American Idol Finals

The finals have begun. How did I know?

My son and I were down in the basement working out like manly men, and between sets I was hopping over to the computer to see what was up. We were having a pretty big traffic day yesterday and the counter was spinning with alacrity. I forgot Idol was starting at 8 last night - I've been losing a fair amount of interest over the last couple of weeks of semi-finals, it all kind of blurs together.

So anyway, around 8:15 I went over to the computer and checked the traffic, and it had slowed down to a crawl. I was puzzled, then I looked at the clock and remembered Idol was on: The Finals. Damn, a lot of you people must watch that show because normally 8-10 is a good time for our traffic, but it was limping in for those two hours last night.

And what of the show? First, the difference between the finals and previous rounds of the competition is enormous: the backing is full-on karaoke, as opposed to just a capella, piano, or half-assed karaoke. Surrounding the singers' voices with comforting padding makes all the difference in the world, as does the big, enthusiastic live audience.

In previous rounds, the whole enterprise felt sort of hermetically sealed, a kind of private stylized showdown between the singer and the judges, but with an audience rocking and a large stage to stalk, the dynamic was very different: some grew, some were diminished by the show biz of it all.

Another wrinkle was the presence of a fourth judge, legendary Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier, of Holland-Dozier-Holland. ALL 12 finalists were required to sing an HDH tune, so it was Motown night on Idol. While Dozier is an almost peerless songwriter, he looks like Lou Rawls on a planet with outrageously powerful gravity, his face has gone into a geologic slump, and he has the charisma of cardboard. I think he told every single singer: "You made that song your own," which is nice for a singer to hear from Lamont Dozier but not terribly incisive. Say what you want about Randy, Paula and Simon, but they command the screen and know they are part of the total performance package.

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and publisher of Blogcritics.org, which, quite frankly, rules - as do his wife and four children.

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