PUBLIC MARKS from vacelts with tags "Paula Abdul" & "Melinda Doolittle"

After 100,000 auditions in seven cities, 49 hours of television, 609 million votes and two hours of fluff, America finally learned that the 17-year-old from Glendale, Arizona with the golden voice is the 2007 American Idol. Jordin Sparks now takes her place among the elite known as Idols.

Going into the first half of the American Idol season finale, I thought the finale was going to be like comparing apples and oranges. Songstress Jordin Sparks has the vocals while beatboxing Blake Lewis has won the crowd over with performances. However, Jordin, as Simon Cowell put it, wiped the floor with Blake with the final song and, unless the voters are deaf, dumb and blind, sealed her victory.

Simon Cowell was visibly disappointed when results of the semifinals were announced on American Idol Wednesday. Melinda Doolittle, the most consistent and versatile contestant this season, has been sent home.

The competition remains close as the Top 3 head into the final weeks of American Idol. Although all three put in outstanding performances Tuesday night, I think Melinda Doolittle edged out her fellow contenders slightly with her versatility and consistency. Down to just three finalists, American Idol altered the format of Tuesday’s competition slightly. Each competitor sang three songs this week — a song selected for them by one of the judges, a song picked by the producers and finally, a song of their choice. This variation offered an interesting twist to Week 11.