5/19/10

Today I'm thinking about American Idol's finale. Listen to the montage of both performances from each of the top 3, Casey James then Crystal Bowersox then Lee DeWyze.

The show was broken into two rounds last night. Round 1 the contestants got to choose their song.

Casey sang "Okay It's All Right With Me" and Randy thought the title described his performance perfectly, Kara and Simon were both disappointed in his song choice.

Crystal sang "Come to My Window" by Melissa Etheridge with which she did a good job. Randy loved her vocals even if he didn't love the arrangement, Ellen thinks Melissa would be proud of her performance, Simon admires how Crystal throughout the competition hasn't compromised herself as an artist.

Lee chose "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd and was amazing. Randy says he's ready to win the whole thing, Ellen loves how he's come so far, Kara gives round one to Lee, Simon tells Lee his performance was right on the money.

In round two the judges picked the contestants' songs.

Kara and Randy picked John Mayer's "Daughters" for Casey James. Randy said the song fit him like a glove, Ellen liked it, Kara said it showed more of the artist in him and Simon didn't feel that it had much of a climax. Kara and Randy then defended their song choice.

Ellen picked Crystal's song, "Baby I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney and it was awesome! Randy had nothing but high praise for her, Kara loved how she really pushed herself, Simon thinks she'll be moving on to the finals.

Lee DeWyze closed the night with Simon's choice, "Halleljuah" by Leonard Cohen and it was beautiful. We heard this song earlier in the season when Tim Urban performed it and he did a good job, but hearing Lee sing it just highlights how much more talent Lee has. Randy said it was unbelievable, Kara said he owned the night, Simon had nothing but high praise for him.

I agree with Kara's comment after Lee's second performance. She said, "Lee, you are what this show is all about. Somebody who starts in one place and ends up here tonight in an incredible epic moment, you are the heart of this show this season and you just owned this entire night."

I've been saying since the beginning that Crystal Bowersox would win American Idol Season 9. But here's the thing about Crystal, she has been awesome the entire season. She started off great and she stayed great she didn't grow, but Lee started off with a great voice, that needed a little training and confidence to back it up and every week he learned how to better control his voice and developed that confidence and improved week after week. I think Lee will win, but I won't be disappointed if Crystal wins. This is the first year that I don't have a clear cut favorite. I like both Crystal and Lee.

As this season wraps up there are a few things that you should know about American Idol Season 10. 

American Idol doesn't plan to hire Simon's replacement until after this season is complete. We probably won't know who the new judge is until auditions for Season 10 start. 

Fox plans to change the timing of the show. The Tuesday night show will be 90 minutes long instead of an hour and the Wednesday night results show will be 30 minutes instead of a hour. 

Oh & just in case you're not following along with the celebrity gossip, Ryan Seacrest has been spotted on numerous occasions out on the town with Julianne Hough who will be returning to Dancing With the Stars next season. Rumor has it the two are dating, but reps for both parties say they're just friends.