Ashville, North Carolina native Caleb Johnson, 23, was crowned American Idol season 13 winner tonight (May 21st) proving rock reigned supreme this season.
Johnson performed on the finale with KISS. Watch the performance below.
Johnson became popular this season for his strong, but soulful voice and won fans over with his renditions of Whitesnake’s Still of the Night, Led Zeppelin’s Dazed and Confused and Rival Son’s Pressure and Time.
98 Responses
Paul needs to hang it up. That was brutal.
Gene sounded pretty good. It’s a good thing Caleb was there to cover Paul.
Yet another embarrassing performance.
Another Paul hater. Cover Paul? Caleb performed with Kiss, meaning that he sang with the group. How is that covering for Paul? Caleb is 23 years old. Paul is in his 60s with 40 years of strain on his vocal chords.
… and that Flaming Yute, is reason enough to hang it up. What Paul is doing, is downright disrespectful to the fans for him to continue.
If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Plain and simple.
Hey Yute, …..I really believe nobody “hates” anyone let alone one of the greatest entertainers/musicians of all time Paul Stanley. Paul has nothing to prove anymore….watching him at his age now trying to perform is difficult……I remember Muhammad Ali fighting 3 fights before his last fight with Larry Holmes……Ali just didn’t know when enough was enough. Father Time rules period. Paul….WILL EVER BE one of the greatest…..but what I saw on American “Idol” was a 5 Alarm DUMPSTER FIRE…Joe in The Cuse
How can Paul possibly get through a tour this summer with Def Leppard?
His voice is just so bad at this point, it is just embarrassing. They might have to resort to some piped in vocals. Between Paul and Joe Elliott, that could be a tough tour to sit and listen to. I won’t be going.
I’d feel worse for him if he didn’t bash Ace & Peter so much, but now he’s the one not pulling his weight. There was a documentary where he talked about how Peter sometimes sucked, now he is sucking bad and there is no hiding from it.
There’s a huge difference between 40 years of wear and tear on vocal chords (necessitating surgery), and lacking drumming ability coupled with addiction issues. Apples and oranges.
The Flaming Yute handle makes me smile.
It may be apples and oranges, but at the same time Paul has said time and again that “if someone is not holding up their end”, etc.. Listen, Paul Stanley is my favorite rock star of all-time.
I would love it if he was still singing great, but let’s face it, he is STRUGGLING big time.
I’m not disputing that Paul is not the singer that he used to be in his younger days He’s in his 60s. Hell, depending on the age group on this board…. who here is is in the same shape physically, mentally, and emotionally that they were 20 years ago? No one. Should other people tell you to stop doing what you love to do, or should you decide?
Paul kept telling the media before the ugh, “Farewell” Tour that he would definitely not be one of those old geezers who stay too long at the party and embarrass themselves in the process. All we are saying is “be a man of your words, Paul!”
Yes, he is in his 60s, acting on stage as if he were in his early 20s still. It’s pathetic. he’s no better than a clown at this point. A clown with a completely shot voice at that.
But if he insists going on then I do hope that somebody gets that moment on their smartphone when he stands on stage and not a peep comes out. Would be like going out with a bang, only it won’t be in a positive way LOL But it would make for a great Spinal Tap moment if nothing else!
That is called KARMA….but in fairness to Paul, he is in his early 60’s. But the band as a whole sounded bad. Joe in The Cuse
There are singers in their 60s still doing OK, Dio e.g. was still comparatively great in his mid-60s, unlike Paul. It is not that he lacks the vocal quality that has earned him respect in the past, it is that he has always been talking about a. giving the fans 100%, and b. other members not giving those 100%. Now it is his turn to realize it is time to stop. Long overdue, to be true, his voice being on the decline for a few years now, but the Am. idol recording marks a new low point. His performance at A.I. was really painful to listen to. very sad. As a long-time fan, you can hear the former vocals in your head and then you autmatically compare it with what is left of it now, no way of enjoying yourself at a concert, right? Especially because you could compare his struggle with Caleb’s abilities, you could somehow compare Paul’s high and low point, so to speak. Would you go see an opera with one of the lead singers hardly able to sing the song properly and still applaud him frantically like some people here and many Kiss fans still do? Would you pay for an actor on stage who can no longer remember his lines? No. See. What else does he have to give? Great rhythm guitar? No. For all of us there will come a time when we are past our peek and there is no going back, that is life. But who will be so stupid to applaud us for not being able to deliver the goods? The discrepancy between his words and his actions that is so apparent and for all to see and hear in the digital age of YT etc. is what really annoys many people, and rightly so. That does not make us Paul-haters, no one said we hat him, we criticize him, so this term can only be used by those who mistake criticism of the band for criticism of themselves, which is rather daft, to be honest. I think many Kiss fans just accept his deteriorated voice because the are happy that the band still exists at all, rather than having to acknowledge that Kiss is gone forever. It is hard to let go, for the fans, and for the members oviously.
See you in hell, Scotty McCreery, you country bumpkin shithead! Long live meatloaf Jr.
Hi there, Im becca1 Glad you guys like caleb. I am a huge fan of calebs and watched the whole show. Im also a long time fan of heavy metal. Love it all. But the funny thing is cause lots of the people dont seem to like hard rock, but I went to Calebs twitter page and people were tweeting him congratulations. Very Few Congratulations from past idol contestants, of all things here is little Scotty Mcreary telling caleb congratulations and that Caleb deserved to win. I was pleasantly surprised! The kid has good judgement call.
Pretty cool thing to do with your 15 minutes of fame…
I can’t wait for all the rave reviews to come in for this phenomenal performance to come in. i’ll start: paul’s voice has never sounded better. tommy and eric are far superior to ace and peter. they are helping kiss move forward. yay!