AI:5 - The Finale: Even beats odd
So it all came down to this:
Taylor vs. Kat — Karnage at the Kodak!
The pre-fight hype was, all things considered, fairly reasonable & quite palatable, and we didn’t have to endure too much hoopla before getting to the main event. As usual for a heavyweight bout, there were scads of celebs in attendance, including the undercard pretenders (aka, the eliminated finalists).
Three rounds & three phone lines each — Let’s get it on!
In the Odd corner, going first, we have the McPheever Diva, the leader of the Kat Pack — Katharine McPhee!
And in the Even corner, going second, it’s the winner of the coin toss, the Grey Fox, the Soul Patrolman himself — Taylor Hicks!
Round 1:
Kat lands a sharp jab with Black Horse and the Cherry Tree! But Taylor strikes back strongly with the devastating combo Livin’ for the City! It’s a spirited battle, and the results are close but clear: Round 1 to Taylor
Round 2:
Kat comes out of her corner with a smoldering fire in her eyes. She unleashes a ferocious knockout-level blow in the form of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, landing it even more powerfully & impressively than in last week’s bout! Taylor absorbs the massive blow and replies with a strong jab of his own, pulling Levon out from a very early bout. Again, it’s a closely contested round, but one with a clear result: Round 2 to Kat
The crowd was electric and the judges amazed at the level of competition. As the third round was to begin, the anticipation was palpable, especially given the unknown factor of original songs. The bout was even on all cards heading into the decisive final round.
Round 3:
Kat began tentatively, as if she were unsure about the effectiveness of the newest weapon in her arsenal, My Destiny. Fighter that she is, Kat gamely worked through the weakness of the song and delivered a strong performance. You hate to see someone hurt by something not of their own doing, and that seems to have been the case, as My Destiny did Kat no favors in reaching her destiny. Taylor responded just as tentatively with his last gasp effort, Do I Make You Proud. However, it quickly became evident that the fates had looked more favorably upon Taylor, because his new song was clearly superior to Kat’s. And his performance certainly did make us proud: Round 3 to Taylor
In the final analysis, Simon once again showed why he’s the best judge as he gave us one of his trademark AI “moments” (which wouldn’t be possible if he wasn’t so harsh and/or hated…), when he made a pronouncement that needed to carry a “Spoilers!” warning, stating that, assuming that things were tied up after two songs, Taylor had just won himself the American Idol competition!
The denizens of Schloß TB were in agreement - Taylor Hicks should be the next American Idol!
Kat fought the good fight, and acquitted herself very, very well; however, in the end I don’t think it will be enough. She will no doubt (and quite deservedly) go on to a wonderful career. I hope she is a Bo/Clay-level runner-up and not a Justin/Diana-level runner-up, because she’s too good not to be a huge success.
That leaves Taylor winning it all. He deserves it. We deserve it. The industry better not f-it up. Fortunately, I think Taylor is strong enough to stay true to himself and not get consumed by the star-making machine.
Now we just have to sit through a 2-hour results show to see if this all plays out like I think it should/will. I’ve been right more often than not this season (I’ve not been perfect, but I think my record’s been pretty darned good — I’ll have to do a summary look back sometime in the next week or so…), and I don’t think there’s much of a chance that I’ll get this one wrong.
For the last time this year — we’ll see tomorrow… (say it with me now) After the break!
-ghp
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