Blogging after a long long time. All in honor of Simon Cowell and as Ryan Seacrest put it, "The End of an Era" on American Idol. Today saw Lee Dewayze crowned as the American Idol over the judge fave Crystal Bowersox. More importantly, today marked the last time Simon Cowell sits on the judging panel of American Idol.
Kris Allen opened the show - am sad to say I still don't know why he won over Adam Lambert - he was good but I must admit that I fast forwarded through most of it. That performance was followed by all the judges poking fun at Mr. Cowell - they brought Paula back for a bit - it was fun to see her again. Siobhan and Aaron sang "How deep is your love" and were joined by the 2 remaining Bee Gees - it was awesome to see the 4 share the stage - I loved the performance for the most part (except for where all 4 them sang the line how deep is your love - there was something wrong in the way they sounded - like someone was off-key). But I loved seeing the Bee Gees singing again. Big Mike took the stage once more singing with Michael McDonald - over the season I must say that I have taken a strong dislike to Big Mike - not sure whether it was one of my colleagues who absolutely hated him or if I developed it on my own but I just cannot stand him all smug on the stage. Dane Cook followed that up with all the insults Simon has delivered over the years... as a nice touch they brought some of the AI rejects back on stage - things got a bit crazy there as people fought for the mike and I can almost imagine the producers' panic as they went to commercial break.
The top 6 girls performed "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera... they were joined by the lady herself for the second song "Stronger" - she also sang a number from her new album. She was good - there were no gimmicks - it was just her and the mike - and boy did she sing her heart out!! I don't always like Christina's songs but there's no denying her talent - there will never be any lip-syncing here. Ricky Gervais dropped in via satellite - he was funny as expected. The top 6 guys then took the stage - am not sure what song they sang... it was a treat to see Casey on stage again singing "she's a maneater" - the boy is cute :) They were joined by Daryl Hall and John Oats (I admit I had to look up their names on the Internet). They brought a dash of the 80s with them. It's awesome to see the newbies sharing the stage with veteran artists. Crystal sang one of my favourite songs Ironic and was joined by the original songstress Alanis Morisette - it was fun to watch them together on stage - you could tell that they were having a blast. Don't see Alanis enough!! Carrie Underwood performed next - am not sure I liked it very much - it was just okay for me (maybe I'm channeling Simon :))Ford gave the 2 finalists their own Ford Fiestas. Casey shared the stage with Brett Michaels next - they looked like they had fun jamming with their guitars. At this point my DVR has caught up with the live telecast - bummer - have to watch all the ads now...
Lee performed a medley with the band Chicago... Lee looked like he belonged. I think he has a long career ahead of him. From selling paints to sharing the stage with Chicago - he has come a long way. Pants on the ground was back... right after a funny Simon snippet. I know what I am going to be humming all day tomorrow - Pants on the ground... he was joined by - surprise surprise - William Hung (yes of "She bangs" fame). Paula reminisced about Simon and their friendship on video. Then she was on stage looking more coherent that she ever has before. It was great to see Kelly Clarkson on stage with Reuben, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Taylor Hicks (remember him?), Kris Allen (no David Cook surprisingly) and a number of other Idol contestants. Janet Jackson joined this season's Idol contestants after Simon's speech. Her soft crooning initially reminded me of Michael Jackson... she looked fabulous - I don't think this woman ages. She got a standing ovation from the audience when she was done.
Lee and Crystal shared the stage one final time singing "with a little help from my friends" - I have always loved this song - never knew who the original singer was and today he shared the stage with Crystal and Lee - Joe Cocker - they were awesome. Then there was nothing left to do but crown the new reigning Idol - in another American Idol upset, Lee won over Crystal. This season was by far the worst in Idol history. And now Simon is gone too. I'm not sure I am going to be tuning in next season but all said and done I absolutely loved this finale tonight. I did however lose my office pool :(
That was one long post - phew!!!!!!! Good night!!
