AI8: All this Kris vs Adam brouhaha

Just like last year, I stand corrected.

Last year, I said TCO David Archuleta would win over David Cook. Last week, I said TCO Adam Lambert would no doubt win this over Kris Allen.

On both instances, I was proven wrong.

I've gone through pages and pages of post-AI8 opinions and I have so much going on in my mind right now about this season. So to prevent myself from rambling on about it all, I'll confine my post to bullet points (actually it's just an excuse because I can't make a coherent blog post about this hehe).

• I am truly, genuinely happy that Kris Allen won this year. I'm happy for Adam Lambert, too, because he showed how much of a friend and sport he is - he seemed really happy for Kris, too (whether it was a just a front doesn't matter - he appeared every bit of a gentleman when results were announced).
  
  
• I think Kris is this season's Elliott Yamin - just some kid from nowhere, no prior experience, no prior exposure, whose humility is so heartwarming and admirable. Maybe that's why the voters could relate to him - he's just like us, they'd say. Did I hear it right, he actually asked Ryan Seacrest, "Are you freakin' serious?!" Ewan, parang narinig ko yun when I watched the replay last night. Love how he was SPEECHLESS about the whole thing, much like how David Archuleta was amazed with all the attention he was getting last season.
  
  
• It's quite sad that a good lot of online opinion tends toward Kris winning not because of his own merit but because of anti-Adam sentiments. Kris won because Adam was gay. Kris won because Danny Gokey's fans voted for him. Kris won because people thought he could use the title more than Adam needed it. Di ba pwedeng Kris won because a good part of the voters had the same taste in music as Kris and actually liked his performances over Adam's?
  
  
• Also, we can't condemn people because they prefer pop rock over glam rock, could we? Minsan kasi sa forum na binabasa ko, some people think their musical taste is so much superior than others, and get so riled up at Kris fans because Kris's music is laid back and simple and background music at best (according to them). Of course everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but hopefully not at the expense of demeaning others. I admit I've felt the same before, and voiced out my opinion, too. But now I realize: too each his own. So now I say down with the holier-than-thou attitude!
  
  
• MY opinion is this: I'm a big rock fan - I'm open to all kinds of rock (and most kinds of music, actually), though I prefer the noisier ones, the more angsty ones. But somehow, I choose Kris's pop over Adam's glam. And it's not the subgenre that affects my decision, but the singers' delivery. Kris keeps it cool, changes things up a bit, and I love the way he moves with his guitar (the facial expressions don't bother me much). Adam's always exciting, but for me it's mostly over-the-top. I like screaming in rock songs, a la Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), but Adam's high notes for me are just like Regine Velasquez's or Celine Dion's or Charice Pempengco's birit. And there's too much of it. If you string together his performances, it's just like one long song; I can't imagine myself sitting through a concert full of those high notes (though I admit an Adam Lambert show would be interesting to watch).
  
  
• On a personal level, I (and maybe Kris's voters) can relate more to Kris Allen's humility. What I mean is that I've never had Adam's FTW ambition. I'd rather stay low-key, and if people appreciate what I do, then good. I hate that in competitions, there has to be a loser. I guess I was never trained to be competitive, hehe. I also understand that others would prize Adam's ambition, and I recognize that that is actually Adam's best asset. He believes in himself, he knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it. I just hope that each of these singers' strengths would serve them well as they build up their careers hereafter.
  
  
• Speaking of their careers, predictions abound that Adam will outsell Kris, like Chris Daughtry did Taylor Hicks, or Jennifer Hudson compared to Fantasia. And maybe I'm saying this because I prefer Kris's performances than Adam's, but I hope people would stop wishing ill on Kris just to say I-told-you-so. Maybe for some, it's just an honest, no-malice prediction, but for other posts I've seen, the comment reeks with bitterness, hehe.
  

Well, so much for NOT rambling :D But anyway, I, like most bloggers, just wanted to say my piece.

Bottomline is, I just hope people would be happy for Kris and Adam. Heck, they themselves and their families seem happy for each other! I think the fans need to move on :P