I'm from Medicine Hat, and attend the same church as Kalan. We've been praying for him all summer: not that he'd win, but that he'd glorify God through his presence on the show. 

One reason to consider it as a blessing if he doesn't win is that he won't have to enter into a contract with a secular producer which will likely require him to sing secular songs. I think it would be wonderful for him to win, but certain rules that will control his album content will be imposed on him if that's the case. Let's face it: regardless of who wins the competition, they will both be releasing albums because they're both incredibly talented. If Kalan produces an album separate from the show, however, he'll have the freedom to release a Christian album through a Christian producer, which could be a far more appropriate opportunity for him. So, don't cry if he loses, thank God that he got as far as he did, and got as much exposure as he did. This could mean that a Christian album released by a Christian producer could be bought by even more non-Christian listeners as Christian listeners.

Of course, Zach did say very specifically that he wasn't bashing the message of the song, only that he thought the song choice was not a particularly interesting song from a musical perspective (ie, "boring" - and he's the musical professional, so I think we can trust his word on that one), and that Kalan started off weak and ended strong. I don't think that his comments could be interpreted as disrespectful to the Christian belief system in any way. Keep in mind, he made almost the same comments to Theresa about the weak start to the song. I interpreted his comments as a critique of the performance (which, of course, is his job as a judge), but not as a criticism of Kalan's faith or of any Christian's faith.

Good luck in your audition next year, though, Stargirl... when you're assertive about your beliefs, the important thing is that you do what you know to be right, which is exactly what Kalan did in choosing that song for him. God will honour that, even if people won't! It's not about what others think at all,  and that's why God warned us of persecution in our faith: our reward isn't here on earth, anyway, so we need not search for acceptance among our secular peers, only acceptance from God.

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Originally posted by: EnJay
oh and a side note... Jacob sang "everything" by Life house which is indeed a christian worship song and the judges didn't bash his faith..

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Thing is, that song (along with the two U2 songs that were sang by Josh and Kalan) never mentioned Jesus by name, and especially with the one Jacob sang it can be interpreted in other ways. With "I Can Only Imagine", it's very clear as to what the song meant, and some people seemed to have a problem with that.

I'm so glad Kalan won. I've been praying for him to stay grounded through it all, and that he'll stay true to himself and his faith. He's an amazing singer, and I hope he goes far without losing sight of the important things, and that maybe he'll inspire some people along the way.