The ‘American Idol’ finale is going south, but the show has always been a little bit country

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It’s a country music finale for ‘American Idol’ this year, with young Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery battling for the title, leaving some pop fans unhappy. But the show has always had a deep connection with the south: Six of its nine previous champions come from the region, and Carrie Underwood remains the top-selling former Idol.

As Ann Powers points out in The Times Tuesday, the country music offers these performers a boost, giving them ‘a way to explore the same sensual pleasures and upwardly mobile dreams that rock and soul also address, but within a resolutely wholesome, cheerfully conformist framework. This has long been part of the Nashville sensibility. Tradition isn’t a door to be shut against the modern world, but a frame within which its more challenging elements are contained.’

Read more on the country music ‘Idol’ finale here.

RELATED:

Scotty McCreery versus Lauren Alaina: Who will win?

And the ‘American Idol’ finalists are...Scotty and Lauren

Full Show Tracker coverage of ‘American Idol’