Move over Kelly

I forced myself to sit through the World Idol karaoke finals last night. Well... most of it. O.K. - the first 10 minutes and the last 15. After about 30 seconds of former Spice Girl (what was her name? I Was Pretty but Couldn't Sing or Dance Spice? hhhmmm...) I left the room. But I returned to see each country give their votes. And folks that's when we saw our very own cute R&B Diva Wannabe, girl-next-door slowly slink into an unhappy state of But I Don't Wanna Be #2.

But don't let me be the one to say I told you so about the winner. O.k. I am gonna say I told you so about the winner. The best voice won. The rocker dude with the Hobbit look (according to one judge). Which just goes to show that most of those execs are way off base about what the music industry really needs right now. I don't think people are looking for that pretty Backstreet Boy super polished thing right now. We just want someone who can SING for pete's sake! And it was very interesting to see that point proven when we consistently saw the Aussie voted near the bottom or at best middle of the road by people all over the world. He was an incredible singer, yes... but maybe he just had too much of IT. I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. I still don't think Kelly was better than him. But yes, she deserved to be in the top 3. I won't dwell on poor Kelly's loss. And you know I'd like to.

Anyway... the show itself was pointless - most obviously a quick way to quickly gain worldwide exposure for all of their recording artists. But it was just very interesting to see what the rest of the world thought. I did like the voting format they used and that you couldn't vote for your own idol. I loved that once again the one contestant that just "shouldn't win" DID. Will this change the way Simon views contestants on AI3? Not so image conscious?

Oh get real. It's Simon. 2 more weeks until the fun begins again!!!! WOOHOO!

I'm out.

And the winner is....

So New Years Day the votes will be revealed and a new World Idol will be crowned. Hhmm... who was as unimpressed with the talent from most of the other countries as I was? And guess what? I wasn't even all THAT impressed with Kelly. I mean, yeah she represented and all... but as the one judge so plainly said what I've been saying ALL YEAR LONG...

"You're good and all, but if you're gonna compete with the great R&B divas out there, it [those runs and all] ain't all that!"

I tell you this: she did not suck. She can sing. But she, Simon Cowell and apparently a whole lot of other people out there buying her music think she's alot better than she really is. But hey, since when has there been a TRULY talented and vocally gifted pop star delivered to the music world of late??? It's really about performance appeal isn't it? One of my highlights of the show was the judges having this very same argument. It went a little something like this:

Judge A "This is a singing contest and about who has the best voice."

Judge B "Let's get real. If this were a singing contest, it would be on the radio. It's not. It's on stage and that means it's about stage presence, look and appeal."

As if the show wasn't boring enough, I will bore you with my predictions of how it may play out if we follow Judge A's rationale and then Judge B's rationale. Guy Sebastian, the Aussie boy with the freaky afro, incredible voice and overall best total package (oohhh there's that phrase again that made some of you sooooo mad) should win if it's really about the total package - voice, look and the X factor. Rocker boy, Kurt Nilsen from Norway should win if it's ONLY about the voice. Even Simon had to say that he had the best voice and showed the best control of voice of all the contestants. If the contest was on radio he'd "walk it" Simon said. Which means... great voice, you should win, but you don't have the look people want. You don't have IT.

Yep, I said it. You're shocked that I picked one of the 2 rockers and equally shocked that I didn't pick Kelly. I won't explain my choices. Either you get it or you don't on this one. It's what we've been trying to say all along about the AI votes people.

I was honestly so bored by the whole thing (including Kelly's ridiculous banter in between performers) that I don't care who wins. Well... maybe it does make me wonder one thing. Since we couldn't vote for our own, the people in this country won't have the chance to catapult Kelly to victory with that scewed sense of reality that we saw so many times in the voting during these last two seasons of AI. So... who would they latch onto, love and vote for this time? Alright, I may flip channels to see the winner announced - provided the show doesn't interfere with my watching of the unveiling of the dream home on HGTV.

I'm out. Oh, and Happy New Year ya'll.