American Idol

It was a slow, but steady rise to the top for Lee DeWyze.

But it all paid off tonight, as the laid back rocker with the sexy, scratchy voice was crowned season nine champion on American Idol!

DeWyze peaked at the ideal time, bringing the crowd and judges to their feet with his recent rendition of "Hallelujah" last week. He then carried that momentum into the finale and defeated a worthy competitor, Crystal Bowersox.

A choked-up DeWyze accepted Ryan Seacrest's congratulations after the announcement and proceeded to sing his cover of "Beautiful Day," which will soon hit radio stations around the country.

Relive Lee's Idol journey below...

She started season nine as the favorite, she faltered near the finish line, but Crystal Bowersox came through when it mattered most last night.

Of the six total songs covered by her and Lee DeWyze, Crystal put on the top two performances. She left her comfort zone (and wore a dress!) with Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet," abandoning her guitar and showing off her range.

But it was Bowersox's take on Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain" that should earn her the title. She delivered it with drama and feeling, as Randy Jackson rightly referred to the audition as "amazing" and Simon said it was "by far, the best performance and the song of the night."

As for Lee? He did perfectly well. We've already downloaded his rendition of "The Boxer" and we're big fans of U2's "Beautiful Day."

But DeWyze's hoarse sound didn't come across well on that single. Still, it wouldn't shock us if viewers sided with Lee simply because his first song would be that contemporary, well-known U2 hit.

This is how we've ranked the six songs sung on the night:

1. Crystal Bowersox, Up to the Mountain
2. Crystal Bowersox, Black Velvet
3. Lee DeWyze, The Boxer
4. Lee DeWyze, Beautiful Day
5. Crystal Bowersox, Me and Bobby McGee
6. Lee DeWyze, Everybody Hurts

WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD WIN?

Simon Cowell believes Lee DeWyze will win American Idol.

Speaking to his fellow judge on her talk show this week, Simon said: “If you’d asked me five or six weeks ago, 100 percent I would have said Crystal. But now I’ve changed my mind.... [Lee] is talented. He hasn’t had any real breaks in life, and this has given him a shot, and I like that.”

So that's Cowell's take on the finals, which gets underway tonight. How does THG handicap the matchup between Lee and Crystal Bowersox? As follows...

WHY CRYSTAL WILL WIN: She's different, she has an incredible voice and her rendition of "People Get Ready" was the best of any contestant this season. It's also about time a woman took home the crown, isn't it?
WHY CRYSTAL WON'T WIN: She may have peaked too early. She also fails to connect with the audience, almost coming across as condescending to the show in general. She's been the favorite for months and votes often like an underdog.

WHY LEE WILL WIN: He's come on strong over the few weeks. He has Simon's support. He makes an emotional connection with the audience during every song. He also reminds us of David Cook and, hey, that guy won.
WHY LEE WON'T WIN: Viewers are sick of male winners. He lacks a winning personality and he reminds us of David Cook and, hey, that guy already won.

Now it's your turn, readers. Who do you think should win American Idol?

Casey James was sent packing, while Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox advanced to next week's finals on last night's American Idol results show.

But the major news coming out of the broadcast centered around the pair of professional artists that performed.

First, Justin Bieber shattered ear drums around the nation, as he took the stage and all females in attendance screamed like their hair was on fire. Watch the shaggy-haired 16-year old in action now:

Travis Garland on Idol

Also, viewers were introduced to Travis Garland, a former boy bander that was discovered on MySpace by that loser Perez Hilton. Reaction to this performance has been mixed.

Watch it below and sound off now!

American Idol viewers made the right, obvious choice last night, sending Casey James home.

The long-haired singer has come a long way since being depicted as nothing but eye candy for Kara DioGuardi, but he was clearly the worst performer on Tuesday and reacted to his elimination with humility.

"I can't believe it, man," he said after Ryan Seacrest delivered the bad news. "I'm so thankful for the opportunity. It's been an amazing journey and I'm just so honored that I'm here."

We're now left with Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox, not the most exciting final pairing, but one that should keep fans guessing about who will win next week.

Bowersox has been considered the favorite for months, but Lee has come on on strong recently, earning as much praise as any contestant all season for his rendition of "Hallelujah" on Tuesday night. We'll publish a more detailed finale preview in the coming days, but sound off now:

Who do you want to win?

As usual, the results show also featured a pair of professional performances, which may explain why your ears are ringing this morning. The screams emanating in the arena from Justin Bieber fans can still be heard in many homes.

Also, new artist Travis Garland took to the stage. What did you think of his national debut? Check out photos of Garland, Bieber and the Idols below:

Lee DeWyze threw down the real gauntlet, according to Randy Jackson.

His rendition of "Hallelujah" was simply stunning, said Ellen DeGeneres.

The singer is the heart of the show, gushed Kara DioGuardi.

And Simon Cowell went as far as to refer to Lee as a "great person."

What prompted all this praise? DeWyze's dominance during the most recent performance night of American Idol. Watch him take a rocker's edge to this classic single below:

Halleljuah Rendition

Viewers also watched DeWyze go home and perform in Illinois over the weekend, where he threw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game, while also entertaining fans in Skokie...

We don't mean to be harsh with our headline. At least not too harsh.

But this lackluster season of American Idol can at least be redeemed by the fact that next week's finale will be one of the hardest to gauge in show history. If viewers do the right thing and vote out Casey James tonight, that is.

Kara's crush simply doesn't have the versatility needed come out on top. He underwhelmed last night with both "OK, It's Alright With Me" (his selection) and John Mayer's "Daughters" (the judge's choice for him) and deserves to be eliminated.

This would leave it to Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, two finalists that should be neck-and-neck after their most recent performances.

DeWyze put on the best of the evening, and one of the best of the season, with "Hallejulah." He's been coming on strong over the last few weeks, while Crystal hasn't been able to match the magic of last month's "People Get Ready."

Below, we rank the six songs played throughout the hour:

1. Lee DeWyze, Hallelujah
2. Crystal Bowersox, Maybe I'm Amazed
3. Lee DeWyze, Simple Man
4. Crystal Bowersox, Come to My Window
5. Casey James, Daughters
6. Casey James, OK, It's Alright With Me

Which performance was your favorite? And is there any chance Casey upsets one of these two and advances to next week's finale?

American Idol may be an utter bore this season, but it can still deliver an emotional wallop at times.

On last night's results show, for example, Michael Lynche and Crystal Bowersox found themselves in the bottom two.

After Ryan Seacrest revealed that Big Mike would be heading home, the tears started to flow. First, from Michael's wife, cradling the couple's newborn daughter. Then, from various audience members as Lynche sang Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There" and, finally, from a certain celebrity gossip blogger's living room.

He just seemed really nice, okay?!?

We're down to Bowersox, Casey James and Lee DeWyze on the worst season in Idol history. Who do you hope takes home the crown?

The night was not a total downer, of course. Bon Jovi, Daughtry and Fantasia all performed. Along with shots of Mike and Crystal, these artists are featured below:

Need a few examples that illustrate how far American Idol has fallen on season nine?

• Fox now airs commercials for the remaining episodes that don't even focus on the contestants. Instead, they hype this as Simon's final season.
• On last night's movie-themed edition, Casey James resorted to a rendition of "Mrs. Robinson" from The Graduate, in order to revive jokes about Kara's crush on him and distract from his lack of actual, finals-worthy ability.
• Kara critiqued Lee's "Kiss From a Rose" with these vapid words: "It's one of most difficult songs to sing. But you can't take away from the fact that you are still great." Really? This is the final four. Isn't he supposed to be able to sing difficult songs at this point?
• Former finalist Blake Lewis, blogging for USA Today, wrote: "The show is getting close to over and I am waiting for someone to have an amazing performance, but this year has been pretty boring, I must say. Hopefully someone will prove me wrong."

Amen, Blake. We've ranked last night's performances below, simply because we have to:

1. Crystal Bowersox: Ellen said the evening got "Crystal-ized" with this rendition of "I'm Alright." Sadly, that pun was the highlight of the entire episode.
2. Lee DeWyze: We summed him up above. The judges agreed his performance wasn't anything special, but basically admitted: Eh, you're better than Michael and Casey.
3. Michael Lynche: Went with Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There" and did his usual connecting with the audience. At some point, though, viewers will have to realize that Big Mike's singing voice is nothing special.
4. Casey James: The whole "Mrs. Robinson" thing was forced and lame. It's his time to go home.

WHO WAS YOUR FAVORITE PERFORMER?

When it comes to her reaction to Fox's broadcast of her American Idol performance Wednesday, Lady Gaga isn't bothering putting on the p-p-p-p-p-poker face.

She's just straight up annoyed.

The scene-stealing diva lashed out at Fox via Twitter, accusing the network of some shoddy editing work when it came to her much-heralded American Idol visit.

"FOX POORLY+AMATEURLY edited+cut my performance/musical arrangement on idol. Watch real version," she wrote, prompting fans to go elsewhere for it.

Do not edit the Gaga.

The complete, more than six-minute version of Gaga doing "Alejandro," which was cut down to under five by American Idol, can be seen here, thanks to Perez.

On one hand, five whole minutes of a pretaped performance left intact is still a lengthy segment for live TV. On the other hand, the results show is all filler.

Why have Gaga and her non-amputated leg on if you're not going to air it in its full, awesome entirety? What pulse-pounding drama couldn't be cut instead?

Click to enlarge some vintage Lady Gaga pictures below and see why you just do not cut one of the singer's live performances ... it's borderline sacreligious: