Why Adam Lambert Lost to Kris Allen in American Idol Finale
It really is true? The newest American Idol is Kris Allen. Seriously? Really? It’s the biggest upset in the eight seasons of the show. Even more so then when Chris Daughtry got voted off or Ruben Studdard won over Clay Aiken. All of the judges pimped out Adam more than any of the other contestants on American Idol all season. Eleven weeks ago when Adam sang “Black or White,” Paula practically crowned him as the winner right there. He’s really the best vocalist that has ever been on Idol. Even Simon Cowell said he thinks that Adam will become an international star.
What went wrong this year? Here are seven reasons explaining how Adam Lambert lost the American Idol competition.
1. Blame it on the Judges
Just like it’s bad karma now to be the Oscar race’s front runner (ask Nixon or Frost) or in a presidential race (Hillary Clinton can attest to that), it doesn’t help either if you are considered Idol’s foregone winner well before the end of the season. The judges did not help Adam’s cause here. They didn’t just sing his praises week after week. They declared him to be the greatest singer of all time. Sure he is a rock god. However, when there’s the idea the American Idol crown is already in the bag, your fans get lazy and you end up losing votes. On the other hand, Kris Allen delivered consistently solid performances. The judges gave him mildly positive reviews. This made his fans feel they needed to fight a lot harder just to keep Kris in the contest.
2. Really blame Kara DioGuardi
Idol’s new judge has not been receiving a whole lot of love out of the blogosphere. Particularly following her gaffes that involved “Studio 57” (what she really meant was “Studio 54”) or when she said “Saturday Night Live” instead of “Saturday Night Fever.” She really proved she was Joe Biden of American Idol by co-writing the absolute worst coronation song of all time called “No Boundaries.” Simon usually uses the last song to manipulate the American voters to vote for his favorite through unleashing a barrage of superlatives. However he couldn’t do that this year. The song “No Boundaries” was a complete train wreck. Neither one of the contestants was able to pull it off. The song left all of the judges literally speechless. This included Kara. She stated she wouldn’t judge Kris on the basis of the song. It was her own song? In the end, all of the confusion favored Kris. The Idol judges were unable to make a final big push for Adam.
3. Remember Adam’s a Rock God
Pop singers and syrupy balladeers have always been favored on American Idol. No matter how well you are able to rock out it doesn’t matter. Just ask Allison Iraheta, Carly Smithson, Bo Bice or Chris Daughtry. Rock singers don’t win the American Idol contest.
4. The Christianity Factor
We anticipated that Adam, who really hasn’t talked about what his religious beliefs are while on Idol, could be at a disadvantage going up versus two devout Christians in the final, Kris as well as Danny Gokey. A majority of Gokey’s fans no doubt voted for Kris instead of Adam, providing him just the boost that he needed for the win. Maybe religion isn’t a relevant criteria to judge a singing competition with. However, it is still true that American Idol is on the most family friend TV shows drawing huge numbers of Christian viewers. Out of previous Idol winners five of the seven had been quite vocal regarding their Christian faith. The edge definitely went to Kris Allen on this count.
5. The Gay Factor
Although Adam Lambert hasn’t publicly discussed his sexuality, TV Guide has described him as openly gay. In addition Perez Hilton reported about Adam’s alleged boyfriend. There are also photographs circulating online of what looks like Adam kissing a man. In 2009 this really should not be an issue. However if you have been reading the online Idol chatter this year, you’ve seen that there still is sadly lots of hate out there. It appeared that Adam had millions of fans and could strike a big blow against homophobia, a lot like Obama was able to break through the race barrier to become America’s first black president. Unfortunately Adam’s ambiguous sexuality did cost him votes.
6. The Young Vote
Last week, remember when there was footage played of Adam and Kris visiting their hometowns. They were both met by adoring crowds. However only one of them had wailing tween girls greeting him like he was some sort of found Jonas Brother. It was Kris who was a heartthrob covering Kane West songs and dressing like Chace Crawford. Adam Lambert, on the other hand, was the kid from Broadway singing Aerosmith and wearing eyeliner. Kris got the young girl vote, which was very important. These tween girls are true die hards who will stay up hours on end once the show is over calling in and texting their votes.
7. Adam in the end was the much better singer. However Kris may have actually been a more unique artist even despite what the Idol judges might have said.
What you don’t believe me? Before the finale show, here are the performances of Adam that I remember the most: “If I Can’t Have You,” “Mad World,” “Tracks of My Tears,” “Black and White.” Kris’s list includes: “Heartless,” “She Works Hard for Her Money,” “Falling Slowly,” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Now which of these songs are most likely to be on your iPod? On mine Kris beats Adam. Both of these guys are terrific and will great careers in the future. Maybe in the end Kris really is more deserving to win the American Idol crown after all.