American Idol Finale

Gosh, I still have my "american idol" blog tag! I can use it today. Nice.

Haven't watched Idol regularly since season 8, after which the original judges began leaving the show, but it was our family TV show for years. It was fun to watch the series finale last night.

I remember vividly when Kelly Clarkson won Season 1, how beyond ecstatic she was, singing and crying. We were so happy for her. We also liked Nikki McKibbin that season, and of course Justin Guarini. Lauren was just the right age to become obsessed with the From Justin to Kelly movie soon after.

From here


To here


Season 2 (Clay/Ruben) we watched sporadically, for some reason.

Season 3- We always thought Fantasia had way too much attitude, talking back to the judges. Diana Degarmo and Jennifer Hudson were our faves.

Season 4- We really enjoyed Constantine Maroulis and we would mimic the sexy faces he always made to the camera. So funny, but he was really good. Carrie Underwood was always an exceptional singer, but she was quiet, which just led me to think she thought she was better than everyone. Later, when her mom commented that she was more comfortable with the farm animals than she was with people, I realized she was actually just shy rather than arrogant. I don't know if winning Idol gave her the confidence boost she needed to come out of her shell, or they gave her some sort of classes on being a country star or what, but she was extremely outgoing and personable not too long after the show. We've seen her live twice, and she is incredible!

Bo Bice looked fantastic last night! Love the short hair on him. The most memorable performance that season for me was this one...



Season 5 was Chris Daughtry season. We were FLABBERGASTED when he was voted off during the top 4 show. It was beyond crazy. Kellie Pickler was hilarious and really good. We liked Elliott Yamin, too. Chris Daughtry should have won!



Season 6- I'm fuzzy on this season, but I know we liked Melinda Doolittle and we were always confused when Sanjaya kept making it through from week to week. Jordin is great.

Season 7- David Cook season, baby. He is so good! I've seen him a couple of times live. I have no idea why he isn't a bigger force in the biz. His voice is amazing. We also liked Jason Castro and David Archuleta.

My favorite performances of the season:






Then there was... musical!DavidCook. Again, here's a rock guy who always did his own thing with songs on the show. I figured this would be the same, but he did it Broadway style.



Season 8- Loved Adam Lambert, but my feeling was always that his performance style was better suited for Broadway, rather than as a pop singer. We liked all rest of the top five as well- Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey and Matt Gireaud.

Thanks for the memories, AI!