Thursday, May 21, 2009
Let's talk about social commentaries. I was too bored (vacation baby) and decided I shall soak myself in some American Idol madness. Okay not very mad, it you don't count the fact that Adam Lambert's version of Mad World was ringing in my head and I purged it with Kris Allen's Heartless. And now it's Heartless playing.
Okay I see blank faces.
You see the issue was that Adam Lambert was the hot favourite and Kris was the boy next door and the boy next door won the glam rocker in American Idol. I was actually not shocked at all, I kinda saw it coming after watching a few more youtube videos of Adam and Kris and now thinking back, I am actually surprised that Adam got this far (although I absoultely love him by the way) Here's my reasoning:
He wasn;t mainstream enough. He is obviously not the R&B/Hiphop/Rap type. He is a rocker. But not soft rock, crowd pleasin soft rock but rather LOUD METALLIC rock. Or perhaps alternative. He is NOT poppy at all. And I was surprised that they actually let him go this far. Perhaps it's his cute looks or how he staged his performance - I enjoyed all his performances. They were really entertaining. Perhaps the girls thought he was cute. But point being, Lambert is not mainstream - at all. He is not an American Idol but he is a star in his own right.
Now, I said earlier I wasn't shocked that Kris won right and here's why. First, Kris is mainstream. He is crowd friendly. He is someone I foresee hearing on the radio. The name Jason Mraz keeps popping up in my head, I wonder why. I love it when he is on his guitars and piano. He will take poppy melodious songs very very well. Moreover, I felt that voting for him with a combination of anti adam votes and kris fans votes. Let me explain. Adam's fanbase is CRAZY. They loved him. And Adam gets all the hype in the media. So there is this group of people who don't like him for whatever reasons and they decided that he shouldn't win and thus voted for Kris. There is another group of people, who are basically supporters of other contestants (Danny's fans perhaps) ans supported Kris. Honestly, Kris is more "centralist" (for lack of a better word) and his musical style is closerto many other contestants (Danny) who thus will be able to accept him better. On the other hand, Adam's fanbase is there already. It's an amazingly big fanbase - bigger than Kris but Kris wins really because i think almost all the fence sitters went to Kris.
I got to make a disclaimer here. That doesn't mean I don't like Kris. Kris has a way of connecting with me and everytime he carries that guitar on his back and smiles? I melt. But point being, Kris didn't really win because he had tons of die hard fans (he had a substantial amount but not as much as Adam) but because people didn't like Adam Lambert (okay. didn't like's too strong. They prefer more a mainstream style).It seems to happen all the time in American Idol. Someone got to pick up the votes of those who were sent home and the centralist takes all. SO unless one of the two finalist is SOOOO popular that even if all the fence sitting votes for the other, he will still win. If that is so, that guy must be a superstar. Adam came close, very close.
And on hindsight, I was VERY glad Adam didn't win. Can you imagine what type of album they would make Adam made as the "winner of american idol". And that is NOT him at all. I see him in an alternative genre, mixing and matching, screaming and jumping. Not ver idol yea? So in a sense, by being released from the crown of the American idol he doesn't need to sing crap. Someone PLEASE get good song writers for Adam and I am awaiting a stunning album from him.
I would want to get Kris's album and play it while I am chilling. Like last year's battle of the 2 davids? I think Kris needs to win more than Adam. Adam will do well whether he wins or not. And perhaps better if he didn't. Kris needs that additional boost. Moreover, Kris is the type of American Idol that the show advocates. Think like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood. A star from the masses. So in a sense, Kris embodies the whole of the Idol contest pretty well. And one last thing, No Boundaries is a better song for Kris anyway. I felt WEIRD when Adam sang it. VERY VERY weird. It was one of those neither here or there song and Adam can't really do his thing with it.
Then again, the song is crap la. I pity Kris for having to sing it for his first single. Don't even get me started man. Everyone hates the song and so do I. It ruined the final 2 performances I swear.
I want more of Allison-Adam. They are great together. Slow ride is one of my fave performance. They both can really rock the house down.
Allow me to venture another point. I think while the AI people clearly would like Adam to win, I think their way of arranging the finals was a sure way to ensure Adam WON'T win. Firstly, Adam's performances were all impresssive throughout the season. SO by asking him to re perform something is just a bad idea and Adam who is really famous for being creative, would lose out compared to Kris who is someone who gets progressively better and thus when he re sings any song it would be better. People who watched Adam would be like, oh, nice, good performance. But expected. The second song was good for both Adam and Kris. The final song was KILLERLY BAD. It was again, a Kris song more than an Adam song and again, many people who watch only the finals would be inclined to think Kris is better because Lambert doesn't get to show off. If you asked me, the first song should be a contestant choice instead of a recap from the previous. I really want to see Kris tear down a few more song (like what he did for heartless) and a few more outlandish performances for Adam.
So in a sense, I don't know, I cannot decide whether I like Adam or Kris more. Kris melts me in a certain way that I cannot really describe while Adam speaks of creativty, possiblity and rock. So it's really like the two sides of me being satisifed in one show. Not too bad for reality tv
Anyway, so, congrats Kris. I await your album. Adam, stun me again would you =)
Innocence
10:18 AM
