American Idol Season 14 Finale Night 1

I really hate LeBron James. Let's get this live-blogging over with as quickly as possible.

A year from now, American Idol will be coming to an end. Perhaps it will never return, but maybe it will just be a relatively short hiatus. I have mixed feelings about all this. Honestly, they probably should have made the contest an every other year sort of thing a while back. I doubt I will ever focus on "The Voice" on here, so at least I will have more free time a few months out of the year in 2017, when Jeb Bush or some other Republican is President. I plan to keep doing this for Season 15 though and hopefully it will be the best one ever for the franchise.

If somebody is getting eliminated tonight, it should be JAX.
If somebody is getting eliminated tonight, I predict it will be Nick Fradiani.

Just an hour tonight, so this should breeze by-

Who was eliminated: JAX

Wow. Somebody is cut right away. This must be what it feels like for candidates who know they have lost an election as soon as the Exit Polls are released. While I feel it was the right result based on the merits last week, I am somewhat surprised. The older women who dominate the voting this season, as they have for most other recent years just love them some white dudes with guitars. Females just have a really hard time winning, and it's probably going to be that way on The Voice as well. This has to be a first in regards to two white guys with guitars finishing as the Final Two. I knew all along that Clark Beckham would be in this position, but Nick has really surprised me by getting this fair. He did come on strong at the end though. Just think though how many talented women and African-Americans started off this season and it comes down to two "jockish" white guys in their 20s. Tyanna Jones should still be there

Good luck to JAX. I started off this season wanting her gone, but she has earned my respect to some extent and I think she might very well go on to be reasonably successful musically if given a chance. I think that a bit of a makeover might have helped her a bit further with the vote. It is sad that she was already to sing three songs tonight for the large crowd at the Dolby Theater and it does not seem like she will even be able to get to say a word on camera.

Round 1- Contestant Choice:

1. Clark Beckham- "Georgia On My Mind"

I do not remember him doing this previously. I think this round has to be reprisals. It is maybe a good strategy to get votes from the State of Georgia.  This was a strong start to the show, as Clark played the piano and infused his style of soul into this older Ray Charles song. It will impress many fans, but I do not know if this kind of stuff is what he would be recording as the Idol winner. There may not be a huge market for it these days.

2. Nick Fradiani- "Bright Lights"

Good song choice to reprise for the Finale. I think this opening round is a close one as Nick came out with a lot of energy and sang Matchbox 20 quite well. There is just something so circa 2003-2005 though about his style and it has been making me sort of nostalgic the last few weeks when he performs. At least he is doing what is good at.

Round 1 goes narrowly to Nick Fradiani

Did they have a coin toss this year? What has determined who will perform last?
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Round 2- Simon Fuller's Choice:

3. Clark Beckham- "Ain't No Sunshine"

Simon's picks are never all that imaginable. This was another strong performance from Clark. He started off slow and understated though, and perhaps because it is once again so late, that I started to fall asleep a bit. None of that means he was not singing it well. He really picked up the volume and passion though in the song towards the end and seemed to pull it off.

4. Nick Fradiani- "I Won't Give Up"

The Idol creator gave Nick a more modern song than the one he gave Clark and this was another good one. I do not remember Nick having ever played the piano on stage this season. Now, both gentlemen have played both the piano and acoustic guitar tonight. Nick is really in the zone and sang it well. I am tired and may have compromised in my judging and commenting but everyone is sounding decent tonight. These playoffs though the past month have just been emotionally draining after long days at work.

Round 2 goes narrowly to Clark Beckham
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Round 3- Winner's Single:

5. Clark Beckham- "Champion"

These songs always suck at first listen and usually after that too. I guess they tried to make the lyrics to this one as masculine as possible, but I can already hear it as the theme for the U.S. Women's Soccer team, as they promised. It has to be ironic that his last name is Beckham. Clark probably did as much as he could with it, but he was better the first two rounds.

6. Nick Fradiani- "Beautiful Life"

What is amazing is that I went to Google what the title of this song is, and my own blog came up on the first page. Is that even possible? I really do not know what to say at this point. I am struggling to stay awake, but had to get this all in tonight. I am pretty sure my snap judgments would be the same if I were fully awake. This song seemed to suit Nick's style more than the previous one did for Clark. It basically comes down to that.

Round 3 goes to Nick Fradiani
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So, that is that. I think both guys did a strong job tonight. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any other Finale showdown that I might have considered to be this even. This may be better than Mayweather vs. Pacquaio.

It seems like the Idol powers might be pushing for a Nick victory at this point, with his underdog story and all that, and having him sing last. To me, he deserves the win based on tonight, which I cannot believe I am typing, since I thought he was so out of his depth a few weeks back.

However, in spite of everything, Nick is still hailing from Connecticut and Clark is from Tennessee, and that might make the difference. I am about to vote for Nick, but throughout American Idol history, being from a Red State is a big advantage. Hopefully, the person who carries Clark's hometown of White House, Tennessee, will be moving into the White House after next year.

Tomorrow, we will find out the results. I will have a final post on this penultimate season of American Idol, sometime down the road in the days or weeks ahead.