DeWyze, Bowersox left to duel on 'Idol' finale
It's the showdown many predicted.
After 47 million votes, Casey James was sent back to Cool, Texas on Wednesday night, leaving Lee DeWyze to face off against Crystal Bowersox in the "American Idol" finale next week.
"I've never wanted to win more than I do right now," said DeWyze with his parents Kathy and Lee Sr. in the audience. "When you're this close, you just want to win."
DeWyze, the Mount Prospect paint salesman who recently discovered some confidence, will take on the Bowersox, an Ohio native and single mom who has been the front-runner for most of the season. With absolutely no confidence problem, Bowersox has never been a bottom three vote-getter.
Then again, neither has DeWyze.
At the end of the show, DeWyze mouthed the word "wow" before lifting Bowersox in a bear hug. The two finished out the show arm-in-arm.
Mount Prospect is planning an Idol viewing party from 5 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday at the Village Green in front of Mount Prospect's village hall, said village spokeswoman Maura El Metennani.
Idol fans can bring blankets and chairs and the village will provide tables and chairs. There will also be a Jumbotron and food and beverage vendors.
Idol producers gave DeWyze every chance to shine on Tuesday. Surrounded by horns, strings, and an eight-person choir, he belted out Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." All of the judges loved the show, which left the audience in a standing ovation and Simon Cowell applauding.
DeWyze's buzz continued on Wednesday, when the TMZ website posted a photo of him leaving the Idol set, pretty boring, unless you're a celebrity, like DeWyze has become in the past few weeks. He was also one of the top Yahoo searches and a top Twitter trend late Tuesday and for much of the day Wednesday.
DeWyze's hometown visit from this past Friday was also featured on the show. It depicted a whirlwind day that included DeWyze throwing out the first pitch at the Cubs game and stops at his former employer, Mount Prospect Paints and his former elementary school St. James Catholic School.
His first grade teacher, Barbara O'Brien, was given a lot of screen time. O'Brien watched Wednesday's show from her Arlington Heights home while wearing her "Vote for Lee" button. She had no idea she was about to be seen by 20 million Idol fans.
Get reprints of our covers "I was so humbled it was beyond words, I had no idea," said O'Brien, who retired in 2006 after teaching first grade for 20 years. "I still have goosebumps. He was always well-behaved and a well-mannered young man."The video also showed DeWyze at Arlington Park, where a sellout crowd of 41,000 fans swayed their arms along to his songs."This is the best day of my life," he told the crowd. "This is absolutely the best day of my life."It could turn out to be his second best day.Next week, DeWyze could win it all. bull; Daily Herald correspondent Eileen O. Daday contributed to this article. <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Video</h2><!-- Start of Brightcove Player --><div style="display:none"></div><!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at http://corp.brightcove.com/legal/terms_publisher.cfm.--><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object id="myExperience85769192001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="width" value="300" /><param name="height" value="255" /><param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /><param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/><param name="isVid" value="true" /><param name="@videoPlayer" value="85769192001" /></object><!-- End of Brightcove Player --></ul></div></div></div><div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Photo Galleries</h2><ul class="gallery"><li><a href="/story/?id=380767">Images from Lee DeWyze Day</a></li></ul><h2>More converage</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=381054">When Lee DeWyze was 'Hoodie Guy' at Potato Creek Johnny's <span class="date">[05/16/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=380716">Returning to the suburbs today, it's Lee! <span class="date">[05/14/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=380625">Where will Lee be six months from now? Success not guaranteed <span class="date">[05/14/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=380561">Lee DeWyze: From Mount Prospect to Hollywood and home again <span class="date">[05/13/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=380562">Where to buy Lee DeWyze merchandise <span class="date">[05/13/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=380563">Want the DeWyze catalog? $53 on iTunes <span class="date">[05/13/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=378339">Between paint sales, Mt. Prospect store is Lee DeWyze central <span class="date">[05/05/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=372793">DeWyze almost ditched 'American Idol' audition <span class="date">[04/13/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=371153">Mount Prospect native's 'Idol' contract means death of band <span class="date">[04/06/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=369631">Lee tees are all the rage at Prospect High School <span class="date">[03/30/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=368014">Local 'Idol' finalist DeWyze got his start pushing porridge <span class="date">[03/23/10]</span></a></li></ul><h2>Related links</h2><ul class="moreWeb"><li><a href="http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season_9/lee_dewyze/">DeWyze on americanidol.com </a></li></ul></div></div></div>