how it would do well for both contestants if nobody won "american idol"

i'm serious about that.

there's many great things about the voices and performances of katharine mcphee and taylor hicks. if left to their own devices, they're both gonna carve out really strong niches in their respective genres. katharine's going to sing some great r&b songs. taylor's gonna rock the southern blues circuit.

but in the hands of the songwriters that create the further careers of these two, well, they're just gonna be one more in a sea of pop crap.

the worst part of the finale show was the "original" songs they were given. there was absolutely no creativity or emotion or craft in any of them. they were purely cookie-cutter, with very little thought to accompaniment or arrangement. the lyrics were hokey and straightforward. the background muted. the musical storytelling nonexistant.

like i said, crap. pure crap.

it's a disservice to both of them, katharine mcphee in particular. it's not her fault. they were both bigger than their songs.

we are all bigger than those songs.

honestly, they couldn't have given them any more boring, generic and underwhelming songs for them to sing on the most important day of their lives. who's to say that their careers aren't gonna follow suit?

i'm just saying that, under the umbrella of "american idol", with the tepid and unoriginal craftmanship and songmaking, neither one is gonna see the success they've got the potential for.

that is, unless it's mediocrity they're aiming at. and i don't think they are.

they've got so much more than what their songwriters can give them.

and that's a shame.