Jordin is your winner

HOLLYWOOD - Glendale's idol is now America's. Jordin Sparks won the American Idol crown Wednesday in a record vote totaling 74 million.

At 17, she is the youngest contestant and first Arizonan to take the honor, a title that has turned unknown singers into Grammy winners and music-chart toppers.

Sparks bested the Seattle area's Blake Lewis in a finale show that was expected to top 30 million viewers.

"I gave it my all, and I left it all out there," Sparks had said after Tuesday's final competition show.

Sparks was 11 years old when she watched the show's first season and saw her favorite winner, Kelly Clarkson, set the Idol precedent.

Since then, she constantly talked about auditioning for the show, according to family and friends.

"When I was 16, I didn't care about getting my driver's license. All I thought was that I had to get ready for American Idol," she said in an earlier episode of the show.

After turning 16, she attended her first Idol audition, in Los Angeles. Show producers originally rejected her. She went to a second audition in Seattle in November and made it onto the program.

At Wednesday's results show, seeing Sparks' goal finally fulfilled, her uncle Matt Wiedmann and childhood best friend, Damon Mays, 16, of Glendale, stood on the edge of the Kodak Theatre's fourth-floor balcony and hugged each other when host Ryan Seacrest read her name.

"Oh, my God . . . I keep thinking to myself, 'It's just Jordin,' " Mays said.

As soon as newly crowned Sparks began a repeat of This Is My Now, a tune she also sang Tuesday, Wiedmann and Mays muscled their way through security down to the huge, confetti-strewn arena's pit area.

There, Sparks' brother, P.J., mother, Jodi, and former professional football player father, Phillippi, stood celebrating.

Shortly afterward, they rushed backstage, where they were welcomed and congratulated by Idol producer Simon Fuller. Family and friends stood by, waiting for Sparks to emerge from a dressing room before heading off to the show's afterparty.

Before the show, more than 3,000 fans gathered to watch celebrities like Smokey Robinson, Teri Hatcher and others walk the red carpet.

Other stars, including Gladys Knight, Bette Midler and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, performed live during the show.

"This is completely changing Jordin's life," said close family friend J. David Sloan, who owned Mr. Lucky's, a Valley nightspot where a younger Sparks often won singing contests. "She's on her way to stardom."

In the midst of Wednesday's show, Sony BMG President Clive Davis told the audience, "There's a drama about discovering talent that rises to the top."

Davis pointed out the Idol franchise's success stories. He presented Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood with a special award for selling more than 6 million records and acknowledged Season 5 cast-off Chris Daughtry and his new band for selling 2.5 million records in less than a year.

"I think we're seeing a turning point now in American Idol, where getting on the show may be enough to start a career," said Erik Gunther, senior editor of the Yahoo Buzz index.

Sparks received star treatment right down to her threads, wearing three gowns designed for her by fashion house Badgley Mischka.

Couture designer Mark Badgley said on the red carpet that the former plus-size model's figure flatters.

"Her proportions are nice to work with. She's tall, statuesque and has a nice silhouette. . . . Her size doesn't matter," he said. "It's her confidence."

In Glendale, the weekly rally at Westgate City Center drew a huge crowd that cheered with signs and pompoms each time Sparks appeared on the Jumbotron screens.

After Sparks won, Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said, "This is just so wonderful - for Jordin and for Glendale."

Fans Brandi Phillips, 17, and Erika Jeffries, 14, found out Sparks won an hour before it was announced in Arizona.

"I'm so happy for her because she has showed the world that young people have a lot of talent," said Phillips, of Glendale. "She'll be really famous, and she won't let the fame go to her head."

Next, Sparks will complete a round of TV spots, likely with Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres and David Letterman.

Fox TV publicists said her schedule is not yet determined.

Family members said Sparks gets only two weeks to spend at home in Glendale before revving up for the Idol concert tour, which starts this summer.

After Tuesday's performance, Sparks had said of coming home that she is most excited to "sleep in my own bed, play with my dogs and sit and read books."