Jordin wins! Jordin wins! After 74 million votes, Jordin wins!

Anyway, the lack of anticipation was overwhelming! Everyone knew this one was coming.

She’ll be a great winner, the youngest winner, the first non-Southern winner. “Thank you so much for everything!” she said. She even gets to sing that lousy coronation song again, “This Is My Now.” Zzzz…

I watched most of the first hour at the health club. A Gwen Stefani concert bit that got cut from “Idol Gives Back” was especially lame. But Kelly Clarkson looked and sounded good doing “Never Again.” The duet between Blake & Jordin (“I Saw Him/Her Standing There” showed the vocal differential between the two and it was kind of weird given that he’s a 25 year old and she’s only 17. Not a lot of chemistry there. Other quick observations from hour one: Smokey Robinson, who was especially awful during “Celebrity Duets,” only did slightly better this time around. And how much work has he had? The men acquitted themselves well. It was nice to see Chris Sligh and Brandon Rogers again.

I especially enjoyed Gladys Knight giving a shout out to our state with LaKisha and Melinda on “Midnight Train to Georgia.” That’s our new Dreamgirls dream team! And who’s dress showed the most leg? Hmmm… take your guess!

Blake brought back 1987 courtesy of Doug E. Fresh, one of the early supporters of beat boxing. It was mildly amusing, a throwback that brings back the really early days of hip hop. This is the most beat boxing we’ve probably ever seen on primetime broadcast TV (and will probably ever again.)

And bless the man Tony Bennett. He can still bring it!

On a commercial break, I noticed VH1 was smartly playing “From Justin to Kelly.” I watched Kelly place whipped cream on Justin. I shuddered and changed the channel.

And Zitzman should have won most original vocal presentation! It was also a little painful that the Big Bird gal from Atlanta Margaret Fowler (who apparently takes cues from her last name) got so much airtime. They should have given her the award and that was that.

At least the best couple was Bush Baby and Jonathan. Again, their bit went on too long, too. The idea of these awards seemed fresher last year and now feel a bit forced.

Carrie Underwood opted to sing “I’ll Stand By You” again instead of her latest single. Like she really needs the promotion!

Among the celebs in the audience: Teri Hatcher, Jeff Foxworthy, a much thinner Jennifer Hudson, David Hasselhoff (of course!) and Jerry Springer. Clive Davis finally shows up, too, and he gives props to Chris Daughtry as the biggest-selling artist of the year. Egads! He won’t shut up! But it’s not like Ryan is going to be able to stop him. He bestows Carrie with a six-time platinum album and she gives her umpteenth thank you.

Another random observation: I love how Constantine Maroulis gazed lovingly into the camera after one commercial break while Ryan was talking.

The African Children’s Choir returned, which was delightful.

Then talk about a change in tone: comparing him to Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, “Idol” welcomes Sanjaya, who gets his own duet with Joe Perry of Aerosmith. (The rumor about Steve Perry was, I guess, half right.) Oh, boy. He’s back singing “You Really Got Me” but no faux-hawk in sight, thank God. How will this affect Perry’s reputation? Ouch! And of course, crying girl is back, too. I do love the fact Sanjaya was getting visibly winded toward the end. Time to hit the treadmill, dude!

And is it even possible that Green Day would ever show up on “Idol,” say, in 2003?

I wonder why they didn’t do more duets with the contestants this year? Why not bring Chris Sligh out with Green Day?

Taylor is now singing is second single “Heaven Knows,” which is actually far better than his first one. Even though he has sold only one quarter the albums of Daughtry, he’s still fun to watch. He hasn’t been on the Billboard Top 200 in a couple of months. This might get him back.

Jordin, in a minor surprise, joins Ruben Studdard in a duet. The song “You’re All I Need” showed that Jordin’s lower register is a little weak but Ruben is great as always. It’s a better duet than Jordin and Blake!

Brad Garrett, who can thank “Idol” for helping save “Til Death,” sits in a judge’s seat as Bette Midler pops up for no particular reason. She sounds really bad, easily the worst of the night. Blech! And this song “Wind Beneath My Wings” is almost as bad as any of those “Idol” coronation songs.

It’s now 9:50 p.m. I presume that was the last commercial break. And we’re getting a Beatles medley starting with Kelly Clarkson and Joe Perry on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Cool beans! Taylor follows with “A Day in a Life.” It is the 40th anniversary of the release of that album, which is probably why the publishers cleared it. (It was the very first CD I purchased in 1987, too.) Carrie does a lovely version of “She’s Leaving Home.” Ruben goes really high to start with “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” Then the final 12 do “With a Little Help From My Friends.”

And ugh.. a commercial break. And we get the results well after 10 p.m. I think that Clive Davis speech didn’t help matters. Or Margaret “Big Bird” Fowler reading her awful poem.