No Boundaries

By now, we have known that the American Idol 2009 (Season 8) is Kris Allen from Arkansas.

Most people were expecting Adam Lambert as Adam's performances were mind-blowing every week . So why the winner is Kris and not Adam?

A lot of theories are circulating in the internet.

Firstly, we need to see whom Danny Gokey's fans would vote? After Danny was eliminated, the fans were going to vote for someone. And in many ways Kris is more similar to Danny.

Is American Idol more of a popularity contest rather than a talent show? Kris captured more fan base while Adam captured slightly more adult fans.

Can America accept Adam's outrageous styles and makeup? Adam only answered "I know who I am" when asked about his sexuality, after his pictures of kissing another man was circulating in the internet. So maybe America didnt like his lack of truthfulness.

During the economic downturn, America is not ready for Adam's style but prefer a more soothing Kris's the boy next door image.

Kris's version of "No Boundaries" sounded more of the 'traditional' American winning song, as commented by the judges.

Again, all these are opiniated theories and some are plain weird excuses...However, the only fact is that Kris Allen is the new American Idol...

Disco night on Idol

I totally enjoyed the songs by Kris Allen and Adam Lambert on American Idol tonight. They both managed to take up-tempo songs and turned them into sentimental slow songs. Below videos show the originals and the ones that were performed on AI.

Only Adam's performance is available on youtube.com showing that his performance is more popular than Kris's.

"If I can't have you" performed by Adam Lambert (2009)

"If I can't have you" performed by Yvonne Elliman (1978)

"She works hard for the money" by Kris Allen on AI

"She works hard for the money" by Donna Summer

Getaways 2009

I was looking back at my blog posting from last year and realised that I have booked my December 2008 holiday as early as in the month of June 2008. So, it suddenly hit me that we are coming to the middle of the year soon and these are my travel plans for 2009.

Hanoi, Vietnam (March 2009)

Tokyo, Japan (June 2009)

New Zealand (September 2009)

Middle East (December 2009) - not yet confirmed