American Idol 14: Final Thoughts and Prediction

"American Idol is dead!"

While completely inaccurate, I have to admit that I saw the show's slow death this season. I genuinely had high hopes coming into Season 14 - given all the tease they did with this year's Top 24 with that awesome Feeling Good video - and it looked like it was going to be a legitimately fantastic season.

When the Top 24 was announced, I was ecstatic! When was the last time we saw a diverse and colorful set of contestants on this show? We had a fantastic performer with Qaasim Middleton, Joey Cook, Jax, Trevor Douglas and Shi Scott brought the quirk to the whole proceeding, while Tyanna Jones, Sarina-Joi Crowe, and Clark Beckham were seriously great technical vocalists. We had some marketable country teens with Maddie Walker and Riley Bria, some good balladeers with Rayvon Owen and Michael Simeon, a token guy with guitar Nick Fradiani, and the comeback kid, Savion Wright. There were also a couple of big personalities including Loren Scott and of course, Quentin Alexander.

But then, things went downhill from there. The themes remained old, the format sucked - those chairs were embarrassing - the twitter save seemed like an afterthought, Harry Connick Jr. annoyed the hell out of everyone, and then there's Daniel Seavey. These things could've been prevented, but they didn't and that caused the show to get cancelled. More on that in a couple of days as I gather my thoughts and get myself together.

As for the Top 2, it was better than I hoped. I would've liked maybe Joey Cook or Quentin Alexander to somehow make their way to the Finale, but we're left with two guys who, unsurprisingly, fit the checklist of what an American Idol should be based on it's dwindling demographic and base of the show.

That's not to say they weren't deserving because they seriously put up a show last night. By my count, Clark Beckham won the Finale by a hair with two rounds under his belt. But, the Finale tends to be an unpredictable affair as Nick Fradiani closed the show with a VERY strong case for himself.

The momentum is clearly in Nick's court, and while Clark has been the frontrunner since the beginning, I can actually see Nick pull an upset. At this point, we are looking at two people, one with a future and another with a mission. So, who will it be?

My record on predicting the winner has been awful since Season 11, but I'll give it a try again. I've been rallying behind Clark for so long and his body of work throughout the season was far better than Nick, but based just on the Winner's Single performance, Nick Fradiani came out looking like an artist, while Clark looked like a karaoke singer.

So yes, I will once again root for the "underdog" like what I did with with Jessica Sanchez, Jena Irene, and Kree Harrison, Nick Fradiani is American Idol Season 14 Winner.

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