One of the strangest seasons of "American Idol" came to a dramatic, and emotional, finish tonight as Lee DeWyze was named the winner of the nation's biggest singing competition.
The Illinois paint store worker, who wowed Idol fans with his booming rocker growl and down-to-earth modesty, captured the "American Idol" Season 9 title over longtime season front-runner Crystal Bowersox, the cool, dreadlocked single mother with the raspy folk-rock voice.
Lee looked stunned and nearly fell down as Idol host Ryan Seacrest revealed he won the tighter-than-expected contest. Looking like he was about to burst into tears, Lee was mobbed by the other Idol finalists from this season and gave Crystal a hug, telling her that he loves her.
"This is amazing," the underdog winner said as the audience cheered wildly and his parents jumped up and down in celebration. "I'm so happy right now. I've never been happier in my life."
Moments later, Lee clutched a microphone to sing his victory song, "Beautiful Day," as laser lights flickered and mounds of confetti streamed down from the ceiling above the stage inside the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, where the results were announced live on Fox.
Lee's come-from-behind victory capped a season of "American Idol" that will go down in history as one of the most unusual and also one of the most pivotal.
The show hit a major crossroads at the start of this season, with the departure of affable -- and unpredictable -- Idol judge Paula Abdul, the questionable addition of comedian Ellen DeGeneres and the surprise announcement that this would be Simon Cowell's final season sitting at the judges' table.
Added to the mix was the widespread perception that this year's talent pool was nowhere nearly as strong as previous seasons, particularly last season, which produced the strongest Final Four in Idol history: Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta.
Perhaps expectations were too high after season 8's huge success?
Regardless, there is no denying that this season was marred by boring theme nights, long and cheesy result shows, bizarre behavior by the longtime Idol host, and the controversial last-minute replacement of one of the male semi-finalists. (Chris Golightly was kicked off the show and replaced by Tim Urban, a move that the Idol producers tried to keep quiet, thinking rabid Idol fans wouldn't notice.)
And, love her or hate her, scores of Idol fans truly felt the show was not as entertaining without Paula in the house.
Worst of all for the Fox network, this season's Idol struggled to match the stellar television ratings it grew accustomed to getting. Although it continues to be the most-watched show across the nation, Idol's ratings have been about 9 percent lower this season than last season, and the lowest since 2002.
Even the number of registered votes cast by viewers dropped substantially this season. Just last week, when Lee, Crystal and Casey James were battling for the Top 2 finale, more than 47 million votes were cast by phone and text message. At the same point last season, 88 million votes were cast.
Idol's producers have to be scrambling to find innovative ways to freshen up the show to boost the ratings.
Among the strange occurrences this season:
• Seacrest's odd questions and awkward moments. During an episode in April, he told last year's openly gay runnerup Adam Lambert that he has a "talented tongue," and Ryan slow-danced with a guy in the audience during a serious Tim Urban performance.
• The early part of this season got far more attention for wackiness than for great singing. Remember the "Pants on the Ground" audition that went viral on the internet? (Larry Platt, the guy who created that song, did an encore performance tonight, accompanied by male dancers who intentionally let their pants drop to the ground.)
• During the Denver auditions, Idol judge Kara DioGuardi and guest judge Victoria Beckham seemed infatuated with hunky Texas singer Casey James, and Kara asked him to remove his shirt, leading to season-long jokes about cougars flirting with contestants.
• A former child actress who appeared on "Barney and Friends" pranced into the audition room snapping a whip and looking more like a hooker than a singer.
• And who could forget the scantily clad "bikini boy," who tried to mimmick last season's "bikini girl."
Season 9 did have some big moments, thanks to Crystal and Lee, both of whom happened to audition for the show at the same time and in the same place: Chicago during the summer of 2009.
The two connected during the auditions and actually became good friends before both were selected for the semi-finals -- the crucial round where the public begins voting for their favorite 24 singers.
That's when Crystal and Lee began to get noticed.
Crystal, a 24-year-old native of Elliston, Ohio, stood out among the Top 12 women because of her folksy style -- her dreadlocks, her strong guitar and harmonica playing and, most of all, her dazzling voice. She idolizes Janis Joplin, Melissa Etheridge and Tracy Chapman, and she can belt out songs that can match those music stars in quality.
Lee, a 24-year-old paint store worker from Illinois who has recorded two albums on a small record label, stood out among the Top 12 guys because of his booming alt-rock growl and disarming shyness.
Early on in the competition, he struggled to stay on key, but he compensated for those flaws with growing confidence and intense performances that riveted the Idol audience and fans at home.
As the season moved forward through the finals, Crystal was touted as the front-runner and she kept up her strong performances, while Lee steadily improved and attracted more and more fans, giving Crystal a run for her money.
During the past few weeks, Lee managed to out-perform Crystal -- first on Frank Sinatra night, then last week with his mesmerizing renditions of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
The Idol judges seemed to be pushing hard for Lee to advance to the finale with Crystal, and that's exactly what happened as Casey James was sent home.
Ironically, both Lee and Crystal shared one of the biggest moments of the season two weeks ago, when they performed a dazzling duet of "Falling Slowly," by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
Apparently rattled by stage fright, Lee suffered a performance setback Tuesday night during the final showdown against Crystal, struggling to hit the high notes on two of his songs. Crystal was stellar, sounding like a polished professional singer, on all three of her songs.
In the end, Tuesday's performances didn't mean much to Idol's millions of voters. They ended up choosing Lee over Crystal.
SEASON 1 – Kelly Clarkson SEASON 2 – Ruben Studdard SEASON 3 – Fantasia Barrino SEASON 4 – Carrie Underwood SEASON 5 – Taylor Hicks SEASON 6 – Jordin Sparks SEASON 7 – David Cook SEASON 8 – Kris Allen SEASON 9 – Lee DeWyze
Len Melisurgo is a local news editor at The Star-Ledger and a self-professed reality TV addict. He has been blogging about "American Idol" since the start of Season 9.
Live Idol blog from tonight's season finale
'American Idol' polls: Idol fans think Crystal sang better, but they're backing Lee for the win
'American Idol' Top 2 recap: Crystal Bowersox steals the show, could win title over Lee DeWyze
Are Lee and Crystal among the best, or worst, finalists in 'American Idol' history?
NJ.com/ Star-Ledger Season 9 Archive