SPARKS FLIES ; Jordin Reigns in `Idol' Finale

May 24, 05:30 PM

Current Headlines: By MARK A. PERIGARD

Beauty broke the beatbox.

With a reported record 74 million votes cast, viewers chose 17- year-old Jordin Sparks over 25-year-old Blake Lewis as their "American Idol" champion last night.

Sparks, the favorite going into the final round of a substandard season of the Fox talent show, closed the finale with an emotional rendition of "This Is My Now," slated to be the first single from her debut album.

Lewis seemed happy with second place. The beatboxer, like Sparks, was handed the keys to a new Ford Mustang earlier in the show. He has a career ahead of him, if only as a novelty act.

Sparks' victory was almost an afterthought to a two-hour, 10- minute show that exemplified much of the worst qualities of the No. 1 show on television. It was bloated, self-congratulatory and at times gratuitously cruel, especially during the presentation of the "2nd Annual Idol Awards," which dug up previous rejectees for even more humiliation.

Former "Idol" winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks joined the 12 finalists for a massacre of Beatles hits. It was enough to make one long for the days of album bonfires.

Aerosmith's Joe Perry squandered two decades of musical credibility by backing up Sanjaya Malakar. Malakar's No. 1 fan, 13- year-old Ashley Ferl, again sobbed in the audience, but this time it appeared to be from abject fear. An off-key Bette Midler annihilated her hit "Wind Beneath My Wings" and Jerry Springer looked as if he might lose it.

There were some good moments. The African Children's Choir was so precocious, this viewer feared Angelina Jolie would swoop in to adopt them all. Singing with BeBe and CeCe Winans, ex-backup singer and third-place contestant Melinda Doolittle confirmed what many believed, that she deserved to win the competition.

Tony Bennett nearly stopped the show with his rendition of "For Once in My Life." Bennett's appearance was surprising given his reported criticism over how the show pushes it's young wannabe stars. Still, Bennett has a CD, "Duets: An American Classic," to hawk, and for all its faults, "Idol" remains one of the few venues on TV that can touch music lovers. Other stars performing included Gwen Stefani (live from Boston), Green Day, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Doug E. Fresh.

Lewis and Sparks opened the show with a duet of "I Saw Her Standing There" that recalled the nonexistent chemistry between first-season finalists Clarkson and Justin Guarini. Anyone else up for "From Justin to Kelly 2: Revenge of the Beatboxer"?

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