It's hard to write a nice, balanced view of Fox's American Idol season finale right now, considering that two years in a row a real talent, who has stood head and shoulders above the competition, was screwed out of a win by stupid voters. It's not just a popularity contest, people. Pick the one who can sing the best for goodness sakes! And by that, I mean Crystal should have beat Lee soundly, but like last year, the great singer got second place and the hack that appealed to the mainstream won. But I digress.
Much of tonight's finale was a 'tribute' to Simon Cowell, the judge leaving the show. Though I put 'tribute' in quotations, as much of the look backs made fun of him more than honored him, he took it well. It was like a roast where the guest of honor doesn't get to respond. Now I'm not complaining. It's fun to hate on Simon, even though he seems like a good guy. Let's be honest. He's the reason many people watch the show, myself included, and the series will lag next season without him, no matter who they get to fill his shoes. Then Paula Abdul showed up, wasn't funny, but paid tribute to the man. In a real show of class, though, his final honor was having many past contestants, including all of the past winners, sing to him. He was moved by emotion, as many viewers likely were, and bid an almost tearful goodbye.
One of the tributes did backfire on the show, and you wonder who had the bright idea to put it together. While Dane Cook sang a song made up of some of Simon's more memorable insults, they brought a collection of bad singer on stage that Simon had insulted over the years. Of course, one grabbed the microphone and tried to say his piece, with another soon trying to steal it back. The whole thing didn't last long at all because the producers wisely cut to commercial. You just can't trust rude, terrible people not trying to take fifteen minutes of fame on a national stage. Go figure.
Other than that, the show was made up of performances, mostly pairing this year's Idol contestants with famous musicians. There were plenty of big names, and plenty of great stuff to watch. For once, I didn't think they just drew out the finale too long, because there were so many great musical acts going on. Kudos to that part of the show, at least.
American Idol will return to Fox next year, but sans Simon, and with the way the viewers are voting so badly, it probably won't be worth watching, in this reviewer's opinion. But we'll see. I could be wrong.
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