Fantasia is voted all-'American'

Fantasia Barrino, the finalist with the power pipes and the soulful stage dramatics, won the third "American Idol" talent show last night. Her victory was the result of a whopping 65 million votes, and the culmination of a season that has been a gold rush for the Fox network and the "American Idol" franchise.

With tears streaming down her cheeks as usual, Barrino told the massive crowd at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, "I've been through some things, but I worked hard to get to where I'm at."

The 19-year-old from High Point, N.C., had raised the bar on the competition during the season, even winning the support of Simon Cowell, who told her on Tuesday that she was the best of all "American Idol" contestants ever.

Whew. It was a victory of texture over the ordinary, of honey over sugar. While 16-year-old runner-up Diana DeGarmo can belt out a tune and flash a mean Shirley Temple smile, she failed to rise above amateur-hour standards during the course of the competition. Gracefully accepting her defeat, the Georgia girl told the audience, "I'm so proud to have come here with Fantasia. She's my girl, and you guys will treat her well."

The announcement of the winner came near the end of a two-hour show that did more stretching than a yogi. Like a sort of youth cult, "American Idol" contestants past and present were all over the live telecast, killing time by singing in the courtyard and interviewing celebrities on the red carpet. Tamyra Gray delivered a "Star-Spangled Banner" that was rather pitchy, past winners Ruben Studdard and Kelly Clarkson plugged their albums, and this season's top 12 performed a medley dressed in yellow and white and looking like the cast of Up With People. They even managed to make Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money" sound like something just this side of the New Christy Minstrels.

Barrino sang alone; DeGarmo sang alone; Barrino sang with DeGarmo; Barrino and DeGarmo sang with Studdard and Clarkson. And so on and so forth. And all the "Idol" in-breeding was padded with endless vamping by host Ryan Seacrest.

Fox pumped up the event as if it were as big as the Super Bowl or the Oscars. When we weren't on the red carpet, scraping up the likes of Sharon Osbourne, Ray Romano, and Nicole Richie, we were visiting the hometowns of both finalists, where the hordes were seen cheering their candidate. We chatted with the judges backstage and got close-up views of both Paula Abdul's and Cowell's cleavage. We had a tender moment with each finalist in her dressing room. And we learned that DeGarmo slept like a brick the night before.

After winning, Barrino performed the gospel-influenced pop song that will become her first single, "I Believe." Next on the schedule for her: fame, stardom, a ton of money, as Cowell put it.