Surprise! So, you’re telling me the WGWGs did NOT win American Idol?
Not surprised was Idol’s WGWG judge, Luke Bryan, who predicted Abi would win during her audition.
I can’t speak for the voters – and, oh, how badly I want to speak to them! – but I saw Abi and Will as having contrasting journeys. Will was rated the highest of the last five Idolists by my proprietary Ray’s Musings Talent Evaluator Index™ in large part due to staying in his Chris Stapleton/Bob Seger-lite lane. From there, he delivered consistent, high-quality performances representing him as an artist. Consistency is essential in any competition.
Abi was rated the second of the last five Idolists by my Index™, but she got there by a different path. A better vocalist than Will, Abi took risks by frequently changing lanes into different song styles and genres. I’m big on song selection, which is also a critical factor for me, and when those risks didn’t work, I graded her low accordingly.
But many of Idol’s most memorable moments came when Idolists did the unexpected:
- Carrie Underwood, the country singer, performing Heart’s big rock ballad Alone
- Blake Lewis beatboxing to You Give Love a Bad Name much to the dissatisfaction of coach Jon Bon Jovi
- Adam Lambert on everything, but especially when he turned it WAYYYY down for Mad World
For me, the moment of this season was when Abi rendered Katy Perry agape1 and then prostrated on the judges’ table with her incredible performance of Evanescence’s Bring Me to Life. While Will was steadily solid as a rock, Abi’s fearless and breathtaking performance is the one that I will remember from the season.
That said, I stand on my opinion that the best singer for the season was Jayna Elise, the highest-rated Idolist by the Ray’s Musings Talent Evaluator Index™. She was outrageously (and controversially) eliminated in Top Ten Week, but OMG, OMG, OMG, did she ever do a thing in the Finale in her duet with Seal on Crazy
Finally, each of the Final Five Idolists recorded singles, and we saw performances of those by the three Finalists. Four of the five are forgettable (including Triston’s), except for the song by – wait for it – Emmy Russell, who also wrote it. It’s a lovely song, and she sounds great in it.
Abi’s victory restored some degree of faith in Idol that was coming undone for me. The predictability of the Idol voters and the gap between our perspectives of talent frustrates me. But what happens now to the Idolists will be determined by a more significant and less tolerant group of voters – the music marketplace. As always, I’ll be curious about what Abi’s album will be like and how well any of this season’s Idolists fare in the music business, and by the business, I mean the industry.
Speaking of which, shoutout to 2015 Idol winner Nick Fradiani2, who will play Neil Diamond in the national tour of A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical. Many former Idolists have found success on the stage rather than as recording artists.
And that’s a wrap. See you next season – I think. Thank Abi and her voters if I do.
Ray's Musings 
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