American Idol 2011: Scotty McCreery And Lauren Alaina On The Season’s Finale
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Doris Lim
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By Doris Lim
Published on 06/15/2011
First, I must confess that it sure doesn’t feel like a “Finale” on this season’s “American Idol”. With all my “favorites” gone, the curtain fell many, many weeks ago starting with my gal Thia Megia and then my man James Durbin.
First, I must confess that it sure doesn’t feel like a “Finale” on this season’s “American Idol”. With all my “favorites” gone, the curtain fell many, many weeks ago starting with my gal Thia Megia and then my man James Durbin. Who would have thought that James might not even make it to the “Top 3”. The audacity of the American voters!! Yes, I’m still stinging from his elimination.
But if he has to go, he has to go. So… Let’s get down to the “Final 2”. Notice I did not say the “Top 2” because all the best ones had already exited the Idol stage. Okay, enough of my “rants”. To the “music” business at hand.
With the 2 remaining “country music” contenders left to battle it out, one does not expect much from this season’s “Finale”. But I must go on record that the 2 kids did put in a lot of effort to at least indicate their genuine interest in vying for the Idol title. And like in all past season “Finales”, both Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina had to belt out 3 songs. The first was to be a repeat of their personal favorite performance of the season, the second being a song selected by their own idol and the third an original coronation song which was to be their first single.
Scotty McCreery was first to sing, going with Montgomery Gentry’s “Gone” followed by Lauren Alaina’s choice of Carrie Underwood’s “Flat On The Floor”. So far so good but nothing spectacular from either one of them.
For the second round, we find Scotty singing his idol George Strait’s choice of “Check Yes Or No”. Lauren went with her idol Carrie Underwood’s selection of “Maybe It Was Memphis”. At this point, I was almost giving up on watching altogether because it certainly did not feel like a “Finale Night” at all!! The judges were no help either. They gave “Round 1” to Scotty McCreery while “Round 2” went to Lauren Alaina. No surprises there. It’s been like this all season from these 3 “oh-so-brainy” judges!! Yes, I am being intentionally “sarcastic” here!!
And now for the third round. Scotty took on “I Love You This Big” and although it wasn’t that big a deal, he at least did maintain his personal “style” (let’s just call it the “Scotty Way”). One thing for sure, he’s made Idol history by being the most consistent contestant who has been “sticking to his gums” from Day 1 until today on the “big stage”. I at least could admire him for that. And coming from such a tender age, it is most pleasantly surprising to discover such maturity in one so young. Yup, that’s Scotty alright!! As for Lauren, she closed the night with “Like My Mother Does” and she certainly did it with all the “drama” she could muster, mother and all. Coupled with the fact that Ryan Seacrest had earlier started the evening by declaring Lauren a little “under the weather” because apparently she had strained her vocal cord or something and he even took the “drama” a little further by bringing on board a doctor to confirm the diagnosis. Now isn’t that a little obvious that they’re fishing for “sympathy” votes? Geez… and guess what? All 3 judges practically declared Lauren the winner after this round. Poor Scotty – thrown under the bus (like what happened to Haley Reinhart earlier)! Double geez…!!
Now if Simon Cowell was following this season of “American Idol” and was watching tonight, I wonder what might have crossed his mind?? Dare I mention it in this article of mine?? Anyway, like what I’ve been saying in my last couple of posts, since my “favorites” are no longer around to battle it out, I certainly have no expectations about tonight’s event and certainly not that excited about the results either. But in all fairness, even though there were no memorable “moments” in either country kid’s singing, they did put on a good show with it looking a little lob-sided though because I somehow felt that Lauren was a teensy-weensy “too confident” tonight for her own good. Dare I utter the words “too cocky”?? A little “humble pie” might help her to acquire more votes. This sudden inflation of “overconfidence” on her part reminds me of the old saying “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched” as her attitude might just result in a “backlash” of sorts. As for poor ol’ Scotty. He did look mighty “uncomfortable” with all that going on around him. But his professionalism and maturity won me over as I’m sure did a lot of fans who tuned in tonight. Go, Scotty, go!!!
Anyhow, let me try to end this article with an upbeat mood by giving you a couple of videoclips from these 2 future “country” musicians.
But if he has to go, he has to go. So… Let’s get down to the “Final 2”. Notice I did not say the “Top 2” because all the best ones had already exited the Idol stage. Okay, enough of my “rants”. To the “music” business at hand.
With the 2 remaining “country music” contenders left to battle it out, one does not expect much from this season’s “Finale”. But I must go on record that the 2 kids did put in a lot of effort to at least indicate their genuine interest in vying for the Idol title. And like in all past season “Finales”, both Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina had to belt out 3 songs. The first was to be a repeat of their personal favorite performance of the season, the second being a song selected by their own idol and the third an original coronation song which was to be their first single.
Scotty McCreery was first to sing, going with Montgomery Gentry’s “Gone” followed by Lauren Alaina’s choice of Carrie Underwood’s “Flat On The Floor”. So far so good but nothing spectacular from either one of them.
For the second round, we find Scotty singing his idol George Strait’s choice of “Check Yes Or No”. Lauren went with her idol Carrie Underwood’s selection of “Maybe It Was Memphis”. At this point, I was almost giving up on watching altogether because it certainly did not feel like a “Finale Night” at all!! The judges were no help either. They gave “Round 1” to Scotty McCreery while “Round 2” went to Lauren Alaina. No surprises there. It’s been like this all season from these 3 “oh-so-brainy” judges!! Yes, I am being intentionally “sarcastic” here!!
And now for the third round. Scotty took on “I Love You This Big” and although it wasn’t that big a deal, he at least did maintain his personal “style” (let’s just call it the “Scotty Way”). One thing for sure, he’s made Idol history by being the most consistent contestant who has been “sticking to his gums” from Day 1 until today on the “big stage”. I at least could admire him for that. And coming from such a tender age, it is most pleasantly surprising to discover such maturity in one so young. Yup, that’s Scotty alright!! As for Lauren, she closed the night with “Like My Mother Does” and she certainly did it with all the “drama” she could muster, mother and all. Coupled with the fact that Ryan Seacrest had earlier started the evening by declaring Lauren a little “under the weather” because apparently she had strained her vocal cord or something and he even took the “drama” a little further by bringing on board a doctor to confirm the diagnosis. Now isn’t that a little obvious that they’re fishing for “sympathy” votes? Geez… and guess what? All 3 judges practically declared Lauren the winner after this round. Poor Scotty – thrown under the bus (like what happened to Haley Reinhart earlier)! Double geez…!!
Now if Simon Cowell was following this season of “American Idol” and was watching tonight, I wonder what might have crossed his mind?? Dare I mention it in this article of mine?? Anyway, like what I’ve been saying in my last couple of posts, since my “favorites” are no longer around to battle it out, I certainly have no expectations about tonight’s event and certainly not that excited about the results either. But in all fairness, even though there were no memorable “moments” in either country kid’s singing, they did put on a good show with it looking a little lob-sided though because I somehow felt that Lauren was a teensy-weensy “too confident” tonight for her own good. Dare I utter the words “too cocky”?? A little “humble pie” might help her to acquire more votes. This sudden inflation of “overconfidence” on her part reminds me of the old saying “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched” as her attitude might just result in a “backlash” of sorts. As for poor ol’ Scotty. He did look mighty “uncomfortable” with all that going on around him. But his professionalism and maturity won me over as I’m sure did a lot of fans who tuned in tonight. Go, Scotty, go!!!
Anyhow, let me try to end this article with an upbeat mood by giving you a couple of videoclips from these 2 future “country” musicians.