Lee DeWyze wins American Idol

May 26, 2010 by Ian Evans

Lee DeWyze won American Idol this evening, beating Crystal Bowersox in a music-packed evening that also served as a fond farewell to Idol judge Simon Cowell.

It remains to be seen if DeWyze’s career will follow in the Grammy-winning, sold-out concert footsteps of Carrie Underwood or the music sale bin, state fair footsteps of some of the other past winners, many of whom assembled in song to pay tribute to Cowell, the acerbic British judge who told it like it was.

Former judge Paula Abdul showed up, as did one of her former choreography clients, Janet Jackson, whose performance included a Simon-appropriate “Nasty Boys.”

One of the touching surprises of the night was seeing the medically-troubled Bret Michaels join Idol contestant Casey James on one of Poison’s biggest hits, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”