Was He "DeWyze" Choice?

Well, that was quite the star-studded, two-hour, ho-holds-barred, tour-de-force, music celebration of a finale, wasn't it? Imagine ... Alice Cooper, the Bee Gees, and Michael McDonald in just the first half-hour! Was last year's finale this jam-packed with music legends? If so, I'm sorry I missed it. Between them, Hall & Oates, Chicago, and Joe Cocker, last night's array of talent was not only fantastic to watch, but I can only hope that it exposed "Idol"'s young audience to some of the genuine classics of rock and pop music ... and that the kids in the audience liked what they heard and might explore it more.

My favorite performance was probably Siobhan and Aaron teaming up with the brothers Gibb ... oh, the way those two "Idol" Top-Twelvers started it off with that delicious harmony was likely the single most blissful "Idol" moment I experienced all season! Somebody needs to sign both Siobhan and Aaron to record contracts, like, NOW. And I also dearly loved the big farewell to Simon, in which a whole darn stageful of "Idol" alumni sang lovingly to him! All the "Idol" winners (except David Cook, who had a charity event going on that night), and over a dozen runners-up and other finalists ... so much fun to see them all again! (And gosh, has Ruben been shedding the pounds or what ... lookin' good, Rube!!)

There was no shortage of surprises during the show, with a parade of the most outrageous auditioners in the show's history -- some of which, like Renaldo ("We're Brothers Forever") Lapuz, we were fine with seeing again ... and others, like the beyond-obnoxious Ian Benardo, who resoundingly proved, as the producers hurriedly cut to commercial, why he never should have been invited. And what would a celebration like this be without General Larry ("Pants On The Ground") Platt? I have to say, he's still got the moves for a guy his age! And, of course, they couldn't very well have left out William Hung, now could they? And of course, the highlight that beats them all was the too-sweet appearance of former judge Paula Abdul.

Now, as for the results ... I'm not in the least bit surprised that Lee won the title, but I am a little disappointed. (Of course, I might have said I was disappointed even if Crystal had won, but I suspect not.) The main reason is that we've now got three "Idol" winners in a row who are prone to blurring together in the eyes of everyone except the show's devotees: they're all generic-looking, white rock-pop boys with indistinct, good-but-not-great voices. Adding Crystal to the list of winners would at least have shaken the mix up a bit. But I'm not worried, and I know she'll do quite well regardless ... and she must know, too, 'cause she wasn't fazed a bit by hearing Ryan crow out Lee's name after opening the envelope.

As I said previously, Crystal is unique enough that she's already got a following, just like Adam last year. And if the track record of many previous "Idol" runners-up and finalists is any indication -- not only have Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken enjoyed more success than the guys who snatched the title out of their grasps, but just look at Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, and Kellie Pickler -- Crystal has very little to worry about, aside from the implicit obligation of rewarding her fan camp with a great debut album later this year ... something else that I'm not very worried about her pulling off. Of course, it can be a double-edged sword: plenty of "Idol" winners have had clunky careers at best: Kris Allen and Taylor Hicks saw just mediocre sales of their debut albums ... and what's Justin Guarini been up to lately...?

All in all, it was a bumpy ride of a season that came to an adequately satisfying if bittersweet end. It was a bit of a struggle for me to stay tuned in -- and for many others too, I suspect, from what I've heard about the decline not just in viewers but also in votes ... notice how Edward Boddington (or, as I like to think of him, "Mr. Personality") didn't mention how many votes were tallied in the final round? I also found it curious how they avoided "final thoughts" from the judges ... although I'm sure the main reason they skipped that was 'cause they were running short on time, I can't help but think it was also because the judges would have had trouble heaping praise on this lackluster season.

I tell ya, though, Simon Fuller and company will have to find an unbelievably tremendous successor to Simon Cowell if they hope to get the viewers (myself included) even thinking about tuning in next season. Of course I'll keep an eye on the happenings on that front, but I'm not holding out a whole lot of hope. Godspeed, Simon ... we're all going to miss you terribly.

Random thought: for some reason, all morning I've had this vision in my head of Lee doing "Big Yellow Taxi" on solo acoustic guitar ... wouldn't that have been a completely awesome performance?!? Oh well, a missed opportunity.