If you had asked me when the season started if Nick Fradiani would break the Top 10, I would have said "no." If you had told me he would have staying power over Joey Cook and Tyanna Jones, I would have told you that you were insane. If you had bet me $1,000 that Nick would win American Idol, I would have placed my bet against you immediately...most likely in the form of an IOU. But lo and behold the Season 14 winner is Nick Fradiani and he's had quite an amazing journey leading up to his victory. We had a jam packed show of stars (or people who might someday compete on Dancing With The Stars) tonight and here are the highlights from the 2 hour finale.
There were a tonnnn of guest performers tonight, including Fall Out Boy who opened the show along side Clark and Nick with "Centuries." Tyanna performed a medley of hits with The Jacksons (three of them anyway) and I loved it. She looked like she was having such a good time and she deserved it. I'm also a huge fan of The Jackson 5 songbook so I mayyyyy have been dancing in my living room.
Ricky Martin was in the house as well with his new song but the night took an unexpected (for me anyway) turn when he busted into "Livin La Vida Loca" with the Top 5 guys. Yes that's right. Qaasim and Quentin both had solos and I was worried that Qaasim might spontaneously combust when "The Cup of Life" started. On the flip side, Clark was on the cusp of getting into these songs but never quite got there. He sure did smile a lot though.
Joey joined Echosmith for "Cool Kids" which is a song I grew very tired of on the radio but enjoyed very much tonight, and Rayvon was paired with Jamie Foxx for "In Love By Now." NKOTB was kind enough to take Daniel in and teach him some classic choreography for another medley that I would have loved so much more if it was just the NKOTB boys. Their appearance made me want to bust out my cassette tapes and torn jeans...which are somehow back in style.
And maybe I should be ashamed, but I had no idea who Vance Joy was before tonight. His "Riptide" duet with Quentin, however, was definitely cool...they were the cool kids I wish I could be like. See what I did there? The Pitbull/Chris Brown/Qaasim performance was odd but mostly entertaining and the Clark and Michael McDonald dueling pianos performance of "Takin' It To the Streets" was a really great pairing for my boyfriend. Nick had his own duel with Andy Grammer over who could look more happy and excited to be performing "Honey I'm Good." Seriously. Their cheeks had to have been sore for hours after all of the wide smiles.
The best duet of the night though was absolutely Steven Tyler and Jax's rendition of "Piece of My Heart." 1) I love this man. 2) He's amazing. And 3) The energy he and Jax had together was absolute magic. They even laid on the freaking judges table together WHILE they were singing! Just watch the video from American Idol's YouTube page. It's awesome.
All 3 judges also took the stage during the show, with JLo performing alongside Prince Royce and Pitbull (dude is everywhere) and Keith going solo. Keith is just sexy as hell and I don't care what he sings, but I am a big fan of "Even the Stars Fall 4 U." Harry joined both of them later for a rendition of "Diamonds" and "Locked Out of Heaven" which was an awesome collaboration.
Results! Ryan put all of the tension to rest at the 2:02 mark by announcing Nick as the winner. He tearfully sang through "Beautiful Life" as the confetti came down...and the season is over. I'm happy for Nick. While I would have looooved for Clark to be this season's winner, I can't deny that Nick has been one hell of a competitor. Here's hoping we here some great things from him (Caleb Johnson hasn't exactly been lighting up the Billboard charts) and good God I hope someone signs Jax.
We have a long wait until the craziness returns in January for the final season. I will surely be sad to see American Idol go, but it's probably time. The show had been on a steady decline in recent years with a complete nosedive a couple of seasons ago. I'm looking at you, Nicki Minaj. I've read that many familiar faces will return for the curtain call and I will be happily tuned in to see how it all plays out! 
No comments:
Post a Comment