Kris Allen was crowned the winner on last night's American Idol. The laid-back country boy beat flamboyant California kid Adam Lambert to take the title. But before we got the news...
Ryan Seacrest told us that a series record of just under 100-million votes decided their fate. Throughout the night, Seacrest handed out Golden Idol Awards to dishonor the worst auditions of the season. Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell, "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell and emotional rollercoaster Tatiana Del Toro got trophies.
It was a night of all-star performances that included...
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As a new champ was about to be crowned, then-reigning Idol champ David Cook did his single, ironically titled "Permanent."
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Lil Rounds joined Queen Latifah to perform "Cue the Rain."
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Jason Mraz joined the former contestants for group sing of "I'm Yours."
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Keith Urban joined Kris Allen for a double-guitar duet of "Kiss a Girl."
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The ladies from the Top 13 sang "Big Girls Don't Cry" with Fergie, which turned into a Black Eyed Peas fest and a performance of "Boom Boom Pow."
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Allison Iraheta joined Cyndi Lauper for a duet of "Time After Time."
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Danny Gokey was joined on stage by Lionel Richie for a medley of "Hello," "Just Go" and "All Night Long."
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Adam Lambert had some sort of black metal Mad Max suit on to perform KISS's "Beth." Then the band joined him onstage for a fireworks-heavy, guitar-bashing medley of "Detroit Rock City" and "Rock and Roll All Night."
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The Top 13 joined Carlos Santana for "Black Magic Woman" and "Smooth."
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Megan Joy and Michael Sarver joined banjo-twanging Steve Martin for a Martin-penned song called "Pretty Flowers."
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Rod Stewart was there in a loud plaid jacket to perform "Maggie May."
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Then Kris Allen and Adam Lambert took the stage for a final performance of Queen's "We Are the Champions" with Brian May and the band.
And finally after two-plus hours, we got the news that Allen had won. He cried, "Are you freakin' serious?" and protested that the title deserved to go to his onetime roommate Adam Lambert. --Bill McCleary



