It’s official. Kris Allen wins American Idol. His first comment: “Adam deserves it.” He sounds almost bummed. Adam is smiling and very congratulatory. Congratulations, Kris. To Adam: You’ll still be the biggest star of the show.
Final thought: Homophobic Christians took over the American Idol ballotbox, just like they’re trying to do in real life. Sorry, but I think it’s a plausible explanation. Also, 100 million votes but the lowest ratings ever for last night’s finale. Who’s voting besides the viewers and why? The Washington Post says you can expect these questions to be batted around the water cooler tomorrow.
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The two-hour finale has just begun. I thought it was just the pre-teen, text-message obsessed crowd that might create an upset on American Idol tonight, resulting in Kris Allen beating Adam Lambert. But, there may be a religious factor and he may pick up a big chunk of the Danny Gokey vote:
[Kris] Allen is a married college student and has worked as a church worship leader. Gokey, a widower, is a church music director.
To Kris’ credit,
Allen said Monday that he hoped the outcome isn’t decided by “having the Christian vote.” “I hope it has to do with your talent and the performance that you give and the package that you have. It’s not about religion and all that kind of stuff,” he said.
In any event, it’s going to be a close one.
Lots of performances: Lionel Richie, Carlos Santana, Cindi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Black Eyed Peas, Keith Urban, the reigning American Idol David Cook and season 4 winner Carrie Underwood.
Even the New York Times is live-blogging the finale. I’ll be watching and updating below. Continue reading
