American Idol Season 3 Final : (Tues) 25 May 2004

This was it, the long awaited final showdown, 70,000 whittled down to 2, and soon to 1...but which one?

In the lead-up there has been no clear favorite and it looks like the result will be down to how the public react to tonight's performances.

As the show opened both girls knew they had everything to sing for...

Diana DeGarmo started up with this year's 'winner's song', which has been co-written by ex-Idolist Tamyra Gray. She received positive comments from both Randy and Paula, "You worked it out dude!" said...erm...Randy (in case you didn't guess!). Simon was less complimentary, he had a problem with a 16 year old singing this song, he said he expected a 50 year old to be singing it. Was that was a criticism of Diana or the American Idol crew's choice of winner's song? Hmmm ... 50 year olds aren't allowed to enter the contest, are they?

Fantasia Barrino began her final assault on the American Idol crown by singing K-ci & Jojo's 'All My Life'. She sang it well but surprisingly didn't impress the judges. Randy Jackson didn't like her arrangement of the song and Paula seemed to agree, although she did tell Fantasia 'you retained your talent'. Simon, honest to a fault, couldn't be positive about his favorite idol's rendition, he described it as a complete mess.

Diana's second song was 'No More Tears - [Enough is Enough]', the Donna Summer number she sang on 'Disco' night. Once again she delivered an accomplished performance. Randy Jackson liked it, so too did Paula Abdul. As for Simon Cowell, he was impressed with Diana's vocals, so he criticised her dancing instead!

Fantasia followed up with Summertime, the George Gershwin classic from the movie 'Porgy and Bess'. When she sang this on the 'movies' theme night she wowed the panel, especially Randy who declared it was the best Idol performance ever. Fantasia provided an equally moving performance tonight and there were more superlatives from the judges. Randy described her as 'unbelievable' and the performance moved Simon to describe Fantasia as 'without question, the best contestant we've had in any competition!' Whatever the result Fantasia should frame that plaudit, the enigmatic Englishman doesn't mouth words like those very often.

Diana finished up with a replay of 'Don't Cry Out Loud' the Melissa Manchester song that Clive Davis selected for her in last week's show. She sang it well, but her voice did waver somewhat in the middle of the number. This didn't go unnoticed by the Randy and Paula, although Paula softened her critique by telling Diana that she is still wonderful. Simon reminded Diana that it was her last chance to 'nail this competition', he said he didn't think she did.

Fantasia's finale was her version of "I Believe", the same song Diana had performed as her opener. Fantasia gave a more emotionally intense rendition and she added a real gospel feel. She certainly had no trouble making the panel 'believe'. Randy called it 'brilliant', Paula told her that tonight was her night. Simon Cowell didn't seem to have any problem with a 19 year old singing this 50 year old's song! In true Simon-style he pre-empted the results show by telling Fantasia 'that was your acceptance speech'!

We'll find out tomorrow if in fact that was Fantasia's acceptance speech. If the result is all about tonight's performances then we agree that Fantasia should have edged it.

If not ... well it won't be too big a shocker, will it? Diana has also shown fantastic talent throughout this contest, and she has tremendous appeal to the younger viewing audience.

Paradoxically, the harsher critiques received by Diana tonight may actually earn her more calls during the extended 4-hour vote-in. The heightened anxiety may bolster the endurance levels of her supporters' phone-in fingers.

Having said all that, the topsy-turvy voting patterns of recent weeks suggest that it's probably futile to second-guess how America will make it's choice.

We have no choice but to ... wait 'till 8 to find their fate...let's hope it's great!

Here's a summary of the songs that went down tonight...

	Song 1	Song 2	Song 3
Diana DeGarmo	I Believe   [Winner's Song]	No More Tears [Enough is Enough] [Donna Summer (from Disco night)]	Don't Cry Out Loud [Melissa Manchester - Clive Davis' choice (from last week).]
Fantasia Barrino	All My Life   [K-ci & Jojo]	Summertime  [Written by George Gershwin (from Movie night)]	I Believe   [Winner's Song]