'American Idol' recap: A Tale of Two Idols

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But at this point in our Idol journey, eight seasons in, who needs the judges and producers anyhow? We know now, more than ever, the ways in which the production manipulates and plays with us. Outrage is as much a part of the process as joy. And so while Paula, Simon, Randy, and Kara — along with Ken Warwick, Simon Fuller, and Cecile Frot-Coutaz — may think they always get it right, we know better.

This is the year they almost ruined American Idol. They gave us that fourth judge we did not want or need or even ask for. They gave us the ''Judges' Save,'' which brought us little in the way of suspense, but made the bulk of the season's exit performances a lot more excruciating. They asked us to whittle down a crop of 36 semifinalists to nine, based on a single performance apiece, then second-guessed us by filling out the last four spots in the finals with their own Wild Card picks. (In other words, they gave us Jasmine Murray instead of — one last shout-out! — Mishavonna Henson.) And at times, it seemed as though they wanted to make us believe our one chance per year to right the wrongs of the record industry boiled down to a culture war, one which, incidentally, none of us had any interest in fighting.

And yet they could not ruin the ride for us. Watching that months-old footage of Adam Lambert and Kris Allen tonight, hearing them offer their respective soundbites — ''I'm one of 100,000'' and ''I'm the voice in the crowd that needs to be heard.'' — that played so nicely into the theater of the finale, I was struck by the fact that this season, we saw at least two, if not three or four, or maybe even five or six future music stars unhatch right in front of our very eyes. That might be a hokey thing to get excited about (Hey! Albums will get recorded by folks who don't use Auto-Tune as frequently as their toothbrushes!) but in a season like this one, where I'd be happy with Adam or Kris (or even Allison) wearing the crown, it's the small victories that count most of all.

What did you think of Idol's performance finale? Who will and should win the season 8 crown? Which season 8 evictee's appearance on screen made you most wistful? Let us know in the comments section below, then make your pick in this week's EW.com Idol Prediction Challenge! Bonus question: Did you enjoy Simon's plunging neckline and ''extra crispy'' tan?