Idol? Or un-Idol?

I’m cutting to the chase – the judges have given out WAY TOO MANY standing ovations this year.

Oh. The other chase is that Alejandro and Laci Kaye need to be in The Finale. And Alejandro needs to win.

Oh. Laci Kaye didn’t make The Finale.

This show makes me nuts.

“That was a complete visual into the future of your career”. When Luke said that to Laci Kaye, he echoed what I look for in the penultimate week of each season. At this point, with all the critiquing and mentoring and learning and growing behind them, our frame of reference for the Idolists should no longer be contestants in a reality show but rather as artists ready to compete professionally.

With the Finale Three of Alejandro, Laine and Madison, the tension between typical (and predictable) and atypical is now firmly in place. With Laine, you have the competent, good-looking White Guy With Guitar that Idol viewers have always loved – much to the chagrin of the show’s producers. In Madison, you have the traditional belter with the big voice – a throwback to the early days of Kelly, Fantasia and Carrie.

The problem with the WGWG’s is that after they won, most were never heard from again. The problem with the big-voiced belters is, well, it’s so a-decade-and-a-half ago which qualifies as pre-historic in the music business. So, the problem I have with both of them is I don’t see much of a future in the business – and by the business, I mean the industry.

In Laci Kaye’s case, she wasn’t perfect. But when she was good – which was quite often –  her particular pop-country stylings were both unique and current.

Which brings us to the extraordinary Alejandro. He’s clearly the most out-there Idolist since Adam Lambert but he’s also clearly out-there in very different ways than Adam. Adam was a superlative singer in a singing contest. Alejandro is an improving but merely competent singer in said singing contest. But his way around a song musically is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. And he neither looks nor sounds nor performs like anything we’ve ever seen before. He’s the un-Idol or the anti-Idol.

But he’s clearly the best this season.

The simple question is this – can he actually win? Can all his Alejandro-ness win out over seasons of predictable winners?

I really hope so.