Kris Allen, American Idol

Behold the power of teenage girls!

Kris Allen won American Idol 2009.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Folksy singer Kris Allen is the new "American Idol," turning judges' favorite Adam Lambert into an also-ran.

Host Ryan Seacrest said on Wednesday's finale that nearly 100 million votes were cast for the finalists. The 23-year-old Allen, a student from Conway, Ark., bested the 27-year-old Lambert, a theater actor from San Diego.

The two-hour finale included performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Cyndi Lauper, Carlos Santana and Rod Stewart. Lambert performed with Kiss and Allen dueted with Keith Urban.

Before the announcement, the two finalists dueted on "We are the Champions" with the surviving members of Queen.

Allen gets a record contract along with his "American Idol" title.

From New York Daily News:

The underdog is the new "American Idol."

Clean-cut country boy Kris Allen knocked glam god Adam Lambert off his pedestal last night, becoming the series' eighth title winner.

It might be the most surprising upset in the show's history since the judges - including tough guy Simon Cowell - often favored Lambert's wild performances.

Even though the flamboyant Lambert appeared to be the favorite, it was never a foregone conclusion he would win the final vote, which host Ryan Seacrest revealed to be "just under 100 million" - beating last year's tally of 97.5 million.

The expulsion of Danny Gokey two weeks ago may have given Allen, 23, a boost since both are more conventional and down-to-earth than Lambert, 27.

Lambert's sexuality was also a wild card - with a singing and fashion style reminsicent of gay icons from Queen singer Freddie Mercury to k.d. lang.

Over the past few months, pictures have surfaced of Lambert kissing other men, while Allen has often talked about his wife and his church attendance.

As soon as Kris was named the winner, I knew that there would be people who would play the gay card.

Adam didn't win because he's gay. Americans are haters. Blah, blah, blah.

I actually felt sorry for Kris. When you're told that you're the winner of American Idol, you shouldn't feel you have to apologize. One of Kris' first comments to Ryan Seacrest was that Adam should have won.

Kris is such a humble guy.

I'm sure he realizes that he's going to be criticized. Adam was robbed; America got it wrong, etc.

I hope Adam's fans take a cue from Adam himself.

Adam is such a class act. He seemed genuinely happy for Kris. I'm sure Adam wouldn't want people bashing Kris. Adam seems like a really nice guy. And certainly he knows that he didn't need the title to have a great future.

All the contestants have bright futures.

Danny Gokey said that this is just the beginning for him. It's the beginning for them all.

And simple geography may have been on Allen's side.

Five past Idol winners have been from southern states, and he hails from Conway, Ark., about as deep in the South as you can get.

Allen didn't challenge the top-rated show's core values. On stage, he exuded all the edginess of a modest Bible student who just happened to look like a teen idol.

By contrast, Lambert positioned himself as a revolutionary with his eyeliner, nail polish and jet-black dye job - and aligned himself with two left-of-mainstream genres, glam-rock and goth.

His over-the-top style, complete with a patented shriek, impressed some but turned off others.

I don't think it's about geography.

And what's with this "core values" stuff?

I think it's a major mistake to break the results of American Idol down into some sort of measure regarding social attitudes on sexual orientation or religion or whatever.

Just because they aren't happy with the results, Adam's fans shouldn't start lashing out more than some of them have already. It's completely unnecessary and inappropriate.

Adam is going to go on performing and his fans can support him. The results tonight haven't changed that. Adam gets it.

Things worked out well for Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson. It's a TV show. Get a grip.

A few more thoughts on the finale:

---Simon Cowell should have stood up and joined in the ovation for Kris rather than remaining seated and pouting. If he did stand up, I missed it. (After watching the video, I see that Simon did briefly stand for Kris, but he quickly sat back down while the other three judges continued to stand and applaud.)

---Danny Gokey was great with Lionel Richie.

---Kara DioGuardi's performance with "bikini girl," including Kara's surprise "revelation," was amusing, though not really family-friendly.

---I think Rod Stewart had an Ambien and a double martini before he performed.

---The two-hour+ show had some nice moments, but often it came off as pure promotion rather than performance. The finale was used as a platform for artists to hawk their new albums or tours. It was a bit too heavy on commercialism.