A Surprised American Idol Winner and a fitting Send off for Simon

All the stops were pulled out for the Idol season finale; all the pomp and pageantry was in essence, a twofer - to crown the new American Idol champion and to give Simon Cowell a proper send off. Paula Abdul made an appearance to honor Simon; a slim down Janet Jackson, with cropped hair, performed some of her classics; and many of the past idol champions came back to serenade and pay respect to Simon. Simon, the normally stoic acid tongue critic, was visibly moved and went on to thank the viewing audience and those he had helped molded into the stars that they are now.

As for the competition for the new American champion, the favorite Crystal Bowersox did not win, but lost to Lee DeWyze. This is where I think the democratic process, in this instance, used to choose the new American Idol Champion was flawed because, truly, the first-runner-up, Crystal, was of superior talent. I could speculate and say that this choice happened because Crystal did not have the traditional rock-star look and swagger - but I may be too harsh because the truth is, American Idol has had unconventional winners before… we only have to look at past contestants like Ruben Studdard and Adam Lambert.

What would an American Idol finale be without a little controversy? Adam Lambert, last year’s 2nd winner, who was scheduled to perform, did not take part in the finale. It was rumored that he missed the rehearsals and was punished for doing so. It must be noted Adam’s people are saying this wasn’t so. We can only speculate what American Idol will look like next year – let the rumors start now about who will replace Simon Cowell.