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
Hard to believe they want $350 for 50th+ row seats with a performance like last night on American Idol. It was obvious the music was piped in except for vocals and drums. Time for Paul to pursue a motivational speaker career and Gene to promote yet another substandard business entity. Why would ANYONE pay thousands of dollars for front and center seats to see this? I paid $350 for 15th row seats to see the Stones in San Francisco on their 40th tour – which was absolutely relevant, credible, and Mick still had the chops – not so for Kiss.
I would have rather heard Caleb do “Still of the Night” again!
Me too! I am just so unbelievably happy he won. It shows that there are still millions of people that love hard rock. Cause thats how many voted. I think he should come on the metal show as a guest, because he kind of represents all of us metalheads and by winning, makes it true! I thought we were all becoming a smaller sanction of people. But obviously not. Caleb said in one interview,” American Idol is more of a pop singers contest, but I am staying true to myself and I probably wont last out the show because of my song choices! SURPRISE! He made it and he won!
Paul love ya BUT, your done … PERIOD !!!
I’m glad I got Kiss/Def Lep tickets through Groupon for only $30. Paul did not sound well.
I just listened, again, to the KISS performance. I don’t think it’s as bad as many seem to think. I think Paul sang okay… and yes, he has certainly lost something. But to say it was embarrassing or awful is a bit much IMO. I thought the band sounded tight (I’m not musically inclined, but I didn’t think it was bad at all from a musicianship standpoint). KISS has never been confused with Van Halen or Led Zeppelin from a quality of musicianship/vocals/lyric point of view. What they do is write catchy tunes and perform them in a spectacular visual fashion. Last night KISS was, due to the venue and time constraints, a muted version of its typical bombastic spectacle… but it WAS still a spectacle. It was fun, visually appealing and sounded okay vocally. Paul Stanley, in my opinion, has grown so arrogant and full of himself that he makes Gene Simmons seem humble, but to expect Stanley to sound like he did in 1977 is unfair and unrealistic. His voice has worsened with time… but he’s still capable of fronting the extravaganza that is a KISS concert.
Good post, Keith. The haters will always hate. It doesn’t matter what Paul does. If Paul’s vocals were spot on, these people would find something else to complain about. Case in point, someone complained about Paul’s wig, which is part of Paul’s look/costume. Someone else complained about how he pranced around like he was 20 years old and it was pathetic. If Paul just stood there, more subdued than usual, that person would have complained that Paul is too old to move around. It’s the same group of people that drink Trunk’s kool-aid. Here’s an idea…. If you don’t like the current version of Kiss, don’t go to the shows and don’t buy the merchandise. Plain and simple. It’s more than likely that this will be the last tour, especially if ticket sales are down.
Uhhh Flaming Yute….STOP WHINING BRAAAH. Damn just accept of what is evident. Paul Stanley is amazing…everyone here knows that. Nobody hates Paul or Gene…..We all love them….but HAVE SOME PERSPECTIVE….take the emotional part of it and throw it aside…..you sound like a grade schooler and you’re looking real foolish…..again…Joe in The Cuse —- 😉
Not sure what “Braaah” means and you really should use spell/grammar check. Perhaps someone else “sounds like a grade schooler” and “looks real foolish.” hmmmm
No……lols, just YOU look foolish and act like a grade schooler…..lmao. Joe in The Cuse
I own all their albums…seen a lot of their shows over the years….does that make me a “hater” because I can admit pauls voice sucks? I cant defend him….his voice/stage presence is bad…age plays a big role, he is in his 60s…just face it, its time to drop the makeup…quit drinking pauls “kool-aid”..
I like the current version of Kiss, but Paul’s voice has nothing to do with Eric or Tommy…it’s just that he has been getting worse and worse since 2009…Even watch last time they were on Idol in 2009, his voice was still good…And, Paul’s voice now has nothing to do with his feelings about Peter and Ace when they both jeoperdized the bands existence over the years, so anyone comparing that to his voice are off base…two separate issues…his voice is awful and they should retire, but this isn’t Paul’s voice v.s. Ace/Peter being idiots…They were idiots, and Paul’s voice is gone… Performing at the RRHOF would’ve been bad for all four…Could you imagine what Ace and Peter would’ve look like in those costumes?? And no one can deny the music is still good, and Tommy and Eric blow Ace and Peter off the stage at this point, but if they just took off the makeup and played more new stuff, like they did in the non makeup years, with a sprinkling of old Kiss, that would be great…Paul trying to sing all the classics isn’t working and the set list is very predictable…