The season finale of American Idol always feels a bit like The Avengers; after spending so much time with each of these characters individually, it's almost insane to try to make a compelling product that features all of them effectively. While Joss Whedon answered that problem by generally being awesome, AI has addressed it by prioritizing its highest finishers and leaving the rest of the finalists to rot in group-performance purgatory. Sorry, Jeremy, Shannon, Erika, Heejun, DeAndre, Colton and Elise (!), say the producers; we'll see (most of) you on the tour.
(I can't help but chuckle, by the way, at Idol's insistence that the performers in the group numbers are this season's Top 12. Leave aside that Jessica and Phillip are absent. Isn't anybody else bothered by the 1984-style retcon of Jermaine Jones' existence? Conveniently, the AI YouTube archive stops with Top 11 week, immediately after Jermaine was disqualified. Interpret that any way you like.)
Meanwhile, the top 5 got to sing alongside their musical Idols, a great touch that's produced a few memorable moments (Scotty McCreery's rock-solid "Live Like You Were Dying" with Tim McGraw and James Durbin freaking the hell out at the sight of Judas Priest spring to mind.) and surprisingly little chaff (I'm looking at you, Lee DeWyze and Chicago). And, naturally, after those shenanigans, we saw Phillip Phillips receive the McCreery trophy and ride off into the sunset "Home."
Since this wasn't a competition show - and several performances were so baffling or frustrating I didn't complete them - I'll follow the What Not To Sing example and leave out any number grades.
The final marks of the season:
Top 12 (Runaway Baby): *giggle, snort* I can't grade this. When did Idol become an advertising vehicle for So You Think You Can Dance?
Phillip Phillips & John Fogerty (Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Bad Moon Rising): I'll admit looking forward to these performances only to see Fogerty teach Phillip some things about, you know, singing, but P-squared managed to instead ruin not only his solo bits but the duet portions of his time alongside with a legend. This is your champion, America. You did this.
Top 12 Girls & Chaka Khan (Medley): Hot damn these ladies sound good! Even with one of the best voices in Idol history spending most of the performance on the bench, the five female finalists save Jessica sang stunningly well. What a spectacular performance and reminder that America has its head up its collective ass letting a man take the Season 11 crown.
Skylar Laine & Reba McEntire (Turn On the Radio): From Skylar's opening salvo calling the judges liars to the sublime harmony between one Idol's best country singers ever and one of the best country singers ever, I couldn't have loved this performance any more. A better arrangement wouldn't hurt - what's with the techno twang? - and, once again, the background singers can all go die, but this double act is ready for the big time. MORE.
Jessica Sanchez (I Will Always Love You): Um. Why is this here? Not a bad performance, but we've already seen it. Seriously, isn't this kind of reprise usually for the competitive finale? I'm baffled.
Top 12 Guys & Neil Diamond (Medley): Yikes. Just... yikes. When did Neil Diamond become a parody of himself? And is it possible of seven men in the final 13 I only legitimately liked two of them?
Jennifer Lopez (Goin' In and Follow the Leader): I would bet my life that this vocal was pre-recorded, which seemed to be confirmed by the echoing and flawless notes through a variety of preposterous gyrations. Yes, Jenny from the block can still bust a wicked calf. Why is this a priority on the AI finale, exactly?
Ace Young & Diana DeGarmo (The Proposal): No, this couldn't have been any more manufactured. Yes, I still believed it, and yes, I loved it.
Hollie Cavanagh & Jordin Sparks (You'll Never Walk Alone): Hollie still hasn't escaped Ballad Hell, but she always sounded great there anyway, and doubly so with one of Idol's most famous ballad-belting champions. Other than a weak song and some bland pacing - at some point I'll stop harping on background singers - this was a fine performance and a fitting end to Hollie's enjoyable run.
Top 12 Guys (Tribute to Robin Gibb): *snore*
Jessica Sanchez and Jennifer Holliday (And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going): Performances like this remind me why I started watching AI. Power! Emotion! Enunciation! This diva battle had everything one could hope for, including hilarious interplay between the two at their own over-the-top-ness. Bravo, ladies. A clash of the titans in every sense of the word.
Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips (Up Where We Belong): Apparently Jessica was the duet partner Phillip needed all along. No, he didn't look good by comparison, but she pulled actual singing - singing! - out of him and created some fine harmonies around his sometimes-tepid vocals. Not life-changing, and ENOUGH WITH THE BACKUP SINGERS - but a decent duet that made both finalists look good.
Phillip Phillips (Home): Seacrest deserves an Emmy Award for claiming Phillip wowed us all season and lending this farce some sense of meaning. Still, I loved seeing Phillip tear up during his final performance as a contestant, and he symbolizes Season 11 perfectly: flawed, sometimes amazing, often frustrating, but definitely worth a watch. More on that in my season recap soon.
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