Copious Notes

Kris Allen is the new American Idol, shown here playing "What's Going On" on the May 19th final competition show. Photo by Frank Micelotta | FOX.

Well, it looks like it was well worth American Idol’s time to come to Louisville last summer.

Kris Allen auditioned in the Derby City, and then much like this year’s Derby winner, Mine That Bird, worked his way through the field and finished first. Some Adam Lambert fans had to be like Jill Baffert, wife of Pioneer of the Nile trainer Bob Baffert, at the Derby saying “Who the (bleep) is that,” as Allen advanced through the competition. His audition barely registered on the Louisville audition episode, and early on, he seemed like one of those competitors who would probably be somewhat anonymously voted off in the winter.

But the dark horse kept his head down, worked on making some terrific music and wound up in the winner’s circle.

Give the man from Conway, Ark., a blanket of roses. He earned it.

The American Idol judges at Churchill Downs in September: Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell. Photo by Michael Becker | Fox.

Word came out early from the American Idol producers that Louisville had been a good city for the show. Simon Cowell dished out high praise, by his standards, telling Zap2it, “Louisville was good.”

Yes, it would have been nice to have had an actual Kentuckian who auditioned in Louisville in the final 13. That would have made the story of the Bluegrass State’s AI debut complete. But at least we can walk away from Season 8 saying Kentucky can pick a winner.

Some high notes:

• Heckuva a show for taking two hours-plus to tell us a few key words. I thought the return of Norman Gentle was great and the show kept getting better. It seemed Kiss had to be the highlight, and then Queen came out. Good Lord, Adam could front that band . . . As one who enjoys genuine surprise, Kris’ reaction to winning was delightful.
• Catch Adam Sandler’s University of Kentucky shirt in the Funny People commercial?
• Make sure to read Phil Stacey’s final Idol blog for LexGo.
• And take another look at our Louisville audition video, featuring Alexis Grace.
• Yes, Joanne Brokaw, it was the year of the worship leader.
• I was right. Wish I’d done that well at the Derby.

Tonight, we got the spectacle of American Idol’s judges acting like they might just use their save on Michael Sarver.

Seriously. I don’t even think Sarver expected they would do that. He seems like a nice guy with a sweet voice and solid stage presence. But by beating out Alexis Grace he already made it farther than he should have expected to. He will be fine. I even suspect he may be courted by the Christian market, as he has the right profile for CCM and he is a church worship leader.

Adam Lambert in one of his many great "American Idol" performances. Photo by Michael Becker | FOX.

But the judges cannot use their one-and-only save this early on for one big reason: One week, Idol Nation may collectively go off the reservation and put Adam Lambert at the bottom, and if that moment happens, the judges have to have the ace in the hole.

Don’t think it’ll happen? Two words: Chris Daughtry. Remember, season five? He seemed like a lock and finished fourth.

Now, as an alert reader notes, the judges don’t have the save after the Top 5, which is a good point. But the judges need to hold on to this new privilege to save a serious candidate for the top prize, a contestant whose fan base maybe needed a wake-up call, and not blow it on someone who never had a realistic chance anyway.

Lambert cannot be Daughtryed.

I have not been glued to Idol for eight consecutive seasons. But in what I have watched, Lambert is the most talented singer to grace that stage. First, his vocals are unreal. He can easily be a throwback to those virtuosic screamers of late ’60s/early 70s rock — think Robert Plant or Ian Gillan. Pop music hasn’t heard a voice like this in a while.

But more important, Lambert knows how to use it, and he can truly make songs his own. Just consider the psycho journey into the desert of his Ring of Fire last week, followed by a rethinking of Tracks of My Tears that floored Smokey Robinson this week.

Now, in one way, you can use that old logic that contestants are better off as runners up, thereby gaining the exposure but guiding their own careers. And you could see how that might benefit Lambert, like it has Daughtry.

But do you think Simon Cowell and Co. like seeing No. 4 rolling up the hits while the winner that year, Taylor Hicks, gets dropped by his record label? This is supposed to be about finding the next star, not the next supporting player in Broadway revivals.

So the judges need to use this little bit of actual power they have been given judiciously, to avoid a really big mistake. And leaving Lambert out of the Final 5 would be huge.

• Make sure to catch the thoughts of LexGo Idol blogger Phil Stacey.
• I also recommend my friend, my groomsman, Rodney Ho at the AJC.

As Danny Gokey and Tatiana Del Toro stood together on the American Idol stage tonight, only one able to move on in the competition, I knew the winner was going to be Danny.

Danny Gokey. Photo by Frank Micelotta | Fox.

OK, I wouldn’t have written that if I had been wrong and Tatiana had been reduced to tears of joy — you knew the waterworks were coming either way.

But here’s why I knew Danny would be moving on: Yes, he has a really good, tres Idol voice, and that is important. But at this stage, as national voting begins, is that enough? Um, no. Danny seared himself into our collective consciousness during the Kansas City auditions when we heard the heartbreaking story of his wife’s death, including those hopeless moments when doctors told him there was nothing they could do for her. As he sang Hero Tuesday night, you couldn’t forget that, and obviously a lot of Americans want to see his story continue.

The thing that made me sure Danny was going to win was the other dude picked by voters in this round: Michael Sarver. His story isn’t as dramatic, and frankly, his performance of Gavin DeGraw’s I Don’t Wanna Be was simply good. But how many working stiffs can relate to his story of  the dad trying to win one for his wife and two kids? Plus, he has been the consummate nice guy. Good will is a good thing to generate at this point in the contest, and it put him in the final 12.

Alexis Grace. Photo by Chris Cuffaro | Fox.

The Louisville auditions put the first contestant in the final dozen with Alexis Grace, whose performance of Aretha’s Never Loved a Man made you momentarily forget she’s the young mom who’s been raising her little girl alone while her husband’s been in military school. It was a somewhat humble reminder that while stories are good, to still be in competition in May, you’ll have to bring a voice, which Alexis surely has. (We humbly remind you your first chance to see Alexis was in our Louisville audition video.) Now I’m off to my guitar, because that Memphis singer made me want to play some blues.

Make sure to read Phil Stacy’s Idol blog.

The American Idol judges at Churchill Downs in September: Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell. Photos by Michael Becker | Fox.

So, American Idol came to Kentucky last summer and took back singers from Philadelphia; Blanchester, Ohio; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Memphis, Tenn.; Conway, Ark.; Virginia Beach, Va. (my hometown — shaka!); and a pair from Cincinnati.

It was kind of like watching a horse from out of state win the Derby.

Aaron Williamson of Louisville had a few fun moments with the judges, but ultimately, his energy got the best of him.

Right now, Kentucky, your American Idol hopes appear to lie with Shera Lawrence, a 23-year-old orthopedic office assistant from Bowling Green, the only Bluegrass State candidate we saw advance out of Louisville, and Deanna Brown of Louisville, who actually advanced to Hollywood out of the Phoenix audition that aired last week.

Prior to the start of the season, both AI judge Simon Cowell and producer Ken Warwick said Louisville was one of the standout audition cities this year. It’s hard to see that from last night’s episode, which tied together the July auditions at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds and the callbacks in front of Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul and Simon at Churchill Downs — Churchill was the only venue mentioned on air.

In all, the judges awarded 19 gold tickets to Hollywood out of the 11,000 hopefuls that started the contest in July.

Trainwrecks: As always, Kentucky gets a little nervous about how it’s portrayed in national media. Cue the banjos, Ryan Seacrest.

Probably the biggest victim of an attempt at stereotyping was Mark Mudd of Coxs Creek, who sang George Jones‘ White Lighting, and made us wonder if Simon’s ever heard of George Jones. First, Simon asked if Mudd’s UK cell phone holster was a gun. Then, after being dismissed, he said, “be careful,” and Simon and Paula acted like he threatened them. Did producers decide this was a guy to turn into a Deliverance caricature? “Be careful” isn’t a typical farewell, but Mudd’s phrasing was far from menacing.

The other rejection with significant screen time was Ross Plavsic of Crestview Hills, a physics major in a suit and tie who sang ’50s pop songs like they were opera — or someone’s concept of opera.

Rebecca Garcia of Nashville fell victim to Kara’s mean-spirited attempt at humor when the new judge suggested her version of Before He Cheats was a joke. Painful.

Winners: Alexis Grace of Memphis, who was featured in our Idol video in July, got her ticket with a belty, soulful rendition of Aretha Franklin’s Dr. Feelgood. And Leneshe Young of Cincinnati scored with an original tune and loads of cheer and self-confidence that belied her impoverished upbringing. If there are Louisville auditioners we will still be talking about in May, these two seem to be the most likely to succeed, though dueling pianist Matt Giraud of Kalamazoo and Brent Keith Smith of Blanchester — the recipient of Kara’s ecstatic “yes!” we’ve been seeing in commercials — could get it together and go.

Then again, there were 10 gold ticket winners we haven’t heard, so maybe there’s a Top 12 finalist in there. Maybe there’s even a Kentuckian.

Further reading: Make sure to catch former Idol contestant Phil Stacey’s blog for LexGo.

More on Mudd: Across the blogosphere, people seem to think the judges went way overboard in acting like Mark Mudd was threatening them with his “be careful” line:

American Idol Updates

You Tube

The MTV blogger supported Paula, but commenters didn’t

My man Rodney from the AJC