Idol - Final Two Perform ... Rigged???

Sorry - I didn't post this earlier but I was too mad at Idol!!   Read on and you'll understand why.

First, let’s discuss Lauren’s injured vocal chord.  Evidently she busted out a vocal chord; the doctor described it as a sprained muscle. She’s on some sort of medicine and I guess she can still sing.  But I thought it was a major way to gain her some sympathy votes.

Round One - Contestants' Choice

They chose their favorite song from the season to perform again.

Scotty chooses Gone.   I love country rocker Scotty, and he’s bringing the house down. Nice job.

Lauren chooses Flat On The Floor. So they’re both going for the fun, upbeat songs first.  Another smart choice, I like this song on her.  It’s a strong performance and America will like it.
Round One goes to Scotty. I thought he was stronger over all, but then he generally is.

Round Two: Celebrity Picks

Each contestant gets to choose a music icon to choose their song.
Scotty’s music hero is George Strait, and George chooses one of his own songs for Scotty to sing — Check Yes Or No. It’s a cute song and all, but it’s not going to win Scotty the coveted trophy.
  
Lauren chooses Carrie Underwood, who picks Maybe It Was Memphis for Lauren’s celebrity pick. It’s good, but  I think she’s just too young to really connect to this song.  But as usual, no one seems to notice.
That said, I’ll give Round Two to Lauren. I thought Scotty’s Round Two performance was a bit of a sleeper.

In fact, the whole show was a sleeper. Is it just me, or is this the lamest finale show in Idol history?

The judges finally speak!  And they agree — Scotty gets Round One and Lauren takes Round Two, and they really haven’t got much else to add (but what else is new?)

Round Three: The Next. Big. SINGLE! 

First I had to fast forward through some guy named Taio Cruz sing some repetitive hip hop number called Positive. 

Okay, getting on with it. Scotty’s new single, should he win the season, is called I Love You This Big. Uh-oh. I have a bad feeling about this. It actually started out great, but I kept waiting for it to go somewhere, well, BIG.  But it did not. Although I did like the high note at the end, and I like how it shows his range, I will not be downloading this from iTunes and I doubt anyone else will either.

Okay. So. Lauren’s big hit single is called Like My Mother Does.

Now HOW is Scotty supposed to compete with this? It seems like a set up to me. They give him some generic sleeper song and they give her this emotional Momma, America and Apple Pie number. She actually goes down to the audience and sings to her momma. Yeah, they might as well have brought out the confetti and saved themselves (and the rest of us) from the two-hour spectacle they’re promising us tonight.

The judges are pretty much handing the trophy to Lauren right here and now. Ya think they have a favorite in this competition? Couldn’t you tell?

So yeah, anyway, Round Three, and the Season 10 Idol crown just might go to Lauren Alaina.   I would really like to be surprised and see Scotty WIN as he well should but we'll see.