of influences outside that style. If I recall, in her Hollywood interview video she said her favorite type of music was soul. I guess I don't have much else to say about her except that I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with her career.

Overall, this season had its share of disappointments as well as successes, namely the underdogs rising to the top and proving how out-of-touch the producers really are. It seems odd to be talking about the show in those terms, but the way they condescend to their audience is insulting. Will Season 9 be the one where the old British men in charge get in touch with what the American public really wants, or will it be another year of "we know better than you"? As a fan of the brilliant concept that is this show, I can only hope it's the former.