Open contest on AI

In one of the most surprising twists ever, this year’s edition of American Idol (AI) changed from bland and predictable to an open contest with what will surely be its most exciting finish in years. It happened last week, when the final five, Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta plus soon-to-be cast-off Matt Giraud were made to sing standard ballads and were mentored by Jamie Foxx.

Now, that was one astute move, getting Jamie Foxx. Initial reaction by some people was probably, why Jamie Foxx? Why indeed, he is no starmaker like David Foster or a pop legend like Smokey Robinson. Well, he might become one of those one of these days but as of now the first thing that enters the mind at mention of his name is movies. And his are big movies like Ray, Dreamgirls and Collateral. It is because of those that we tend to forget that Jamie is also an R&B music star and a classically trained musician. Therefore he is perfectly qualified to mentor the aspiring idols.

There has never been any question about the musicality of this year’s Final 13 contestants from the start. They are all good. Choice of material and presentation were what made the difference. That was why it was so easy to predict who would be booted out every week. But then Jamie Foxx came along. He didn’t just teach those that remained how to sing, he coached them about how to act out the songs. And it was just great, watching the Academy Award winning actor draw them out of their comfort zones and then help them discover nuances they could tap into in their songs.

Suddenly, it didn’t seem like a sure ball for Lambert anymore. The 26-year-old musical theater actor from Los Angeles had been scoring well with the judges and also with the viewers given how he had never landed in the bottom three until last week. I find his singing too technical, his performances too theatrical, even his movements too studied. Too much perfection can be boring at times and although I have no say in it, I don’t think he should win. But for a while there, it looked like they had already handed him the title.

Thanks to Foxx though and those beautiful ballads from the great American Songbook, any of the other three now have a crack at the grand prize. These are Danny, 28, from Milwaukee. His singing experience comes from praise and worship groups in church. He lost his wife nine months ago after heart surgery; Kris, 23, from Arkansas. Married less than year ago he also acquired his singing experience in church as a worship leader; and Allison, only 16 years old from Los Angeles, the winner of a Telemundo reality competition for kids three years ago.

 My personal choice is Gokey. He is not only one fantastic singer, he is also the most likable of the batch. And that is one quality I think idols should have, likeability. He may not be seen as cute or sexiest man alive material and he might seem too old for kid fans but I like him. Besides, he is the one most likely to pull off surprises and his Come Rain or Come Shine last week was a really big one.

Sure, I get a lot of the, “Gokey will never make it,” bit. They say the prize should go to Kris, who is cute or Allison who is young. But I just remind them of Taylor Hicks, old, overweight, too different then for the usual idol. But look at him now. He performed in last week’s results show and he looked great and got a standing ovation from the judges. They only do that for the exceptionally brilliant.

Now, I was ready to just let this season of AI pass without much notice. But not anymore. The show is once again made up of all the thrilling stuff that makes reality TV enjoyable. It has drama, suspense, comedy and lots of great singing. It is rock and roll night this week. I can’t wait to see what happens.