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One winner, that is. With The Amazing Race: All-Stars over, I’m only waiting for one more reality show to call it a season—American Idol. By Thursday this week, the new American Idol, taking over from Taylor Hicks, will be declared.

Previously, on The Amazing Race: All-Stars

The Amazing Race: All-Stars was exciting enough, what with first cousins Charla & Mirna, beauty queen BFFs Dustin & Kandice, and reality show couple Eric & Danielle beating out equally tough teams like Rob & Amber and Uchenna & Joyce for the final three. By then I was rooting for Eric & Danielle, this season’s million-dollar winners. They were the underdog team by all respects, for having never been first in any leg and having survived being yielded twice. Dustin & Kandice were too steady for my taste; Charla & Mirna, on the other hand, were just too emotionally draining to watch. And that’s that for The Amazing Race’s eleventh season.

Next, On American Idol

I wasn’t particularly invested in the current American Idol, especially after Sanjaya Malakar got the boot. I’m no serious fan of his—though I still think he’s got a great voice, just not a great presence as a performer—but he did keep things interesting for a long time in American Idol.

Sanjaya’s actually still keeping things interesting for American Idol, as he goes around for post-show publicity. He was a guest on the David Letterman Show, where he read the Top Ten list of “Things I Learned from American Idol.” Here’s part of his list:

“The camera adds 10 pounds to your Mohawk.
Work hard and make sacrifices, you can finish in seventh place.
I should have gone for the immunity idol — oh wait, that’s Survivor.

Voting for yourself 100 times an hour causes some wicked carpal tunnel.

America loves performers with bad hair — right, Dave?”

I’m happy—no, thrilled—that Blake “Beatbox” Lewis, perhaps the most original contestant ever, and Jordin Sparks, the young girl with the amazing voice and old soul, are battling it out for the title. A Melinda Doolittle vs. Blake ending (or a Melinda vs. Jordin, for that matter) wouldn’t have been as interesting, because, well, Melinda, whatever she does, is already a winner. I mean, come on, have you heard her sing?

If things go the way they’re supposed to in my channel-surfing universe, Blake, 25, will be the new American Idol, putting the pop back into pop star! He deserves this break more than Jordin does, because he’s older and wiser about what kind of entertainer he wants to be. Plus, I give him props for his bravery—he’s been taking risks all throughout the show, and this should pay off eventually. Besides, it doesn’t hurt at all that he’s adorably cute.

Of course, Jordin will also be a winner at second place. Only 17, she stood her own ground against this season’s most talented voices: Melinda, 29, and Lakisha Jones, 27. At her age and her amazing talent, Jordin is merely planting seeds for an amazing career ahead of her.

As for the other contestants, there’s still the extra mileage the tour gives them. If they play their cards right, they can go the route of Chris Daughtry, Elliot Yamin, Kellie Pickler, and Bucky Covington.

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