Jordin Sparks

The night is almost upon us. When American Idol broadcasts its season finale this week, millions - and millions and millions - of eyes will be upon the show.

Before we learn who will follow in the winning footsteps of Carrie Underwood, though, let's hear from the final two contestants.

Both Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis talked with reporters after they moved on in the competition last week. Here are some highlights, beginning with Jordin:

If she loses: If I don't win, it won't be the end of the world. It's not going to be, ‘Oh my God, I'm never going to sing again.' I'd be happy if I win. I'd be happy if Blake wins.

Simon Cowell saying she sounded old last week: Simon's comments always stay with you. But at the same time, I can't really base what I'm doing on that. Sometimes I do. But he says what he feels. It was old fashioned. But it was a song I loved. I just wanted to sing it really badly.

Favorite judge and best advice: I loved meeting Martina McBride. I've listened to her music for so long. She's amazing. I loved meeting Gwen Stefani… I think I cried when I met her. The best advice came from Jennifer Lopez. She was just so amazing. She made us feel so relaxed. ‘Don't worry. Sit down, let's talk awhile.'

Favorite past Idols: I love Kelly Clarkson… the way her career has gone so amazingly well for her. She manages to stay out of the tabloids. She is so amazing. Also, Carrie Underwood has had an amazing career so far.

Now, let's hear what that hottie, Blake Lewis, had to say...

A few weeks ago, we urged fans of American Idol to vote for Antonella Barba.

At that time, though, we found the young singer attractive and - let's be honest - just wanted to see more of her on stage.

But we're now urging all readers to get out and vote for Jordin Sparks for a very different reason: the girl can sing. Very, very well. Please don't punish the 17-year old for one poor Bon Jovi performance - if anything, admire her for going outside her strong suit.

In the view of our experts, Jordin has the second best pure singing voice on the show next to Melinda Doolittle. We'd like to see those two square off in the finals.

Of course, if fans were as blown away by Blake Lewis and his beat boxing last night as the judges were, it could become a three-horse race. And that's fine by us.

As long as Jordin is one of the horses, and not Lauren Conrad's piece of man candy, Chris Richardson.

Ryan Seacrest is straight.

Putting aside the sexual props given to everyone's favorite American Idol host by Shana Wall, however, there's only one thing people wanna hear about Seacrest:

Who does he think will be this year's American Idol champion?

The answer may surprise some followers of the show: Jordin Sparks.

"First of all, she's a girl," Ryan profoundly said of this 17-year old singer. "She represents fantastic qualities. She's a great singer and a pretty girl ... She's non-threatening, cute and attractive. Plus, she has this sincere likeability that is rare and genuine."

It's hard to argue with those points ... although Melinda Doolittle will sure try to over the next few weeks.

Asked what he makes of ever-controversial Sanjaya Malakar, Seacreast said: "Everywhere I go, people have been screaming at me to get rid of Sanjaya. And I say, 'Too bad, you're doing it.' ... But Sanjaya, he's an interesting character on the show. America hones in and gets rid of who needs to go and the best usually stay."

Finally, how about it, Ryan? Do you really hate Simon Cowell or what?

"We're friends," Seacrest said. "We're just extremely competitive on every level â€" to the point that he doesn't want a parking place any farther away than the one I have."

But Ryan insists it's all in good fun. You know, like basically everything Katie Rees ever does.

There weren't too many shocks on American Idol last night.

Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell exchanged their typical, inappropriate - albeit fairly quick-witted - accusatory banter over who was actually gay.

Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones sang very well.

And somehow, for some reason, the Halle Berry lookalike, Sanjaya Malakar, continued to draw applause from the crowd. We hope they were just being polite - and come to their senses tonight when it comes time to vote.

One pleasant surprise, however, was the emergence of Jordin Sparks as a contender. The 17-year old handled her Diana Ross song well, impressing the judges and perhaps proving that this won't be just the Melinda and Lakisha show all season long.

As for the guys, well, they weren't particularly noteworthy. With the exception of Chris Sligh - but that's just because we've got a piece of advice for this crooner: put your glasses back on. They help with your image.

And how else will you see Antonella Barba photos clearly?