Early American Idol Sentimental Favorite: Naima Adedapo

I’ve never been one to jump at trends, so I must admit that I didn’t watch the first 3 years of the show American Idol. But soon thereafter I became hooked. As commercially overblown as the show has become, it is so very compelling because so much is at stake and such young performers must give it their best on the spot several times over.

This season I can’t help but root for Naima Adedapo. I must admit my affinity for jazz makes these sentiments far from objective, as her absolutely sultry performance of the standard “Summertime” was scintillating. She works as janitor, which is hard to believe when you seen her perform – and how can you not root for her. The judges avoided a grave injustice (well as grave as a singing competition decision can be) by allowing her to enter the sing-off and compete for a “wild-card” spot in the finals after the voters had failed to vote her in. She then gave an emotional performance on the verge of tears, and showed why she is such a compelling performer – she has emotion to complement her skills.

Here’s the link to Naima singing “Summertime”