The American Idol Finale: A Classic Tale of Good versus Evil?
My son, Blaise, an erudite college English major, recently caught me curled up in a chair, red wine in hand, watching American Idol. Blaise is taking a class in deconstructing the media, so he was quick to lecture me on the evils of falling prey to would-be Idols who are manufactured with their own little stories, just like those American Girl Dolls his sisters once loved. There's the Idol with the dead wife, the blind guy, the impoverished mother of three, etc. "Idol panders to the prurient interests of the masses," Blaise said. "How can you stand to watch it? You have a master's degree in English, Mom!"
Exactly. With my pedigree, how can I stand NOT to watch AI? I was a reality TV show virgin until this year, when I accidentally stumbled onto one of the early American Idol audition shows while searching for a public television documentary on prison torture or plague viruses, I forget. I was after some mind expansion. Instead, I found people singing their hearts out in front of psycho judges who speak in tongues, using words like "dope" and "chops," and uttering playground insults like, "You sounded like a cat being dropped off the Empire State building." I was hooked.
I've watched every show since then. With the help of my DVR, I can zip through the drearier performances, like those by Matt in the Hat, kind of like skipping some of Proust's descriptions of his bedspread. Now that we're down to the final battle between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, I've come to believe that American Idol is like great literature everywhere, offering us the classic conflict of good v.s. evil.
In this corner, Ladies and Gentlemen -- let's just call it the "Right" corner, or maybe the Red corner -- we have good boy Kris Allen, the cute and humble guitar picker from Arkansas who has already landed himself a Barbie trinket of a wife. He sings white boy mood music kind of like Jack Johnson, well suited to animated children's stories. He's exactly the boy you hope shows up at your front door to take your daughter to the prom.
Facing off Chris in the opposite corner -- yep, you got it, that's the LEFT corner -- we have Adam Lambert, a favorite of the judges, because hey, guess what? As Randy would say, "You can sing, dude." In fact, whether Lambert is singing Johnny Cash or Led Zeppelin, he sings like he's on fire, or maybe just his pants are smoking. He's Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and Cher all rolled into one. Without a doubt, he should win.
But will he? Perhaps not. Remember that, in the greatest works of literature, there are unreliable narrators and multifaceted characters who are never just good or bad. For many, I expect Kris Allen represents all that is good and whole and milk-fed, right down to his lucky jeans, business major, and that weird curling tongue thing he does when he sings. Meanwhile, Adam Lambert is the sort of guy whose unrevealed (yeah, right) sexual identity has landed him on magazine covers and provoked the likes of Bill O'Reilly to try and knock some common sense into us before our poor innocent children can all start wearing black nail polish and cutting their hair in crazy ass polygons. But Adam has a big sexy body, he's from California, and he looks good in LEATHER. Scary good! Any girl (or boy) who went to the prom with him would have a night to remember.
What will America do? That's really why I'm watching. I want to know how the story ends.
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Clearly, the powers that be on AI had also twigged that good vs evil makes good TV. The judges have been pushing for a Kris vs Adam final for weeks now. And like all good mainstream TV movies, the good guy wins in the end. Predictable, but we all watched it anyway!
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I know. The only good thing -- and this IS a really good thing -- is that Kris certainly appears to be sincere in his appreciation of Adam as a friend as well as a talented singer, which will lead the way for others to accept performers who may perhaps have alternative lifestyles. In that way, Kris really can help smooth the way for more exciting performers to participate in AI in the future.
I, and millions of others, are quite disappointed. Clearly, the best performer didn't win.
I guess America wasn't ready for a gay AI winner.
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Right. (See my comment above.) Or do you think that perhaps Adam lost because Kris really was perceived as the underdog, as well as being such a nonthreatening, big brother, vanilla sort of performer that all of those little girls with Twitter accounts kept their thumbs dancing all night? Adam would just scare them.
I don't know, Holly - my 13yo little girl was in tears over Adam losing. But then, she's cooler than most....
Hi Holly, Maybe you were watching "LOST?" This is American Idol, not so deep. But, if it makes you feel better to rationalize....
Holly Robinson is my new favorite blogger here. Why? Because she actually takes the time and effort to read the peoples' reactions & comments to her post and responds. Kind of novel around here.
Welcome to bloggin" Holly. Keep up the good work!
ditto and therefore I am a fan.....
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Thanks so much. I find myself really keen on this whole blogging thing, really, despite my teenage children making endless fun of me for joining their world (well, for tagging along behind them -- have yet to try Twittering, other than after a few glasses of wine.) I love the idea of this virtual neighborhood where everyone can join in the conversation. So cool!
I disagree. I think some people are trying to make it right vs left, especially those who write about it. But as a very blue liberal who thinks both guys are great, I can say that I have never been into the theatrical rock style and that is obviously Adam's thing. So for me, I like Kris's style and while is hasn't had the experience Adam has professionally I would probably enjoying buying his CDs more.
I love the version of Mad World Adam sang, but Gary Jules made that version a huge hit awhile back and
Adam sang it almost exactly the same as Gary.
Why can't it be just a contest between two really talented people and not another polarzing event with dark conspiracy theories behind it. Yes Kris has a blonde wife, perhaps he should have married a brunette or whatever. Personally I prefer not to see the world so black and white.
Obviously Adam's "bad boy facade" hasn't hurt him in the least.
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No, you're right, it's not a bad boy vs good boy contest, totally. Obviously the results played out the way I thought they might -- but that might also be because the judges pissed everyone off with their absolute favoritism and American loves underdogs. Plus, who's a 12 year-old girl going to have a crush on, Adam or Kris? All sorts of factors at work here.
Almost everyone I know that voted for Kris did it because of the judges..... America loves an underdog... and was glad that Simon didn't get Adam's first CD.... it probably turned out the best for everyone involved and I look forward to see what all of em do with this great opportunity.
I do believe that even the producers of American Idol have tried to make this a good v evil fight. Didn't anyone else notice last night that Adams family was dressed in black and Kris' family was all in white? Pretty obvious to me, and hardly coincidental.
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Yes, and did you notice how Ryan introduced them? He might as well have said, "and in this corner we have..."
I will bet that the Southern boy wins. The southerners always win Idol. I guess they don't have anything better to do down there but vote on this show. I have never watched one show in my life but no winners seemed to stick around too long on the national scene. That one guy with all the gray hair sang at a shopping mall for goodness sake.
I guess the people who watch this show don't buy cd's because it seems the winner doesn't actually do all that well once they are off the show.
Apparently you've never heard of Carrie Underwood.
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You called, absolutely! It'll be so interesting to see what happens to these guys from here, huh?
Holly, this was a fabulous post! It was not only marvelously entertaining but so socially astute. Not only were you making an observation, but you were telling a tale unto itself. I do agree that both of these young men seem to be good, honest, hardworking and humble people. The drama is that in this tale, one appears to embody the role of the bad boy and one appears to embody the role of the good boy, just as in those traditional novels we all have read. It is so easy to categorize and judge those categories, and yet we all LOVE the drama of a good play and a good book, don't we? It is the contrast, and the push and pull, and dynamism of life that compels us to watch and participate and cast our vote and yes, maybe even try to win ourselves. You gave me the perfect finish to this season. Bravo!
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Thank you so much. As a blogging virgin until this post, I was a bit taken aback by the fervor of the responses -- how nice to have a vote of confidence about the piece! I agree with you that both of these young men are absolute gems. The most impressive thing to me is the sincere friendship that seems to have developed between them, despite the harsh spotlights, the obvious favoritism from the judges, and the obvious differences in their lifestyles. Kudos to both of these great characters who have given us a story to remember.
I don't quite understand why you, or anyone else for that matter, would write a blog that would continue to perpetuate this twisted idea that Kris is "right" due to his conservative southern background and Adam "evil" for being a California liberal. If anything, I think people are smarter than that and like me, they see it the other way around. More and more, being part of the "right" is considered narrow minded and evil while being liberal is seen as being open to the world and its ideas. Besides, this is a singing contest and not an epic poem. I hope Adam loses because I think his talent is greater than idol, and I would hate to see idol hold him back.
Good post, 1armywife.
I'm a radical gay atheist in San Francisco, and you & I agreed on something ! It IS possible, and good.
I really enjoyed this article, Holly. You have the same quality of writing that I do - I always add that personal touch in between and I completely got your tongue-in-cheek reference. And doesn't anybody remember The Breakfast Club? Looks can be deceiving. Adam seems like the sweetest and kindest contestant from the bunch, but people are judging him on his stage persona. Just like tonight for instance - Simon did not like his long coat. Please, Simon, I love a guy in a duster!!!!! Plus Mad World is a dark and sad song about teen suicide. This look was much better suited for the song than the slicked back hair look from the first time round. Both Mad Worlds were pitch perfect, but the awe factor was already gone and it was that elevation of high expectations that everyone had to hear this song again. I think America loved it again - Simon was just trying to piss off Adam's fans so they did not fall asleep on the couch. We all got our arthritic fingers ready after Simon gave Kris that first round.
The rest of the night was all Adam - it has always been all Adam. I think everybody knew who they were going to vote for before the finale. I think Adam will pull it off . Too theatrical - no way, and nobody can take a set of stairs like Adam. He looked gorgeous tonight. Kris looked a little unkempt.
I too really felt a connection to many aspects of this piece - well done. But my response is to bbsitter. You brought up the underlying meaning of "Mad World," which I've avoided mentioning on these blogs. But since you have now, I'm wondering... last week, when the Final 3 went to their hometowns, did anyone notice the differences in their visits?
Danny and Kris both had BIG parades, BIG crowds in the middle of their cities there to see their hometown heros sing and for the day to be named after them. They all had interviews on their local TV and radio stations. They all went to an AT&T store. It seemed all pretty planned out.
But Adam's hometown visit was different. Yes, he went to the TV station - but he stayed for over an hour - was very accessable. Then, instead of the big parade in downtown he went to the performing arts school he had attended as a child and talked to the kids there - giving them encouragement and hope.
This is too long, so I'll continued below...
Then instead of a big show downtown attended by 20,000+ he chose to go to his former high school - where the stadium limited the number of people who could attend. The school let all the students out of class so they could fill one side of the bleechers. The space that was left they allowed the public to fill.
Adam WANTED the KIDS to be there, because he had a message he wanted to convey. He wanted to tell those kids that right now you may feel "weird" or out of place, like you don't fit in, like everyone picks on you, or makes fun of you. He wanted them to know he went thru that in high school too and "You're NOT WEIRD" - give it time - everything gets better after high school, just hang in there and get through this, then you'll be able to grow into your REAL Life!
Then he sang "Mad World" and "Black and White" - both songs with a message for the KIDS!
Then, after doing his obligatory AT&T visit - he went to the Miramar MCAS and sang for the Marines and their families.
Adam showed by his Hometown Visit that being there for the kids and our men and women in the service is more important to him than the parades and the adulation. He showed that he is a caring person - and a TRUE AMERICAN IDOL!
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I'm such a new blogger that I can't figure out if I already answered you yet! But your post was great. Love the Breakfast Club reference, and you're right: Who is Simon, the T-Shirt King, to critique anyone's fashion??? Adam is definitely sweet and kind, and goofy too -- don't you adore that laugh? And his mother is clearly the proudest mom ever, plus his dad's adorable.
I'm pretty sure Kris will win. I just don't think Adam's style will appeal to more people. But do we need another adult contemporary artist out there? Adam is fresh and unique. He will be a bigger deal because so few are like him, particularly as an idol.
I don't see how Adam -- the love child of Elvis and Freddy Mercury -- can win.
Can you imagine anyone who voted for Gokey now voting for Adam?
Adam picked up Allison's votes but now I fear Kris -- the love child of John Denver and Kermit the Frog -- is probably going to pick up the Gokey votes and take the crown.
That said, this season has been the most fun I've had watching the show. As much as a tale of Good v Evil, it's a tale of naughty verses nice, with Adam upsetting the wholesome AI vibe singing about dreams of dying and giving every inch of his love. How can you not love it.
The only hope for Adam is if the "outcasts" take it personal and vote their asses off.
GLAMBERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all the way baby!
Holly, this is your first blog you say.
Congratulations for that, and if I may say, I like your attitude, and for taking trouble to answer to all....
Looking forward to read more !
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Yeah, he does give it his all, definitely!
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