It Ain't Over (but Jordin Wins)

Ok, I got that out of the way. Jordin Sparks will be declared the sixth American Idol at the end of tonight's two hour finale. She's 17, in case you haven't heard. We heard it at least three times last night.

I voted up until 1am. No, really. I voted in a finale for the first time, I think, since season 2. In my heart and head I knew it was futile. Jordin's 17 after all.

That feeling was only reinforced with the shameless pimping. Is that you, Randy Jackson?

I'm sure Jordin's tearful ending on her last performance helped make up for the shrieking, clunker notes, her mannequin-like delivery and even flat vocals. Certain judges' comments told me they were ignorant, deaf or liars.

Moving on, Blake slipped up a bit on the very first performance, "You Give Love A Bad Name," when he was carrying the mic stand but in other more subtle ways it was an even better performance than a few weeks back. His vocal on Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" was near perfect. In fact, I told the kitty if he didn't like it Randy was an anatomical orifice. He managed to have kind words for Blake.

The song-writing contest winner, "This Is My Now" was HORRENDOUS. That said, I liked that Blake made it more intimate and personal instead of the bombast of 17 year old Jordin's effort. Jordin's ridiculously over-sung version is just what was intended, however, and so the song put Blake at surely unfair, and perhaps calculated, disadvantage.

The results don't matter, tonight Blake's my "American Idol." Melinda should've been on that stage instead of Jordin. This just in: Jordin is 17!

I'm irritated at the sound problems early in the show. That's what dress rehearsals are for. Besides someone forgetting to turn Paula's mic on at one point, the overall audio didn't sound as good as at the Idol stage. Maybe it was the mics, maybe it was echo of the theater coming across or something else. The finale takes place at the 3,000+ seat Kodak Theater and not on the Idol sound stage.

I'm not proficient in the art and just don't know precisely how to describe it. It was almost as if I was hearing too much of the room and I didn't sense the warmth more usual in the voices.

The first time I got a vote through, I was excited there was a recording of Blake thanking us for our votes. I can't remember if they've done that in the past. I remember the reality show "Fame," hosted by Joey Fatone, had contestants provide a recorded message. As an aside, Joey came in second to Apolo Anton Ohno on "Dancing With The Stars." Apolo gets a mirror-ball trophy.

Back to Blake. He's got nothing to regret after Wednesday's results.

Dial-Idol and ZabaSearch predict the Jordin (17!) win. Yawn. "American Idol" is not really a "singing competition" although Simon claims it is. It's ultimately a piece of theater.