American Idol 4, May 24: The Finale - Bo vs. Carrie

Ryan welcomes us to the Kodak Theater. Thirty thousand strong are screaming in excitement. Ryan asks who is the next American Idol – I closed my eyes, and I clearly heard Bo, resoundingly. Ryan says just as he expected – right down the middle. Right.

"It’s a very, very close competition!" Ryan crows. I am not a conspiracy theorist by any shake of the imagination, believe me, and those of you who have emailed me complaining about this, that, or the other inequity know I give short shrift to conspiracy theories, but I can’t see it being that close! I just can’t!

There is a difference between lying and puffery. You’re selling a car and you say it runs great! Secretly, you know that it gets dodgey when it’s cold out, but it will start eventually. You don’t say anything about that. Did you lie? Not by law, just a bit of puffery. That’s how I see American Idol and this "close vote." Of course, neither Bo nor Carrie has sung a note tonight, and this being the finale, a lot is riding on how they do THIS night. I think there are a lot of undecided voters out there who are waiting to be impressed. They will decide this competition.

We are reminded that it is boy vs. girl (which sort of justifies the Top 24 boy-girl ruling), the first time since Kelly beat Justin. Ryan asks will there be another movie spinoff, and with bugged eyes, he says, "Let’s hope not!" I second that. Ryan says each contestant will be doing two original songs and one favorite from throughout the season.

Ryan tells us last week there was a coin flip, and "things didn’t go quite as planned." A special coin with Bo and Carrie’s pictures on either side was declared. Ryan flipped it, dropped it, and it bounced immediately into a grate! Ryan has turned a lovely shade of crimson as he tries to tear the grate off. Hilarious! Another coin is eventually produced, and Carrie wins the coin flip. She opts to go second. So, up first is:

Bo Bice, "The Long Long Road"

Randy - "This is the most important show ever... bad news is I did not love that song... good news is you still brought it home in the end. I did not know you had that kind of range."

Paula - "Congratulations... I told you we'd see you in the finals, I told you! ... it’s hard to sing a song nobody knows... I see everyone buy in and that’s the mark of a great singer. You could sing the Webster’s dictionary."

Simon - "Probably the closest final we’ve ever had. You look like my chemistry teacher. No, it’s not a good thing. It was a very dreary song. And, I’ve gotta tell you. You are going to have to do a hell of a lot better than that tonight."

Sting7 - In Ryan’s interview, it sounds like Bo’s song is an original song he performed. It seems like the judges didn’t know that, based on their critiques, because blaming Bo for the song is silly, unless he wrote it! Bo did a fine job, showed more range than I was expecting, but I am curious if he will turn it up for the other two numbers.

Carrie Underwood, "Inside Your Heaven"

Randy - "Wow. Wow... good news and bad news... I didn’t love that song either... the first half was really pitchy... the good news is in the end, because you’re a great singer... you brought it home in the end. You guys are even - 1 and 1"

Paula - "Congratulations... you had a couple of not-so-great notes in there, but who the in heck cares? They love you!"

Simon - "Carrie! I can see how nervous you are with you standing up there. I thought the song was much better than the first song. You are going to have pace yourself because your vocal was on the edge. But round one goes to you."

Sting7 - Sorry, Simon, I don’t agree. Carrie had some hideous notes in there. I think the entire bridge was off-key. Hard to say with a song you’ve never heard before, it could have been singer’s choice on where she went with it, but it was a bad choice at best. She ended it very nicely, and someone turned up her mike so the background singers didn’t swallow her like they did Bo. Still, I think round one went to Bo.

Bo Bice, "Vehicle"

Randy - "That’s what I’m talking about that’s the way you put it down... (swallowed by audience applause) ... now I’m happy!"

Paula - "You couldn’t perform that better than you just did, that’s the authentic Bo we know and love."

Simon - "Okay, Bo, welcome back, now we’ve got ourselves a competition."

Sting7 - I do love when he does this song. He’s about to own it! The confident, low-key kind of swagger that we saw from Bo was far more in evidence in this song. I’ve run out of adjectives for him. He’s Bo! He is his own creation, you never get an ounce of affectation from him, Bo is who Bo is, on stage, off stage – authentic. All you can say.

Hey, there is Constantine! In a parallel universe, Constantine is in this finale.

Carrie Underwood, "Independence Day"

Randy - "I gotta say for me, welcome back.... that was an amazing vocal... that was hot!"

Paula - "That was brilliant, great vocal."

Simon - "I don’t think that was a great vocal, it sounded very strained, I wouldn’t have chose that song... I would have chosen "Crying" from a couple of weeks ago, now round two goes to Bo!”

Sting7 - I also don’t think it was a great vocal, but I think it was a good one. Like Simon, I thought it sounded very strained. Maybe she’s pushing to catch up to the "Vehicle," heh heh, but it wasn’t as effective as the last time she performed it. "Crying" might have been a better choice, I would have chosen "Alone." No question in my mind that round two went to Bo.