dual*ities

Carrie Underwood might have convinced most of America that she’s the brightest star in American Idol this season. But to me (and I believe, to many others), Bo Bice IS the real deal. He may have been outvoted, but definitely not outclassed.

The thing is, Bo is not your usual idol-wannabe. He knows how to take risks, but at the same time remain true to who he is as an artist…a rock star through and through! Plus, he has an awesome stage presence that instantly engages his audience whenever he performs. His a cappella rendition of In A Dream a week ago is a shining example of what he is capable of. Moreover, he seems to be a genuine, down-to-earth person, but one who has experienced the world enough so as not to make the mistake of letting anyone just walk all over him. He is a class act indeed!

But America has decided. And it did not go for Bo. Oh well.

Throughout the course of the day, I've already heard all sorts of hypotheses on why Bo lost from different sources (i.e. friends, family, the Internet). But I think that ultimately, the deciding factor was that the original “Idol” songs this year (i.e. The Long, Long Road and Inside Your Heaven), which Bo had to sing for the final showdown, just weren’t all that good. The songs were just “blah,” and definitely not suited for him. It’s like, the composers just took a couple of cliché lines, threw them altogether, then put on some not-quite rock, not-quite country melody—and voila, they have a song! Or not. And what perplexed me even more about that final showdown was the fact that Bo was stuck singing those two crappy original songs, whereas Carrie got to choose a popular song (Guy Sebastian’s Angels Brought Me Here) for her last number. What was up with that? Anyway, I think that the better song selection for Carrie, in combination with the hint of vulnerability she displayed that evening, clinched the title for her. (I won’t even go into the various conspiracy theories pertaining to the selection of the winner. They are, after all, just specious rumors at this point.)

On the upside, at least Bo wouldn’t be forced to have Inside Your Heaven as his carrier single for his solo album. For that, I let out a sigh of relief. Hehehe.

But just for the record, even if the said song actually became his carrier single, I’d probably still buy his album anyway.:) As he has proven in the final showdown, he could make even an undistinguished song sound inspired. And I do believe that it's gonna take more than a couple of poorly-written pieces to stop Bo from rocking on!