Imagine that you did a little perverse time-travel.
You took Justin Guarini, bouncing around amiably in the original, 2002 "American Idol" finals. Or Diana DeGarmo, belting her best in the 2004 finale. Then you transported them instantly to tonight, to see and hear Adam Lambert.
They'd feel like they'd arrived from a lesser universe. That's how much the competition has grown in five and seven years -- and how much Lambert towers above everyone else, even now.
Kris Allen was very good tonight -- good enough to win in some years. Lambert went far beyond that. He has that rare combination that can only be called Streisand-esque. It's the knowledge of exactly how a song should be sung and the voice to pull it off.
Here are a few of my comments; please add yours:
1) The night was sort of upside-down, starting with its best moment and dwindling from there.
2) The best, of course, was Adam singing "Mad World." In an AOL poll, fans had overwhelmingly chosen his previous rendition as the season's best performance; then he matched it.
3) And the worst was when both men did their best with the Kara overkill, "No Boundaries." Simon Cowell used rare restraint in proclaiming, "I'm not going to judge the song ... the mountains, the hurricane." It was too much of everything, sort of Miley Cirus' "The Climb" on evil steroids. Worse, it simply wasn't a good tune to show off a singer.
4) In case you're keeping track, "No Boundaries" was a reality show that debuted (on the WB) three months before "Idol" began and was forgotten 89 days before "Idol" began. It was also the theme of the truck that sponosored that show. Maybe life is one big product placement.
5) Between those extremes, both men did good jobs with soulful classics. Kris mastered Marvin Gaye's vocally complex "What's Goin' On?" Adam brought new power to Sam Cooke's passionate "Change is Gonna Come."
6) Hey, give credit to a guy who apparently grew up in California comfort, yet can do amazing things with a song about being born by the river and a change is gonna come.
7) You knew these were the finals -- Simon wore a sport jacket, Randy added a tie. The pressure was on.
8) All of the sub-conscious forces were on Kris' side. Ryan Seacrest described this in terms -- "Conway vs. California," "guy-next-door vs. guy-liner" -- that made viewers root for Kris. What's more, Allen got to sing last (thanks to a coin flip) and had plenty of chances to show that wonderfully apologetic smile.
9) I have nothing against any of that. Kris is a good, talented guy who's become a fine performer. He plays the guitar and piano skillfully, uses his voice with subtle skill.
10) He's a fine performer who had the misfortune to be onstage with someone who is from a higher performing universe. Consider Kris this year's runner-up.
As much as I've been rooting for Adam all season, and I do believe he out-performed Kris Tuesday night, I have to say I sort of hope Kris will win now, merely based on the sheer awfulness that is "No Boundaries." Is there a law against having a decent song for the winner to sing? I swear, every song since "A Moment Like This" is making "A Moment Like This" look like "Stairway to Heaven." How many cliches could she cram into that song???
I think, though, this is the first season where I thoroughly enjoy each of the finalists. I'm solidly in Adam's camp, but I've downloaded just as many Kris songs from iTunes.