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I don’t think she nailed it.

Do I think she was better than Lee tonight? yes

But it wasn’t that great. A lot of screaming.

Black Velvet is a sultry, sexy song. Crystal may be talented but sexy she is not.
(She actually reminded me a little like our first lady (Michelle) line-backer tonight.)

Wearing that black dress, legs spread wide apart. Did no one teach her how to stand like a lady? Feet together.

My normally quiet husband even commented on the un-lady like stance.

It was OK, but not great.

I gave my votes to Lee. I like him better.

We shall see.

I am frustrated at the finale songs. Lee did great at the Simon and Garfunkel, I felt more passionately than he had the first time. I agree that he probably should have chosen Halleluyah, too, though.

Then came the little Janis imitator, and dang if she didn’t turn up the heat tonight and put 80% of her into the song, doubling her normal investment, to come out on top of Lee. Only because she stays on key.

It also didn’t hurt that the judges had already seen everything at the rehearsal so they had not much nice to say to Lee, even after his first song. They made their choice of winner painfully obvious.

So Less is told to do more with his song, French kiss Simon rather than just peck his cheek, and he gets this slow song with LOOOOONG notes, “Everybody Hurts.” He did less than his best with it, though he had a few great moments (and of course a few off notes).

And then out comes Bowersox with “Black Velvet.” Arrrgh, I thought, it’s the perfect song choice for her, because it seems to suit her, and of course we know she HAS a little boy (to go with the lyrics). But she ruined the song. She was stomping around during it, in the worst dress possible, maybe even the wrong size, and she was YELLING unpleasantly instead of slowly letting the song ooze like hot syrup as it should be sung. But the judges acted like they’d just seen the Twin Towers put back together.

So Lee comes out with the song they wrote for him, and it’s just OK. He did seem to be feeling it, sang well, put his heart into it, but they gave him a kind of forgettable song. What was it? LOL. But I remember the smiles he gave during it. Niiiiice.

And then for the finale, Crystal does her song, which is in her comfort zone, sitting down, playing her guitar. She chose, no doubt for the money, to actually put her heart and soul into the song. Had real emotion, changed up the pressure and volume often on her voice, looked into “our” eyes, made it her own. For the first time this season! It was an excellent job.

So Crystal, whom I do not like, deserves to win AI, probably, because she was better tonight. Lee didn’t “bring it” to the absolute extend he needed to, and she did.

But to be fair, Crystal had been phoning it in for more than a month. She has shown a lot of contempt for the AI audience, all while voicing how much she loves to be there and how grateful she is for the experience. It just does not sound believable from her. She seemed to act as though she were too good for AI, and though the judges called it “staying true to herself,” she has not grown throughout the season.

Lee was just a ball of insecurity without direction at the start of the season. He took the judges’ notes each week and worked hard, learned, and grew into a confident, happy performer. It was a joy to watch him grow. So he hit a couple wrong notes in the beginnings of each song! He loved performing and being on AI, and the audience loved that he appreciated us.

I cast my votes for Lee, but if Crystal wins, she deserved it. I think that she will get signed to something even if Lee wins, and she will be able to put her politics, culture, and dreads on the line and either go commercial or “stay true to herself” and die after one lousy album.

Has everyone done the blind test with these two?? Lee has a delicious voice when you are only HEARING him. You actually want to hear a second song by him to hear it again. Sorry to say, though Crystal never misses a note, her voice is nothing special. And when she yells, it’s actually not pleasant.

My $0.02.