Sparks fly

She survived 20 weeks and 74 million votes to win the biggest U.S. music competition, but does American Idol 2007 winner Jordin Sparks have what it takes to survive the success? | John Dawson

She sang with Gladys Knight. He collaborated with Smokey Robinson. And both did so on a live television broadcast watched by millions. So considering the success of American Idol contestants who haven't won, it's hard to call either of this year's finalists, Jordin Sparks or Blake Lewis, losers.

Yet, both fidgeted as they awaited the judgment of millions of viewers in what has become not merely a TV singing competition but a media extravanganza watched regularly by one in 10 Americans. With contestants eliminated through the 20 weeks of Season 6 that began on Jan. 16, only Sparks and Lewis remained by the May 23 finale. The showdown: Male versus female. Hip hop versus soul. Mainstream versus Christian pro-life counterculture.