Last night the worship leader from Conway, Arkansas pulled off what might be the biggest upset in American Idol history when he beat out the glam rocker from San Diego, Adam Lambert for the title of American Idol.
Allen spent much of the season in the shadow of fellow worship leader Danny Gokey, who was favored to go to the finals with Lambert. Gokey’s poignant personal story – his wife passed away just four months before he auditioned for the show – helped propel him to the finals.
But as the weeks progressed, Allen proved that his ability to interpret songs was a stronger asset than either Gokey’s soulful vocals and poignant personal back story or Lambert’s big rock vocals and theatrical stage persona.
This has been a season with more than a little spiritual edge, with six of the top 13 contestants having ties to Christian music and the church. Michael Sarver sings with his church’s praise team in Jasper, Texas; Matt Giraud has released two independent Christian music CDs; Scott MacIntyre is a seasoned performer who’s has appeared on the “Hour of Power” and sings with his family’s gospel qroup; and Lil Rounds is active in her home church. Gokey led worship at his home church, Faith Builders International, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before he moved to Nashville to pursue his music career; and Allen leads worship at his home church, New Life Church in Conway, Arkansas.
And it isn’t the first time Christian singers have competed on American Idol. Jordin Sparks had won several Gospel Music Association competitions before her Season 6 win. Chris Daughtry, George Huff, RJ Helton, Mandisa, Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey and Melinda Doolittle were all Christians artists who went on to have either Christian or mainstream music careers.
Although he’s not the first Christian to win the show, Allen does make history another way: on September 26, 2008, he married longtime girlfriend Katy O’Connell Allen, making him the first married contestant to win American Idol.
The video above is Allen singing the first Idol single, this year co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi. If you missed last night’s results show, the performance show on Tuesday, or any of the episodes, you can catch them here on the Gospel Soundcheck blog. I blogged live every week, giving you the play by play and commentary.
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posted May 21, 2009 at 10:41 am
Glad Kris won.
The poor guy, though, will have to live in the shadow of “It should have been Adam,” for a while. Even though I think Danny and Allison are both better singers, at least we were spared the spectacle of Adam winning the contest and going on to basically having a Taylor Hicks-like career. I think his niche is Broadway, where he’ll do just fine – after all, he’s been drssing for the stage all through this season…..
posted May 21, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I was not surprised. Kris is more AI material than Adam. For what Adam wants to achieve, originality, creativity and pushing the limit–AI is not the venue for him. The exposure was all that he needed from Idol. Now being in second place, he will be free to pursue his own music in a shorter amount of time. I think Adam and the Idols in the Top 5 especially will have a promising career.
posted May 21, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Mia, I read yesterday that the company that handles the Idol franchise are probably excercising their options to sign both Kris and Adam, and possibly other contestants. I think that means that they’re stuck there first until that contract has been fulfilled or they’ve been freed. That could be good or bad, depending on how much freedom they have to record what they want. From a musical, financial perspective, they’d be foolish to not let both artists make the records they want. But we’ll see!
Joanne
host of the GS blog
posted May 23, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Love this column and have enjoyed reading all the Idol pieces. I’m still processing the biggest upset ever. It sure was a nail-biter. Glad I didn’t turn to food to calm my anxiety!!!
Janice, a.k.a. Our Lady of Weight Loss
posted May 25, 2009 at 8:47 pm
LOL, thanks Janice! I added another fly in the ointment:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundcheck/2009/05/was-the-american-idol-result-r.html
Thanks for reading!!!
Joanne
host of the GS blog