Sparks shines as American Idol winner

Jordin Sparks — the American Idol contestant with the Hillsboro connection — has become the youngest ever winner of the national talent competition.
The 17-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., was voted the winner of the sixth season of the FOX Network show Wednesday night. Sparks won the title after a record 74 million telephone votes were cast by American viewers following Tuesday’s final performances.
Sparks and 23 other contestants started singing for a chance to win a million-dollar recording contract back in January. Week after week of performances, contestants who didn’t impress the judges and the viewers were voted off the show.
Tuesday’s show featured the two finalists — Sparks and 25-year-old beatboxer Blake Lewis of Bothell, Washington.
Sparks is the great-granddaughter of Jim and Gladys Rutherford, former Caledonia and Hillsboro residents who now live in Fargo. Her grandmother and manager is Pam (Rutherford) Wiedmann, who graduated from Hillsboro High School in the 1960s.
When Sparks — the teenager with the big voice and big dreams — was announced as the winner, she responded, “Thank you so much for everything; Mom and Dad, I love you!”
Her great-grandparents in Fargo, the Rutherfords were watching too — as they had with every show.
Great-grandpa told the Forum beforehand, “I just think she’s going all the way.”
Backstage after the show, the unfazed teenager remarked, “It just turned out pretty cool, I guess.”
Motown great Smokey Robinson, who performed in the live two-hour finale in Hollywood, said of Sparks, “She sings so good it’s hard to believe that she’s 17. To sing like that you would have to have lived for a long time.”
Unofficial judges say the vote came down to stronger singer (Sparks) versus better performer (Lewis). Sparks delivered her songs simply and powerfully while Lewis’ style featured sound-effects beatboxing and sharp dance moves.
“I gave it my all; I left it all out there,” Sparks said of her final performances Tuesday.
Sparks now owns the title that has turned unknown singers into Grammy winners and music-chart toppers.