LOS ANGELES – ARKANSAS student Kris Allen won the eighth season of ‘American Idol’ on Wednesday, dealing an unexpected defeat to singing rival Adam Lambert on the most popular US television show. Allen, 23, who won over audiences with his all-American good looks and by putting his personal spin on popular tunes, appeared shocked as Lambert, a 27-year-old musical theater actor, embraced him after host Ryan Seacrest’s announcement.
‘It feels good, but Adam deserves this,’ Allen said to Seacrest. ‘I don’t even know what to feel right now, this is crazy.’ A record high of nearly 100 million votes were cast in the finale. Allen’s ‘Idol’ win guarantees him a recording contract.
Of the two finalists, Allen was more clean-cut. A devout Christian from Arkansas, he was a newly married college student before landing on ‘American Idol.’ Allen often performed at the acoustic guitar or on piano, winning praise for rearranging well-known tunes, among them Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ by Bill Withers.
‘It feels good, but Adam deserves this,’ Allen said to Seacrest. ‘I don’t even know what to feel right now, this is crazy.’ A record high of nearly 100 million votes were cast in the finale. Allen’s ‘Idol’ win guarantees him a recording contract.
Of the two finalists, Allen was more clean-cut. A devout Christian from Arkansas, he was a newly married college student before landing on ‘American Idol.’ Allen often performed at the acoustic guitar or on piano, winning praise for rearranging well-known tunes, among them Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ by Bill Withers.