Catching Up With American Idol

Welcome to the finals of American Idol, where plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose—starring Jason Castro as Blake Lewis, David Archuleta as Melinda Doolittle, David Hernandez and Ramiele Malubay as Antonella Barba, and Amanda Overmyer as Sanjaya Malakar's hair. Jason is the quirky, edgy one. David is the shy vocal genius pegged to win but doomed to be sent home early due to a fatal case of perfection—even the judges know this, congratulating David on every microscopic mistake that makes him seem "human." David H. and Ramiele have the kind of racy past that did in Antonella last season, and as for the coiffure comparison—well, it's not even just Amanda's two-tone style. Really, when I look at the 2008 lineup, it's been all about the hair.

Since January, we've seen head after head of long, silky tresses, bizarre bouffants, and daring 'dos. And those are just the boys. Danny Noriega and Ramiele Malubay had practically identical looks going during the semifinals, but there's only room for one emo mullet in this competition, so Danny had to go. Robbie Carrico was voted out in the wake of rumors that his attempt at grungy rocker hair was even more faux than his attempted rocking. Next up are Jason Castro's dreads, which apparently are in constant danger of falling off at inopportune moments in front of his girlfriends. And Amanda, working the same concept as Project Runway winner Christian Siriano, seems to be sporting two self-contained hairdos simultaneously. For Siriano, it amounts to a sideways emo mullet—half Danny Noriega and half Anne Heche, or, as he described it, business on one side and party on the other—while what's happening on Amanda's head makes her look as if she is wearing Carly Smithson on top of a secret Blondie obsession.

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