Kelly Clarkson had “A Moment Like This,” and David Cook had “The Time of My Life.” Now, the new American Idol will have “No Boundaries.”
On Tuesday night’s finale showdown, both Adam Lambert and Kris Allen put their own spin on season 8’s coronation song, which was co-penned by Idol judge (and established songwriter) Kara DioGuardi. Simon Cowell, for one, hardly seemed to be a fan of the soaring, sentimental ballad. “I’m not going to judge that song,” he said dismissively after Lambert’s rendition. “I’m going to judge you.”
But during a post-show press conference, Paula Abdul offered her support to Idol’s other female judge. “I’m proud of Kara,” she told reporters. “I’m very proud of her.” Of Cowell’s apparent distaste for the tune, she quipped, “Simon is there to always ruin a moment, or he wouldn’t be Simon.”
Lambert also piped up with praise for DioGuardi’s return to her day job. “It’s a great song,” he said. “It actually has a really great message.” Even so, he admitted, “There was a lot of lyric and it was a big song and we didn’t have a lot of time to work on it so it was kind of a rush job.”
(To help both Lambert and Allen through the wordy song, the lyrics were displayed on a giant Teleprompter in the Nokia Theatre during both performances Tuesday night.)
There even seemed to be a question of whether Allen was able to hit some of the notes in “No Boundaries.” Randy Jackson told him, the song “fits your voice even better for me than Adam,” but he still acknowledged that the “key was a little high.”
Kara herself said, “I don’t want you to be judged on that song; I think it was too high.”
Tell us: Are you a fan of “No Boundaries?” Who sang it best?
Check out all our Idol coverage at PEOPLE.com/idol!
Michael Becker/FOX(2)
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