Last Thursday, I was stricken with enormous grief when the ultimate dark horse Haley Reinhart was eliminated from American Idol. It was a sad day as Haley was the one truly interesting and exciting finalist left in the competition. Now, don’t get me wrong~ Lauren and Scotty are both very talented. However, Haley brought a unpredictablity factor plus she had gumption, fire and stood her ground. She also was the one contestant who blossomed and grew throughout the competition. If you readers will recall, I was no fan of Haley’s for the first month and a half of the competition. But when she completely slayed Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, I sat up, put my foot in my mouth and turned a new leaf. I became a Haley fan. And week after week, she kept me on the Haley train with fantastic performances like “I Who Have Nothing” and “Bennie and the Jets” that had me picking up the phone to speed dial… Oh, Haley, I will miss your strange arm waving and big Mariah Carey 1990 hair. At least we will see you perform your new single on the finale on Wed night….
Ok, now that I’ve said a proper goodbye to Ms. Reinhart (who is not dating Fozzy Bear, ahem, Casey Abrams, contrary to many media reports), it’s time to take a look at our final contenders… In this corner, it’s a teen country singer. And in this corner, it’s a … teen country singer… Uh oh, is this gonna be a boring battle of the Southern singers? Or will they surprise us with some exiting song choices for their final three songs? Well, each contestant will be doing a song chosen by a country superstar (Carrie Underwood picks for Lauren, George Strait for Scotty), plus an encore of one of their favorites from the season and finally the song that will be their first single. I’m not expecting fireworks, but I am hoping that Lauren blows Scotty out of the water. Hey, what? I can have a favorite… But does my favorite have the power to win? Well, take a look at my final totally unscientific American Idol Power Rankings for the top two from season ten below.
American Idol 2011 Top 2 Power Rankings~
1. Scotty: he has flown through this competition as a front-runner with grace and gratitude. He has a great deep country voice and a ridiculous amount of teen idol appeal that the Southern voters, the grandmas and the tween girls go crazy voting for. He also seems like a really nice, fun and grounded guy. He’s never been in the bottom two and he’s generally given good performances week in and week out… However, why do I find him so boring? Does he have appeal outside of the heartland? And will he ever hold the microphone properly? Despite those facial affectations, the boy who looks like Alfred E. Neuman from Mad Magazine has to enter the finale as the one to beat. (last week~ 1)
2. Lauren: she has the pipes and personality. She has the potential to be a huge country star and a possible crossover pop star (unlike Scotty who will stay squarely in the country lane). She is also one to root for and has displayed great vocals throughout the competition. Heck even Steven Tyler crowned her the victor after her first audition. So, why does it seem like she is gonna have to slay a dragon to win the competition? Well, she has had serious confidence issues throughout the season, some conflicting judges’ critiques and has taken few chances thus far. Plus, she has such incredible potential and has yet to reach it. However, the woman who can outsing Scotty for days, has nowhere to go but up and it’s likely that all of Haley’s fans will switch to voting for Lauren as opposed to Scotty. So, I think the battle could be very close. And I’m hoping she nails it and gives us our first female victor since season 6′s Jordin Sparks. (lw~ 2)
So, there you have it~ my final power list for this rejuvenated and very good season ten. Sure, I would’ve loved a finale with Pia v. Haley, but we all know I rarely get what I want with this show. If that were the case, Adam Lambert, Crystal Bowersox, Melinda Doolittle, Chris Daughtry and Carly Smithson would’ve rightfully won their seasons. But, that’s too bad for me. So, let’s look forward to tonight and see if Scotty truly has the power or if Lauren will be David to his Goliath and steal the crown in the battle of the country kids. Tune in tonight at 8pm on Fox and let me know who you think will be the victor.
Tags: Adam Lambert, Adele, American Idol, Carly Smithson, Carrie Underwood, Casey Abrams, Chris Daughtry, Crystal Bowersox, George Strait, Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina, Mariah Carey, Melinda Doolittle, Scotty McCreery, Steven Tyler
