So it all comes down to this, Blake and Jordin. I’m already on record as saying Jordin has this won, and unless Blake absolutely hits it out of the park and Jordin fails miserably I’m sticking with that. Still, it should be fun to see what they bring to the table tonight. Let’s get to the show.
Blake kicks it off with a repeat of the greatest Idol performance ever. I don’t like repeats, but I’ll take that one. Not quite as fresh as the first time but still spectacular. (A+)
Jordin Sparks comes out swinging with a Christina Aguilera tune. It’s a great choice for her, gets her a little bit of pop cred. For the first 3/4 of the song I thought she nailed it, but when she went into the vocal acrobatics I thought she struggled just a bit. Still great stuff. (A)
Round 1: Blake
Blake with some more Maroon 5, nice choice of style, to bring it back down and show the vocals. The problem is they were just a bit shaky. (A-)
Jordin brings back the Martina song (much to Andy’s delight), and nails it again. Not my style, but I know an amazing vocal when I hear it. (A)
Round 2: Jordin
Here comes the inevitable original Idol song that they will be forced to release as singles even though it likely won’t fit them. Add this to the list of reasons Blake won’t win. There is no way this song was written for him… Wait a sec… did Ryan just say Scott Krippayne wrote this? As in Scott Krippayne, Krippayne? As in “Sometimes He Calms the Storm” Scott Krippayne? As in “I’m Not Cool” Scott Krippayne? Wow, you could have given me a month of chocolate Sundays to guess what CCM artist’s name was going to come up tonight on Idol and I would have never gotten that one.
Blake takes his shot at the Scott Krippayne (sorry, can’t get over it) tune and fails miserably. See, here’s the thing. The song just doesn’t work for Blake. Instead of a song writing crap shoot, why not have a group of songwriters work with each of the final 5 or so to start developing an original tune that fits who they are. You couldn’t have written a worse song for Blake if you tried. Still, that’s how the game is played. (B-)
Up comes Jordin, it’s an underhanded lob to the plate, and she hits it out of the park. Congrats again Jordin on your win. (A)
Ok, so Jordin will win. But haven’t we seen in the past that there is an Idol “official” winner and then there is an Idol true winner. It will be a year down the road before we know who truly won this season. And it won’t be fought on phone lines it will be fought in Walmarts, Targets, and Itunes. Sure, sometimes the numbers match. Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Fantasia all won their seasons and sold more records than anybody else (though Fantasia didn’t have much competition). But Clay Aiken has sold more albums than winner Ruben Studdard from Season 2. And it’s becoming pretty obvious that Daughtry will conquer season 5 sales in a huge way (He has already quadrupled winner Taylor Hicks album sales and is just about to pass Clay Aiken for 3rd highest Idol Album sales of all time, and Kelly Clarkson for 2nd highest album debut by an Idol). So who will be the ultimate true winner of season 6? I think it’s pretty safe to say, not Jordin. In fact, I believe when all is said and done, she will be third.
Official predictions for Idol album sales as of next year:
1. Blake 1.6 million
2. Melinda 1 million
3. Jordin 800,000
4. Sanjaya 500,000
5. Lakisha 450,000
Let the true contest begin.