Bo v. Carrie

Well, friends and fellow American Idol observers, the end is near, and I’m not just talking about what’s left of Paula Abdul’s career. The competition is over. The votes will soon be in, and then there will only be a spread-way-too-thin two-hour season finale to go. Here are my thoughts on tonight’s performances:

Bo Bice – I thought his first song was off a little, and I don’t know really why he would choose that song on the final night of competition. That being said, I thought his second song was the best performance of the night by either contestant. His third song was the same as Carrie’s first song, and he outsang her on it. Overall, not as good as last week, but then again, Bo was just about flawless last week.

Carrie Underwood – She went really flat in the middle of the first song. The second song was definitely her best. That’s her strong suit, country music and Martina McBride. Still, I didn’t think it matched Bo’s second song. Her third song, I thought was OK. I had never heard the song, so it’s a little difficult when you don’t know what it’s supposed to sound like. Sometimes during the verses, she sang too soft and I couldn’t understand the words. I didn’t think she was as “into” the songs feeling-wise as Bo was tonight.

Whether looking at the entire competition, the past few weeks, or just tonight, I think Bo outperformed Carrie. I think the fact that one of their songs was the same, and Bo clearly sang it better, helps him. Still, Carrie has a huge fan base, is nice to look at, and it will be tough to get more votes than her. Still, I think she consistently missed more notes than Bo, song for song, week after week. And stage presence-wise, it’s no contest. Bo appears very comfortable on stage, and Carrie looks like a deer in headlights. He also showed a lot of versatility, singing different types of music well. It seems like Bo has basically done nothing but pursue music and a music career for the past several years. It would be nice to see him reap the rewards for all those years. Of course, neither of them are gonna come out of this in bad shape, I’m sure. Either way, I can’t believe I got hooked on a reality show for the first time in my life. That being said, I will kinda miss blogging about it each week.

Who should win? Bo, without a doubt.
Who will win? I still have a feeling Carrie will.

“I’ve always been in love with you. I guess you’ve always known it’s true. You took my love for granted. Why, oh why? The show is over, say goodbye…”