And the winner is…Lee DeWyze
American Idol Season 9
Part-two of the American Idol Finale for Season 9 aired Wednesday night on FOX from the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. Season 8 winner Kris Allen was on hand to pass the torch to a new Idol. Would it be the mother from Toledo or the paint salesman from Chicago?
Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze went head to head on Tuesday night, each performing three songs – check out photos and video here. They were each given a 2011 Ford Fiesta, personalized with designs that each provided to the auto manufacturer.
The show paid tribute to Simon Cowell, who will not be returning for Season 10. Former Idol judge Paula Abdul appeared throughout the video montage, and then showed up on stage later in the show to delivered a stilted and bizarre stand-up routine that was supposed to be humorous but missed the mark.
The normally cranky Brit was summoned on stage by Ryan Seacrest, and got emotional when he took the microphone to say a few parting words, with Paula all but hanging from his sleeve the entire time.
There was a return visit from Larry Platt, who introduced the “Pants on the Ground” craze early in the season.
One of the highlights of the night was the surprise appearance of Bret Michaels, who joined third place finisher Casey James on stage to sing “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”. See performance video here.
Janet Jackson appeared on stage to perform “Nothing”, showing off her new micro-hairdo.
Our very own Danni Starr has been in L.A. this week reporting on all of the activity, and was at the Nokia Theatre for the American Idol Finale. She forwarded a photo of a huge jumbotron sign in the arena that announced in huge white letters – LEE WINS – see it in the gallery below.
More photos, the AI winner announcement clip, and Lee DeWyze singing “Beautiful Day”. We’ve included Tuesday night’s rendition, followed by the emotionally charged version that he delivered after winning the title:
Photos: WENN