Congratulations, Kris: a missed opportunity?

Posted By Jeff on May 20th, 2009

Kris Allen was named the 2009 American Idol winner tonight on Fox. Every female at our watch party went into immediate hysterics. The men’s responses (mine, Jeff Longing, Karl, and Taylor) were, of course, manly and subdued. Yet, we were all amazed that the Conway Kid had slipped underneath Simon’s radar to snatch the title and well-deserved honors.

Amid the lights, celebrities and general craziness, Kris looked, well, surprised. His first words? “Adam deserves this…”

What?!

Perhaps it’s time to agree with Simon (which I often do) and say that Kris’ humility at this point is not really humility. Rather, it was just, well, weird. I was honestly disappointed with a rather large missed opportunity.

American Idol this year contained no overt Christian messages. There were no outbreaks of worship as in prior years. Yet, in the top three, there were two evangelical worship leaders. Danny Gokey and Kris Allen.

At the apex of Kris’ career, when more people will be watching him than at any time, and when he certainly had the freedom and privilege of saying whatever he wanted to… Adam.

My main question is: Why not bring glory to the One who brought you and your family this far?

Was it stage fright? I mean, you’re one of two. Even if you didn’t think you had a chance, surely you would have considered preparing a statement more meaningful and authentic than “Adam deserves this.” I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and simply say it was a less than inspiring moment. But that’s just my personal opinion.

I like Kris Allen, from what I’ve seen of him. He has a wonderfully bright future, and I’m glad he’s an Arkie. I’m excited for his church and friends back home. And I’m hopeful that he will reach far more people with the message of His Savior with his music in the future than he was able to do on AI. However, for now, I just must say, “Congratulations, Kris.” Sincerely.

Other Items of Interest:

Fox News 16 in Little Rock reported minutes after the show that AT&T had recorded 38 million votes coming out of Arkansas! With almost 100 million votes cast total, that means that Arkansas carried almost 40% of the vote! We assume that most of those were for Kris.
My wifey won the t-shirt design for Kris Allen’s fan club!

My Tweets during AI:

Is AI trying to revive careers of senior adult rockers? Booooooring.
8:41pm via Twitter
Adam looks like a leather butterfly. KISS may need wheelchairs.
8:18pm via Twitter
Can’t believe I’m watching AI.
7:36pm via Twitter

Tags: American Idol, Kris Allen

11 Responses to “Congratulations, Kris: a missed opportunity?”

Mandy
May 21st, 2009 at 9:39 am

I didn’t even watch it… but I agree. I’m surprised that there was no attention brought to Christ.. who actually put him where he is. I’m sure Kris wasn’t put on that stage to win an amazing contest to give more glory to Adam.. but what do I know?

Mandys last blog post..Potty Time!

dean
May 21st, 2009 at 10:03 am

maybe the omission was over-compensation on kris’ part? he made the statement the other day that he didn’t want the vote to be about religion.

anyway, i have never watched a single installment of AI in its entirety in the entire 8 seasons, and i haven’t watched a second of any of it this year… and i was still VERY aware that kris is a Christian and a worship leader. i don’t think who he is and what he stands for was lost on anyone this season.

chances are adam isn’t a believer, but i’m pretty sure we’d all agree that his talent is still God-given. i don’t think kris was out of line to recognize adam’s God-given talent.

just an observation from a non-AI-observer :-)

deans last blog post..won’t you help us start on the 2nd million?

Linda
May 21st, 2009 at 10:03 am

How do we know that Kris Allen is a Christian? It does seem ‘odd’ that there wasnt as much ‘worship’ this year….. maybe they put limits on what could be said or done.

dean
May 21st, 2009 at 10:24 am

upon further review… what i should have said was chances are adam isn’t a believer… but we really don’t know that for sure since he kept a lot of personal details to himself

yeah, i didn’t watch at all, but i read A LOT! :-)

linda, your question applies to every single one of us. the proof is in the life we lead… the fruit that we bear, as well as – and probably more importantly than – the things that we say.

as for the lack of “worship” on this year’s show, i think ANY worshipful flavor that has been evidenced in past seasons should be considered bonus given the nature of the show in the first place. i mean, the preliminaries are just as much about making fun of the untalented as it is about finding and promoting the talented. i read an article the other day that said the show would lose much of its appeal if simon were to leave when his contract is up. the appeal of simon for many people is how he tears into folks. nothing much Godly about any of that.

deans last blog post..won’t you help us start on the 2nd million?

Shelley
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 am

On Larry King, he said “it’s not about religion, it’s about music” and I for some reason thought he wouldn’t have responded that way.

Jeff
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:32 am

@Shelley: I think I understand what he was trying to say and think we should give him grace and the benefit of the doubt. However, let’s also pray diligently for him. Fame, fortune, faith and youth have a history of not blending well together.

AtothaJ
June 1st, 2009 at 4:21 pm

well, i just read a quote on this website from St. Francis of Assisi that said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; and when necessary, use words” Lost people don’t respond well to Pop Christianity. trust me, i work with lost kids in an evangelistic ministry and they knew full well he was a worship leader and they commented over and over about his attitude being so great! If Kris would have thanked God on national television, it would have hurt his witness to many lost people who are sick of having God rammed down their throat at every turn by these people.

Jeff
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:46 pm

@AtothaJ: Thanks for the great comment. I had a hard time trying to communicate what I mean with this post. However, I would refer you to my blog post about St. Francis’ quote that you referred to above. Perhaps you might get my intent better.

Thanks for stopping by!