I won't join the chorus of people proclaiming Lee the worst idol winner ever. Can't. I'm a charter member.
Does Simon know when to jump ship, or what? What an excruciatingly dull season. But for Crystal and the pants-on-the-ground guy, there was no one I'll remember in June. Hell, I didn't recognize half of the top 12. It didn't used to be like that. I remember Jasmine Trias and Kevin freaking Cobais, for god's sake, although not for any pleasant reason. But this season? Meh. It was in trouble from the minute we met the top 12.
That got me thinking. What would be my all-time top 12? Not in terms of ranking them—that's gonna come down to musical taste—but just in terms of what would be the most entertaining show? I decided to go for best-in-class. Country is therefore represented by Underwood, rock by Daughtry, soul by Studdard and Hudson, etc. Here's my list, in alphabetical order, with the thought behind their inclusion.
- Adam Lambert (glam rock)
- Alison Iraheta (chick rock)
- Blake Lewis (creativity, or as Katrina says, "to annoy Simon")
- Bo Bice (southern rock)
- Carrie Underwood (country)
- Chris Daughtry (rock rock)
- Clay Aiken (pop crooner)
- Crystal Bowersox (folk/blues)
- David Cook (emo rock)
- Jennifer Hudson (soul balladeer)
- Kelly Clarkson (pop belter)
- Ruben Studdard (southern soul)
Happy with my list, I asked Katrina to do the same exercise. I didn't tell her my criteria or choices. And despite the fact that we have quite different musical tastes, she came up with the exact same dozen. This surprised us both. How about you? See any flaws in our thinking?
BTW, my top three would be Bowersox, Clarkson, Cook. No idea who's number one, but I'd sure love to see them go at it. So would you.