"American Idol" Gets It Right!

	Share |
David Cook (center): Our new "American Idol"!

Published: May 22, 2008 at 10:56 PM GMT
Last Updated: May 22, 2008 at 10:56 PM GMT

By Ed Martin

I’ve been a harsh critic of American Idol this season, and my complaints about the changes made in the production of the show still hold. But, because Idol has been one of my favorite shows since its June 2002 debut, and because I still admire its power and endurance and its ability to entertain viewers of all ages, and because I consider Idol to be critical to the future of broadcast television, I want to end my coverage this season on this up note: I thought the two-hour season finale was simply terrific and totally satisfying! (I didn’t even mind all the promotional material that was built into the program in grand DVR-defying style.)

The climactic announcement of David Cook’s big win was as exciting and uplifting a shared experience as the media is likely to provide this year. This Idol finale proved once again that, in terms of impact and emotional engagement, when broadcast television is really in top form nothing else comes close.

Recent Idol season finales (Jordin vs. Blake, Taylor vs. Katharine) have felt over-long and forced, with only one or two really great performances justifying the two-hour slog to the big announcement. Nor did their outcomes seem to matter. Think back to the Carrie vs. Bo finale in ’05. Everything about that show and the audience’s response to it was electric. Same with Kelly vs. Justin in ’02 and Ruben vs. Clay in ’03. Those contests were pop-culture phenomena in their own right.

The Season 7 finale was more Carrie vs. Bo than Jordin vs. Blake, and not simply because everyone had an opinion as to which David should win: Cook or Archuleta. The show itself moved along at a brisk clip (even though host Ryan Seacrest kept making comments about its length), with audience pleasing performances by Carrie Underwood, teen-dreams the Jonas Brothers (a very shrewd addition to the roster), Seal (in duet with Syesha Mercado) and ZZ Top (with David Cook), among others. (As for the “superstar” appearance at the end, I wasn’t as thrilled to see George Michael as I was to see Prince two years ago.) The joyous return of audition-reject Renaldo singing I Am Your Brother (accompanied by the USC Marching Band) added to the fun. The vintage footage of Gladys Knight singing Midnight Train to Georgia circa 1970-something with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. edited in as her Pips was inspired. So were the Guitar Hero ads featuring Cook and Archuleta each re-creating the Tom Cruise underpants dance from his 1983 breakout film Risky Business. (Watching them I thought of MTV’s Upfront message, Commercial Time is Content Time.)

The sleek new Nokia Theatre, though cavernous, seemed to further enhance the show, more than the ornate, old-school Kodak Theatre, home of five previous Idol finales. But there didn’t seem to be any energy on the outside in any of the exterior interviews that I have watched. In recent years, the Hollywood and Highland entertainment and shopping complex, home of the Kodak, teemed with exciting Idol-related activity both on finale day and final competition day, and all of that excitement came through in news reports and other coverage.

This season finale also brought something entirely unexpected to the Idol game: An uncharacteristic and character-enhancing apology of sorts from Simon Cowell, who had been rather hard on David Cook the night before during the David vs. David showdown. Cowell was all about David Archuleta during Tuesday’s show, but near the end of the show on Wednesday he admitted that, after watching the Tuesday show at home, he may have misjudged.

Lastly, it was thrilling to see David Cook win, especially in light of the personal trials he and his family had endured throughout the competition. And it was nice to be surprised: I thought young Archuleta had nailed it on Tuesday. I think Archuleta is more an American Idol pop star than Cook, and I don’t think Cook needed this win to launch a successful career. But I was happy to see Cook win and share an emotional moment on stage with his mother and brother before leading the other 11 finalists into the audience for a final and joyful performance of Time of My Life.

What a grand finale! And what a way to bring this broadcast season to a close! It was exactly the send-off that broadcast television needed after suffering so many slings and arrows during a year of mounting discontent.

Check out our TV Maven for a decidedly different take on the big show.

To communicate with or to be contacted by the executives and/or companies mentioned in this column, link to JackMyers Connection Hotline.