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Is American Idol capable of producing... talent?
American Idol is not exactly known for producing high quality music. With many of its winners fading into obscurity mere milliseconds after the confetti falls, most of us have come to expect little from anyone who comes out of the show as a winner, or even top-10 finisher.
Although I’ve been a clichéd hater of the show since, I don’t know, maybe the sixth grade, a friend of mine convinced me to try watching last year’s season (she was infatuated with Adam Lambert, surprise, surprise). It took me a while to catch on, but I eventually gave up any music snob creds I once possessed and settled into watching the show week after week.
And Kris Allen won, leaving Adam in the number two spot (much to the dismay of my Lambert-loving friend), which caused a sizeable shock to run through the media for a week or so. Kris, the so-called “dark horse” of Idol, was not at all expected to take the crown, let alone reach the top five. Soon, though, the next stunner-story hit the newsstands and the Idols quietly finished their rounds of media coverage before embarking on the annual summer tour.
I’ll be truthful and say that I didn’t want to get my hopes up for either of the top two contestants’ original music. Whatever the American Idol corporations do, it oftentimes doesn’t work, because, let’s face it... does anybody even remember that Taylor Hicks won the show at some point? There was no way I couldn’t give both of them a try, though.
Kris Allen’s first single, “Live Like We’re Dying,” was released a few weeks ago. The song is actually a cover of a B-side of the same name by The Script, and it’s fairly standard, radio-ready pop rock fare. Lyrically, LLWD talks about... living like we’re dying, which is not as morbid as it sounds, but just as pseudo-inspirational. Far better than the hurricane-weathering, mountain-climbing mess of a coronation song that was “No Boundaries”? Absolutely. The next song of the decade? Probably not.
Adam Lambert, on the other hand, has yet to release a single. He has just recently come out with a song for the soundtrack of November’s apocalypse thriller 2012, however. The theme of “Time For Miracles” is eerily similar to that of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” (and I’ll take bets that every other article you read about the song will mention this comparison at least once), and yes, lyrics like “Can you feel me feeling you?” are just cheesy and awkward But Adam’s soaring vocals could probably make that AP Euro textbook you’re avoiding into a Billboard #1 hit, and the uplifting, anthemic chorus will undoubtedly stick in listeners’ heads long after they remove their ear buds.
Clearly, the two artists’ styles are practically polar opposites. Adam relishes in theatricality and a stylistic flair, while Kris is one of the most modest (and instrumentally gifted) singers to come out of American Idol in a long time. Kris seems to be traveling down the pop-rock route, while Adam says his album will be “glam-electro meets Gaga and Christina.”
I think at this point, everyone knows both albums are going to succeed in some way or another “Live Like We’re Dying” has been getting countless radio spins, and “Time For Miracles” is currently at #10 on the iTunes charts – and this is just the first taste the public is getting. We’re well on our way to making American Idol a show worthy of some amount of respect, something it’s been sorely lacking since, well, since Ruben Studdard took the throne back in 2003, if we’re being honest.
And hey, as long as nobody has to sing “No Boundaries” ever, EVER again, I’m satisfied.
Although I’ve been a clichéd hater of the show since, I don’t know, maybe the sixth grade, a friend of mine convinced me to try watching last year’s season (she was infatuated with Adam Lambert, surprise, surprise). It took me a while to catch on, but I eventually gave up any music snob creds I once possessed and settled into watching the show week after week.
And Kris Allen won, leaving Adam in the number two spot (much to the dismay of my Lambert-loving friend), which caused a sizeable shock to run through the media for a week or so. Kris, the so-called “dark horse” of Idol, was not at all expected to take the crown, let alone reach the top five. Soon, though, the next stunner-story hit the newsstands and the Idols quietly finished their rounds of media coverage before embarking on the annual summer tour.
I’ll be truthful and say that I didn’t want to get my hopes up for either of the top two contestants’ original music. Whatever the American Idol corporations do, it oftentimes doesn’t work, because, let’s face it... does anybody even remember that Taylor Hicks won the show at some point? There was no way I couldn’t give both of them a try, though.
Kris Allen’s first single, “Live Like We’re Dying,” was released a few weeks ago. The song is actually a cover of a B-side of the same name by The Script, and it’s fairly standard, radio-ready pop rock fare. Lyrically, LLWD talks about... living like we’re dying, which is not as morbid as it sounds, but just as pseudo-inspirational. Far better than the hurricane-weathering, mountain-climbing mess of a coronation song that was “No Boundaries”? Absolutely. The next song of the decade? Probably not.
Adam Lambert, on the other hand, has yet to release a single. He has just recently come out with a song for the soundtrack of November’s apocalypse thriller 2012, however. The theme of “Time For Miracles” is eerily similar to that of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” (and I’ll take bets that every other article you read about the song will mention this comparison at least once), and yes, lyrics like “Can you feel me feeling you?” are just cheesy and awkward But Adam’s soaring vocals could probably make that AP Euro textbook you’re avoiding into a Billboard #1 hit, and the uplifting, anthemic chorus will undoubtedly stick in listeners’ heads long after they remove their ear buds.
Clearly, the two artists’ styles are practically polar opposites. Adam relishes in theatricality and a stylistic flair, while Kris is one of the most modest (and instrumentally gifted) singers to come out of American Idol in a long time. Kris seems to be traveling down the pop-rock route, while Adam says his album will be “glam-electro meets Gaga and Christina.”
I think at this point, everyone knows both albums are going to succeed in some way or another “Live Like We’re Dying” has been getting countless radio spins, and “Time For Miracles” is currently at #10 on the iTunes charts – and this is just the first taste the public is getting. We’re well on our way to making American Idol a show worthy of some amount of respect, something it’s been sorely lacking since, well, since Ruben Studdard took the throne back in 2003, if we’re being honest.
And hey, as long as nobody has to sing “No Boundaries” ever, EVER again, I’m satisfied.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Andrea Pulgar on November 3, 2009 at 11:16pm -
No Boundaries is on Adam's record unfortunately...
lol i can just imagine him sining like a rock opera about the War of the Three Henry's - "Along came Navaaaaaarreeee"- it's dramatic enough to be up his alley
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