Jordin wins 'American Idol'

Seventeen-year-old Jordin Sparks stepped onto the pedestal Wednesday last night as the youngest American Idol in the six years of the combination cultural behemoth, music and marketing monolith, and TV show.

Sparks, from Glendale, Ariz., took the crown over 26-year-old Blake Lewis, a Seattle-area beat-box stylist.

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest revealed the results at the end of a bloated Idol finale that included performances by old-time stars ranging from Gladys Knight to Tony Bennett and four of the five previous Idol winners.

Starting with a "red carpet" intro, the 2-hour, 38-minute show was awash with pro performances, and a couple of the veterans did themselves no favors. Gwen Stefani offered an obvious lip-synch, and Bette Midler, who takes over next year from Celine Deon as big-bucks artist in residence at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, crashed doing "The Wind Beneath My Wings." Controversial Idol finalist Sanjaya Malakar sounded like Sinatra in comparison.

All this season's finalists performed. Lewis and Sparks did duets, he with rapper Doug E. Fresh, she with 2003 winner Ruben Studdard. Blake was better, and the performances together underscored that you don't have to win Idol to be a winner.

Music-biz giant Clive Davis, who brought the entertainment to a screeching halt, identified last year's fourth-place finisher, Chris Daughtry, whose current album has sold more than 2.5 million copies, as the biggest thing this minute in the music industry.

But the future last night was a distant drummer. "This is my now," a misty Jordin blasted as the show ended, singing the title and lyric from the new song that helped her win the competition and that will be the first one she records as an Idol.