American Idol Finale Is Country Vs. Country

McCreery And Alaina (Chris Pizzello/AP)

It was a big night for Country music -- on AMERICAN IDOL, as the Country boy -- SCOTTY MCCREERY -- beat the Country girl, LAUREN ALAINA, for this year's title last night (5/25). Host RYAN SEACREST announced over 122 million votes were cast in deciding the winner.

"While the two top singers WEDNESDAY night may boast different genders, they honor the same genre: Country," notes JIM FARBER in THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. "That augers well for the winner's potential as a recording artist. IDOL's strongest selling champ to date -- CARRIE UNDERWOOD -- caters exclusively to the NASHVILLE sound."

The season was a winner for the show, which many thought would suffer after the departure of SIMON COWELL from the judges table. Instead, the ratings were up 4% this season. With an average of 24.9 million viewers, it remains TV's most-watched show.

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