And it’s probably not the reason you think.

We’ve been watching American Idol for a couple of seasons now. And after a while, you realize how the game is played. We have these performances we’re supposed to rate and vote for, but the producers deliberately try to sway our vote. Not that I blame them; their job is to produce quality TV. And while not even I would want to see an Anoop / Scott finals, the producers had to be kicking themselves last week when the predestined Adam / Danny finale showdown didn’t come to fruition, thanks to a little-engine-that-could performance by Kris Allen. For weeks, it seems, no matter how grating or infuriating their performances (“Dream On”, anyone?), Danny and Adam have been given passes by the powers that be, simply because they were the hand-picked “chosen ones”. How many times this season were these two given the cushy closing spot on the show’s telecasts? How many times has Adam received the blue light treatment during his performances, with the heavenly blue light cascading down upon him to go with the tight, panoramic camera angles? Last night he even had an industrial strength smoke machine pumping enough smoke that, for a moment there, I thought I was watching the final scene of Casablanca or something.

Meanwhile, Kris Allen has demonstrated genuine artistry in the end game. Two weeks in a row, he’s displayed his range as both a singer and a player, showcasing his skills on both piano and guitar. Has anything been made of this? Of course not. While Adam gets to look all sultry and pouty on his mugshots, Kris is lucky if he gets more than two or three closeups the entire show, (although part of that may have been to hide his whole awkward sing-out-of-the-side-of-his-mouth thing that he does). Anyway, point being, the whole thing is an exercise in the power of suggestion. You can see the judges with their not-so-subtle mind tricks: “You should vote for Adam. He’s great. He’s an original artist. He’s iconic. He’s singing about mountaintops and frolicking through fields of dandelions. He’s wearing a really, really long coat.” Kris, on the other hand, receives backhanded compliments like, “Uh…you, uh…totally deserve to be here tonight.” The implication is, sorry kid, you DON’T deserve to be our winner.

Now that I think about it, how much screen time did Kris in Hollywood week or in the weeks that led up to the Top 36? None that I could remember. Conversely, by week two, I’d already heard Gokey’s story about a half dozen times; Lambert was already crowned one of the best in the competition; we all knew about Scott, the first blind contestant on AI; we’d even seen copious shots of Matt Sarver & Lil Rounds & Tattoo Girl with their kids. But nothing from Kris. He’s a true “darkhorse” in every sense of the word. The producers never expected him to make it this far. And until he sang his way into the Top 12, I think they thought he would be nothing more than one more pretty face in a sea of forgettable performers.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I’m rooting for Kris Allen tonight. Not because I think he’s the best, but because I think if he wins, he beats the system. And that’s just the kind of thing I’d like to see.