<p>I watched Idol faithfully this season but am not bothering to tune into the finale. Scotty will win- we already know that. Neither Scotty or Lauren were ever my favorites. I loved Hayley, Casey, and Pia. So, that’s that.</p>
<p>Okay I am watching and this final song of Lauren’s – oh barf, oh barf. All about how much she wants to be like her mother. Yuck!</p>
<p>West Coast here. Probably won’t watch. I have a new book and given that two of the last three posts use the word barf I get the idea that I won’t be missing much.</p>
<p>Was watching the rerun of last night’s DWTS. Didn’t even realize AI was on. Big yawn.</p>
<p>I’ll admit it - I watched and I liked it (except for that Coke song in the middle - what was that?) The judges are pushing Lauren big time but I would not be surprised if Scotty wins. I like them both. I’m glad they gave up on that singing the same song thing. This year the last songs were written especially for them and it was a big improvement.</p>
<p>No matter who wins, I think they should tour together. Their duets were some of the best songs on the show. David Cook sounded pretty good at the end too. Off to vote now…</p>
<p>West Coaster. I DVR’d it and will watch later when I can ffd to my heart’s content. Not nearly as interested in it, though, as I am in catching The Voice later.</p>
<p>Okay, I am really liking Scotty in his final song (the one that would be his single if he wins… or maybe even if he doesn’t??). I’m not a country fan, but this song has real crossover potential imo. I think he nailed this one.</p>
<p>I thought it was very bad of the judges to all but announce Lauren the winner at the end…then to backtrack and say ‘oh yea, it’s so close…I don’t know’. I’m not a true fan of either, but Scotty’s such a classy kid, he was so collected during that. After they just anointed Lauren I hate to see how she handles herself if Scotty wins. We saw how she lost it just being in the bottom three several weeks ago. She has the maturity factor of a…well, a very, very young girl. I so wish she were on here just a couple of years older. I do think she’s talented and will have a career no matter what, but I can not get past her immaturity. She always looks like she’s pretending. For me, she’s here just two years too soon…not that it matters.</p>
<p>And yes…it was great to see David Cook.</p>
<p>EDIT: To totally agree with busdriver in the post below. The song chosen for Lauren was an emotional hook. Not fair play at all. If Scotty had sung a love song to his momma and gave her a kiss during the performance maybe the judges would have said something different. It may backfire. I would not have voted. I did, for Scotty…to counteract the judges.</p>
<p>Interesting the way that two of the judges really pushed Lauren as the winner. As if, after all this time, you can forget everything that you’ve heard in the past and just vote on this one performance. People have made up their minds before this show, and neither did fantastic nor awful, so it will fall with whom people have already decided on. I think Scotty was clearly ahead going into this, and the one last song at the end that Lauren sounded very good on (it was a far better song, chosen for them) is not going to make a bit of difference.</p>
<p>The song given Lauren was, in effect, a staged tearjerker. It made her. But Scotty made his song.</p>
<p>I’m more annoyed with the judges than ever the way they basically tried to hand it to Lauren - based on what? Well, if the Mom vote is a biggie… she wins it.</p>
<p>I truly hope Scotty does. Now that it is down to these two, it seems to me he has been strong the whole way and deserves it.</p>
<p>But… oh well…</p>
<p>Well, I wasn’t going to watch AI (not a country fan), but what the heck–I’ve been watching all season and I do like to finish what I start. I figured that Scotty had the whole thing wrapped up!</p>
<p>Was I pleasantly surprised! Lauren came on strong and I agree with the judges for a change.</p>
<p>Round 1–Scotty’s song was better and was the best song of the night. Lauren’s was pretty good though.</p>
<p>Round 2–Thanks for nothing, George Strait. Your song did nothing for Scotty. Carrie Underwood, you rock. Your song pick helped Lauren win round 2.</p>
<p>Round 3–Once again, song selection for Scotty did NOT wow me. I actually liked Lauren’s song, as cheesy as it was. Maybe it’s just the mom in me…my mom always had my back.</p>
<p>Basically, Lauren’s singing and material were better tonight than Scotty’s. Whether that will be enough to overcome the Cute White Boy vote is another matter. And whether of not Scotty deserves it based on a season’s worth of performances is another matter. </p>
<p>But tonight–Lauren took the day for me…and I hadn’t expected that.</p>
<p>I wonder how long is Lauren’s career going to last if she has already damaged her vocal chords at age 16.</p>
<p>^I agree with blue and bus… the judges play the “neutral” card ALL season long and then, on the FINAL sing-off, (Tyler and Lopez) lobby for Lauren? The time to differentiate was much earlier on, NOT on the final night of the competition. Even opinionated Simon was smart enough to keep it somewhat neutral during the critical final night.</p>
<p>If AI wanted the judges to be neutral, they should NOT have Ryan Seacrest ask the question–“Well, who do you think should win it?” Plus I think the judges have been all Scotty, all the way, all season. But even Jennifer Lopez couldn’t say at the end that Scotty should win it based on Tuesday’s performances and it was killing her! The best she could do was call it a toss up…</p>
<p>Last night’s show left a bad taste in my mouth. After a whole season of Steven: “It was beautiful. You’re beautiful, just beautiful.” and Randy: “(Insert name here) is IN IT TO WIN IT!!!” and JLo: “I liked it, mami (or papi)” NOW they decide to say something of substance and annoint Lauren???</p>
<p>I think it was all a ploy to increase Lauren’s vote, though I’m not sure why. Either she’s 1) woefully behind and they want to say it was close, or 2) for some reason they really do want her to win.</p>
<p>I didn’t watch the whole thing but did see the final two songs and thought they were SO much better than the bland, triumphant songs they used to make both people sing. Personally, the mama song irritated me, and I’m a mom. My 16yo hated it. I liked Scotty’s better.</p>
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<p>Or maybe her singing and her material were just better…</p>
<p>I agree that they shouldn’t have asked the judges at the end who should win. I think they should have left it at --Scotty Round 1; Lauren Round 2; America, you decide after Round 3. The way they did it was dumb, but then this is my first season of AI and so I’m not used to the way Ryan Seacrest sucks big time.</p>
<p>Actually, I think that the judges admitting that Lauren did a better job will work for Scotty. Now his fan base will be texting their little fingers away–no complacency for them.</p>
<p>I did not watch, so she might have been better last night. Maybe they are desperate to have a female winner again. :)</p>
<p>Like I said, I didn’t watch the whole show so I’m not saying Lauren wasn’t better, but any given week there have been one or two that were better but everyone got treated pretty much the same. Milquetoast all season and then finally having an opinion in the finale is what I didn’t like.</p>
<p>We watched a bit last night and I thought it was just boring. I agree with those above that it was a ploy to get Lauren more votes by saying she was the winner. Does anyone remember all of the vocal problems Jordan Sparks had after AI? I think she was 17 or 18 when she won. If Lauren is blowing out vocal cords now I think she has problems ahead of her when she is touring and singing more songs each show.</p>
<p>On a side note my niece had tickets for yesterday’s taping of AI and was unable to go and no one else she knew was interested in them. That tells you how exciting this season has been.</p>
<p>I recall the ex-judges also being asked, and saying, who they thought would win on the last show. I think they got it wrong a lot----Adam Lambert year??
I just know country fans are in a quandary. I loved the mommy song way better than Scotty’s…but Scotty is the better performer, from a maturity level if nothing else.</p>