That's right, as expected, Crystal advanced to the finale. Lee was also put through, making him the longest shot to make the finale that I can remember. At the beginning of the season, I don't think anyone really knew what to make of him, but he's gained a following, absorbed the voters of singers who have been eliminated and improved steadily.
This means that Casey was kicked off, which ruins my prediction for the season, although I will say that most other bloggers I read didn't have him advancing this far.
So how does this stack up against say, last season?
The easy comparison is that you have one person who started the season as a singer to watch (Adam/Crystal) combined with someone else whose singular accomplishment has been to avoid getting kicked off week after week (Kris/Lee).
Can Lee upset the machine that is Crystal? Maybe. That is, unless Crystal decides she wants to win, stops sandbagging and unloads both barrels on him like we know she can (if he wants to).
This season has been hers to lose from the beginning. We've thought that before (Chris Daughtry, Melinda Doolittle, Adam Lambert, David Archuleta) and things didn't turn out as planned. Other years, the final two have both been strong (Clay/Rueben, Carrie, Bo).
I think for Lee to win, he's got to pick up Casey's voters, and that's probably not going to happen. I think they'll go to Crystal. Lee will pick up the VFTW crowd, but I think their influence is on the wane.
My pick before the finale is for Crystal to win. But ask me again next Tuesday night.
In other news, I was happy to see more footage of the singers going home. I could have done without the craptacular Ford commercial and the singing from the two random tween sensations. Why not have an encore performance from the actual Idol singers instead of that schlock.
Anyway, I'm going to see if I can rustle up a group for Sammath Gul, Sword Halls or the Grand Staircase (I ran the Turtle for the first time tonight so I'm locked out of that for a week).
High Lord. Blind Leaper. Out.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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7 comments:
I actually really like Lee, and I think i'm going to pick him to win. I think he has a big following because of his past...he's that epic story. He was a bad kid, made some bad decisions, let his parents down. Now he took a chance and he is a good singer....(not that Crystal isn't a good singer or doesn't have a good story) Also, I think it would be better for Lee to win becasue I think Lee is more moldable for what the contract would want, where Crystal is already an artist that has her niche. With all of this being said, they were my favorite female and male singers of the year.
There is no doubt to me that Lee needs Idol more than Crystal does.
I think many people realise that and will vote accordingly. The fact of the matter is that Crystal is a semi-professional musician who was just in need of an outlet and some exposure. Now that she's got that, the Idol contract would be a burden since she is not a pop style singer. Without a doubt, she could have gone home a month ago and she would still have picked up a contract at some point.
Lee, on the other hand, would still be working retail without Idol. Whether he has any long-term success is something that remains to be seen, but I just don't see a lot of people lining up to buy his records or going to see him in concert. I think he is more Taylor Hicks than Kelly Clarkson.
Dave, so I take it you are happy that next year's results shows will only be 30 minutes? Did you also hear that the main shows will be 90 minutes (guessing the point they normally go to 60 now) in order to give the kids more singing time? At least that is how Fox stated it during their schedule announcements. The judging decisions are likely to be the most important decision though, based on how bad it was this year.
As for the winner, I'm sticking with Lee, on the premise he'll be more desiring a win. Though, as you said, IF Crystal decided to come out all guns a blazin', I think she'd run away with the win. Especially with these 2, I think voting will hinge on who performs better, not who was liked more during the season. And yeah, Lee definitely needs the 'machine' more than Crystal at this point.
I'll be curious to see what happens in Fall '11 when X Factor shows up with Simon, and perhaps Paula.
I am happy with anything that puts the emphasis of the show back on the singers.
As it is, sometimes it seems that they are secondary to pimping the "mentors", product placement, advertising, the judges's ego, Seacrest's massive ego and non-sensical filler.
I liked the old results shows that were half an hour long, had an "encore" performance from the night before and then got straight to the elimination. The hour long results shows are bloated with filler no one wants to watch and random performances that are irrelevant to the show.
They also need to go back to three judges, give the kids more than 90 seconds to sing and limit comments to feedback to the performance, not bickering between the host and judges.
If they do that (and institute a college football playoff), I will never complain about the show again.
By the way, James, if I start a toon on Elendilmir, will you send me some good gear until I get to a level where I can support myself?
I think Lee is gonna win.
Also, I actually liked that one kid last night. The one who wasn't Justin Bieber. I have no idea why, but I did.
dave,
HUH? I'm on windfola :) but I'd surely help as much as I could. I have a SM woodworker and scholar and am slowly getting a tailor, metalsmith and weaponsmith up as well. My wife has an SM jeweler, and since my others are not SM, I usually hit up my kinnies who love to make new gear for people. I think we all like to think we didn't waste our time on the crafting :)
I'm hoping with 90 minute shows they push for maybe 120 sec songs, and once down enough, pushing for 2 songs per night at about top 6 or so. Really put them through the grinder with 2 songs :)
Just read that Crystal wants to sing one of her original songs on Tuesday. Don't know if TPTB will let her. I checked out her songs on YouTube. I was most impressed by 'Just Want To Love ya Before I Leave' (at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amrHZg7KG3I&feature=related), 'Farmers Daughter' (at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICsQLPgI2k&feature=related) and 'Mama' (at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76NIIomug2E). Reading her bio, her parents divorced when she was very young, abandoning her to relatives. This apparently left deep scars that have inspired some of her songs.
I really hope she wins. She deserves it much more than Lee.
Tom W
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