IT'S OVER! ... And the winner is ...

Click ont he chart to view the final standings

(or click here to see the full breakdown)

 

Ha, ha ha ha … He didn’t … ha ha … he … wait a minute … ok, I’m good. 

HE DIDN’T WIN!

Despite the judges best efforts to sway the vote, despite the labels of "best Idol contestant ever" and everyone’s apparent willingness to go along with it and crown him Jesus, Adam Lambert couldn’t close the deal. 

Never in eight years of watching this retched program, have I seen the deck so stacked in favor of one contestant like it was for Adam Lambert. 

TUESDAY NIGHT: 

Both contestants picked their best song to do and both brought their A-game, but Simon awarded round 1 to Kris … 

Then, for song 2, they give Kris an untouchable Marvin Gaye song that’s way out of his range and he actually did a real admirable job of spinning it, making it contemporary and putting his own stamp on it. Still, round 2 went to Adam. And admittedly, he probably was better, but he wasn’t “a million times better,” as Simon was sure to hammer home...

After the 3^rd song, on which Adam was really quite awful, all 4 judges actually came up with a different way to say, “Well Kris, you sung that song better, which is 2 out of 3, but we still think Adam should win.”

WEDNESDAY NIGHT:

The fix is still in on the results night finale.  The blockbuster duets have Kris paired with country star, Keith Urban who, I guess an A-list artist, and they did sound good.  But he didn’t get the star treatment of bronze medalist, Danny Gokey, who got top sing a medley with Lionel Richie … Lionel Richie!  And he certainly doesn’t rate with the likes of Adam, who got to close the show by putting on a full-blown rock concert with KISS.  And as if that wasn’t enough of a ploy to convince people that Adam was going to win and that glam rock could still be cool, the producers throw in Queen for good measure.  Mike Siciliano, pool participant and former guest-blogger, had this to say:

“I know everyone thinks Lambert is so current and he is .... if it's 1979. Last night was the perfect example, he would've been great as the lead singer of KISS. I'll even give him high marks as the lead singer of an 80's hair band. But nobody listens to that music anymore. There is a reason Warrent aren't playing sold out shows anymore. Lambert might be a Freddie Mercury clone but he died like 20 years ago. Gokey has the same problem. He would've been great in 1983 singing on the soundtrack to the Arthur movies with Michael MacDonald. But music is different now.”

And YES, I was surprised…

And YES, I’m 400 words in and I’m still talking about the guy who didn’t win…

And YES, I’m gloating like an 11-year-old who’s just won the fifth grade Jeopardy tournament and is parading around the room while his opponent, know-it-all smarty-pants Megan Lynch – who had more than triple my-er his score but decided to bet it all on final Jeopardy, sits devastated at the front of the assembly room … what? … where was I? ...

Oh yeah. What can I say, Adam Lambert really brings out the hater in me.  I’ve been waiting for this since week one.

And yet, perpetual underdog Kris Allen – the guy I actually picked to go out in week one – is our new American Idol!

Well, my weeks of Lambert-hating finally paid off but they didn’t help me in the pool.  And they also didn’t hurt our pool winner, who had Adam picked to win.

This is the 6^th Annual IDOL Pool and it’s the 3^rd time that no one picked the winner.  But it may be the first time in IDOL Pool history that no one even picked the eventual champ to reach the finals.  The Swami-forcasted Gokey elimination before the finals, coupled with some stellar picking in the middle rounds led our pool winner to victory.

It is my great honor to award the 2009, Season 8, IDOL Pool Championship to … JOANNE TRAHAN

Congratulations, and shame on us all for watching this rubbish 2 nights a week for the last 12+  weeks a year for the last 8 years.  

Until next year …

Swami out!

Down to the wire

(Click on the chart to view standings)
To see everyone's picks and a full standings breakdown, click here.

We're just one week from the IDOL finale - can you believe it? Three contestants remain and, believe it or not, our pool is still up for grabs.  If you're like Mike Sis, and you fast forward through the performances to get to the judges' comments, you probably just want me to give you the standings and get on to the finals.  So I'll keep it breif this week.  Just a few notes from last week.

... Paula Abdul should not perform on Paul Abdul's show.  I can put up with her idiosyncratic, borderline-nonsensical ramblings on the show but don't ask me to take her seriously during the same 1-hour block of TV.  I don't want sexy, early-nineties Paula and crazy-aunt-who-never-makes-any-sense-but-you-still-love-her Paula to exist on the same plane of reality.

... No Doubt, on the other hand, was like taking a time machine back to 1996 and I loved every minute of it.  It's still not out of the question that I will marry Gwen Stefani.

... Kris Allen's performance was not only way better than they judges gave him credit for, but about a hundred times more real than either of the other guys.  The Judges have been pretty obvious about who they want in the finals.  Luckily, their assassination attempt on Kris was unsuccessful.

... Danny ... woah ... Danny, what the hell was that?

... I for one was sorry to see Allison go but her exit performance was a moment of triumph, right down to the fist-pump after they showed her loser video.  She'll be in the studio within weeks.

Ok, some pool results and then we'll call it a day.  Melissa Clement is STILL clinging to first place but with Allison and Lil in the finals, she's locked at 262 points.  Joanne Trahan will pick up at least 18 points next week, with Adam over Danny in the finals but she's far from a lock.  Even if Joanne picks up all 36 points, next week it will still come down to the finals where Larry Shay can win it all with a Danny Gokey victory.  Its all coming down to the wire so stay tuned to see who comes away with the crown. 

The Swami says, "Gokey's a gonner.  Adam will face Kris in the finals and Joanne will get a new pair of shoes."  You heard it here first!

Back for more ... the Final Four!

(Click on the chart to view standings)
To see everyone's picks and a full standings breakdown, click here.

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later and this is about the time when things like the NHL Playoffs, the Miss New Hampshire Pageant and general laziness take over and push the Idol Pool Blog off the rails.  So I apologize for the lag in updates but let's face it, no one's reading this thing anyway.  Alright enough apologies ... let's talk IDOL!

Since we last spoke we've had 3 eliminations, a judges save and a lot of shake-up in the pool standings.  There weren't a whole lot of surprises in the last few weeks.  The Judges save happened about when we thought it would and we said goodbye to the second tier of contestants.  Lil Rounds' elimination played spoiler to a lot of people's chances in the pool but after nine weeks of mediocracy, it couldn't have come as much of a surprise.  Anoop and Matt were crown favorites but you just didn't get the sense that either of them had a chance to win. Now, however, the cream has risen to the top and we're left with 4 contestants who all have a chance at winning.  

In the pool, Melissa Clement remains in first place, where she's sat comfortably since week 5 but losing her winner (Lil) will make it pretty hard for her to close the deal.  Melissa's put a lot of points on the board already though and if Kris or Allison can pull an upset, she could just hold on to win.  

In the Adam Lambert camp, Joanne Trahan has the best shot to win.  Joanne's picked well so far and with 3 of her top 4 remaining she'll be unbeatable if Adam can win it all.  No offense, Joanne but this Idol blogger hopes you're wrong! Honorable mention to Adam Fleishman who actually has Adam winning but has picked so poorly to date that he's already been mathematically eliminated and has a shot at picking the winner and still finishing dead last - IMPRESSIVE!

A few people have Danny Gokey slotted to win and among them Larry Shay looks like the favorite, but if we see a Gokey/Lambert final, Kathleen Amantangelo will push by Larry for the top spot.  

Nobody has Either Allison or Kris picked to win but if they can keep the other two out of the finals, it will leave the door open in the pool.  We'll save those scenarios for another post should we get a surprise this week. It's rock week this week, which shouldn't scare any of the contestants but the Swami says, "Adam Lampbert is showing cracks in the armor and he could be out sooner than a lot of people think... possibly much sooner!"