Scotty McCreery is ultimate winner of ‘American Idol’ after Wednesday night’s finale.

After the public votes were counted, the country singer beat out competitor Lauren Alaina, despite an emotional performance that she dedicated to her mother.

20 million viewers tuned in to watch the country teen singers duke it out. Now in its 10th year, ‘American Idol’ has been a ratings boost for Fox and the nation’s most-watched TV show for the last seven years.

The winner was announced in a two-hour broadcast which featured performances by Lady Gaga, U2, Judas Priest, Tony Bennett and country superstar Tim McGraw, among others. New ‘Idol’ judges Jennifer Lopez and ‘Aerosmith’ frontman Steven Tyler also took the stage in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

McCreery, 17, was predicted the winner by a clear margin by DialIdol.com, which measures the busy signals on telephones used to cast votes and text messages.

I see a bright future for both stars. McCreery is so different from any past winners, so I’m glad he won. The runner-ups always go on to do huge things too, so I don’t think Alaina should be too disappointed in herself. They both deserved to be there and did a great job.

True Scare or Publicity Hoax?

Minutes before contestant and finalist Lauren Alaina was set to kick off the performance half of this season’s finale of American Idol, TMZ broke the story that Alaina may not be able to perform and will therefore be disqualified, her spot in the finale being taken over by third runner-up Hailey Reinhart.

According to the site, Alaina was reported to be suffering from a lost voice. The Idol hopeful was set to sing three songs in rehearsals earlier that day, but was only able to get through the first and some of the second before having to stop altogether. Alaina was ordered by doctors not to speak, but up until the show began was it uncertain whether she will be able to perform or not. If Alainahad not been able to perform, runner-up Hailey Reinhart wold have been forced (although it probably wouldn’t have taken much forcing to convince her to do it) to fill in to compete in the finals against Alaina’s co-finalist and fellow country-singer Scotty McCreery.

For those who watched, it was clear that Alaina’s voice was a little more strained than usual, and it did appear that genuine concern crossed the judges faces once or twice during her performances. However, it’s hard to believe that just minutes before they’re set to air, the producers of the show would decide to replace the much loved finalist with someone who had already been booted off by millions of Americans. Therefore, this raises a question – was this just a publicity stunt for the show to get more viewers?

Going back to last year’s finale, in what was Simon Cowell’s last episode, the show was down in ratings by 18%. After being taken over by producer Simon Fuller and replacing all the judges but Randy Jackson, however, it quickly rose to the #1 show among adults aged 18-49 on FOX.

Keeping all that in mind, it’s possible to say that this was just another attempt at bringing in more viewers to raise ratings. Nonetheless, it was great to see Lauren up on that stage and giving it her all, not giving up whether she had lost her voice prior or not. And if the story was true, even more so does she deserve as many praises as she could get! We definitely cannot wait to see who will win this.

Do you think Alaina’s voice scare was a hoax or real? Who do you think will win this year’s title as American Idol?

They’re the youngest final two in the history of ‘American Idol,’ but Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina both showed they deserve to be there tonight for the final showdown.

Both high-schooler country singers duked it out once last time, for the top prize to be announced tomorrow night.

The first round had both singers reprising their favorite song of the season. McCreery went with Montgomery Gentry’s country song ‘Gone,’ while Alaina sang Carrie Underwood’s ‘Flat on the Floor.’

McCreery worked the room with some swagger, ending with a powerful golf swing and more high-fives for the kids down front. Alaina sounded in fine form as well, adding some rasp to her voice and ending with a big, rich note that proved she was in it to win it.

The second round had the contestants’ own idols offering up their choice, with Country Hall of Famer George Strait suggesting one of his own hits, ‘Check Yes or No,’ for Scotty. Alaina’s idol, Underwood, suggested the 1991 version of ‘Maybe it Was Memphis’ by Pam Tillis. McCreery crooned his signature bullfrog voice, while Alaina went more theatrical and put some smoky emotion into the vocals. Both played what works for them.

McCreery’s final song of the night was the single he’ll release if he wins the competition, “‘Love You This Big,’ a swaying ballad. The camera even panned to his mother shedding a tear – a sure-to-win-votes tactic.

Alaina’s last song was ‘Like My Mother Does,’ a song mentor Jimmy Iovine said is the perfect encapsulation of Alaina’s journey on the show. The uplifting ode to maternal love and strength was also sure to catch votes. Nicely played.

Over all, the judges had favourites throughout the show, but all three say it’s too close to call at this point. Who do you think will win the top prize?

Tomorrow night’s finale will feature performances from this season’s top 13, as well as judge Steven Tyler and a number of yet-unannounced special guests.

U2 is set to perform on the ‘American Idol’ season 10 finale this Wednesday, reports Billboard.

While backstage at the Billboard Music Awards, the band’s longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, revealed that the group would be rehearsing for the ‘Idol’ finale on Monday before performing on the show two days later.

In between the rehearsal and performance, U2 will perform at Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium on Tuesday. Talk about a busy schedule!

The four members of U2 also took the stage yesterday at the Billboard Music Awards to accept the Top Touring Artist Award for its record-breaking 360° tour. U2 guitarist the Edge admitted that it was an honor receiving the award.

“It’s always a thrill to win an award, but something about this really connected when I realized that more people had come to this tour any previous tour. Seven million people — I still can’t quite get my head around that figure. It’s so astonishing, and just feels really good.”

U2′s ‘Idol’ performance will be part of the episode that reveals whether Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina is the season 10 champ. It’s going to be an exciting episode, so be sure to tune in to see which country star will win the title.