American Idol Finale Part 1: Top 2 Perform

Hello and Welcome Back. Thanks to everyone who has dropped by Idol Be The Judge over the course of the season. We've had fun doing it and hope you had fun reading it. But we are far from over because like American Idol delivers year after year, it's time for....DRAMA.

As of 30 minutes before the Live performance rumors were swelling that Lauren would not be able to perform because she lost her voice and was under doctors orders to not sing. Supposedly, she tried to sing her first song during rehearsal and had to stop mid way. 3rd place finisher Haley was then called upon to begin rehearsing in case she had to fill in for Lauren.  Once the show started Ryan wanted to see what was going on by asking Lauren how she was doing. According to Lauren "she's here, ready to sing, don't worry about it". They then bring up the American Idol doctor who said "Lauren pushed her voice, and she blew out one of her vocal chords". But the doctor gave Lauren a lot of medicine and thinks "she will do great".

So after a bit of drama Lauren and Scotty are the Final 2 and will both perform 3 songs. They will first sing a song that they sang before. Their second song will chosen by one of their Idol's, Lauren's Idol is Carrie Underwood, Scotty's Idol is George Strait. The third song they will sing will be their first single if they win the show.

Scotty won the toss and decided to sing first. I probably would have chosen to go second, but it's definitely a different strategy.

Scotty is a huge favorite going in, but weirder things have happened and if Lauren has a good night she could pull off a big upset. Tomorrow night all of the Top 13 will perform as well as many live performances from some very established artists. But that's tomorrow night, tonight is a big one as well. So like we do, let's get to it:

How Were The Contestants?:

Round 1: Contestant's Choice

Scotty (Gone): This was one of my favorite performances of Scotty's over the course of the season, and I guess he felt that too. He sounds just as good as he did the first time. He gets more back up singers, and a few fiddlers with him. He looks very determined and isn't going crazy with those crazy facial expressions. Grade=A-

Um for some reason the judges didn't judge. Ryan didn't even explain what happened, but the judges made zero remarks after Scotty's song. Maybe it's because this is the song that has already been performed, but in every finale the judges always speak, so I just don't understand.

Lauren(Contestant Choice=Flat on The Floor): Despite her medical issues Lauren sounds pretty good. Maybe a little less powerful, but she sounded really great and deserves a lot of credit. Her voice cracks a little bit here and there, but it's a very powerful song and she blew right through it. Grade=A-

No judges remarks again, but J.Lo gives her a standing ovation.

The judges don't even say who won Round 1. Simon always used to say who won each round. 

I think Round 1 Goes To: Scotty, even though I give Lauren tons of credit for all that she did out there.

Round 2: Idol Contestant's Idol's Choice

Scotty(Idol's Choice=Check Yes Or No) George Strait is Scotty's Idol who chose his own hit.  No pre-taped packages of the contestants meeting up with Jimmy or with their Idols. The song is very much in Scotty's lane. It is funny that George Strait chose a George Strait out of any song. It's the same old same old for Scotty. Nothing too unbelievable.Grade=B

Lauren (Idol's Choice=Maybe It Was Memphis) Carrie Underwood is Lauren's Idol who chose this Pam Tillis song. Never heard of the song but Lauren sounded great. She hit some huge notes and then had some very tender moments as well. Grade=A

I Think Round 2 Goes To: Lauren



Judge's Comments & Prediction of Winner of Rounds 1 & 2:

Randy: America did a fine job with these 2. It's so even and they are both incredible. Thinks Scotty's reprisal of Gone was brilliant and thinks his second song was really good. Thinks Lauren sounded good on the first song and slayed the second song.
Round 1=Scotty
Round 2=Lauren

Jennifer: Thought it was an explosive start. Loved Scotty doing "Gone" and Lauren attacking "Flat on The Floor". Didn't think that Scotty's second song was dynamic but thought Lauren's second song was beautifully done.
Round 1=Scotty
Round 2=Lauren

Steven: Thought both had finale deserving performances, and luckily they are both in the finale.
Round 1=Lauren
Round 2=Lauren, because she is prettier than him.

Performance # 1:

So all season long Coca Cola and American Idol have partnered up with the American Idol fans to create a song. Supposedly  they created this song called "Positive". On stage to perform is Taio Cruz. So instead of having the contestants sing longer or the judges comments after each performance they have this nonsense. The song was fine, but really unnecessary.

Round 3: Idol's Potential First Single

Scotty(I Love You This Big): This is the song that will be the Idol winner's first single and Jimmy Iovine thinks it is a big song but Scotty can pull it off. I think Scotty did a really nice job with the song but didn't hit the big notes that I thought he could. He didn't take it all the way there. Really beautiful, and touching lyrics but don't know if Scotty matched the epic-ness of the finale with an unbelievable performance. Grade=B+
Randy: Not sure if it was the perfect song, but loved the ending and is proud of Scotty and finds it to be a beautiful vocal.
Jennifer: Thinks he did an amazing amazing job.
Steven: Proved that he has some crazy range and has nailed it once again.
Do The Judges Agree With Me?: Not really. At this point I didn't think they would say anything negative about Scotty, they haven't all season, why start now? Randy said he didn't think it was the best song but called it a beautiful vocal. Scotty did do a really nice job, but I don't think it was American Idol winner good. Just a bit below that.

Lauren(Like My Mother Does): Jimmy thinks it will showcase her vocal tonight and thinks the audience will be moved like crazy with this song. Lauren starts the song a little tepid, but when the chorus kicks in she starts to really hit her stride. You can see Lauren get emotional by the lyrics but she is able to get through it. Lauren then goes to find her mother and serenades a bit of the song to her mom. Very cute and emotional. Grade=A- 
Randy: Thinks it was an amazing song choice. Loved how she sounded and finds it standing ovation worth amazing.
Jennifer: Thinks with that song Lauren might have just won, thinks she sang it beautiful it was everything for her. Gave all her heart and feeling and beautiful voice.
Steven: Thinks that Lauren will be everyone's American Idol.
Do The Judges Agree With Me?: Yep. They think she nailed it, I think she nailed it, she nailed it.

I think Round 3 Goes To: Lauren

Judge's Prediction of Winner of Round 3:

Randy: Lauren

Jennifer: Won't Say, but she already said a few seconds before that it was Lauren.

Steven: Lauren

Performance #2:

David Cook performs this season's Idol swan song "Don't You Forget About Me". I love David Cook, love the song, good combination. Cook is still in my Top 3 of best contestants, and easily the best contestant in terms of creativity and originality. Loved the performance tonight he sounded really great.

How Was The Show/Judges:

*NO JUDGES REMARKS? WHAT???!!  For 9 seasons the judges used to give remarks after each performance in the Finale, but for the first time ever and without Ryan even mentioning it they decide to not give their opinions after the first and second round of songs. Maybe it's because they had to spend a few minutes with Lauren explaining her illness, or the random performance by Taio Cruz or the performance by David Cook at the end, but they should have at least mentioned the fact that they are running short on time. I don't understand, I am trying and struggling to come up with ideas, but when you do something the same way for 9 years and switch it up now, it would be nice to mention that it's a bit different.

*This was easily the quickest and weirdest show ever. No pre-taped packages, no judges remarks, barely any Jimmy Iovine, the songs seemed to only last about a minute and Ryan Seacrest was in a tuxedo. What is going on?

*Despite some really nice performances by Scotty and Lauren I didn't like the finale at all. It was too rushed and even though I think the judges are some times a bit non-sensical and biased, I do feel that they should have been featured more in the show.

My Take On Final 2:

*Scotty has been the front runner since very early on in this competition and is coming in with huge amounts of fan supports. He really never had an awful week of performances. His vocals have been pretty consistent, he never was called pitchy or anything too negative. He was easily one of the judge's favorites.

*Lauren was called the "It" girl since her audition round. She has battled through some rough weeks, probably didn't live up to all the hype that surrounded her from early on. But she was pretty consistent having only landed in the Bottom 3 once. She was also one of the judge's and producer's favorites.

Who Should WIN?/Who's Going to WIN?

Who Do I Think Should Win?: Lauren, she won the night and battled through some medical issues at the last moment to really perform at her best. Plus she sang that really touching song to finish the night. Sometimes when an athlete is injured or sick they battle through and perform at their best, I think Lauren did the same tonight.

Who's Going To Win?: Scotty, I think he didn't win the night but won the season. I think he was the most consistent week to week and built up too huge of a fan base for Lauren to overtake in one night. The majority of Scotty's  fan base is teen girls that text and vote and vote and vote some more. Scotty hasn't been the underdog too much this season so that might put his fan base into overdrive. Should be an interesting thing to see either way.

Please come back here tomorrow night(Wednesday) for the results of the Finale. All of the Top 13 will be back and we will learn who will be the next American Idol, Scotty or Lauren. See you soon.