Yes, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are the final two contestants on American Idol 2009.  In a surprise ending, Danny Gokey did not make the final two as expected.  You could even see the thoughts of Kara DioGuardi as you could read her lips "Oh my God!"  When Simon was asked of his reaction to the results, he said to Kris, "your second song made you a contender".  Of course, Simon was referring to the song "Heartless" by Kanye West, which was the second song that Kris sang on Tuesday night.  Kris played the acoustical guitar in his rendition of the song, and Simon responded on Tuesday night by saying "it's all changed after that performance".  Certainly the first song that Kris played, "Apologize" by One Republic, was not very original, but "Heartless" was the song that clearly put him over the top.

The two songs that Danny Gokey sang on Tuesday night were "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker, and "Dance Little Sister" from Terence Trent D'Arby.  His first song, "Dance Little Sister", was not a memorable performance, but his second song was a heartfelt and stirring rendition of "You Are So Beautiful".  Simon commented, "it was a vocal masterclass", and Paula stated, "you left all of us breathless", while Kara was left with, "stunning, amazing".  Danny has been a long time favorite for the final two, and it had appeared that he had it in the bag, until Kris completed his rendition of Heartless shortly after Danny completed his second song.  They were actually pretty evenly matched, and it may be that if Danny had followed Kris instead of Kris after Danny, then the outcome may have swayed toward Danny instead.  Placement in this show is always important, as the average viewer typically may develop the impression that the shows build toward the end of the show.  That old saying, saving the best for last, tends to be a more common outcome in today's culture.

 

Adam Lambert sang the song "One", written by U2, followed by the Aerosmith song "Cryin"".  Simon was concerned that people might just assume Adam had it made to the finals, and not turn in the votes, so he stated "I encourage people to vote because of your talent".  Kara stated "amazing, we'll see you at the finals".  Clearly, Adam has been the strongest contestant throughout the entire season, and he is the favorite to win it all.  In reality, whether it was Danny or Kris, neither of the two of them had much of a chance to beat Adam in the finals.  Adam has been a standout all along, and his professionalism and capability of remaking a classic song into his own outstanding rendition has put him head and heals above the rest of the contestants.

 

So now we know, the final will be Adam and Kris, and not Adam and Danny as expected.  Although it was a long shot for Kris to make it to the finals over Danny, it will be a really long shot, or maybe the upset of the year, for Kris to be able to knock off Adam in the final.  Don't get me wrong, Kris is very talented, and he will likely succeed in his own record development, but beating Adam in the final would be a tremendous upset.

Road To The Final Two