Mixed Emotions

Wednesday was a big night. In Turkey, the Champions League final was held between my team Liverpool and heavy favorites AC Milan. And of course, in Hollywood, it was the results finale of American Idol where my idol Bo Bice was the underdog against heavy favorite Carrie Underwood. I was rooting for the underdog in both these competitions, and I was really hoping that some miracle could happen.

I say mixed emotions as the title of this post because as you might already know now, Liverpool won and Bo lost. So let me talk about the bad news first before the good, that way I end my post on a high note.

BO LOSES AMERICAN IDOL FINALE

I know I really should've expected it. The signs were all there. Earlier in the season, Simon claimed that Carrie would win and outsell any other previous idol. In the episode where there only 4 people left, Simon attacks the band for a bad arrangment of Carrie's song. And when Anthony performs the same song SO MUCH BETTER than Carrie, he tells Anthony he needs soul to sing that song (like Carrie has any more soul than Anthony?). On the results show, they preview everyone's performances. The show 5-10 second excerpts of the performance of Vonzell, Anthony, and Bo. Then they show 20-30 excerpts of Carrie's songs, making sure all her high notes and long sustains are showcased (I wished I taped that show, I have a feeling it was even longer than 30 seconds coz it felt like at least half the song was recapped). Then when there 3 left and Bo blows the competition away, Simon tells Carrie after her last performance that he feels she has done enough to move on to the finale.

Of course, even during the finale, there were a truckload more signs that the winner was a foregone conclusion (more on this in a later post). So well, I guess it wasn't so surprising that Carrie won. But despite the fact that I should've known better than hope that maybe, just maybe, Bo could pull the upset, I ended up being bitterly disappointed when Bo lost. Of course he was tremendously gracious when losing, asking the audience to applaud for Carrie. Oh well, I just hope that Bo comes out real soon with a CD.

LIVERPOOL ARE EUROPEAN CHAMPS!!!

One of the biggest talking points this season was Liverpool not having a spot in next year's Champions League even if the win it this year because only the top 4 teams of England will make it to CL and Liverpool placed 5th. The discussion was essentially thrown out for the time being because people were saying, Liverpool haven't even won yet so we shouldn't think about this until it actually happens. We might end up debating merits of giving Liverpool a slot in CL if they win, then they lose so all that discussion becomes pointless.

And they were certainly on the brink of losing the final. AC Milan built a daunting 3-0 lead. I think after that everyone had practically thrown in the towel. But then the 2nd half happened, and in an inspiring 6-minute spell of brilliant team football, Liverpool scored 3 goals to tie with AC Milan. And 3-3 it remained til the end of over time. When it came down to penalties, Dudek managed to block enough shots to bring the trophy back to Liverpool after 21 years. And since this is their 5th title, they get to keep it. Michael Owen must be kicking himself in the butt since Real ended this season with no silverware and Liverpool have one (the biggest one at that!). So congratulations to Liverpool! It is great to be a fan when these kind of things happen. =)