Music To My Ears: The Tortoise & The Hare

Season Eight Finale

The Top 2 In The Home Stretch:

Adam Lambert & Kris Allen

Some have called it a "David and Goliath" finish, but I prefer to think of it as the proverbial tortoise and hare. Because, before seeing any of the Finale performances, it seems to me that this best characterizes the journeys of these two top-quality competitors.

Adam, the star from the start, blasting out of the gates and capturing the crowd's attention with his over-the-top performances, soaring range and powerhouse vocals.

Kris, overtaking other contestants one by one and earning the respect of just about everyone for his quiet confidence, consummate musicianship, and interpretive skill.

It's come down to two guys from the original Group 2: BFFs who share nail polish and, up until this week, a room in the AI Mansion but other than that, two guys who couldn't be less alike. The extrovert versus the introvert. The flamboyant showman rocker versus the singer-songwriter balladeer with a pop star edge. Both highly emotive and both stylists, but in completely different directions.

It's going to be a GREAT show. The only question is, does the hare get edged out by the steady tortoise, or does he put in a final sprint to the finish? Why do I think that of everyone, it matters much more to us, than it does to either of them?

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Three performances from two Idols and the shortest recap I've ever written:

Adam: Reprise of Mad World was exceptional--better than the first time he did it, with new staging and costuming that brought a different feeling and intensity to it. There was less a feeling of isolation, which in fact matches the lyric of the song better, and more one of danger, maybe even repressed anger. An interesting effect; a powerful performance.

Kris: I'm SO glad he chose Ain't No Sunshine (I had heard he was contemplating Heartless or Falling Slowly). This was the song that originally turned people's heads towards Kris, so it was a perfect pairing with Mad World, which in many ways did the same for Adam. Loved the grand piano; Kris plays guitar very differently than piano, and so the choice of instrumentation is crucial and, one gets the feeling, a deliberate expression of his musicianship. Ain't No Sunshine on the grand piano gave it a more majestic feeling. Beautiful, heartfelt vocal, and with the occasional a capella and piano-only moments, he was able to bring a real intimacy to it on that big stage.

Round One: TIE (seriously, I'm not copping out: both were very, very strong)

Adam: A Change Is Gonna Come--iconic song, but too much theatrical over-acting, too little connection and too much screaming (for my taste) that overshadowed the message (song needs more subtlety than he could bring to it), but technically gorgeous.

Kris: What's Goin' On--I loved it. Great, great song choice for him, and he brought his Kris-ness to it. Judges: NOT FAIR to criticize him for not doing an appropriate song for "this night, this stage," given that it was Simon Fuller's choice, not Kris's. Vocal was spot on, Kris brought out the message of the lyrics well, belting out key lyrics: "War is not the answer / only love can conquer hate". You got the feeling he meant it. Connected with it. This is what he does best. Lost it a bit in the middle, where the song meanders into humming, nonsense syllables and the ending wasn't particularly powerful.

Round Two: ANOTHER TIE (again, not trying to sit on the fence, both strong songs but flawed performances in some ways)

No Boundaries (or as I like to call it, Kara's Krapfest -- I swear if this woman writes this kind of dreck for Jason Castro, it will be a travesty). Adam got through it and brought all the melodrama to the surface. Is that a good thing? Probably not. Will it matter? Probably not. He made a very rangy song sound easy, and/or brought his range and power to it to make the song itself sound better and more challenging than perhaps it is. (I guess I don't get my wish of seeing him do "Magic Rainbow" in a feather boa and sparkles. Oh well ... another time, another place maybe.) LOL

Kris's No Boundaries was a disaster all round. Key wrong, he missed some words, he was clearly uncomfortable, judges were kind to point out the rest of his remarkable journey to help him feel good about that final performance which WILL stick in people's minds and will likely make the difference in tomorrow's outcome, if all else is equal (including the ex-Danny vote being a non-issue).

Round Three: Adam

On first two songs, I would have put Adam and Kris in a dead-heat. On third one, Adam out-sang and out-performed. There will be the oh-so-obvious and sour-grapesy stuff about the song having clearly been written for Adam (and Danny?). It's a shame it comes down to this after such a long string of great performances from both of these guys: the crappy coronation song is the differentiator.

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Overall -- Adam and Kris picked their best and reminded us of why they ARE the final two standing.

Simon Fuller: kudos to you for picking two very socially relevant songs for these two contestants, whom everyone and their uncle have been trying to pit against each other in a "culture" (read, political/religious/social) clash. Instead, your clever song choices brought them, and those of us watching them, together and reminded us that music is a force for unity, for social change and for peace even among people who might appear so very, very different on the surface.

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No MTME Ratings, just a statement: The night, and the season, goes to Adam. (My dollars will be spent buying Kris's first album, though).

Let's see what the voters say!!