After a decade-and-a-half run on television, American Idol has crowned its final winner—and to the surprise of no one, it is once again a white guy from the South.
The last-ever episode of the reality TV competition, which aired Thursday night, featured the final performances from La’Porsha Renae, a single mother from Mississippi who garnered comparisons to Aretha Franklin, and Trent Harmon, a professed farm boy who also hails from the same state.
My colleague Kate Dries argued why La’Porsha should (or now, in light of the final results, should have been) the next and last winner of American Idol:
“Talent is subjective, but La’Porsha is undeniably the biggest presence on Idol this season. She boasts a huge, soulful voice that has earned comparisons to Aretha Franklin. She’s also been outspoken about her history with domestic violence; her ex-husband, with whom she had her adorable 1-year-old daughter, Nayalee Kaya, was abusive, and La’Porsha broke up with him shortly before auditioning for Idol. Her performances have clearly come from an emotional place, and have sparked the same from the judges—Jennifer Lopez cried following La’Porsha’s performance of Mary J. Blige’s ‘No More Drama.’”
But alas, alas, alack.
While fans of La’Porsha have taken to Twitter to express their discontent over the Idol series finale, many have pointed out that the public’s decision doesn’t necessarily dictate who ends up with superstar status.
At least La’Porsha and Trent’s rendition of “It Takes Two,” which the Idol’s first finalists Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson sang at the end of the premiere season, was kind of cute?
Sorry, I mean:
Contact the author at jamie.reich@jezebel.com.
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