Greg's American Idol recap [Updated]...
Gee, was Jordin Sparks' moment of being crowned the season six "American Idol" crammed in at the end of the show or WHAT? Hey, I enjoyed a lot of what went down on "American Idol" last night from the returns of four past champions to performances by Green Day, Bette Midler, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, and Tony Bennett. But maybe those really cringe-worthy Golden Idol Awards could have been done without so we could have given Jordin her moment in the spotlight. I'm sure she will have plenty down the road and become a big star along the lines of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood but also maybe do Broadway too like season three winner Fantasia.
When Jordin closed the two-hour show with "This Is My Now," "I (Who Have Nothing"), I felt good about her winning and remembered how much I loved her version of "You'll Never Walk Alone," and many other songs this season. Melinda Doolittle is technically a better singer but Jordin is a worthy winner of this talent competition that seems to have all of America interested.
Blake Lewis, that little cutie, did seem outmatched in the final while fourth-place Lakisha Jones reminded us of those glorious pipes when she was singing "Midnight Train to Georgia" with Gladys Knight and the other top six female contestants. How great was it to see Gladys Knight! And she also sang "I Feel a Song (In My Heart)" which I actually had the 45 of as a kid...wow. To have Knight and the other singing legends appear (plus Gwen Stefani of whom I am not a fan) was great because it really shows all these young performers how it is done. Bennett is 80! Midler, Knight and Robinson in their early 60s!
I liked Jordin and Blake dueting in "I Saw Him Standing There" and Underwood's "I'll Stand By You" was absolutely glorious. She is the most successful Idol winner to date with 6 million copies of her debut album sold but Chris Daugherty, last season's fourth-place finisher, is the biggerst-selling artist of this year with 2.5 million albums sold.
Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard have not been as successful on the charts but both were used nicely last night. Taylor just appeared and started to sing - no build-up - and he was really good! Studdard was terrific in a duet with Sparks ("You're All I Need to Get By" and I loved the Sgt. Pepper finale featuring Clarkson, Hicks, Underwood, and Studdard as well as the top 12.
Sanjaya returned and got to perform with Joe Perry of Aerosmith on "You Really Got Me Now," the one song he really did justice to when he was in contention. But the crying girl was back too! that just makes it all a joke! Sanjaya's performance had been preceded by a song by the African Children's Choir so you could say these two hours were a bit schizophrenic.
But the good moments far outweighed the shaky ones.
Congratulations Jordin Sparks!
Greg Hernandez has covered the entertainment industry for the Daily
News since 2001. He's considered a bit odd by some for his obsession
with box office numbers, has been known to camp out near the kitchen
at premieres for first crack at the hors d'oeurves, and Greg's never
seen a red carpet he didn't want to stroll down.