Friday, May 22, 2009

The 2009 'American Idol' Winner Is Kris Allen



The dark horse surged ahead at the last minute to win it in a photo finish.

With almost 100 million votes tallied, Kris Allen defeated front-runner and judges' favorite Adam Lambert to become the 'American Idol' season 8 winner.

The 23-year-old student from Conway, Ark. was so stunned by the surprise outcome, he was almost speechless. But he did manage to thank his fans. "You guys are the reason that all of us are here," he said.


Over the course of the season, Adam wowed viewers and the judges with his technical prowess, showmanship and interpretations of songs like 'Mad World,' 'Tracks of My Tears' and 'Ring of Fire.' In Tuesday night's finale, Simon Cowell declared him to be "one of the best and most original contestants we have ever had. You are a star." And Simon repeatedly declared on talk shows like 'Ellen DeGeneres' that Adam would take the 'Idol' title.

Meanwhile, underdog Kris flew under the radar until a breathtaking rendition of 'Ain't No Sunshine' during the Top 9 week. He began to get more notice with performances of 'Falling Slowly,' 'She Works Hard for the Money' and 'Heartless.'

And in a similar fashion to last year, when Simon tabbed David Archuleta as the winner and then hedged his bets in the finale results show, he told both contestants tonight that "I thought you were both brilliant. Unusually, incredibly nice people. And I think both of you should be very proud of what you achieved last night and the future's all yours."

The finale results show was packed with performances by the Top 13 finalists, including the usual duets, like Allison Iraheta with Cyndi Lauper and Danny Gokey with Lionel Richie.

But the most eyebrow-raising pairing (and the one that got the Twitterverse chattering) was when "Bikini Girl" (aka Katrina Darrell) made an encore -- with nemesis Kara DioGuardi. At the end, the judge unbuttoned her dress and flashed her own bikini.

After appearances by infamous contestants Nick Mitchell (aka "Norman Gentle") and Tatiana del Toro, the show got down to business. The Top 2 finally teamed up to sing together -- alongside the band Queen, no less.

The song? 'We Are the Champions.' How fitting.

3 comments:

HL said...

He is such a shy n nice guy .. All the best to him

BH said...

But there are many critics says that this year America crowned the wrong idol....haha.

HL said...

Wosh .. izit true? this is too bad and unfair for him if this is teh case, he must be very stressful and this is HOLLYWOOD !!