American Idol Season 15 Finale Recap

Before it becomes a month since the show aired, I figured I would get to a quick re-cap of the Finale of the final American Idol season.. for now.

Who should have won: La'Porsha Renae
Who I predicted would win: Trent Harmon
Who won: Trent Harmon

Still, one cannot complain too much as Trent was very good and was also worthy. Since this verdict, both Trent and La'Porsha have run  a bit afoul of the left-wing media by the delicate way they tried to answer whether or not they agreed with their state of Mississippi's policies religious freedom as it related to gays and lesbians. Basically, both stated that they did not believe in discrimination against anyone, while still making it clear that they happened to have their own somewhat old fashioned religious convictions. It is almost cliche at this point to say that time will tell just how well Trent and La'Porsha will do out in the real world of popular music now that the show has ended. Idol has produced very few actual music "superstars" but a lot of strong careers beyond that and just about everyone who got exposure on the show has had a better career in music for it than they otherwise would have.

As we have seen in the past several seasons of American Idol, being a white guy gives one an advantage when it comes to victory. Thus, I was not surprised to see Trent win, even though a La'Porsha victory would have been a better "story." We have no idea if the results were close or not, but these kind of patterns are part of a reason why Idol viewership went way down in recent years and why the plug was eventually pulled on the show.

In many ways, the Season 15 finale, as quick as the whole season went by, was sort of an afterthought to the production put on by American Idol honoring the show as a whole. It was a very entertaining two hours plus of television, but the final class of kids was sort of given the short end of the stick. The other finalists, unlike seasons past, did not get their own moments on the Finale, as that time was reserved to some well-known alumni from Idol past (although too much Constantine.) I also could have gone without the show opening with Barack Obama talking about how voting in actual elections should be as easy as it is for American Idol. If that were the case, our elections would always be won by white males favored by southern white women.

I did enjoy seeing the old contestants return to perform, mostly in group performances. Some of them were recognizable, some were not, much like an actual school reunion. All of the past winners sang on the show, although Kelly Clarkson, did so in a pre-taped performance, as she was days away from having baby Remington. So, it remains a long-shot that all 15 Idol winners will ever be in the same place at the same time. Idol even had five of their white guy with guitar winners perform together on top of boxes. That was sort of a meta moment.

They could have devoted more than one night to the Idol finale and perhaps should have. That could have given the opportunity for more All-Star performances, as well as giving more time and attention to Season 15.

It's all over now though. As someone who has enjoyed the show as a diversion in my life since Season 1, I will miss it. It brought a lot of great stories, a lot of great music, a lot of controversy, and a lot to feel good about regarding the American Dream. Other shows, such as "The Voice" remain, but it will not be the same and I definitely will not be blogging about it. I wonder if somehow I can find some online internet alternatives to eventually watch and and every past Idol episode at my convenience.

Of course, many believe that Idol will eventually return to Fox and to the American airwaves sometime down the line. It cannot be gone forever. That is how I may be feeling this year about my allegiance to the Republican Party. Host from the beginning Ryan Seacrest even signed off with "Goodbye America... for now."