The Only Surprise Would Have Been If She Lost

Videos updated, most are HD with excellent audio. Enjoy!

Least biggest surprise of the evening: Jordin Sparks won the title of Season 6's Idol.

Biggest surprise evening: A fairly entertaining show, one of the better ones if our opinion. Perhaps the producers should note that more Idols and less guest stars = better show.

Worst part/s of the show:
1. The Golden Idol Awards - We've seen enough clips of these idiot auditioners. We wouldn't have missed seeing them again.
2. Ashley "Crying Girl" Ferl - We've had enough of her, too.
3. Bette Midler a) What the hell was she doing there except promoting her coming Vegas show replacing Celine Dion (do we smell a prize here for this season's "So You Think You Can Dance?" winner) and b) Er, sorry, but she's really lost her voice.

Best parts of the show:
1. Blake Lewis and Doug E. Fresh - This may be a singing competition, folks. But this was the most rousing part of the show.
2. Tony Bennett - Forever a class act, plus he can still sing.
3. Jordin Sparks and Ruben Studdard - Duetting on "You're All I Need to Get By"
4. Kelly Clarkson - singing anything (but we loved "Never Again")
5. The Beatles medley

Enough already moment: Gwen Stefani

Huh? moment: Green Day on tape singing John Lennon's "Working Class Hero." It was good, but what did it have to do with the show?

Questions: Yes, we know he was the fodder that kept the show in the press all season, but it wasn't because he had a good voice. So why did Sanjaya Malakar get his own singing segment, when Melinda Doolittle (who did sing with BeBe and CeCe Winans, but not alone) and LaKisha Jones didn't?

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS


Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks duet on the first Beatles number of the evening, "I Saw Her Standing There." Well, how else could they get Jordin's age in at the top of the show: "She was just 17/And you know what I mean/But the way she looked was way beyond compare"

Watch video of Ryan Seacrest introducing the show and Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis singing "I Saw Here Standing There":



Gwen Stefani performs "4 in the Morning" via satellite from a concert she's performing.

Watch video of Gwen Stefani performing "4 in the Morning":



Kelly Clarkson knocks it out of the park with her new single, "Never Again." The camera pans to skeletal Clive Davis in the audience. He may be applauding, but we know they'd probably really like to throttle each other.

Watch video Kelly Clarkson singing "Never Again":



The first of three annoying Golden Idols segments, where we're forced to relive audition segments we'd rather forget. No. 1 is awarded to Margaret ("Big Bird") Fowler, who auditioned in Alabama. While on stage her cell phone started ringing. Ryan Seacrest answered it and told whoever was on the line to call back that Fowler was on national TV.

Watch video of Margaret Fowler receiving her Golden Idol Award:



Smokey Robinson performed with the top 6 guys. Numbers included "Ooo Baby, Baby," "Being With You" and "Tears of a Clown." Smokey looks as if he's had a great face-lift. Very few wrinkles, but it still looks like him.

Watch video of Smokey Robinson and Top 6 guys singing medley:



Blake Lewis and Doug E. Fresh rock out the audience of 3,000 in the Kodak Theatre with "The Show." Wild and awesome. If he was allowed to have performed like this the night before, instead of that treacly coronation song dreck, he probably would have beaten Jordin.

Watch video of Blake Lewis with Doug E. Fresh:



The second stupid Golden Idol Award is presented to Sholandric Stallworth.

Watch video of the Golden Idol Award for Best Performance:



Gladys Knight and her new Pips -- the top six ladies -- perform "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "I Feel a Song in My Heart" and "Midnight Train to Georgia."



Watch Gladys Knights and the Top 6 ladies sing a medley of Knight hits:





Tony Bennett, who missed his theme-week performance because of the flu, proves that no one, especially Michael Buble, is worthy of filling his 81-year-old shoes, when he performs "For Once in My Life" and hits an incredible money note at the end. Pay attention, kids.

Watch video of Tony Bennett singing "For Once in My Life":



Thankfully, the last of the Golden Idol Awards is presented to Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Briggs. (Seriously, we would have preferred to rewatch Kellie Pickler's hilarious misadventures at Spago from the last finale show.)

Watch video of "Best Buddy" Golden Idol Award:



Melinda Doolittle performs "Hold Up the Light" with Bebe & CeCe Winans. It must have been a thrill for Melinda to singing with them, instead of backup for them as she used to do, but frankly we would have preferred more Melinda and less Winans.

Watch video of Melinda Doolittle performing "Hold Up the Light" with BeBe & CeCe Winans:



Ford music video is a collage consisting of outtake clips from all season set to the finalists performing "Time After Time" precedes Ryan presenting Blake and Jordin with new Ford Mustangs.

Watch the Ford video with the Top 12 singing "Time After Time":



Carrie Underwood performs "I'll Stand By You," the same number she was seen singing in Africa on the Idol Gives Back show. Good, but never as good as Chrissie Hynde.” Still, her cover sold well after the charity show.

Watch video of Carrie Underwood singing "I'll Stand by You":



Clive Davis presents Carrie an award for achieving sales of 6 million sales on her debut album, "Some Hearts." Eek, he creeps us out.

To further remind us of the Idol Gives Back drive, The African Children's Choir perform. The audience, and we, ate it up.

Watch video of the African Children's Choir perform:



In an evening low-point equivalent to the handing out of another Golden Idol Award, Sanjaya Malakar takes the stage with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry to reprise his British Invasion Week number, "You Really Got Me." Of course, Ashley Ferl is in the audience crying. Funny, she wasn't crying on the red carpet. In fact, she was all tarted out.

Watch video of Sanjaya Malakar singing "You've Really Got Me":



In a taped performance, Green Day sings John Lennon's "Working Class Hero."

Watch video of Green Day singing "Working Class Hero":



Last season's winner, Taylor Hicks performs his latest single, "Heaven Knows," no doubt to Simon Cowell scowling behind the judges' table.

Watch video of Taylor Hicks singing "Heaven Knows":



In one of the night's better number, Jordin Sparks and Ruben Studdard duet on the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell classic, "You're All I Need to Get By." Release this as a single, please!

Watch video of Jordin Sparks and Ruben Studdard singing "You're All I Need to Get By":



Bette Midler proved that she can't replace Celine Dion in Vegas with her performance of "Wind Beneath My Wings." She's lost a large part of her vocal range and sounded croaky. The camera panned to Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul slow dancing. Simon Cowell was probably asleep. Frankly, this could have cost Midler Vegas tickets.

Watch video of Bette Midler singing "Wind Beneath My Wings":



A beautifully done Sgt. Pepper's Beatles tribute medley by former "American Idol" winners Kelly Clarkson ("Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"), Taylor Hicks ("A Day in the Life"), Carrie Underwood ("She's Leaving Home") and Ruben Studdard ("Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"), ending with the Top 12 singing "With a Little Help From My Friends."

Watch video of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Beatles medley by Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Hicks, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard and the Top 12 finalists:



Before the results were announced, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell predicted that Jordin Sparks would win, while Paula Abdul refused to make a choice, though before the show on the red carpet she admitted that she thought Jordin had the edge. Ryan Seacrest announced that after a record 609 million votes over the season and a world record 74 million votes cast the night before, Jordin Sparks was the winner of American Idol 6.


Blake Lewis looked happier than Jordin. We think he really wanted her to win. He thanked his parents, an emotional Jordin said, "I can't thank you for keeping me around, and thank you so much for everything. Mom, dad, I love you," then sang her crappy coronation song as fireworks went off behind her. At the end, the other 11 smothered her in a hug.

Watch video of Jordin Sparks winning American Idol:



And remember, bookmark this site. We'll continue to report news and tour info throughout the year on all of your Idol favorites!

e-mail Idol Addict
© 2007