American Idol Winner Named

American Idol named its winner Wednesday night. America voted and chose Kris Allen over Adam Lambert.

The two-hour, start-studded finale included appearances by Steve Martin, KISS, Cyndi Lauper and Keith Urban. The 13 Idol contestants also performed "I Will Remember" to promote the show's sponsor, the Ford Fusion.

According to MSNBC.com, at the end of the two hours it was all about Allen, a college student from Conway, Ark. Receiving a record total of nearly 100 million votes for the two finalists, Allen became the winner of the title of "American Idol," a million-dollar record contract, a trophy and the chance to work with songwriter and Idol judge Kara DioGuardi on the song written for the show winner, "No Boundaries."

According to People magazine, America's decision to award Allen the prize was the biggest surprise in all of the show's eight seasons. Lambert had been considered the inevitable winner for weeks leading up to the finale. According to the New York Times, in the end, it came down to the voters' preference for traditional pop music over the unconventional sounds that made Lambert a standout contestant.