American Idol: Two Much Pressure

Since I hate this season of “American Idol” so much and I’m pretty thrilled that it’s almost over, I’m going to keep my final recap relatively short:

Lee DeWyze CHOKED.

I take almost no pleasure in this because Lee really seems like a nice guy who was completely overwhelmed by the 7,000-seat Nokia Theatre, the same way he seemed overwhelmed during his first live TV performances in the semifinal round.

The little pleasure I do take has little to do with Lee — it’s more directed at the judges who worked weekends and overtime to convince us (and him) that he was a worthy frontrunner/winner.

I’ve said it before (probably only to my girlfriend Erica), but I’ll say it again. If Lee were to win, he’d be the worst winner in the show’s nine-season run.

“Hey!” you’re undoubtedly saying. “What about Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks?” While those two former “Idols” may have mostly flopped in the music marketplace, I defy you to go back and watch their “Idol” runs and tell me they were worse than Lee “I’d finish seventh place in a half-decent season” DeWyze. Hicks, for one, was both a more consistent singer AND a more electrifying performer. (Then again, the wheelchair-bound Artie from “Glee” is a more electrifying performer than Lee.) The only real advantage that Lee has is his admittedly distinct and contemporary tone.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Lee can’t win. Actually, the fact that people are beating him up as badly (or even worse) than I did in my previous paragraph could result in him getting a significant sympathy vote. More importantly, Lee’s major voting bloc (the young girls with their deafening screams) are much more likely to power text than Crystal’s fan base (middle-aged folk aficionados?)

But again, I’m going to stop beating up on Lee because it’s not his fault that he was hyped as the frontrunner he wasn’t.

Coming into the finale, I felt that there was the strong possibility that Crystal could wipe the floor with him. In contrast, I felt like the best Lee could hope for was a draw. What we got was the former.

Whereas Lee appeared intimidated by his new surroundings, Crystal Bowesox (pictured, right) seemed reinvigorated by the bigger stage (both literal and figurative) and really brought it Tuesday night.

I fundamentally hate the idea of a Contestants Redux round. (How can an “Idol” possibly hope to surpass a previous standout performance?) Suffice it to say neither contestant quite reached the level of their original performance, but at least Crystal got the room jumping with her upbeat finish on “Me and Bobby McGee.” (For the record, Lee sounded fine on “The Boxer” – just didn’t bring anything new to the table.)

Up next was the Simon Fuller Round, in which the “Idol” producers handpicked two tracks for the finalists to cover.

Neither one of them set the world on fire, but I found Crystal’s take on “Black Velvet” (despite its occasional screechiness and the feeling that she was going to fall down and bust her ass at any time) considerably less annoying than Lee’s cover of “Everybody Hurts.” Maybe it’s me, but I just don’t feel like you can (or should) go to the gospel choir well two weeks in a row. If Lee insists on clinging to his guitar for dear life and not working the stage, why not put the spotlight on him and do the song up acoustic style? I actually think this was a terrific choice for Lee (and “Black Velvet” was a bad choice for Crystal), and that’s why I’m disappointed he didn’t do more with it.

Then again, there’s probably a reason why Lee (and Crystal) almost always perform with their guitars. When they don’t, they seem to wander around the stage, not really knowing what to do with their hands or how to interact with the other musicians.

This unfortunately happened to Lee during his rendition of U2’s “Beautiful Day”, set to be released as his first single in the event he wins. Kara was right — Lee got lost in the shuffle of violin players, but to me the biggest offense was wimping out on the chorus’s high notes and not fully engaging the audience or embracing the experience. The guy just looked like he wanted to get it over with.

On the other hand, when Crystal took the stage for her final performance — Patty Griffin's “Up to the Mountain” — you could just feel like you were in good hands. I’m not convinced that Crystal would have a contemporary radio hit on her hands with this recording, but it undoubtedly delivered as a true, unmanufactured, capital-M Moment on the “Idol” stage. Crystal kept the spotlight on herself and delivered an emotional yet controlled performance that would’ve sealed her victory in an ideal world

But what’d you think of this episode? Is Randy Jackson actually mentally challenge? (He complained about “Me and Bobby McGee” “starting out slow” — the song starts out slow before it picks up, ding-dong!) Did you like that they ditched the traditional original coronation song? (They’re usually awful, but I missed making fun of how awful they are.) Finally, who do you think will win and who do you think SHOULD win? I think Crystal will AND should win. Lee was SO bad last night (when you consider it was the finals) that a win by him would be a joke. (Then again, what better way to wrap up this terrible season?)

Thanks for reading (and suffering) along with me these past few months. Enjoy the finale!