American Idol Wrap-Up

So, ok. . . I'm an avid American Idol watcher. It's a show I can watch with the kids. . . . I'm a musician,. . .and a part of my job is very similar to the "try out" phase of the show as I audition people for the worship team. Hate me if you will, but I enjoy watching it. . . :)

With that, here are my thoughts on tonight's finale:

1) David Archuleta can really sing. That kid has a great voice. It's because of that, that I didn't think the producers needed to "root" for him so much in the way the show was pulled off. From the judges comments to the dramatic commercial break before he sang "Imagine", I just felt like they were setting it up for him, dramatically, to win. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I just felt like they were propping him up a bit.

2) Regarding the judges comments. . . . They gave all 3 "rounds" to David Archuleta. I thought, however, that Round 2 was decisively won by David Cook. They both sang their pick from the "winner's song" list,. . .both songs were a bit cheesy. . . but David Cook had a much, much better performance, in my opinion. I would also call Round 1 a wash, as David Cook sang "I still haven't found what I'm looking For" and David A. sang "Don't let the sun go down". I don't usually like it when folks cover U2, because I'm a huge u2 fan, but that was a great performance by Cook. . . . at least worthy of a "tie" from the judges. Round 3 was Archuleta's (after the dramatic commercial pause) as he sang his best tune, "Imagine" and nailed it.

3) It's probably better if/when Archeleta wins becuase he's the better pop singer. He'll do better with the songs they write for him on his album. This is similar to the year when Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice were in the top two. Bo Bice (at the time) was the better singer and more mature artist. . . but Carrie was the better pop artist and has turned into quite an amazing singer. Carrie won, and that's the way it should've been in a singing/pop competition. Both Davids will get an album deal, and it might actually be better for Cook to have not won, so that he has a bit more freedom as an artist in the future.

4) I'm sorry, . . . but for me. . . . it doesn't get much better than Ruben Studdard. :) That dude can sing the alphabet song and it's amazing. I love his voice, and even though he hasn't had the same success as other Idol winners. . . in my opinion, he's the best "pure" singer in the show's 7 years. He knocked that "Home" song out of the park tonight. I know, he recorded one of the worst songs in history "I'm sorry for. . . 2004" :) But, go ahead, bite the bullet and buy some Ruben Studdard music. . you won't be sorry.

Ok, that's all for now.

Aaron