My hmphs

In what has to be one of the more anti-climactic and well, just plain boring finales in American Idol history, two pretty boys faced off last night to see who will claim the title of 2008 American Idol, now thought to be an instant jinx to one’s career:

David Cook, the tough rocker pretty boy, looked petrified last night, hoping and praying that he would not get the title and have his first single be the god-awful saccharin ballad from an aspiring songwriter that the producers hand selected (”Dream Big”).

David Archuleta, the teen idol pretty boy, doesn’t seem to understand the Curse of the American Idol and is hoping that he gets showered with confetti tonight. He would actually feel comfortable singing a god-awful saccharin ballad from an aspiring songwriter that the producers have hand selected (”In This Moment”).

I place this as a Hmph Day feature in which I poke fun at today’s music, but generally, AI is not all that bad. Most of the time, the final two singers can actually sing. They have talent, which is a rare thing in pop music nowadays.

It’s easy to poke fun at AI, with its makeovers of the contestants, the canned Ford mini-commercials each week, the hokey production numbers that rockers like D. Cook cringe when performing. But the fact that only three (Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry) have reached star status may mean that viewers like the path to stardom, but quickly forget the star if they’re not on television every week (Hellooo Taylor Hicks?).

It’s when the Simons (Cowell, Fuller) and pop music Godfather Clive Davis try to manufacture a superstar that irks me. There are rumors of a fix in this season; all three judges were drooling all over Archuleta last night, and most people are predicting an easy win for him.

Which, based on previous years, means good news for David Cook.

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