Something is rotten in the state of American Idol. And it’s not the results. As much as my devotion to Team Blake made me want to think otherwise, we all know going into last night’s finale that it was Jordin’s coronation. But given the song the two were being judged on, was this year’s final really any kind of contest?
American Idol finale songs suck. Though Sandals Resorts would have you think differently, even Kelly Clarkson’s iconic “A Moment Like This” really, really sucks. The magnitude of this suckage is never a surprise, and despite recent efforts to reinvigorate the showdown by opening a song-writing contest to the public, season six’s gem “This is my Now” proved no exception. What was an exception was that one of this year’s contestants didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of coming across as anything short of a complete dufus.
With only his argyle and a swatch of platinum to help him maintain some semblance of his identity, Blake Lewis moped across the stage, with his tail between his legs, like a newly castrated dog. That was not his now. It was his nightmare. Last night’s loss was largely a relief, if only for the fact that we know the poor guy will never have to sing that song again.
But for Jordin, “This is my Now” seemed to be a tailor-made fit. I wouldn’t be surprised if her sheet music actually instructed her when to start the crocodile tears and beauty pageant wave. She probably isn’t all that thrilled with the prospect of the song being her first official recording, but at least she didn’t look like a complete ass.
I’m not going to pretend that I’m even considering giving up on American Idol. As stale and tired as it is, it still manages to entertain me each year. The next couple of weeks will probably find me succumbing to sporadic panic attacks, unable to fathom another seven months without my weekly dose of Simon Cowell. But American Idol needs to find a way 
to stay exciting through the very end. Having the winner release an original song the week after their victory was a nice thought, but it just doesn’t work. Just because they’ve gone this long without changing the formula, doesn’t mean we should continue to resign to anticlimactic finish to what should be the most exciting night of the season. Other countries have fully embraced the commercial release of cover songs from new artists, and given Idol’s audience, I doubt there’d be much objection to the same thing here at home.
I’m going to start writing next years song now. Because, apparently if I take the words My and Moment and some themes about dreams coming true, it will win for sure. I mean, if that song won, mine for sure will make it.
I thought this was a very insightful, intelligent analysis of American Idol’s last show. You have a wonderful command of the English language. Wherever did you get it? I bet as a child you were forced to speak and write intelligently. How well all that hard work as paid off.