Well my friends, American Idol is over. After 15 seasons of the singing competition show that was a launchpad for many other singing competition shows, Trent Harmon is the final winner. The second part to the finale featured sooooo many familiar faces and overall was a very fitting sendoff. Here are some highlights.
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| Fancy meeting you here. |
The show had me in tears within the first three minutes as the stage filled with American Idol contestants from throughout the 15 seasons singing "One Voice." Thank goodness the producers knew to immediately throw in the comic relief as Brian Dunkleman joined Ryan on stage! He even had a few lines! The rest of the show was amazing. We were saved from the normal and often awkward duets and trios with the Top 12 or Top 24 from the current season. Instead, the rest of these two hours was 100% a trip down memory lane with collaborations of many former contestants and some stellar judges moments as well.
Medley 1
Kara DioGuardi took the stage to sing Pink's "Sober" with Jordin Sparks and Tamyra Gray, and Colton Dixon sang "Through All of It" while accompanying himself on the piano. But wait...Jordin wasn't done strutting her stuff. She returned with JUSTIN GUARINI to sing her hit "No Air" and that's pretty much what I was experiencing at that point. Kimberly Locke popped up on stage with Jordin next to sing "Eighth Wold Wonder" and they were joined by Allison Iraheta!!! Squee! It just kept getting better and better. Tamyra, Jordin, Justin and Allison busted out Little Big Town's "Girl Crush," and then the ladies of this segment rounded out the medley with Meghan Trainor's "No." It was amazeballs. Sudennly Pia Toscano came out of nowhere and killed "All By Myself" before the commercial break. I mean, where the hell has she been? I've missed that voice so!
YES
Kelly Clarkson, the original American Idol herself, was featured with a pre-taped performance since she might pop out a kid at any moment and could not travel to the live finale. You can tell she wanted to groove a little bit more to her tunes but the whole 8+ months pregnant thing slowed her down a bit. She belted a medley of her hits featuring "Miss Independent," "Breakaway," "Since U Been Gone," "Because of You," "Walk Away," "My Life Would Suck Without You," "Stronger," "Invincible," and....wait for it..."A Moment Like This." Yup. KC finished out her performance with her original coronation song and my goosies had goosies. There may have been some ugly crying on my end as well. Maybe.
Medley 2
I did not recognize Bo Bice at all without his Jesus hair. Wow! He collaborated with Caleb Johnson, Constantine Maroulis and James Durbin for a double threat of "Vehicle" and "Hard To Handle." The group was joined soon after by Chris Daughtry to sing with his song "Torches," and they finished out their segment with "Tobacco Road" and more headbanging than JLo could handle. This performance didn't pack the same punch as the first medley did for me...but maybe that's just because I didn't need to see so much of James Durbin's tongue or his attempts at being a contortionist.
YES AGAIN
Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood took the stage together to sing "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and for real - is it hot in here? I hope Carrie has those legs insured. No one should have legs that perfect. Ever. Carrie came back again later with her song "Something In the Water" and she was fantastic. She sounds just as good now as she ever did and if you've never seen her live, you're missing out on something special.
Medley 3
Diana DeGarmo, Skylar Laine, and Kree Harrison kicked off a country medley with T-Swift's "You Belong With Me," and they were joined by Bucky Covington, Ace Young, and round 2 of Constantine with "Storm Warning." Lauren Alaina and Kelly Pickler strutted on stage next with The Band Perry's "Done" and I was sitting there wondering where the hell Janelle Arthur was. She kicked this song's ass during her season. Scotty (turn the lights down low) McCreery popped up next with "Papa Loves Mama" and the group closed out their portion of the night with Little Big Town's "Pavement Ends." I will say that I greatly enjoyed the choreography here.
Judges
Harry chose New Orleans youngster Marley Fletcher as his duet partner to sing "What a Wonderful World" as footage of "Idol Gives Back" played in the background. When was the last time that charity event was mentioned? Well, anyway, the performance was lovely. Later JLo shook what her mama gave her...a lot...singing "Ain't Your Mama" and "Let's Get Loud," which is my fave. Her Vegas show must be killer. So. Much. Booty. Randy, Paula, and SIMON also made an appearance after a montage of some of their best moments. As they received a standing ovation, Harry got his phone out and took pictures immediately. Me too! That's right. I take pictures of my TV with my phone and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Medley 4
Casey James and Katherine McPhee opened the next medley with "Need You Now," and Carly Smithson (love her) took the stage next with "Here You Come Again." And THEN Clay Aiken joined the group belting "Annie's Song" effortlessly. Not to be outdone, Amber Holcomb and a very sweaty Ruben Studdard crooned "Here, There, and Everywhere" which seriously had to describe the perspiration happening on stage at that moment. Get the man his towel already! Jessica Sanchez showed up at the end and had me "woo!"ing from my couch with her rendition of "The Prayer." Unbelievable.
Medley 5
Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London, and Fantasia took us to church with their collaboration and I had the Steven Tyler stank face on throughout this performance. From the mesmerizing a capella opening of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" all the way through J-Hud's "Remember the Music," these ladies were absolutely flawless. Brandon Rogers, Danny Gokey, George Huff, Elliot Yamin, and my boyfriend Clark Beckham were featured next with "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," complete with choreography that Clark was totes not comfortable with, and the Fantasia came back to sing "Ugly" with sooo much passion.
LaToya joined Taylor Hicks, sans soul patrol, for a rousing rendition of "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" and then Joshua Ledet reminded me how much I didn't miss him with his ridiculously over the top performance of "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World." Melinda Doolittle brought the smile right back to my face though as she and Candice Glover closed the medley (backed by this season's Idol eliminees) with "Joy to the World." Sure, the song choice was strange. Very strange. But I've been missing that infectious Doolittle smile for too long now and I don't care.
Medley 6
The final medley of the night was a tribute to David Bowie. Phillip Phillips (P squared!), David Cook, Lee DeWyze, Nick Fradiani and Kris Allen joined forces and delivered a very entertaining combo of "Starman," "Rebel, Rebel" and "The Jean Genie." Lady Gaga has nothing to worry about - her Grammy's tribute was still epic.
Results!
As La'Porsha and Trent stood nervously on stage I was doing a whispered "La-porsh-a, La-porsh-a" chant just as the audience had done during her final performances. Alas, Trent took home the title though I can't say the dude was not a fierce competitor. Here's hoping La'Porsha gets something out of finishing second because I would love to turn on my radio and hear her in the very near future. For these last moments though I silently watched Trent sing "Falling" as the confetti rained down, and I hit the pause button and took a breath before I allowed Ryan to sign off one last time.
Thanks for the memories, American Idol. That first summer I was still in college and had a 3 hour statistics class in the evenings Idol aired. When the professor let us take a break mid-class, I would always rush home to see what Kelly Clarkson had in store for us that week and not return to the class (I got a B which isn't too shabby all things considered). Cut to a decade later when I met her twice, when her music had helped define certain moments in my adult life, and when I thought I might try my hand at this blog thing. I'm an avid concert goer and I've had the pleasure of seeing so many of these American Idol contestants live at this point. I cried when J-Hud won her Oscar, rejoiced when Constantine received his Tony nomination, and danced like there's no tomorrow when Paula told me to. Sure the show probably ended when it needed to, but I'm going to miss it for sure and will always remain grateful for all it has given me.
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