American Idol 5: Best Results Show Ever

I never intended to watch the entire two-hour finale of American Idol. I was confident that Taylor Hicks would win, so I didn’t feel much suspense. Plus, thanks to my Tivo, I could easily just watch the season finale of Lost, then fast forward to the end of Idol. So why did I end up glued to the screen the entire time? Quite simply, this was the best results show in the history of American Idol.

American Idol remembered that the thing that we love most about the show is the music, and when it came to that, the finale absolutely delivered. The guest stars were impressive. It was great seeing old soul Paris Bennett performing with the legendary Al Jarreau. I was happy for Chris Daughtry to have a chance to perform with Live, his favorite band. Even when the guests were bad, they were good – or at least entertaining. So help me, I loved the melodramatic duet between Katharine McPhee and Meat Loaf. Mary J. Blige totally upstaged Elliott, but he sure sounded great in their duet. He also showed that he’s a class act by not trying to upstage her in return. And Taylor’s duet with Toni Braxton was a fascinating train wreck. Did she even know the words? If she didn’t, it might explain why she seemed to think it was appropriate to give Taylor a lapdance. Or maybe she was just upset because she realized that she accidentally wore a babydoll nightgown onto stage instead of a dress. But the amazing part was that Taylor, an amateur, was able to carry her and salvage the performance. It was a great example of just how talented he is.

There were more impressive guest stars apart from the duets. Having a music legend like Dionne Warwick perform really increases the credibility of the show. If she’ll perform, that opens the door for more guests to follow in the footsteps of Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow. How great would it be for, say, Diana Ross to lend her expertise to Motown night? And the surprise performance by Prince? It was both totally hot and totally cool.

I also loved the performances by former Idols. Carrie Underwood sounded just fantastic. I think she’s really grown as a performer since her time on the show, and it was great to see her. And once I’d ascertained that the guy with the new haircut was none other than Clay Aiken, I was thrilled. He has one of the most powerful voices of any contestant on Idol ever, and this performance was no exception.

The medleys of the top twelve were also really enjoyable. I liked the fact that they weren’t just focused on Chris, Paris, and Elliott, who placed the highest, but that all of the former contestants had a chance to shine. Lisa Tucker certainly had her share of fans while she was on the show, for example, and it was great to see her have a chance to who why. Bucky was fantastic on “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.” Ace and Melissa were totally sexy singing “The Look of Love” together. Mandisa, of course, tore up “I’m Every Woman,” as did Paris with “Natural Woman.” Each and every one of them had the chance to shine, and I’m sure it made fans happy.

As much as fans love music, American Idol also exceeds at humor. I liked the fact that instead of just doing yet another montage of bad auditions, the writers came up with the creative “Golden Idols.” Rhonetta Johnson was funny doing yet another expletive-laced tirade. Even funnier was Crazy Dave Hoover spazzing all over the stage as he accepted his award, and the woman setting the award on the stage next to him and quietly backing away. The montages poking fun at the three judges were great, and I’m happy to report that Randy, Paula, and Simon all seemed to have a sense of humor about it. And I have to say, the “Puck & Pickler” segments cracked me up. I’d like to see Kellie do something that combines her singing with her comedy. She might be great in musical comedies (she’d probably do a terrific Ado Annie in Oklahoma!) or doing shows like June Carter Cash.

The show even avoided some of the pitfalls that it’s fallen into in the past. We only spent a short amount of time visiting Taylor and Katharine’s hometown parties. Really, we only need about 30 seconds of screaming fans holding up signs to get the idea. I am also thankful that we didn’t get yet another replay of the Idol journeys of our two finalists. We’ve been watching all season – we remember all of it. No need to remind us again!

Of course, the show wasn’t perfect. As much as I enjoyed the “Golden Idol” segments, I wish they’d edited the bad audition segments to be a little shorter. I wish we’d seen less of Michael Sandecki (a.k.a. Clay Faiken) reacting to Clay’s appearance and more of Clay himself. And I would have preferred that the segment with the three cowboys had been shorter. Less time on these jokes could have meant more solo performance time for Katharine and Taylor, or perhaps another duet.

Nevertheless, this was a really entertaining show. What could have been a whole lot of filler to kill time before watching Taylor’s gray hair fill with confetti was actually quite a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing how they top this in Season 6.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent American Idol articles on Foxes On Idol and RealityNewsOnline:

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Foxes On Idol. She can be reached with any comments at betsywasser@gmail.com .

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