Idol 79 - Kristy Lee Cook

79. Kristy Lee Cook

Season 7, 7th Place

The girl who sold her horse just to audition for Idol! Yes, she's sitting pretty at #79.

Well, when Kristy first auditioned I could tell she had a .. decent voice, but she was quite bland and old-fashioned. Sure, she's gorgeous but that can just take you so much.

Now, things didn't get much better in Hollywood. I couldn't help but make fun of her saying she could only sing Amazing Grace well. Needless to say, she set the bar very low for herself. Haha.

Then we get to the semifinals and Kristy was sick. Can I blame the flu for weak vocals? Yes. Can I blame it for awkward stage presence, freaky eyes, and a terribly karaoke song choice? Umm, maybe not. It didn't make her THAT delirious. Fact is I really didn't like Kristy in the semis, and I did NOT for one second want her making it past the Top 20, or Top 16. But she did.

She was doing one thing right, though, and Paula said it to her. She was seriously getting better and better each week. Sure, she took baby steps, and she had a few interruptions - the awful Eight Days a Week and the bland as hell Coat of Many Colors - but if you put her performances on a grid, and drew a line of progression, it would go pretty consistently in an inclining line.

That is exactly what the competition should be about. Trying to top your best each week. Kristy excelled at that, and that's how she beat the odds to get to the top seven. Of course, I wouldn't suggest starting off quite as crappy as Kristy did, though.

That being said, I somehow blamed her for Michael Johns elimination. I don't know. I WANTED to like her, but I couldn't. I really wanted Kristy to go home pretty much every week during those five weeks.

Good thing, she has a VERY dedicated fan base, because they were able to get her out of the semifinals. Oh, and being the only country artist in the competition that season didn't hurt her, either.

Favorite performance(s): Kristy made a brilliant song choice when she sang Anyway. In a minute and a half she showed what style of song she should sing as an artist, she sang something pretty modern that still fit with the theme, and most importantly, she showed off an impressive display of power vocals. This was the first week that I really knew Kristy could sing. The first time I put her in the top half of the performances. It was very good.

Anyway

#78 - Indulgent Nonsense