Does Allen Have What It Takes For 'Idol?'
"American Idol" is down to three and I'm sticking with my earlier prediction that Kris Allen will win this year's title.
The wholesome 23-year-old choir boy from Conway, Ark., drew an estimated 20,000 screaming fans during his recent "Idol" homecoming trip. You can see the fan reaction on the "Idol" performance show at 8 tonight on Fox.
He's not the best entertainer left on the show. Adam Lambert, 27, from Los Angeles, and Danny Gokey, 28, from Milwaukee, might be a tad better. But Allen is cuter. And that goes a long way with the teens who speed dial the votes.
I'm also guessing that Allen will pick up many of the teen supporters of Allison Iraheta, the red-haired rocker who exited last week.
Here's another factor: the number of votes in the finale is usually double that of earlier weeks as casual fans get into the action (sort of like those causal sports fans who watch the World Series or the Super Bowl). The voting time also extends to four hours instead of two and that benefits contestants with the youngest fan base.
Allen wins basically because no one really dislikes him while Lambert and Gokey have intensely loyal fans as well as those who passionately oppose them.
For tonight's show, Lambert, a glam rocker and favorite of the judges, visited his San Diego high school and performed for a few thousand cheering fans.
Gokey sang gospel songs to a much smaller crowd at the Milwaukee church where his wife's funeral was held. His wife, Sophia, died during surgery for a congenital heart defect four weeks before he auditioned for the show. His religious fan base and support from the judges have helped him stay in the competition. But he could be going home this week.
Coincidently, tonight marks the 300th episode of "Idol" and it's wrapping up next week without much controversy. Although judges Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul have said they aren't sure if they'll be back for another season, the whole panel will be back for 2010, according to Simon Cowell, king of the judges.
VIDBITS:
•The season finale of NBC's "Biggest Loser" runs for three hours tonight. Still in the running at the beginning of the program are Tara Costa, 23, a plus-size model from Bethpage, N.Y.; Helen Phillips, 47, a homemaker from Sterling Heights, Mich.; and the father and son team of Ron (54) and Mike Morelli (18) of South Lyon, Mich. Costa has lost 135 pounds, more than any female contestant in the show's history.
• ABC has picked up two new series for the fall. "Fast Forward," is a sci-fi thriller about what happens after the entire world's population has a 2-minute and 17 second vision of what life will be like in 2031. And "Modern Family" is a comedy about three America families whose lives are being recorded for a Dutch documentary series.
• A new possible guilty pleasure "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" debuts at 11 tonight on Bravo. These ladies have "Sopranos" accents and are about as tough.
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