Jordin Sparks is the youngest contestant to win American Idol. The 17-year-old from Glendale, Arizona prevailed over the beatboxer, Blake Lewis, from Bothell, Washington. There was a record 74 million votes cast on Tuesday night. Bookmaker.com had Jordin Sparks favored to win with odds at -425.
Ryan Seacrest made the announcement and an emotional Jordin Sparks said, “I can’t thank you for keeping me around, and thank you so much for everything. Mom, dad, I love you.”
The 2-hour finale opened with Jordin and Blake performing a duet of the Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There,” followed by Gwen Stefani singing “4 In The Morning” via satellite from her concer tour.
The top six American Idol male finalists performed and were joined on stage by Smokey Robinson to perform “Being With You” and “Tears Of A Clown.” The top six American Idol female finalists performed “I Heard It Through The Grapevine,” and they were joined by Gladys Knight to perform “I Feel A Song In My Heart” and “Midnight Train To Georgia.”
The first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson took the stage to sing her new single, “Never Again.” Carrie Underwood performed “I’ll Stand By You.” After her performance, Clive Davis acknowledged all of the past Idol winners and former contestants. He presented an award to Underwood for achieving six million sales on her debut album.
Ruben Studdard and Jordin Sparks performed “All I Need to Get By.” The most recent Idol winner and dancing machine Taylor Hicks performed “Heaven Knows.”
Tony Bennett, Bette Midler, Green Day, Doug E. Fresh and BeBe and CeCe Winans all performed during the 2-hour show. The audience was packed with celebrities as well.
The American Idol finale was jam packed with entertainment. It was a great show and I’m happy Jordin won because she is a better singer than Blake. They both have a promising career ahead of them.
