World Idol Results
Hooray for Kurt! I was predicting his victory all week based on the buzz from the ‘Net. Too bad for Guy, but he really didn’t choose the best song to show off. I don’t think he’ll mind losing very much though (as opposed to Kelly and Will, who both looked a little shell-shocked to see some of their scores). I was happy to see how well Peter did but a little surpisred that Ryan didn’t score more highly. I guess protest folk songs don’t play too well outside the western hemisphere. Read on for more commentary from myself and the Snook.Me: “Elton John? He hasn’t been a legitimate popular music star in, like…”
Snook: “Twenty years!”
Me: “What the hell is up with the Pan Arabic scores? Did they try to use my super sneaky voting strategy?”
Snook: “I think they messed up and voted backwards.”
Snook: “Frickin’ Heinz again! Stupid fourteen-year-olds voting…”
Me: “Heinz. Winkler. Two names no person should ever have.”
Me: “Alex looks like your nephew Kurt on a bad hair day. She’s like a toddler who can’t grow proper hair yet.”
We had an interesting debate over whether Shannon Noll (the Aussie runner-up) would’ve gotten more votes than Guy. On the technical side, he’s just not a great singer. He doesn’t move really well on stage. But on the “x factor” side, he’s kinda cute in a big-white-guy-with-a-soul-patch kinda way. He definitely would’ve been more what people expected as the “Aussie” Idol (i.e. way more Steve Irwin than Guy). He probably would’ve worn jeans and sang “Workin’ Class Man”, for example. So I reckon he would’ve picked up the teenage girl vote, plus the Crocodile Hunter and country music fans. As much as it pains me to say it, I think he’d have scored higher overall.
Lastly, I’m still not getting the Will Young thing. He’s just so… weird-looking.
Max
January 2, 2004 — 11:58 pm
Kris–I jumped online and emailed you and Beau as soon as the results were announced over here, but I made sure to hide my glee in my subject line (look at me being considerate!)…
You’re right–Kelly and Will (poor misunderstood Will) looked pretty surprised at their performance. Their expressions reminded me of seeing the super-smart kids in class who get a B on a test for the first time (believe me, I know the pain behind that look).
I’m intrigued by the “Shannon instead of Guy” theory, as Shannon might have stolen some of Kurt’s “just a regular bloke” aura and affected the scores. Still, Kurt looked genuinely flabbergasted to have won, which was just too sweet. And Ant and Dec–cute as always! 🙂 I thought World Idol was going to be heinous and embarrassing for all involved, but I’m surprised at how much I got into it. I wonder if they’ll do it next year.
Max
January 3, 2004 — 12:00 am
Oh, and plus we got Posh Spice (who looked surprisingly attractive as she lip-synched) and Sir Elton singing “Are You Ready for Love”! It was a silly UK pop bonanza–I was in heaven!
Beau
January 3, 2004 — 5:50 am
I was THRILLED to watch Kurt keep getting number one in the scores and then the pan to Kelly who didn’t know WHAT to think or how to hide her shock.
I’m a bit surprised about Peter gaining so much support. I thought he was good and I have nothing against a rocker winning Idol, I just thought there were better performances. I’m REALLY surprised at how poorly Ryan did. I thought he had a GREAT performance and if you’re going with the theory that looks don’t matter that much (though honestly, while youth isn’t my thing, I’d friggin’ KILL for a jaw-line like that). I’m pleasantly suprised at how much support Diana got worldwide and how obviously bad Alexander was except for Poland who thought he was a winner. I’m Polish and embarassed.
All in all, I’m all about Kurt. I hope this exposure opens his album sales up internationally. I’m still into buying his stuff.
Wouldn’t you think Elton John with all his money and whatnot would at least get some lipo or whatnot? He was seriously starting to look like Roy Orbison sitting there, hardly moving, singing behind dark glasses. And wasn’t that roach-clip ear-ring thing done back in 1984? I think someone is having a mid-life crisis.
Max
January 3, 2004 — 6:38 am
Yeah–the legendary Elton John vanity seemed like it was missing, didn’t it? The Roy Orbison comparison is very apt…I remember thinking, as soon as the camera began swooping in on him, “Wow, he’s starting to look old even from far away.” Not a good sign. His voice is still pretty good, though. At least he wasn’t miming like Posh.
And I bet a lot of the Peter support came as backlash against the judges who took him to task for not “keeping it real.”
Kris
January 3, 2004 — 10:11 am
I got your e-mail, Max, but it may surprise you to learn that you USians were, like, the LAST in the world to know! 🙂 We had the show on here at 6:30 in the morning to catch the results live from London. I slept through it of course, so I checked the ‘Net as soon as I got up. I was surprised that Yahoo News didn’t have the story right away… I guess they were suppressing the spoiler for you folks. (Now if only they could do that for frickin’ Survivor for us!) The Aussie news sites had the results though. They replayed the show later that night at 7:30 which is when we finally saw it. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
Somehow the Snook and I managed to miss the Posh Spice bit. We wondered if it had been cut for commercials. Any Aussies know? It’s equally as possible that we just weren’t paying attention…
By the way – what order did they perform in for you guys? Was it the order they recapped them in the results show (i.e. Guy sang second)? Because that’s not how we got ’em. They cut Guy’s bit moved him to, like, fourth from the end. I think that’s why I was a little surprised at his showing. I mean, he was pretty good. If he was second, though, it explains a lot. There’s just no way you’d even remember him after all those that came afterwards. To start the show, you’ve gotta do something outgrageous (like the deluded but memorable Alexander).
And yeah, Sir Elton wasn’t looking so great. He’s been coasting for a long time… first on the whole Princess Diana thing, and then jumping in with Eminem a few years back to prolong his “cultural relevance”. I just wish he’d put on some funky glasses and sing Crocodile Rock.
kate
January 3, 2004 — 3:38 pm
We got up and watched it at 6:30 and we saw the Posh Spice bit.
However, I did get the impression from both shows that there was one version taped and then each country edited it as they saw fit. According to my sister, who is an idol know-it-all, in the original taping, guy actually sang last. It makes comments regarding comparisons, ie “You’re the best voice we’ve heard tonight” type thing, totally out of context if they didn’t even show them in the order they actually sang. PLus, we were wondering how many/which comments everyone else saw… If EVERYONE got the hobbit one dicko made, I think that was a huge bonus for Kurt…
Shmuel
January 3, 2004 — 5:51 pm
In the U.S. version, the broadcast order of performances was Alexander, Guy, Ryan, Jamai, Heinz, Alex, Diana, Kelly, Peter, Will. I’ve also been wondering who got which judges’ comments… in the States, we got to see every judge’s opinion on Kelly, but only a few for any other contestant… (For a full recap of the U.S. version, minus Ant & Dec banter with contestants, go here.)
Also, Poland ranked Alexander in seventh place, so no need to be embarrassed, Beau. The only ones to rank him highly were the Pan-Arabic voters, who put him in first. I’ve got full stats on the voting here, if that helps.
(Oh, and hi. My name is Shmuel, and I live in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. I found this journal last week while looking for other perspectives on World Idol, and I think I’m hooked now.)
Shmuel
January 3, 2004 — 5:54 pm
Oops. To the list of performances in the U.S. version, add “Kurt” at the end. Sorry about that.
Kris
January 3, 2004 — 10:01 pm
Ah, thanks Shmuel. They definitely tweaked the order for the Australian show. If I recall correctly, we had Alexander, Jamai, Diana, Alex, Heinz, Peter, Ryan, Guy, Kelly, Will, and Kurt. (I might have mixed up a few in the middle.) It’s like they figured we’d all turn the channel after the favorites went so they packed them all into the end. As far as judges comments go, I think we pretty much got the same ones listed on that recap you linked. We didn’t get Kelly’s additional comments though.
Guy’s result now makes much more sense to me. Putting him near the front would’ve just killed any chance he had with such an unmemorable song…
(And thanks for introducing yourself! I’m actually a transplanted American. You know, I was in Boston about six months ago… Mmm, chowda. 🙂 )
Frekk
January 6, 2004 — 9:13 am
Hi! I saw the final of world idol. As a Norwegian i think it was cool that Kurt did win, and i like his voice. But i’m not a big fan. If you are into listening what he has done you should search for the band Fenrik Lane. That was his music before he entered the idol, and it’s quite good.
Kris
January 6, 2004 — 10:18 am
Hi Frekk. Yeah, another Norwegian commented about his band on my previous World Idol post. I haven’t listened to them yet but they got some good reviews from other commenters!