OK. A little about Christina for a minute. She was, in my opinion, the most deserving of the title. The only thing I can think of why it didn't happen for her is that her style and grace may be a bit too much for the teenyboppers. Or, it could be becuase every single voter is a 12-year-old girl calling in toll-free about several hundred times each for one of the pretty boys on there. It was also sad to find out that she, at some point, collapsed from stress and dehydration. Here's to Christina. I hope we get to see more of her despite the circumstances.
What I would love to see is a scene of people running to payphones to vote for their faves, when suddenly you hear a voice say "Stop!". Then, Catherine Zeta-Jones appears out of nowhere, hands out a bunch of cellphones, and tells everyone to vote for Kelly Clarkson. I like her the most out of the remaining five. My reasoning is that I have never before enjoyed a performer that was both a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll. That woman loves the stage the way Mia Farrow loves adoption, only there's nobody hanging around her house asking for directions to the nearest high school. Whatever your musical preference is, you can see that Kelly has a major advantage: crossover power.
Then there's another favorite of mine: Tamyra Gray. She has a lot going for her: beauty, a great smile, an incredible voice, and an innocent and playful style of performance. This former Miss Atlanta is charming and poised, but a little more sass would go a long way further for her. One Whitney Houston-styled diva snap is worth ten thousand votes.
Rounding out the female contestants is the slightly punked-out Nikki McKibbin. She's so cute that I wan't to shrink her down and have her sing "Heartbreaker" from my shirt pocket. She's also the one name that I couldn't remember, so I had to check out the American Idol website to look it up (sorry Nikki!). I then found myself rating all of the contestant's egos (hey, about 100,000 others have answered the poll, too!). Anyhow, once Nikki perfects her new look and does a couple of more early-eighties bad-girl chick rock numbers, I will be sure to root for her as well.
Speaking of egos, definitely the one with the least is the sensitive and shy one, R.J. Helton. As the show's boy next door, I am rooting for his success. The main reason is that he seems like a really nice kid, and if he does well he can get out of Forsyth County, Georgia, which in the 80's was one of the major KKK nerve centers. I know this because they did the talk show circuit at that time...were they the ones that threw a chair at Geraldo? No, that was the skinheads. Maybe since then, the KKK has been run out of the county, all the while being pelted with eggs, tomatoes, and bits of roadkill...I don't know. Either way, R.J. would probably do really well in a city...any city.
Rounding out the remaining quintet is the poofy-haired Justin Guarini. Aside from my own opinions...screw that, let's base this on my opinons! I guess he's good at what he does, but there's something that makes me not want to cheer him on. I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe it's because my partner thinks he's foul. Maybe it's becuase he's throwing star fits before he's even a star. Humility goes a long way with me. Maybe it's because he tries too hard with his looks. I mean, it's like, "Hey, man, you've sure got some purdy hair on your head!". It's just too distracting. Of course, that's just my opinion. Since the only people who are interested in voting are middle-school girls, I'd bet on Justin getting the top prize.
To sum it up, I guess I'd be happy for whoever wins. However, since my favorite contestant is off the show, I don't think I'll be around to watch it. My schedule will just be too full of realizing that I'm way too old for this sort of thing.
American Idol, my American ass!
