Crowned by the crowd

LA’PORSHA Renae

LAST March 4’s telecast of “American Idol” was a memorable viewing treat due to a number of scintillating and moving highlights.

First off, guest judge Kelly Clarkson hit a performance high with her fiercely felt rendition of “Piece by Piece,” an exceedingly and even painful personal song in which she seethingly shared the hurt and anger she felt, due to her irresponsibly neglectful father. Better than that, she later transformed the song into a more positive and hopeful anthem, when she shared that the trauma her absent father had caused was later solved by the love of her life, whose belated arrival filled the holes in her heart and life—and made her optimistic that her own children wouldn’t end up like her at the most impressionable and vulnerable stage of her young life.

Clarkson got so involved and carried away by her song that there were moments when she looked like she couldn’t finish the number. But, she “forced” herself to see it through, and everyone ended up feeling her pain—and triumph.

The performance was so moving that juror Keith Urban was visibly affected, and Jennifer Lopez was similarly moved.

The song was made even more “meaningful” by the fact that this is the last season of “American Idol,” and Clarkson was its first winner. Thus, her exceptional performance emerged as the supreme proof and summation of the iconic singing tilt’s cumulative value and achievement.

The fact that Clarkson is still a big star 15 years after her victory is another bright feather in the show’s cap, because it proves that (some of) its discoveries have been good enough to go the distance.

As if Clarkson’s show-stopping guest performance weren’t enough to make last week’s show truly special, the telecast featured another amazing moment for the “pop history” books—a similarly unforgettable performance by leading finalist La’Porsha Renae.

We have raved about Renae and her superior talent before, but she surpassed herself with her subsequent rendition of “Diamonds.” It was so clearly superior to the other finalists’ performances that the concert venue’s audience couldn’t stop applauding—for minutes on end! And Clarkson and the other stars present joined in the long standing ovation!

It was such an overwhelming reaction to La’Porsha’s number that it looked for all the world that she was already being adjudged the winner of the concluding season of “American Idol.” Verily, she was being “crowned by the crowd”—way in advance of the tilt’s actual finals night.

It’s all over but for the official “coronation” of La’Porsha Renae as the latest and last “American Idol” champion.