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'Idol' Gets Interesting As 13 Finalists Take Stage

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By WALT BELCHER wbelcher

@tampatrib.com

Published: March 10, 2009

One theme of this year's "American Idol" fits in with the economic downturn. It's the season of the hard-luck story.

It's also the season where people of faith are moving from the church to the stage.

"Idol" often is a showcase for singers with blue-collar backgrounds from small towns. This year, some of the personal back stories are tear-jerkers.

Danny Gokey, a 28-year-old church music leader from Milwaukee, lost his wife, Sophia, after heart surgery last summer. Oddsmakers in Vegas pick him as the most likely to win.

Then there's oil rig roughneck Michael Sarver, 27, from Texas, a family man struggling to make ends meet. He also leads a worship team at his church.

Lil Rounds, 23, from Memphis, is a customer-service representative and mother of three who lost her home in a tornado last year.

Scott MacIntyre, 23, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is awe-inspiring. Nearly blind since birth, the classically trained singer-songwriter plays several instruments. He finished college at age 19, and has produced six CDs of his own work.

Another church worship leader is Kris Allen, 23, from rural Conway, Ark. He's a wild-card pick whom oddsmakers pick as the most likely to go home this week.

And so the 13 finalists take the stage tonight as "Idol" finally gets interesting. Look for any ratings slump to end when the first "Idol" winner, Kelly Clarkson, takes the stage on Wednesday night's results show.

Seven years after winning the title, Clarkson, 26, releases her fourth studio album, "All I Ever Wanted," today. She's performing her hit single "My Life Would Suck Without You," which sort of describes her relationship with "Idol."

In the past there was some friction between Clarkson and the executives who manage the "Idol" winners' recording careers. She also seemed to want to distance herself from the show that made her famous.

But all that is over now. She's coming home for a reunion that should boost album sales.

Also on Wednesday's results show, Kanye West will perform "Heartless" from his album "808s & Heartbreak."

As for the 13 finalists, judges have already compared two of them to Clarkson: Alexis Grace, 21, from Tennessee, who added a swash of pink to her blonde hair after judges asked her to "dirty up"; and Allison Irehata, 16, a red-haired teen with a big voice.

Grace also is a favorite of oddsmakers. Things could change as the competition unfolds but also expected to be strong contenders are Matt Giraud, 23, a dueling pianist from Kalamazoo, Mich., and flamboyant Adam Lambert, 23, from Los Angeles.

Among the most unlikely to win are Megan Corkrey, 22, from Utah; likeable Anoop Desai, 21, from North Carolina; Jasmine Murray, a 17-year-old beauty queen from Mississippi; and Latino heartthrob Jorge Nunez, 20, from Puerto Rico.

BUSHWHACKED: For those who want to kick that wacky Dubya Bush guy one more time, HBO's offering a chance to laugh, groan, wince, cringe and perhaps even cry (it all depends on your memory of the much-maligned 43rd president).

Will Ferrell brings his hit one-man Broadway show live to HBO on Saturday night. His "You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush" has been playing to sold-out houses at New York's Cort Theatre for a month.

HBO will carry a live feed of the 90-minute production. Ferrell, known for playing big, dumb jerks in films such as "Anchorman," perfected his Bush impersonation on "Saturday Night Live."

In a performance that has been described as crude, silly, hilarious, juvenile, offensive, tasteless and brilliant, Ferrell presents Bush as a swaggering, not-too-bright, ever-confident cowboy who can't open his mouth without mangling the English language.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"Primetime: What Would You Do?," 10 p.m., ABC

One of the moral, ethical tests posed tonight involves what people do when they see someone being hazed.

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