Dim the Lights: The American Idol Finale

There was a collective sigh of disappointment last Thursday for around an hour, I think, as American Idol announced its 11th season winner in Phil Phillips, another WGWG (white guy with guitar). It has been 5 consecutive years that Idol has had 5 WGWGs as their Idol. Starting with Season 7’s David Cook who won over equally talented balladeer Davild Archuleta; Kris Allen won over top contender and multi-talented-now-Billboard-chart-topping Adam Lambert; the sultry Lee Dewyze won over singing mom Crystal Bowersox; the country dude Scotty McCreery over cutesy Lauren Alaina last year. So, what is all the fuss about another WGWG winning this year?


Well, he just won over fellow Filipina(-Mexican) Jessica Sanchez, the 16-year-old, whose roots hailed from Bataan, and has captured the hearts of millions of Filipinos. We can’t help but write about this. And while as I said before, there was only a short period of disappointment last Thursday, as you know, Filipinos tend to move on to greater issues (like the Coronavela, perhaps?), but then, this is something worthy to write about. After all, this young Pinay really did us proud.

Idols
This season is a swarm of talents. Early favorites were Colton Dixon, Skylar Laina, Phil Phillips, Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet. The latter was my top pick because while others hear it as screeching, my heart listens to a voice that could revive soul music. I have never seen anyone like that voice in any singing competition.


No Bitterness: Point by Point Comparison
Now we go to the final 2- Jessica and Philip. Among my early favorites, I never expected Philip to make it this far. An unbiased praise I have for this guy is his guts to stick to his own talent. He has a no-fear, I-don’t-care-what-you-think-as-long-as-I’m-singing attitude. It gets you glued to his bravado. My favorite performance was his sexy acoustic rendition of Usher’s You Got It Bad. But growth from day 1 to the end—I can’t see it. He has been consistent, yes. But his voice is something I have heard before. It’s not something new. Plus, the facial contractions he has every time he sings is such a distraction, I was wondering if he could be having a stroke.


Jessica is not the best in the season, considering the swarm of talents. But you have to admit, the little girl has amazing talent for a 16-year-old. Most people see Jessica beyond the roots and the race. I wouldn't care if she is not Pinay or whatever her race would be. She is such a pride, with her ability to reach those high notes, and her being in line with pop and R&B is so relatable. That duet with Jennifer Holiday gave me the goosebumps. Save the funny facial jokes of Holiday, that was an awesome duet.

Record Breaks
Had Jessica won, she would have broken the record of the WGWG lineup. More importantly, she could have been the first ever “saved” contestant to have won. She could have been another female idol after 5 years of a guy line-up. After Jordin Sparks, there seems to be no more female idols.

The Final Song
So much has been said over the first single production for the two finalists. Jessica’s final song, “Change Nothing” has changed a whole lot for the turn about of the competition. It seems haphazardly done, not relatable, the lyrics are horrible and it so does not fit Jessica’s voice.
In contrast to Phillip’s oh-so-baked song fitted for his voice, for his genre, with a full band production, one could not help but wonder whether there was a setup in leading people to vote for the latter.
The first two songs belonged to Jessica. But Phillip got a standing ovation on his seemingly one and only good song and dramatically, the final one to end the night.


Racism?
The one hour disappointment of Filipinos all over the world and even a viral video of a cute foreigner kid being so disappointed of Jessica’s loss has led some to conclude that indeed, some racism is involved. Some justify that this isn’t racism because it’s “American” Idol after all, the voice of Filipinos or Mexicans do not count. Well, if that’s the case, they should have clarified that in the qualifications in the first place, huh?
But whether or not there actually is racism or whatever there is, the point stands that the voice of America will always be heard. If there is a chain of coincidences of who they vote for, that’s their stand. We just cannot do anything about it. And true enough, it’s time to move on.

Is Idol Going down?
For the first time, Idol Finale ratings lost to NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Idol’s ratings went down 32% from last year. That’s a big drop in the television industry. The once glorious platform of talents has now been toppled over football. What does this mean? Is the predictability of Idol’s outcome not that appealing as it used to be? Maybe. But then again, they should do something about the show. In its 11-year stint, it is not alone in the market with the onslaught of singing competitions like The Voice, X-Factor, etc. Do they change judges? Do they change Seacrest? Do they change their qualifications to WGWG alone to avoid the hassle? I wouldn’t know. All I know is that in its 11-year stint, it has to end somehow. It would be a shame to end it dropping ratings over football. What a waste it would be.

Summary
Well, whether you like it or not, American Idol will always be one of television’s well-followed programs. It is also the fishing pond of producers for talents.
Coincidentally, most WGWG guys are not making as much success as non-winning idols. I don’t know what has happened to Kris Allen or Lee Dewyze. I am sure they are making albums or whatever but they are not as loud in the music industry as non-winners Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Katherine McPhee, Pia Toscano, and Chris Daughtry, to name a few. I sure hope they won’t mess it up with Phil Phillips as well, that boy has talent. It would be a shame to just flush it down the drain like all the others.


With a recent announcement of Tommy Mottola (producer for Mariah Carey, JLo, etc.) producing Jessica Sanchez’ first album, our little pride’s efforts will not go to waste. Win or not, let us thank American Idol for the entertainment it has given us, and the opportunity it has opened for our dear Jessica Sanchez. All we can say is, good job, Jessica, good job. You have made us proud.


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