American Idol went out in a blaze of cameos on Thursday night, ending its 15-year run with performances from famous alumni like Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Kimberley Locke, Taylor Hicks, and more infamously, William Hung. First winner Kelly Clarkson appeared in a pre-taped segment, as did President Obama. The original judges — Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson — reunited, as did host Ryan Seacrest and his first-season co-host Brian Dunkleman. Harry Connick Jr. sang "What a Wonderful World" with a girl from New Orleans' Ninth Ward, Marley Fletcher, and Jennifer Lopez debuted a new single, "Ain't Your Mama."
But host Ryan Seacrest unveiled the final surprise, the 15th and final Idol:
Trent Harmon, 25, the show's last winner, beat fellow Mississippi native La'Porsha Renae, and that was "the biggest shocker" of the night, says Amy Reiter at the Los Angeles Times. Harmon is a "25-year-old Mississippi farm boy and waiter at his family restaurant, the earnest fellow who trained himself not to make silly faces when he sang and wrote every word the judges ever told him down in a tattered leather-bound journal, the guy who suffered through Hollywood Week sweating and struggling with mono and still managed to make all the way to the finale, crossed the finish line to snatch the crown away from the distinctive head of La'Porsha Renae."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
You can watch the final two finalists sing their final duet below, and ponder the final words from Seacrest: "Good night, America! For now." Peter Weber
-
August 23 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include deficit dimness, steamroller-in-chief, and more
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
