(Disclaimer: This is an entirely fan-girl post. So please refrain from squirming or rolling your eyes, cos I already warned you.)

For the past few weeks, I’ve been religiously watching American Idol and getting myself charmed by a little fella who really didn’t strike me as a star initially, mostly because he didn’t share the same screen time in the lead up to the Top 12, nor the swagger and charisma as this other guy who has been screeching his way to the top. But week after week, he continues to impress me with his musical artistry (as one of the judges love to put it) and show the world that he’s not just a singer, but a real musician at heart. And that’s exactly what I like about Kris Allen.

At first, I wasn’t too keen on this season’s Idol cos no one really stood out. Matt Giraud came close cos I was blown away by his performance in the Hollywood round but the others who were constantly featured were off my radar as their voices didn’t quite sit well with me. Then the Top 36 came along and when I heard that some dude wanted to sing Man In The Mirror (a song I can put on repeat for hours), I had to sit up and take notice. And whaddya know, it was not bad.

So I started looking forward to Matt & Kris, with the former disappointing me more each week, and the latter rising up the ranks. Then Kris performed 2 songs that completely did it for me. His interpretation of Ain’t No Sunshine was pretty damn spectacular and sealed his position as the dark horse of the competition. And because he still needed to win me over (heheh), two weeks later, he performed a very heartfelt rendition of one of the most beautiful songs ever written – Falling Slowly. I first fell in love with this song when I saw the movie Once, and for weeks, I couldn’t get the song out of my head. I played it every day; I had it on repeat, so when Kris didn’t ruin it for me and somehow made me love the song even more, it said a whole lot.

Now in the Top 3, Kris reinforced his artistry (there’s that word again!) with this bold but amazing take on Kanye West’s Heartless (no kidding) which got everyone talking.

At this stage, I don’t care if he doesn’t win, cos I know he’s gonna get a decent record deal and people are gonna buy his albums. In fact, like last season with David Cook, I’d actually prefer if he didn’t win, cos I think the label of “American Idol winner” doesn’t give any one a whole lotta brownie points in the “street cred” department… But that’s just me.

Ahh… memories:

As an only child, Ernie & friends were my best babysitters. They taught me everything I needed to know growing up. I could sing and count to 12, I knew all about prepositions, I knew how crayons were made and I was constantly exposed to the news. Even my parents understood the educational value of the programme and never prevented me from watching Sesame Street.

So when I saw this, I was partly surprised they were addressing this issue, but also impressed with how Sesame Street was being so relevant. Perhaps I was too young, but to me the show always seemed like a utopia of sorts. Everyone was happy, people never fought over issues like social class or racism. But then I also remembered that the show had to deal with the death of Mr Hooper and it became clear why Sesame Street had to touch on this issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After all, the show is focused on educating children, not just academically but also on the various aspects of life. And with so many soldiers coming back from the war, it was necessary to teach the kids about the changes they’ll have to face. After all that these military families have had to go through, having this sort of televised support will show the many kids affected that they’re not alone in this, and that everything will be okay in the end.

Now if only the other kids around the world can watch this too.

Okay, I’m confused. Was this performance really as great as the judges seemed to think?

I mean, is it just me or was he screaming the entire song? Then again, I’ve never quite agreed with the judges but I simply couldn’t believe even Cowell was raving about this. On a different note, this one, I liked:

I’m thinking this guy has some talent and I’m rooting for him to win. And the Dirty Diana chick? Man, she was pretty good too. But what did the judges say? That she was over singing it. Um, yeaaahhh.

Let’s hope Screaming Broadway Dude doesn’t win. Fingers crossed!