The American Idol Season 12 finale aired this past Thursday and Candice Glover was pronounced the winner. Throughout this season of Idol there have been questions raised about the credibility of the judges and the transparent manipulati...
The American Idol Season 12 finale aired this past Thursday and Candice Glover was pronounced the winner. Throughout this season of Idol there have been questions raised about the credibility of the judges and the transparent manipulation of the results. The finale generated a whole new set of questions and accusations and our readers in particular have had some of the strongest opinions and insightful comments to date. After reading them all as well as reports that have surfaced since the finale aired, I’ve decided to offer my opinion of the season finale.
This season’s finale was one of the best I’ve seen, especially because it made me forget all about the scandalous rumors that engulfed the show this season. It was filled with performances by the Season 12 Top 10 as well as finalists from previous seasons who have gone on to very successful careers in the music industry. Even the judges contributed performances, with the exception of Nicki Minaj, a glaring omission that did not go unnoticed by viewers. Many believed this was an intentional snub by Idol producers, but as it turns out that was not the case. According to reports, Nicki said “I was supposed to premiere my “High School” video on Idol but they said it was too risqué”. If you’ve seen the video in question, then I think you’d probably agree with them. Nicki also offered this as an explanation for conspicuously remaining in her seat at the judge’s table all night, “I had already committed to the Billboard Awards to perform “High School” so I wasn’t allowed to perform it on [both]”. I know Nicki has her fans and I have absolutely no issue with them or with Nicki Minaj, but I personally don’t feel deprived of anything and that particular song really isn’t suitable viewing for younger members of the audience. Can you imagine the backlash American Idol would have suffered if they aired the video after so many complaints about Nicki’s off color remarks all season? Watch the video, than decide.
Mariah Carey’s performance of a medley of her hits set off a barrage of accusations from readers here as well as on Twitter and Facebook. Fans of American Idol blasted the diva wondering how she could sit in judgment of the contestant’s live performances all season, yet couldn’t manage to deliver one of her own. Mariah’s rep immediately released a statement saying “She absolutely did not lip-sync. She performed LIVE in front of several thousands of people!” The publicist did say that Mariah sang along with a pre-recorded track recorded earlier in the day. Audience members present during the taping confirm her publicist’s statement saying she sang the songs live in front of them and she even included a few more that didn’t end up in the final broadcast. I think she only appeared to be lip syncing because the audio track was not perfectly synced up with Mariah’s movements. Mariah chose not to sing live during the broadcast and there are perfectly valid reasons for that, but unfortunately there are also consequences. It’s a live show after all and the performer’s spontaneity is going to be a factor. Ideally, every nuance of what Mariah intended to do during the live broadcast should have been synced with the pre-recorded track during rehearsal, and it probably was, but again it’s live TV. Mariah herself has so far kept quiet on the issue.
The rapid elimination of the guys of the Top 10 was a hot topic this season. The skit they did claiming it was a case of sabotage by the girls was hilarious in my opinion. One by one, the reasons for their elimination were revealed. The best of the clip for me was when Janelle was seen changing the sheet music for Lazaro’s rendition of “Close To You”. For anyone who remembers that disastrous performance from Lazaro, it was the one LOL moment of the night and an inspired piece of comedy. Some of our readers thought it was somewhat hypocritical of a few of the guys to appear in the piece, considering the comments made on