Season 5 — The Finale!

Season Five – The Finale!

Congratulations to Taylor Hicks and the Soul Patrol. It was no secret, I’m sure. I was rooting for him. I’ve never had a favorite win, and I must say I like it!  Katharine McPhee fans–your contestant was a scrapper.  She stayed in it even when many of us counted her out.  She’s a talented performer, and besides her recording career, I can particularly imagine her shining on the theater stage.

I’ve been watching AI since season 2, and this year’s finale was by far my favorite. Even with the lack of suspense–Taylor was virtually declared the winner by practically everyone even before he hit the stage Tuesday night–it didn’t matter.  The anticlimatic results came at the end of a very entertaining two-hour show that was virtually free of filler. There was tons of music, and plenty of opportunities to see and hear all your favorite Idols again. Gone this year were the pointless interviews with fans at the viewing parties and with the judges backstage. Of course they brought back some of the bad auditioners, but it was done very cleverly. And that big surprise at the end? Was so not lame like I expected. I was positively giddy.

The results were read as expected, and Taylor was a gracious winner, making sure to congratulate his competitor and to thank his fans, his family and his friends. As he sang out on his coronation song,   I remembered looking at his website back in January before his audition and thinking there was no WAY this gray haired blues singer was an AI contestant.  Just–no way.  But 5 months later, there he was–singing soulfully with confetti raining down on his graying head.  Unbelievable.  But in a really good way.

That’s my short review.  I’ll have much more later–a longer recap with video caps. And I’ll be posting articles and interviews as I find them.  As well as a great big thank you to all you peeps who came along for the ride with me this season. It’s been a gas.

But tomorrow.  All that tomorrow.  Right now, I need some sleep…