For better or worse, American Idol has done its part to change with the times over the last few seasons. The show, for the most part, has gotten away from plucking the most inoffensive generic pop stars from the masses, and settled in on some acts with actual personality. While there is still plenty of room for the Danny Gorkey cheeseballs of the world to give it a go, the final two this year boiled down to emo-glam vs. sensitive lite-rock. While these are by no means underrepresented genres in today’s pop landscape, it does take the show into a new direction. And yet, despite his rabid fanbase, Adam Lambert fell short of Kris Allen's more conventional look and approach. It still feels nearly a half decade behind the curve, and there are numerous peripheral issues with the show, but it does seem to live and evolve with the times, which is better than most shows that have come and gone before it.



