New 'American Idol' to Be Crowned Tonight

05/26/2004 7:57 AM, Reuters
Jill Serjeant

Two Southern teenagers who are contestants on the popular television program "American Idol" will learn on Wednesday which one will become the country's next instant pop star.

Millions of television viewers were expected to cast telephone and text message votes for feisty, soulful Fantasia Barrino, 19, and bubbly blond Diana DeGarmo, 16, at the conclusion of an often controversial singing contest.

Barrino, a single mother from High Point, North Carolina, and Snellville, Georgia, schoolgirl DeGarmo each sang three songs in Tuesday night's finale.

The three-judge panel had few doubts over their pick for winner after a tearful Barrino brought the audience at Hollywood's Kodak Theater to its feet with renditions of the "Porgy and Bess" classic "Summertime" and a new song "I Believe."

"You're the best contestant we've had in any competition," the normally acerbic British judge Simon Cowell told Barrino.

Record producer Randy Jackson said: "Unbelievable. A master class in singing."

DeGarmo is the youngest contestant to reach an "Idol" final in any of the more than 20 countries worldwide to have adopted the popular format. But her powerful lungs and the brimming confidence of the past few weeks seemed to falter in the final, with some uncharacteristic pitch problems on her last song "Don't Cry Out Loud."

"You had one last chance to nail this competition and I don't think you did," Cowell said.

But the final decision rested with the more than 20 million viewers who have made "American Idol" a mighty ratings hit for Fox TV for the third successive year.

Barrino, who is black, twice narrowly escaped being voted off the show in its latter stages in favor of weaker, cuter singers. That prompted questions over voting procedures and charges of racism -- both of which have been dismissed by producers.

"American Idol" producers extended telephone voting on Tuesday night to four hours from the usual two and added extra phone numbers to counter the logjams and busy signals that have frustrated callers and provoked newspaper headlines over the last few weeks of the competition.

The results will be announced in a two-hour show beginning at 5 p.m. PDT.

Last year's winner, Ruben Studdard, and runner-up, Clay Aiken, secured recording contracts and hit albums.

More than 70,000 "Idol" wannabes auditioned in cities across the United States last summer.