American Idol: Conspiracy Theories!

The Web is hysterical with theories about how "American Idol" favorite Adam Lambert somehow lost tonight to Kris Allen... was it indeed a conspiracy against the gay guy? I must admit, I come at this as a casual observer. I've watched the past seven seasons, and as a Billboard writer, had the opportunity to meet many of the winners, not to mention years of interviewing the top 10 on tour with Fred Bronson, writer of the Billboard Radio Countdown, which I hosted—but I took this year off, completely. Until tonight, thanks to Tivo.

So I truly had little investment in Adam and Kris. I watched them perform on the Tuesday final... and frankly, the former reminds me of Sam Harris, who won "Star Search" in 1984, singing "Over the Rainbow" with over-the-top overtly gay bravado. Kris seems to be the more versatile presence... and boy he's awfully handsome... so, it seems to me that the potential for "teen idol" status with Kris getting the crown rivals last year's David Archuleta, but adding sex appeal that Archie was just too goofy/young to possess. That is actually a rather significant factor here.

Again, coming at this blindly, sounds like Kris, the less bombastic presence, will get his due as the winner, while Adam, because of his larger-than-life image, will excel because of massive press in his favor. Will be interesting to see, without the burden of the crown, if he is comfortable declaring to the masses that he is indeed the flamboyant queen that he has displayed with gusto. It will then be fascinating to see how mid-America responds.