Culturally Preconditioned

Can’t believe we’re already here? Well, believe it, baby. Mandy Moore in da house. Taye Diggs in da house..(wither Idina?) woohoo! There was an interesting shot of a woman in veils.. I don’t know what the hell they showed that for, but I was pretty psyched up for the final battle between Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks.

Katharine - the woohoo cherry tree song

I thought it was a great performance but it seemed to have lacked the energy of her original performance of this song. Her voice was clearly better though, but it was the show opener and I’d have to say it was pretty lackluster. I quite enjoyed it but Simon was right, the occassion was way much more bigger than the song. A 7.5

Taylor - yet another Stevie Wonder song

Hideous purple retro tellytubby jacket aside, that was a pretty strong performance. It was energetic and fun and he didn’t falter much on his vocals. An 8.

Katharine - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

She starts off acapella which I personally thought was beautiful and mesmerizing. There was no oversinging this time around, thank goodness. Overall, it was very poignant, sweet performance. An 8.5

Taylor - Levon

I love how Taylor’s southern voice comes out with this song. I’ve said this once and I’m gonna say it again. Taylor will make a superb country singer. It wasn’t as good as his original performance but it was still really good. An 8

Katharine - My Destiny (to become runner up)

The song clearly displayed Kat’s weakness which was highly unfortunate. Poor Kat. It was okay but far from a spectacular which she desperately needs at this stage of the competition. Blerghh.. what a way to go. Whoever wrote the song should be shot in the knee and kicked in his nuts/her vag. I don’t even know if Celine fucking Dion could make this into a better song. A 5.

Taylor - Do I Make You Proud (aka. pathetic song title ever)

tAYLOR WORKED HIS ASS FOR THIS SONG. iT WAS JUST SLIGHTLY LESS SHITTY THAN kAT’S SONG BUT tAYLOR CARRIED it well (I just realised I accidentally pressed my caps lock on and can’t be arsed to retype the sentence). His performance (and song) sounded anthemic compared to Kat’s whimperings, but seriously Taylor shut the goddamn motherfucking up with your soul patrol. It is getting even more annoying than Fantasia’s yeah-yeah-yeahs. You are alright, but seriously, fucking stop it. A 6.5

Conclusion : It does seem from her subdued expressions and less than bubbly personality tonight, Katharine has resigned to the fact that she won’t become the next Idol. Taylor didn’t exactly put his A-game out tonight but he is the better of the two tonight and because of that.. congratulations Mr Taylor Hicks for becoming the next American Idol.

All in all, it was a pretty crappy final two showdoen. The only saving grace for the entire show was Daniel Powter performing Bad Day live on stage. I’m not joking. Daniel Powter. A 10.