Finale time has rolled around for another season of American Idol, and we were treated to 3 performances each by Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, the two left vying for the title. I don’t know if they even had to bother with the singing, really. Everybody knows Jordin has the better voice. And Blake is cute and unique and can beat-box. It just depends what America is into this week.

I don’t wanna say that I was bored with the show, because I was interested to hear the Songwriter Contest Winner Song, which will be the first single of whoever wins. But the show was sorta like a re-run. Blake sang his favorite song from the season, Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” and it was awesome just like the first time he did it. He played it very safe with his second choice of “She Will Be Loved,” a song he never performed before. Eh, it was okay. But he didn’t “blake-ify” it enough for me. I was totally digging the argyle sweater and pinstripe pants, though. Hell, I’d vote for him just based on his crazy old-man style.

Jordin’s favorite song of the season was “A Broken Wing” and I got chills when she sang it … again. And she looked utterly fabulous with her flippy waved hair and sparkly eye makeup. For her “never before” number, she chose “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera. A quite appropriate choice, based on the topic. Jordin yanked her sassy out for this song, strutting a bit and showing a little attitude. It was young and hip, the kiddies should like it.

So then they each had to sing the song written by two dudes from Seattle who won the contest. It’s called “This is My Now” and it wasn’t too too bad. It was just as sickeningly sweet as the other Idol Singles, but it didn’t immediately make me wanna puke, so that’s good.

You could tell Blake was out of his comfort zone with it; it’s just not the kind of song for his voice or style. He looked constricted and frustrated, like he was holding back and it was pissing him off. He did okay with it, and didn’t look like he gave a shit. Smart of him, because it probably doesn’t matter anyway. Blake-lovers love BLAKE. And his collection of argyle sweaters, which rock so hard.

After Jordin performed “This is My Now” Simon commented that she wiped the floor with Blake. I would venture to say she wiped her ASS with Blake during that song in particular. It was just much better suited to her voice, almost like it was written for her. She showed her humongous range and even belted out a few power notes towards the end.

Then the clincher was that she started fucking crying right at the end of the song, like the emotion just overwhelmed her. This girl’s a shark; she knows exactly what’ll hook the audience. Very, very smart, my dear. The thing about Jordin is that she looks so goddamn sincere, I halfway believed her. But then they showed the wrap-up clips (which usually are taped during the dress rehearsal) and she finished the song with a huge fucking smile and that’s when I “got it.” Which actually made me like her MORE. I was getting a little suspicious and bored with the aw-shucks, sweet smiley Jordin. I knew there had to be an edge in there somewhere. She’s not totally naïve. Glad to see her use a little strategic tugging at the heart strings.

Personally, I love both of these two. Jordin has such an amazing, powerful voice, and Blake is just fucking awesome all around, from his outfits to his song choices to his spit spattering beat boxing. But I’m hoping that Jordin wins. I think Blake just doesn’t care about winning as much as she does. For Blake it would be this novelty thing, and he’d stay on the same path pursuing the same stuff he’s been pursuing. A million more doors would open for him, but that’ll happen even if he doesn’t win, because he’s adorable and a marketer’s wet dream. But this could be a real turning-point for Jordin, because she is so young and so talented.

So I’m calling Jordin the winner, with Blake a very supportive runner-up.