Judging the Judges: The Grand Finale

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SIMON

For round one, Simon rated Blake's entertainment factor stronger than Jordin's vocal prowess, which he found shrieky.

Kimberley: You know what, I would have to say I kind of agree, because I don't think it was about Blake's vocal talent. It was about his presentation. It was a little uncomfortable watching her sing Christina Aguilera's ''Fighter,'' because I couldn't understand the words. The song has a great energy, and I understand why she would do something like that to show a different side of her, but it wasn't her best performance.

Ace: I thought it was split in round 1. I really liked what Jordin brought in the first performance and I really enjoyed what Blake brought to his song. So I disagree with Simon.

Anthony: Maybe she was nervous, but her voice sounded shaky.

Amy: I think Jordin could have done more visually with [her song], instead of hugging the microphone.

Simon thought Blake's decision to sing ''She Will Be Loved'' was way too low-key for the final.

Kimberley: Because there's probably two notes in that song. That's why he chose that song. It's like I said, Blake hasn't really done anything [vocally] to wow us, so if he was going to wow us, he needed to do it [on the finale].

Ace: I think Simon was looking for something new out of Blake. But I thought ''She Will Be Loved'' was perfect because it broke it down to singing and it actually made him use his falsetto. I thought it was very touching. I loved that performance.

Anthony: I disagree. He chose a song that's good for his voice. There's only so much he can do because he doesn't have an unlimited range, so I thought that he made a really good choice.

Amy: I don't know if it was way too low-key. I mean, you have to look at this season. I don't think that overall this season has had the best talent to choose from. You didn't have star singers like Kelly. You had Jordin, and then you had Melinda, but there's not those people that were like Jennifer Hudson—you know what I mean? Blake is not a singer like that. To expect something bigger from him vocally, I don't know.

Simon said Jordin ''wiped the floor with Blake'' on the final song. Was that a bit unfair, seeing as Simon had only just pointed out that the song was a terrible fit for Blake's style?

Kimberley: That's happened before. American Idol is about being versatile and about seeing how dynamic you are as an artist. So that's Blake's problem. It just shows once again that as an artist Blake is one-dimensional. It wouldn't be fair to ask LaKisha and Melinda to sing country music. That's not their style, but they killed it.

Ace: I thought Blake did a really good job; I liked how he was sitting up in the big TV, then he came out. Jordin hit that one part of her voice — it's called the ''ping'' — where you get those chills if you're paying attention. And the song didn't give Blake the opportunity to use the ping in his voice.

Anthony: That was a little unnecessary, but that's Simon. It's not [Blake's] song, and you know, you're stuck in the machine of the show, so you're never going to hear him belt out a song. It is what it is, so you make the best of it and you move on.

Amy: That was completely unfair. Those are overall statements at the end. That is what's going to grab your general public. ''Blake, that probably wasn't for you, it's not in your genre'' — maybe people will remember that, but overall they're going to remember, ''Yeah, she did wipe the floor with him.''

Overall, for season 6, how would you rate Simon?

Kimberley: Over the seasons Simon has become more apologetic, which I think is huge for him. Simon has become a little more — I'm going to say thoughtful, but not thoughtful in like ''Oh, I'm thinking of you,'' but more thoughtful toward the artist, trying to understand why they did things a certain way or why they chose that song. Instead of just jumping straight out there with his comments, I think he actually tries to understand. And we know most of the time he's right. Grade: A

Ace: Simon was actually nice this season. I remember him being a lot more negative than he has been this year. Grade: A

Anthony: Season 6, I would give him a B++. It's a new mark that I just invented. The reason I'm not giving him an A is because of [the finale] comment [about] Blake [being outsung by Jordin on the final song]. I would have given him an A otherwise, because all of it his comments were pretty much on point. But it was unnecessary for him to say that she wiped the floor with him, because [Simon] knew that wasn't his kind of song. Grade: B++

Amy: I think he was pretty consistent. Even [Tuesday] night when he was like, ''I know you're going to boo,'' he still stayed true to saying what he felt. Grade: A