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Why did Adam Lambert lose American Idol 8? The top 5 reasons why Adam is not the next American Idol.
By LoudmouthLee | May 21, 2009
What do the 4 following things have in common?
- The Red Sox coming back from 3 games down in the ALCS to the New York Yankees to ultimately take the series and break the curse.
- Chris Moneymaker surviving a large field of players to win the World Series of Poker in a field full of poker sharks, introducing Poker to the masses.
- Lordi, a death metal-ish religious band wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Kris Allen defeats Adam Lambert for the American Idol 8 contest.
The short answer is “They’re all massive upsets!”. However, the realy answer is “They all surprised the populace by having the perfect storm in place.”
In other words, there are very real, tangible reasons as to WHY Adam Lambert lost. Here’s 5 of them, and realize.. I’m not hating whatsoever (okay, maybe a little).
1) Much to the chagrin of his fans, Adam isn’t as marketable as you think. All of you need to start doing research on the way rock is percieved in this country… from a billboard charting standpoint, they rarely, if ever make big dents there, unless they’re really special. Take the ultimate in rock and roll, Jimi Hendrix. He has an epic discography, however, on the billboard charts, he wouldn’t be a two-hit wonder… or even a one-hit wonder. Jimi would be a NO-HIT-WONDER, With “All Along the Watchtower” just barely cracking the top 50. Just because you like rock music doesn’t mean the rest of the country does. Adam’s brand of “Rock” isn’t quite as marketable as Daughtry’s, either.
2) At the beginning of the season, judge and producer pimping is helpful, however, at the endgame, the pimping will ultimately backfire. Especially in this case, this holds to be true. When Simon broke it open in the final performance show by saying that “He’s looking at a superstar.”, he did two different things… made Adam Lambert’s fanbase complacent, and made Kris Allen’s group rabid. There has to be some point when the judges stop trying to sway votes and just give honest critique. Producers, it backfired on you this year majorly.
3) Kris Allen may have won American Idol 8, but Kris Allen’s family have won our hearts. There was no sweet family backstory on Lambert’s side, but when Kris’s dad gave him that hug in the Top 3 package, I teared. When Kris said “Don’t cry, mama.” when his mother got a bit misty, I got misty. Kris Allen’s family scored him major brownie points with the family vote. Allen was a good kid, coming from a typical American city. Lambert may not fall into the American ideal of a “good wholesome boy.”
4) When Richard Hatch won the first Survivor, he set a precident that has been followed in nearly every offering since then. In American Idol, there has never been a singer who played the game better than Kris Allen. Kris could have mailed it in and simply sang “Heartless” again, since it was arguably his best performance of the season in the final 2 show. Instead, he deftly remembers that Danny Gokey (put the Go in Gokey! Thanks Idolatry!) has a very large fan base, and his votes were going to go somewhere. So, by Kris singing ” ‘Aint no Sunshine”, he solidified the Gokey vote in a way that Lambert couldn’t overcome. Adam’s version of Mad World was very good, but he would have done much better for himself competing for Gokey’s votes with “Tracks of my Tears.”
5) Have you ever seen the movie Major League? Rocky? The Mighty Ducks? Shrek? America loves the underdog. Plain and simple.
This season, with all of its flaws, rejuvinated my interest in American Idol. Here’s to a good end to a good show, in spite of the judges, producers, and everyone else who tried to manipulate the outcome.
Kudos to Kris Allen, our hardest fought, and probably most deserving American Idol ever.
Topics: Reality, Television |