As I type this, I haven’t heard who won American Idol- but the show’s already been aired on the East Coast, so I just have to do a web search and I’ll find out.

It should be Jordin.

Actually, it should have been Melinda, because she’s a better singer, but let’s face it- American Idol is trying to find an idol, not necessarily “the best singer who doesn’t have a contract”. And an idol has to do a lot more than just be an awesome singer; in fact, singing ability drops down a bit in importance to “being photogenic” and having that charisma and star quality that our idols have.

This isn’t strictly a music thing. Sports is a form of entertainment. David Beckham is not the greatest soccer player of all time. He’s not even the best in England right now, and probably hasn’t been for most of his career- but the guy has incredible charisma, and one thing that he is very very good at (“set pieces”, or taking penalty kicks) is dramatic and draws more attention than, say, playing great defense or superb conditioning.

Plus he’s got a hot wife.

So Becks gets a ton of press while better players toll in more obscurity (and make less money.)

American Idol is like that.

After watching last night’s show, I’d give round 1 to Blake, round 2 to Jordin, and round 3- and the competition- to Jordin. Simon was right; the song that they both sang was so not-Blake that it’s probably not fair to judge him on that, but that’s how it goes.

UPDATE- I did the web search, and it’s Jordin. As expected. Blake will have a career, I think, but if I had to predict the longetivity of the final folks I’d say that Melinda will have the longest career, along with Lakisha. They’ll have much *smaller* careers but you can imagine both of them tearing up jazz clubs and blues festivals for decades.

Jordin will probably have a big career but she’s got some work to do. Despite having a big voice and loving those glory notes, she needs practice on vocal control and to pick the right songs. With the promotion and management she’ll likely get, her first album or two will be a big hit.

Blake is a weird one. I just don’t see how beatboxing sells records, but I CAN see him doing well performing live. He’s got a relatively thin voice but when he picks the right songs, he’s great- and he’s shown himself to be smart. Still, he seems very flavor-of-the-month to me, unless he gets into writing and producing more.