American Idol 2022 Finale

I will be relieved to complete this final blog entry on the 20th season of American Idol. Last night, I watched the three hour episode live, and it definitely felt like three hours. So, I am once again going based off memory. I watched the show with my parents who were rooting very hard for Leah, after having liked HunterGirl earlier in the season. They really did not want or expect Noah to win, though I was pretty sure that was where it would wind up at the end of the night.

The show was not bad, and the competition on the final night was pretty evenly matched, but I always feel like Idol finales wind up being anti-climactic. There were various other contestants this season I found more interesting musically than the final three.

 

Early on, we learn that Carrie Underwood was unable to perform as scheduled due to someone in her entourage having Covid. Couldn't she have sung via Zoom?

 

The three Idol judges are virtually useless at this point. They say the same things over and over again. Even Randy Jackson found a way to switch things up more than Lionel Richie does. Yes, Simon Cowell and Harry Connick Jr. often had an agenda in their comments, but at least some degree of constructive criticism for these contestants would be nice to hear on occasion.

I did not understand the relevance of having a "Bruce Springsteen round" during the Finale. Did they try to have it earlier in the season? While I happen to believe that "The Boss" is one of the most overrated singers in rock history, his catalog far more favored the one deep voiced male competing for the title. There are three Springsteen written songs that I think are good, and none of them were done, but let's start off there for Round 1.

1. Leah Marlene- "Cover Me"

This is not a very well known Springsteen song. I was not really thrilled with how Leah sang it, though the guitar playing was cool. She seemed to be smiling too much to match the lyrics. My parents were all about it. Go figure.

2. HunterGirl- "Dancing In The Dark"

This is a very well known Springsteen '80s song. At least it was not "Born In The U.S.A." This was actually done before in Idol history by Taylor Hicks and it was supposedly a huge deal with Clive Owens got it cleared for the "Soul Patrol." 

 

 If I thought Leah smiled too much, I really thought HG was "acting" way too happy while singing about being "tired and bored with myself." Needless to say, I did not get this at all. She sang it in her country twang, but with the original Springsteen arrangement and that did not work. Why did she not try to rearrange it, the way a lot of former Idol contestants used to do on well known songs and who would receive high praise for doing so? Is that not allowed anymore? She should have turned the song into a country ballad.

She also maybe should have picked a different song that she could have felt more emotionally connected to, such as "Glory Days", "The Rising", or especially "Because The Night", written by Springsteen but best known as being sung by Patti Smith. She could have definitely done a countryish version of that.

HunterGirl looked pretty non-plussed after this performance. I am pretty sure she disliked the whole thing too.

3. Noah Thompson- "I'm On Fire"

When Seacrest promised a "smoldering" number from Noah, it obviously had to be this song. Noah had the edge of being the one who was able to sound the most like Springsteen and who seemed to take the spirit of the song in a more literal sense than the two ladies, but my goodness, this has always been a boring song, and this was no different, though Noah at least sounded in tune.

Round 1:

3. HunterGirl

2. Leah Marlene

1. Noah Thompson

Next, it was time for hometown performances and the release of the "singles" for the three contestants. What I am not sure of is did the contestants write these songs pre-Idol, or were they written for them for this purpose? I am pretty sure that Leah and HunterGirl wrote these songs, but I do not think that was the case for Noah.

1. Leah Marlene- "Flowers"

I liked this for her much better than the first round. I believe I had heard she wrote this song about her issues with depression a couple of years ago. I do not really remember how it went but her voice sounded quite good.

Before she sang though, we saw her visit Normal, Illinois in the central part of the state. There was not really a mention of Illinois State University which is right there, but I suppose ISU might be considered more associated with the twin city of Bloomington. Leah did not seem to cry during her visit home, but did right after she sang the original number. I think she figured it would be her last performance, as someone was going to be getting cut in third place soon.

2. Noah Thompson- "One Day Tonight"

While Noah never sounds horrible, I did not like this song at all. It was fairly boring. I looked it up and he did not write it. I am actually happy to learn it. What seems sketchy though is that the song references "opening a bottle of wine" on what seems like several occasions" and the person to whom this song was assigned to just turned 20 years old. Yes, he is a construction worker with a child, but legally he is too young to drink. 

The video package of Noah's visit to Eastern Kentucky was pretty well done. Of course, they showed him with his 1 year old son a lot. The mother of the son, who was shown at Disney World a few weeks back, and who was for the first time in the studio audience last night was also in the video, but I have noticed that unless I am forgetting something, at no point in the season was she ever spoken to or referenced specifically in any way. Noah did not hug her or mention either in the hometown visit or on the show last night. Maybe that was a preference of his Baby Mama, but it seems sort of odd. Clearly, she was ok with being on television. So, they may be co-parenting young Walker, but it does not seem like they are currently in a relationship otherwise.

Ok, after I wrote that, I did some online research and apparently her name is Angel Nicole and that the two High School sweethearts are together and appear frequently on each other's Instagram pages. (Yet, I just looked up Noah's IG and I do not see her on there. I feel like a stalker now though.) An article says that Noah talked about her on the show several times. Are they sure? Well, that is good for the sake of the family and I wish them the best. If they wind up getting married, I am sure a pre-nup might be a good idea now.

 

He missed a golden opportunity to have done a countrified version of Aerosmith's "Angel" devoted to her, but maybe keeping her on the down-low was the best way to win votes after all.

Later on the show, his fellow contestants said that Noah looks like a Bonus Jonas Brother and that is pretty accurate. I had thought he sort of looked like a combination of David Archuleta and Lee DeWyze. He also appears to be even shorter than Seacrest.

3. HunterGirl- "Red Bird"

Yes, when does she become HunterWoman? I found some irony in the original song, because Leah hails from the land of the Redbirds while HG wrote an original song about how some people find meaning in seeing cardinals or "red birds" appear as if someone is trying to pass on a message. While we dislike the St. Louis Cardinals in my family, I have heard that expressed.

 

Her visit to East Tennessee was also nicely done. The work she has done in helping veterans is truly inspiring. It would be worth voting for based on that alone. 

I also do not really remember how this song went, but I was very impressed with how HunterGirl sounded on it and I can definitely believe that a lot of people will find the song very moving. Would it be enough though? Was there a risk of two country singers splitting the vote and causing one of them to go home in favor of the somewhat more left of center Leah?

My Round Two rankings were flipped from Round One but since this one is supposed to have more gravitas, I used this to break the ties.

3. Noah Thompson

2. Leah Marlene

1. HunterGirl

Who should have finished third: Noah Thompson

Who I predicted would finish third: Leah Marlene

Who finished third: Leah Marlene

Yes, indeed, there were too many country folks and red state voters for a split to even matter at this point. Could a female singer (country or not) beat a white guy with a guitar who sang country at this point in the competition as the final two? Recent Idol history would say no. How did Maddie Poppe do it against her alleged boyfriend Caleb Lee Hutchinson a few years back? Did they just go off of the three way vote in which Caleb and Gabby Barrett would have split the country vote?

Now, we were down to the Final Two, so in my mind, the fairest thing to do would be to start the rankings from scratch for whatever was to come, but things get weird of course in the stage of the competition because while people are still actively voting, there are group numbers, and celebrity duets, before a final solo from each. I was just hoping that the number of songs would be equal.

As an aside, I feel very badly for how the Michael Buble duet went with Christian Guardino on several fronts, but especially the Charlie Chaplin "Smile" song which I expressed my dislike of a few weeks back. Christian deserved better. Nicolina and Fritz Hager, both eliminated last week, probably "won" the celebrity duets because they sounded better than their more famous counterpart. Sarah Bareilles sounded good enough with Nicolina, but whomever James Arthur is, he was horrible.

 

Also, was I crazy or was Tristen Gressett one of the Idol band backup singers last night for a couple of numbers on the right side of the stage? A brief shot of the person really looked like him but there was not a close-up. Did they give him the gig but say they could not formally acknowledge him since he just missed out on the Top 10? Did he crash the stage to sing backup on the Earth, Wind, and Fire medley?

Noah Thompson- "I'm The Only One"

Well, he was not the only one on stage. This was a duet with Melissa Etheridge, whom I do not think I have seen on television for maybe a decade. Why were they put together? The match up does not make sense. Maybe a Leah and Etheridge duet would have been more logical.

I have always dug this song and Melissa sounded "interesting" on it at least but this did not seem up Noah's vocal alley at all. Maybe he was just not comfortable with doing his first ever celebrity duet and Melissa Etheridge was definitely not ceding any spotlight.

"You Are"

Next, in what might have been pre-taped segment, all of the Top 10 joined Lionel Richie to sing this 80s tune. Lionel would have had to steal his own jacket from his own closet.

To my dismay, since Noah and  HunterGirl both had a brief solo on the group number, I had to rank it, but since it is technically HG's turn, I had to rank her against Noah's duet. I gave it to HunterGirl. (Ultimately, this performance order weirdness would not matter. Her snippet of the song sounded better than Noah's too.)

HunterGirl- "I Told You So"

For her duet, Hunter would sing with Idol judge Luke Bryan. This song that I had heard done on Idol before by Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood is boring, but I thought HG sounded good. 

Whether I am going in technical order of performance or reaching back to compare the celebrity duets, I give the edge to HunterGirl.

 

Statistically, she had already clinched the win here for me, although the big final "reprisal round" was still to come. Believe me, nobody watching was really going to be voting based on merit. Those who were voting, probably started early on and were going for their long established favorite. The only wild-card would be whom angry Leah fans were going for. My parents were definitely behind HunterGirl at this point. I had to ask my mother why she was so upset about Noah probably winning, but she also gets upset about the finales of "The Bachelor."

Noah Thompson- "Stay"

For his final performance, Noah reprised the Rhianna song he received much praise for during Hollywood Week. He was wearing a suit which he said was for the first time in his life, before remembering way back to his Prom from a couple years ago. Rhianna and Noah are both parents now.

I was very impressed by what they showed of his singing this back during Hollywood Week and I thought he was very impressive on the Finale stage on this last night. It was easily his best vocal of the evening.

HunterGirl- "Riot"

This was not a song that was presumably sung during the attempted January 6th Insurrection or the previous summer in Portland by Antifa, but was the Rascall Flats song that HG initially auditioned with before the judges (with really messed up eye makeup) and which would earn her the first ever "platinum ticket."

From what I can remember from last night, Hunter sounded good, but I do not think it had the same impact as Noah's performance from just before. Could she have reprised a different song from her Idol journey to win more votes? It likely would not have mattered.

I had to call it like it is and I gave this round to Noah Thompson

However, based on the other two "round" in the second half of Sunday evening and I suppose what had happened earlier in the evening and throughout the season between the two, I felt differently as to the ultimate result. For the first time ever, I texted an American Idol vote during the final commercial break and threw few towards HunterGirl. My mother voted once via text I believe. My father tried but could not get it to work. I do not think the result would come down to just one vote though. It was at the minimum a Dr. Oz style landslide.

Who should have won American Idol: HunterGirl

Who I predicted would win American Idol: Noah Thompson

Who won American Idol: Noah Thompson

That was that. Neither of the Finalists looked surprised. It was one of the least emotional winning moments in Idol history. (Last week, Noah seemed to be crying or shaking after he was told he was safe and they were about to announce the final person in the Top Three.)

Looking ahead, I think HunterGirl is more likely to have an impact on the country charts. Fritz may sell more music down the road than anyone else, despite not making it to the Finale. Nicolina still has the best voice of Season 20 and would have in many other seasons as well. I will look forward to Season 21.

Very early in the season, I thought both Fritz and Noah were frontrunners (along with HunterGirl) and wrote that several weeks ago. Noah's victory is proof that a white guy from the south who plays guitar and sings country (and who seems to be the real deal) has a huge advantage based on current Idol voting demographics. Interestingly enough, he did not even need to make any religious themed appeals to the audience, even in subtle ways and still won. Being the young father of a baby (albeit one out of wedlock) probably helped far more than it hurt.

The fact that Noah was before the show a blue-collar worker helped more than anything else. I think the audience just eats things like that up and he continued to manage to come across as unassuming and humble. 

Good luck to Noah. Hopefully, he will find success and continue to be humble and appreciative of the opportunities he has in front of him. He also owes a huge debt of gratitude (and maybe some material goods) to his buddy Arthur, who signed him up for American Idol, because it was not something Noah would have thought of doing for himself. Needless to say, Arthur is to Noah what Jim Clyburn was to Joe Biden in 2022.

It was nice to see Noah's grandmother on hand to see him in his moment of triumph. I am pretty sure he is the first winner in Idol history not to have at least one actual parent featured on the show (with the exception of Just Sam, whom American Idol is unlikely to ever acknowledge again.)

I do not think this will happen, but we will know that humility might have escaped Noah, if he releases an album with the in your face title of "HunterBoy."