Welcome back. Tonight is it. The winner of American Idol Season 13 will be crowned. But not before about 1 hour and 58 minutes of a ton of other things and performances. So we'll try to streamline it a little but it's gonna be a good amount of non-results. We predicted that Jena should win, but ultimately Caleb will win. We really don't know which way it's going to go, but taking the pulse of the judges last night and the in-house audience the momentum was shifted in Caleb's direction. We obviously don't know how the home audience felt or voted.
Before we get to the finale show itself we want to recognize the Top 13 by offering our Recap and Review of the entire season and the Top 13.
Season 13 Review
Best Performance
Jena Irene(Creep)
Worst Performance
Ben Briley(Rocket Man)
Most Shocking Moment
Majesty Rose and Sam Woolf's Plummet From Bottom To Top
(Although Sam was saved at Top 8 Week, both Majesty and Sam were front-runners going into Top 13 week. Both could not live up to expecations and thus their early exits.)
Majesty Rose and Sam Woolf's Plummet From Bottom To Top
(Although Sam was saved at Top 8 Week, both Majesty and Sam were front-runners going into Top 13 week. Both could not live up to expecations and thus their early exits.)
Least Shocking Moment
Judges Save Sam Woolf
(We knew it was coming. The Judge's did not use their save last year, and to end on time and without double eliminations they needed to save someone and he was their obvious choice)
Runner Up:The Producers Tried To Save Sam Again.
(They wanted the contestants to choose whether or not they wanted to eliminate someone that night or carry over with
the remaining contestants to the next week. The producers wanted the contestants to choose the latter, but they(Jena and Alex) chose to eliminate someone that night, thus finally ending Sam's time on the show.)
Most Shocking Elimination
Majesty.
(I thought that although she wasn't doing as well as expectations she was still far better than Dexter and CJ at that point.)
Runner Up: Malaya
(For Same Reason as Majesty)
Runner Up:The Producers Tried To Save Sam Again.
(They wanted the contestants to choose whether or not they wanted to eliminate someone that night or carry over with
the remaining contestants to the next week. The producers wanted the contestants to choose the latter, but they(Jena and Alex) chose to eliminate someone that night, thus finally ending Sam's time on the show.)
Most Shocking Elimination
Majesty.
(I thought that although she wasn't doing as well as expectations she was still far better than Dexter and CJ at that point.)
Runner Up: Malaya
(For Same Reason as Majesty)
Least Shocking Elimination
Jessica
(After pretty luke warm reception by the judges that night, and by Jennifer Lopez pretty much all season you could see from a mile away that Jessica was not making Top 3. She had a great run, but it was one of the more predicatble eliminations of the season.)
(After pretty luke warm reception by the judges that night, and by Jennifer Lopez pretty much all season you could see from a mile away that Jessica was not making Top 3. She had a great run, but it was one of the more predicatble eliminations of the season.)
Our Top 13 Contestant Season Recap
These are our picks for each contestant's best performance and the average grade they received from us during the season.
13th Place 12th Place 11th Place
Best Performance=Turning Tables (Rush Wk) Best Performance=Glitter in the Air (Top 13) Best Performance=Folsom Prison Blues (Top 13)
Average Grade= N/A Average Grade=C+ Average Grade=C+
10th Place 9th Place
MK Nobliette Majesty Rose
Best Performance=Satisfaction (Top 13) Best Performance=Tightrope (Top 13)
Average Grade=C+ Average Grade=B
8th Place 7th Place
Malaya Watson Dexter Roberts
Best Performance=Ain't No Way (Top 8) Best Performance=One Mississippi (Top 8)
Average Grade=B Average Grade=C+
6th Place 5th Place
CJ Harris Sam Woolf
Best Performance=Can't You See (Top 11) Best Performance=It's Time (Top 6)
Average Grade=C+ Average Grade=B-
4th Place 3rd Place
Jessica Meuse Alex Preston
10th Place 9th Place
Best Performance=Satisfaction (Top 13) Best Performance=Tightrope (Top 13)
Average Grade=C+ Average Grade=B
8th Place 7th Place
Malaya Watson Dexter Roberts
Best Performance=Ain't No Way (Top 8) Best Performance=One Mississippi (Top 8)
Average Grade=B Average Grade=C+
6th Place 5th Place
Best Performance=Can't You See (Top 11) Best Performance=It's Time (Top 6)
Average Grade=C+ Average Grade=B-
4th Place 3rd Place
Best Performance=The Crowe & The Butterfly (Top 13) Best Performance=Stay (Top 3)
Average Grade=B Average Grade=B+
2nd/1st Place
Caleb Johnson Jena Irene
Best Performance=Dazed and Confused (Top 9) Best Performance=Creep (Top 7)
Average Grade=A- Average Grade=A-
Our Season Predictions
(Not Including Top 2 Week)
Bottom 3/2=19 of 26
Going Home=6 of 12
Tonight's Recap
Hope you enjoyed our season review. Now onto the show:
Caleb and Jena Perform Together
They perform a couple different songs. They sing "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "I'm Just A Girl" by No Doubt and "It's Only Love" by Bryan Adams. So one song suited for her, and one song suited for him and duet.
Sam Woolf & Phillip Phillips Perform
At first Sam sings Phillip's hit song "Home". Then Phillip joins Sam on stage and sings his new song "Raging Fire". I love this song. I kinda think that he sang this song earlier in the season on one of the results show, but whatever, it's a good song. Sam just stands there with his guitar and sings "backup" for Sam. It's mostly Phillip's performance.
Jennifer Nettles & Jessica Meuse Perform
Sans Sugarland a solo Jennifer Nettles comes out and performs her hit "That Girl". She starts off all by herself on the stage. After she performs on her own Jessica Meuse comes out and with Jennifer Nettles they perform Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball". Their voices sound outstanding together.
Jennifer Lopez Performs
With her new CD set to come out pretty soon, Jennifer Lopez sings her new single "First Love". So that's two performances for Lopez this season. I actually don't mind this song. It's a heck of a lot better than that nonsense song "I Luh Ya Papi". That single didn't do anything for her. Then at one point JLo goes into a dance solo and goes crazy on stage with backup dancers and on tables. Good for her for being able to do that, looking at her do that gives me a sharp pain in my back.
KISS & Caleb Johnson Perform
Together with KISS, Caleb performs "Love Gun" and "Shout It Out Loud". KISS is a legendary band so it's pretty cool that Caleb got to join them on stage. They just rock out, like they are known for. Caleb lets it all loose.
Bad Lip Reading Bit
I kinda love this bit. They do bad lip reading for the NFL and football players and it's hilarious. I recommend it if you haven't seen their former videos. So in this case they take some really random moments and decide to put in fake voices and expression in and the real voices out. It's pretty fantastic. It all matches so perfectly but really doesn't at all.
Aloe Blacc and Idol Guys Perform
Together with the Top 13 guys, Aloe Blacc performs his single "The Man". Obviously some of these guys sound better than others, but that makes sense given that they were all eliminated at one point, except Caleb.
Ford Commercial/Video
We have our last FORD video of the season, and I'll give it as much attention as it deserves...
The only good part about FORD is that they are giving away a car to each of the people that inspires Jena and Cale the most. So that's kinda cool.
Demi Lovato and Idol Girls Perform
Demi Lovato comes back to the Idol stage after awkwardly coming by a few weeks ago when she was there to say "Hi" but ended up kind of judging some performances, that was really odd. Anyways, she performs her single "Don't Really Care". Then the Top 13 girls comes out and perform "Neon Lights" with Demi. Actually MK Nobiliette is sick so she is not there, it's unfortunate that an illness took her away from being there. The girls, sans Jena start off the song on the side stage, and then Jena joins Demi on the main stage to finish up the song with the rest of the girls.
Jena & Paramore Perform
Jena starts off this segment singing the song that actually started people to really to take notice of her "Decode". It was the moment that Jena herself has referenced as the performance that made people forget that she was a wildcard and actually a contender. After about a minute Paramore comes out on stage singing their new single "Aint' It Fun". Jena joins them after a minute or so. This is right in Jena's lane, hopefully she'll follow this kind of style. Towards the end of the song a ton of huge balloons reign down from the ceiling. They are huge and I almost couldn't see Jena and Paramore performing at one point. They dominated the whole stadium.
John Legend and Malaya Performs
Singing his new single "You and I" is John Legend. He sings that song and then after Malaya joins John on stage to sing his hit "All of Me". It was a sweet duet.
Jason Mraz and Alex Perform
Jason was a guest mentor this season and did a really fantastic job. Tonight he sings his new song "Love Someone", Alex kind of backs him up at first then sings a couple verses from the song as well. Jason Mraz is someone that Alex needs to model himself after, if he stays in that lane he can do well post-Idol.
Ryan Seacrest(Kinda) and Richard Marx Performs
Yes! it finally happened, Ryan in a mock-performance sings "Right Here Waiting". Luckily, it only lasted a few seconds before Richard Marx rescued Ryan. Seacrest tried to back him up, it was pretty adorable. Seacrest has been doing this job for 13 years, he's allowed to take a moment of his own in the midst of everything else. . He said "I apologize at home". Nice moment.
Darius Rucker, CJ and Dexter Performs
No longer associated with the Blowfish, no longer called Hootie, but never forgotten, Darius Rucker performs his song "True Believers". After that CJ and Dexter combine to sing with Rucker on his song "Alright". I like Dexter and CJ in small doses, so this was a fine performance.
Lady Antebellum Perform
Next on the Idol stage Lady Antebellum sings their new song "Bartender". They don't get any accompaniment by Idol alum. But it was still good.
The Judges & Randy Perform
Given that last year Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj refused to perform together with Randy and Keith, this is a nice treat to see all the judges and (I guess) Randy performing together. Keith on guitar, Randy on bass, Harry on piano and Jennifer on lead vocals sing "True Colors". The guys sing back-up for Jennifer on that one, Jennifer sounded lovely being so subtle and delicate. They then move onto Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" and the boys are more lead vocals and Jennifer picks up a tambourine. They all sound great together, it's really enjoyable to see them really having fun and doing something other than judging together. Sometimes in the course of a long season, and a ton of judging, and agreeing or disagreeing with them, you forget that these are some talented musicians and artists, it was nice to see that. Plus Keith is the man on guitar, he is amazing and at one point Harry was playing two different pianos at the same time. Very talented.
Results
After months of performances, hours and hours of television, hundreds of contestants, and a ton of minutes wasted on watching Jennifer Lopez dance or seeing her facial expressions rather than being able to watch the contestants sing WE ARE READY!!!
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Final Thoughts
*Wow. I know that I thought that Caleb was gonna win due to momentum, but in my gut I really thought that Jena would pull it out. Caleb really had a wonderful run throughout the competition. He tried out 2 times prior to this season and never made it to the Top 24. Last year Candice Glover returned after being rejected and ended up winning, now Caleb has done the same. He deserves the win.
*Jena had fantastic run on this show. She went from being the wildcard to placing second on American Idol. The odds just weren't in her favor. No female had beaten a man in 7 years and only 4 out of the previous 12 winners had won after going first. Plus Jena was in the Bottom 3 during Top 11 week, and there have only been a couple of Idol winners to ever land in the Bottom 3 and still win. Caleb never was in the Bottom 3. She had a lot going against her and those few things might have tipped the scale in Caleb's favor.
*I'd be curious to know what the results were, and how close was it. Given that Caleb had never been Bottom 3 and Jena has riding on top for awhile I'd be interested to know if it was as close as it seems or if it was a no brainer for Caleb.
*Last night's episode was the lowest rated episode of American Idol ever. Sure there were other options, The Voice and Dancing With the Stars, but Idol only had 6.6 million people tune in. I don't know what the number is tonight, but if these numbers continue like they are then next season might be it's last.
*Finally, I'd like to Thank each and every person that has come to this blog. Whether it be one time, or multiple times a week, we appreciate you reading our thoughts and our opinions about this (sometimes) crazy show. It's a lot of time devoted to a TV show but we enjoy it, and are glad that you do as well.
Please come on back here from time to time for some Idol news and then we will return with our regularly scheduled blog in January of 2015. So until then, see ya!
Hope you enjoyed our season review. Now onto the show:
Caleb and Jena Perform Together
They perform a couple different songs. They sing "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "I'm Just A Girl" by No Doubt and "It's Only Love" by Bryan Adams. So one song suited for her, and one song suited for him and duet.
Sam Woolf & Phillip Phillips Perform
At first Sam sings Phillip's hit song "Home". Then Phillip joins Sam on stage and sings his new song "Raging Fire". I love this song. I kinda think that he sang this song earlier in the season on one of the results show, but whatever, it's a good song. Sam just stands there with his guitar and sings "backup" for Sam. It's mostly Phillip's performance.
Jennifer Nettles & Jessica Meuse Perform
Sans Sugarland a solo Jennifer Nettles comes out and performs her hit "That Girl". She starts off all by herself on the stage. After she performs on her own Jessica Meuse comes out and with Jennifer Nettles they perform Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball". Their voices sound outstanding together.
Jennifer Lopez Performs
With her new CD set to come out pretty soon, Jennifer Lopez sings her new single "First Love". So that's two performances for Lopez this season. I actually don't mind this song. It's a heck of a lot better than that nonsense song "I Luh Ya Papi". That single didn't do anything for her. Then at one point JLo goes into a dance solo and goes crazy on stage with backup dancers and on tables. Good for her for being able to do that, looking at her do that gives me a sharp pain in my back.
KISS & Caleb Johnson Perform
Together with KISS, Caleb performs "Love Gun" and "Shout It Out Loud". KISS is a legendary band so it's pretty cool that Caleb got to join them on stage. They just rock out, like they are known for. Caleb lets it all loose.
Bad Lip Reading Bit
I kinda love this bit. They do bad lip reading for the NFL and football players and it's hilarious. I recommend it if you haven't seen their former videos. So in this case they take some really random moments and decide to put in fake voices and expression in and the real voices out. It's pretty fantastic. It all matches so perfectly but really doesn't at all.
Aloe Blacc and Idol Guys Perform
Together with the Top 13 guys, Aloe Blacc performs his single "The Man". Obviously some of these guys sound better than others, but that makes sense given that they were all eliminated at one point, except Caleb.
Ford Commercial/Video
We have our last FORD video of the season, and I'll give it as much attention as it deserves...
The only good part about FORD is that they are giving away a car to each of the people that inspires Jena and Cale the most. So that's kinda cool.
Demi Lovato and Idol Girls Perform
Demi Lovato comes back to the Idol stage after awkwardly coming by a few weeks ago when she was there to say "Hi" but ended up kind of judging some performances, that was really odd. Anyways, she performs her single "Don't Really Care". Then the Top 13 girls comes out and perform "Neon Lights" with Demi. Actually MK Nobiliette is sick so she is not there, it's unfortunate that an illness took her away from being there. The girls, sans Jena start off the song on the side stage, and then Jena joins Demi on the main stage to finish up the song with the rest of the girls.
Jena & Paramore Perform
Jena starts off this segment singing the song that actually started people to really to take notice of her "Decode". It was the moment that Jena herself has referenced as the performance that made people forget that she was a wildcard and actually a contender. After about a minute Paramore comes out on stage singing their new single "Aint' It Fun". Jena joins them after a minute or so. This is right in Jena's lane, hopefully she'll follow this kind of style. Towards the end of the song a ton of huge balloons reign down from the ceiling. They are huge and I almost couldn't see Jena and Paramore performing at one point. They dominated the whole stadium.
John Legend and Malaya Performs
Singing his new single "You and I" is John Legend. He sings that song and then after Malaya joins John on stage to sing his hit "All of Me". It was a sweet duet.
Jason Mraz and Alex Perform
Jason was a guest mentor this season and did a really fantastic job. Tonight he sings his new song "Love Someone", Alex kind of backs him up at first then sings a couple verses from the song as well. Jason Mraz is someone that Alex needs to model himself after, if he stays in that lane he can do well post-Idol.
Ryan Seacrest(Kinda) and Richard Marx Performs
Yes! it finally happened, Ryan in a mock-performance sings "Right Here Waiting". Luckily, it only lasted a few seconds before Richard Marx rescued Ryan. Seacrest tried to back him up, it was pretty adorable. Seacrest has been doing this job for 13 years, he's allowed to take a moment of his own in the midst of everything else. . He said "I apologize at home". Nice moment.
Darius Rucker, CJ and Dexter Performs
No longer associated with the Blowfish, no longer called Hootie, but never forgotten, Darius Rucker performs his song "True Believers". After that CJ and Dexter combine to sing with Rucker on his song "Alright". I like Dexter and CJ in small doses, so this was a fine performance.
Lady Antebellum Perform
Next on the Idol stage Lady Antebellum sings their new song "Bartender". They don't get any accompaniment by Idol alum. But it was still good.
The Judges & Randy Perform
Given that last year Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj refused to perform together with Randy and Keith, this is a nice treat to see all the judges and (I guess) Randy performing together. Keith on guitar, Randy on bass, Harry on piano and Jennifer on lead vocals sing "True Colors". The guys sing back-up for Jennifer on that one, Jennifer sounded lovely being so subtle and delicate. They then move onto Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" and the boys are more lead vocals and Jennifer picks up a tambourine. They all sound great together, it's really enjoyable to see them really having fun and doing something other than judging together. Sometimes in the course of a long season, and a ton of judging, and agreeing or disagreeing with them, you forget that these are some talented musicians and artists, it was nice to see that. Plus Keith is the man on guitar, he is amazing and at one point Harry was playing two different pianos at the same time. Very talented.
Results
After months of performances, hours and hours of television, hundreds of contestants, and a ton of minutes wasted on watching Jennifer Lopez dance or seeing her facial expressions rather than being able to watch the contestants sing WE ARE READY!!!
WINNER OF AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 13
Caleb Johnson
Final Thoughts
*Wow. I know that I thought that Caleb was gonna win due to momentum, but in my gut I really thought that Jena would pull it out. Caleb really had a wonderful run throughout the competition. He tried out 2 times prior to this season and never made it to the Top 24. Last year Candice Glover returned after being rejected and ended up winning, now Caleb has done the same. He deserves the win.
*Jena had fantastic run on this show. She went from being the wildcard to placing second on American Idol. The odds just weren't in her favor. No female had beaten a man in 7 years and only 4 out of the previous 12 winners had won after going first. Plus Jena was in the Bottom 3 during Top 11 week, and there have only been a couple of Idol winners to ever land in the Bottom 3 and still win. Caleb never was in the Bottom 3. She had a lot going against her and those few things might have tipped the scale in Caleb's favor.
*I'd be curious to know what the results were, and how close was it. Given that Caleb had never been Bottom 3 and Jena has riding on top for awhile I'd be interested to know if it was as close as it seems or if it was a no brainer for Caleb.
*Last night's episode was the lowest rated episode of American Idol ever. Sure there were other options, The Voice and Dancing With the Stars, but Idol only had 6.6 million people tune in. I don't know what the number is tonight, but if these numbers continue like they are then next season might be it's last.
*Finally, I'd like to Thank each and every person that has come to this blog. Whether it be one time, or multiple times a week, we appreciate you reading our thoughts and our opinions about this (sometimes) crazy show. It's a lot of time devoted to a TV show but we enjoy it, and are glad that you do as well.
Please come on back here from time to time for some Idol news and then we will return with our regularly scheduled blog in January of 2015. So until then, see ya!
I'll come back for a more detailed view of this finale. For now, wanted to say I love this blog and hope you continue for as long as American Idol exists. You always put together excellent recaps, photos, etc. The only thing I hate is the security code that you have to input to post a comment. Often, I have to reset many times because I can't read the darn thing. Would love to see that go away. :) Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I will definitely look into the comment security code thing. I didn't even know it existed. I really appreciate the nice words and we'll be doing these blogs until Idol is finished. Good, bad or indifferent, :) Thanks!
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