American Idol Recap Rewind, Rewound

First of all, the vote totals are absolutely astounding. Did I hear Ryan say 85 million? There were 130 million votes cast in the 2008 presidential election. I know people can vote more than once on AI, but that is still a remarkable statistic.

Run down after the jump.

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Danny’s profile: Man, Milwaukee really came out for Danny. People are running, crying, making all sorts of Midwestern noises. There are inappropriately dressed 7th grade cheerleaders hugging a 30 year old man. He has a black best friend! It’s all too, too perfect. I’m a bit concerned about Conway.

Kris’ profile: Holy cow, that’s a lot of people. I bet Conway hasn’t seen a crowd that big since the last Klan rally. They did a good job, but not the tear-jerker Milwaukee pulled off. The most touching moment was Kris hugging his father. He could have done that in LA. Funny that the Conway planners threw Kris’ wife in the parade with him. They must not have gotten the memo.

Music interlude. Fun fact: the first time Catjjy and I ever left the Cha with a babysitter was to go see the Season 6 AI tour, starring this chick (and my looky-likey, Phil Stacey). We didn’t even watch the show back then, but our friend’s company had a corporate suite, and we wanted to check that out. The AI tour is actually really terrible. The performers are very busy trying to cut their own record deal and record their own songs. Nobody wants to be in Houston on a Sunday night, singing Extreme covers for a half-packed basketball arena of 14 year old girls.

Adam’s profile: Here’s the thing about California: we all have something better to do. Who is going to go to some huge parade to see an AI star when you can just go to Fred Segal and see Nicole Kidman shopping for t-shirts? Or better yet, go hike or surf or get tweaked on meth? It’s not surprising that he can’t pull a 30,000 person event like the other two.

Music interlude II: Whoa! Look at Katy Perry (aka, the Flavor of the Month)! What a costume! What a showman! This is a fine reminder that one does not need to be a fantastic singer to be an entertaining pop star. There is hope for Kris yet.

Finale: Kris made it! I had him going out right after Scott “The Blind Guy” McIntyre. And Adam made it!! Thank goodness. I’m not sure we would watch an Adam-less final.

See you on the Shaker Heights wedding circuit, Danny.