Arkansas in the House!

Unless you are living in a tent in African Congo, you know that Kris Allen upset Adam Lambert to be crowned the newest American Idol. I’ve been a fan of both men throughout the season and know that both will get record deals in a hot minute. While I think it was clear that Adam out sang Kris in the final, Kris’ performance of Ain’t No Sunshine was pretty spectacular, better than the first time he sang it. Anyone that attempts Bill Withers and pulls it off is a winner in my book.

From his first audition Kris Allen was criticized for not believing in himself enough, for not owning the confidence (Simon called it vanity) that could convince a nation that he WAS the next American Idol. Even upon his winning he was gracious, saying that he thought Adam deserved to win. You’d have to be extremely cynical to think that Kris was being disingenuous. I for one applaud his humility and I’ll tell you why.

In a world where professional athletes perform “impromptu” dances in the end zone before the final score is tallied, beauty queens utter one controversial comment and get anointed a voice of a party and businessmen risk the economic health of a country by gambling that their overconfidence and hubris can keep a bull market going, what is wrong with a little humility? I’m all about self-love and self-belief but I’m finding that a little dose of humility can’t hurt in a world where delusional amounts of confidence is churning out kids that display no grace in winning and even less grace in losing.

Kris Allen was raised right. The people of Arkansas should be very, very proud.