Of course most people here won’t admit it, but it most definitely was a Christian vs. other thing. The same thing happened with David Archuleta. My non-denominational friend said he wouldn’t vote for a Mormon.
It has nothing to to do with it. I got to the American Idol forums, many non Christians really liked Adam but were getting very frustrated with his singing. They hated the screeching and found it eventually boring and upsetting. Many started out preferring Adam, but changed their mind.
As for Kris, while Adam was annoying people, Kris was picking up fans because he was quitely doing some very original performances every night. Kris is the exact opposite of Adam. Whereas Adam is a showman, Kris is very understated. But he did some very beautiful performances. And he won rave reviews from a lot of the mentors and critics during the season. Many fans were upset because they felt Kris and Allison were never given the credit they deserved for how good they were.
Billboard actually argued that Kris was more marketable than Adam because of Kris’ more radio friendly style.
Also, Kris music was selling a lot more than Danny’s was. He was gaining fans, quitely.
I was torn on who to vote for Kris or Adam. I chose Kris only because I’m more likely to buy his cd, and that was a decision a lot of people made. They loved Adam, would see him on a Broadway play, but felt that the music Adam was presenting on the show was not music they were likely to buy… .It was very frustrating to them because they did like Adam.
I think Kris won because America decided they liked Kris’s musical style better. As for Danny, he was kind of Karoke and one note. He never did anything very original… To be quite frank, and I think he was done after the Dream On performance.
Kris does not have the voice that Adam, Danny, or Allison had when it comes to range. But what he impressed people with his subtlety and nuance and the emotion he could put into his music, which would touch people’s hearts. Ann Powers who was a Lambert fan, mentioned that Kris had his own special magic when it came to that. Kris didn’t need dry ice.
I think there were many turning points for Kris. If you look on Television Without Pity, the forum writer refored to Kris as Pocket Idol. She started out loving Adam but by the end of Heartless, said oh my gosh I love him more than Adam. That’s essentially the journey a lot of people took on this show.
But turning points for him were Ain’t No Sunshine, and I think a huge one was Falling Slowly. Kris got huge musical credibility for picking an Indy song and takin the risk of doing that instead of doing a popular song. Many people just grew to love Kris’ taste in music. And felt they’d love an album he made.
I didn’t vote for Kris because he was a Christian, but I actually think Kris winning American Idol is one of those destiny things. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think that this was suppose to happen. And I think the guy is more talented than he’s given credit for…
As for Adam, it will all depend on what type of music Adam chooses to do. I think if Adam goes the glam rock/Axel Rose style singing, I don’t see him as being as big as Simon thinks he’ll be. If Adam tones it down, Adam will be HUGE. I think that Adam should just do what he loves to do.