Miss Independent Returns To Her Stage

I was so excited when Season 2 of American Idol started. I enjoyed the first season more then I ever imagined. I remembered those nervous summer nights waiting for the kids to perform. Biting my nails during the judges' critiques. Hitting the redial feature on my telephone to ensure that my opinion was logged. Waiting on pins-and-needles for the results show to follow. Feelings of sadness as each kid left the show. When this season started, I was anxious to become enamored again.

My enthusiasm waned, after weeks of the horrible auditions and 32 less-than-stellar auditions, but when America had finally chipped away the top twelve, my hope returned. By Country-Rock night I had pretty much given up and as of Disco night I was resolved to the fact that I wasn't going to get the same experience from the show this season. There's been no anxiousness, no nail biting, no pins-and-needles, no phone dialing. I envy the excitement when I listen to people talk about the performances and their favorites this year.

This season's group is talented of course, but I just haven't been moved by a single performance. The most exciting thing for me has been the vastly improved promos over last season. I've looked forward to those each week. They've been cute and entertaining. I've been disturbed by my lack of interest, with the state of the world right now I wanted American Idol to be my escape.

Wednesday night, Miss Independent took the AI stage and it all came back to me. This is why I loved the show last summer! I felt that excitement and nervousness when I heard Kelly Clarkson would be returning to sing her first single. Like last year, I tuned in promptly as the show began to ensure not missing a second. I was not disappointed.

Kelly Clarkson returned to let America know they did make the right choice. Oh! And she can belt with the best of the pop stars today. No longer just a ballad queen, she strutted her stuff and delivered her new pop single from her debut CD with the perfection I have come to expect. With the exception of some seriously overdone hair, but appropriate nonetheless for the song vibe, she looked and sounded wonderful! If they had put up a telephone number at the end I would have been dialing it for old times sake.

This was the Kelly we never got to see last season. The song has that edgy pop sound that has become the rage recently. Her tremendous vocal range delivered the feeling of strength to the song, raising the quality of it above what is even necessary for this to be a success. Although it really isn't the deepest song from her upcoming CD, the lyrics are very good and it will have mass appeal to the radio listening public. It was a good choice for her first release. So now Kelly can add pop to her list of capabilities, proving her versatility to America. After delivering her powerful performance, the goofy kid from last season beamed for the crowd and let us know she doesn't take herself too seriously, letting out a girly squeal as she nearly tripped over a backup dancer on her exit.

With that performance I realized the difference between last year and this year. I have not seen any growth or changing styles this season. The performances are good but there is no color. Of course, you would have to be deaf not to notice the voice on Clay Aiken, but no one has stepped up so far and let us see the versatility in their performances like they did last season.

Last summer each week the kids took on the persona of the era or genre of music they were singing and then added their own style to the delivery. They allowed us to see that they had more then just vocal talent. They were adaptable and you were left feeling that they had worked hard to deliver a performance that suited the song. It was easier to judge their performances as you felt them going for something when they sang. So a miss here or there during their performance could be forgiven.

I now understand my lack of enthusiasm. It's the predictability of the performances. There's no anxious feeling as the show starts because aside from the songs being different, each episode feels like a repeat of the one before, less one kid of course.

Kelly's performance convinced me that I should not expect to see that kind of range again this season. With only seven performers left and as much as I'd like to see a little versatility, I don't know if it would even be accepted at this point by the public. It feels like the performance expectations each week have already been set and no surprises are allowed. It's like they've been told what to do…

This week's theme is the Fifties - "Josh you do country," "Ruben you wear a 205 shirt and sound like Luther," "Clay give us another Josh Groban performance," "Carmen pick something with a bee-bop feel so you can move around," "Trenyce pick a ballad with some high notes."

There's no chance to sit back and go W-O-W they pulled it off!! That's what I miss. I miss that feeling of wondering… how will Nikki pull of Big Band Night; what love song will Justin pick to sing; will RJ be able to sing a song from the seventies; will Tamyra take us back to the Motown era?

So Wednesday night was a treat. It was a pleasure to watch and hear Kelly add yet another musical genre to her list. It's what I came to expect of the show and she delivered with satisfaction. Unfortunately it's time to return to our regularly scheduled performances.

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