'American Idol' recap: The finale performances

Published May 25 2011, 02:09 BST  |  By Jennifer Still

Tonight's penultimate episode of the Fox competition - live from the Nokia Theater - saw finalists Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery performing three songs in the youngest-ever finale in the show's history. Compilation albums featuring the finalists are now available to download on iTunes.

Here's what the judges had to say:

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Song One: Contestants' Favourite Song Of Season

Scotty McCreery - 'Gone' by Montgomery Gentry
Lauren Alaina - 'Flat On The Floor' by Carrie Underwood

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Song Two: Chosen By former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and country star George Strait

Scotty McCreery - 'Check Yes Or No' by George Strait
Lauren Alaina - 'Maybe It Was Memphis' by Pam Tillis

After the first two rounds, Randy says that America did a "fine job" in picking the two finalists and admits that the competition is tight. He praises Scotty's version of 'Gone', calling it "brilliant" and saying that he felt as though he was at a Scotty McCreery concert. He also commends Lauren's rendition of 'Flat On The Floor', applauding her for "working it out" despite the vocal trouble she experienced during rehearsals. He then declares Scotty the winner of round one but thinks that Lauren had a "slight edge" during the second round.

Jennifer agrees with Randy, calling it an "explosive start" from both contestants. She thinks that Scotty's version of "Gone' was a great way to start the show and loves that Lauren "attacked" 'Flat on the Floor'. However, she agrees with Randy in terms of the winners of each round.

Steven Tyler gives the win of both rounds to Lauren, joking that he made his decision because "Lauren's prettier" than Scotty.

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Song Three: The Winners' Song

Scotty McCreery - 'I Love You This Big'

Randy 'marvels' at the fact that Scotty is so young but is able to pull off such a mature song that contains such a difficult range of notes. "You're in it to win it, it's game time!" he says, going on to praise him for a great performance. J.Lo thinks that he's a "storyteller" and succeeded in getting the message across in such a "great" way. Steven loves that he takes chances and loves that he has proven himself time and again throughout his time in the competition.

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Lauren Alaina - 'Like My Mother Does'

Randy is wowed and gives "mad props" to Jimmy Iovine for an excellent song choice, calling it a "great ode" to Lauren's mother. He loves her "Mariah Carey soft whisper voice" and thinks that she arrived as a singer with that performance. J.Lo admits that it's a tight race but thinks that Lauren's performance may have won her the competition. "You sang it beautiful, it was perfect for you, and it was everything it needed to be," she tells the 16-year-old. Steven says that he has always thought that she was the American Idol and believes that America will feel the same after that song. All three judges say that Lauren has the advantage after the final song.

The episode also saw a performance by Taio Cruz of the CocaCola Perfect Harmony programme's winning song 'Positive' and former Idol winner David Cook with a cover of 'Don't You Forget About Me'.

American Idol continues tomorrow night on Fox.

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All Pictures: Copyright: Fox/Michael Becker