Near the end of a more than two hour American Idol finale Jordin Sparks was crowned the season six winner, over Blake Lewis. Host Ryan Seacrest said 74,000,000 votes were cast. in the final night of voting. At 17, Sparks becomes the youngest American Idol winner.
It was a finale filled with several big-name guests but lacked the surprises of last year’s big show.
The final pair started out the night singing the Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There”. One of the early highlights of the show was when rapper Doug E. Fresh performed with Blake Edwards. The pair performed might be best described as a beat-box version of dueling banjos. Later in the show Sparks performed with season 2 winner Ruben Studdard.
The segment was followed by a Gwen Stefani song plugging her latest album in what appeared to be a pre-taped segment.
Season One winner Kelly Clarkson made her first appearance of the night singing “Never Again”. Five years after being crowned the first American Idol, Clarkson has won numerous awards including two Grammys.
The show also had its traditional look back at some of the more bizarre auditions. Host Ryan Seacreast handed out “Golden Idol” awards. One of the mock awards was given to the contestant better known as Big Bird. Sholandric Stallworth was given credited for most original voice. Kenneth Briggs and Jonathan Jayne were called “Best Buddies”.
The final six male vocalists muddled their way though a group version of “Baby, Baby” that couldn’t end fast enough for Smokey Robinson to come on stage and perform.
Later in the show the top six females backed Gladys Knight singing “I Feel a Song”, followed by Tony Bennett, who had to cancel an appearance earlier in the season because of illness. Bennett performed his 1967 song “For Once in My Life” which Stevie Wonder took to number 2 a year after Bennett originally released it.
Third place finalist Melinda Doolittle got to sing with BeBe and CeCe Winans who she formerly performed as a backing singer.
Season Four winner Carrie Underwood fronted a stripped down version of “I’ll Stand By You” that she recorded specifically for the Idol Gives Back special. The African Children’s Choir also performed as a reminder of the special.
Much maligned contestant Sanjaya Malakar was given a chance to perform “You Really Got Me” with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. It was a reminder that his vocals were not on par with the rest of the competition’s top singers.
Green Day performed John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” which it covered as part of a tribute album to raise money for Darfur.
Last year’s winner, Taylor Hicks made an appearance and Bette Midler sang before a meddly tribute to the Beatles Sgt. Pepper featuring Kelly Clarkson, Joe Perry, Taylor Hicks, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard and the rest of this season’s top contestants.
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