Somehow Jordin Sparks went from a 16 year old giggly girl that mildly impressed us to a 17 year old woman vying for the title of American Idol that she won handily. How was it that she so increased her stock in those months between auditioning and performing, and how did her performances move from she just might do well to joining the ranks of LaKisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle, to beating them out for the title?

I have to admit I've thought a lot about this one. As a faithful viewer of this show for all six seasons, and as a writer covering it with recaps and commentary for the past three, I understand it pretty well. But this season has just been flat out odd, and I struggle to figure out what happened to odds on favorites, and left us with the youngest winner ever, that is cute and bubbly, and has more talent than many adults can hope to ever have, yet when she struggles, she really struggles.

Jordin Sparks, whose father is a retired NFL cornerback for the New York Giants, lives in Glendale, Arizona, and has been a faithful viewer of American Idol since its inception. She had been counting down the days until she turned 16, the minimum age for American Idol auditions. During her audition in Seattle, Jordin sang Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion, and Randy Jackson was immediately sold, while Paula Abdul liked her smile and predicted she would do well in the competition. Simon wasn't as easily sold. He compared her to putting 11 spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee.

As Randy informed Jordin she made the top 24, he reminded her that she had struggled in the Hollywood rounds with nerves. Once she took the stage to perform, at the age of 17, the nerves didn't seem as prevalent. In the earlier rounds she was always just as sweet, yet claimed she had lost a spoonful or two of her reserve. Regardless, it was surprising to hear that big booming voice singing Gimme One Reason, and while she would be pitchy every once in awhile, her bubbly personality made it easy to forget.

Jordin picked up a habit of drawing an imaginary heart on her chest when Ryan Seacrest would read her voting numbers and was never shy about showing her emotions, crying easily when her friends would be voted out or when talking about her relationship with her brother during dedication week, and Melinda Doolittle was always there to fill in maternally for her. At some point the show of emotions was so prevalent, it was hard to tell whether it was a little bit of show, or whether it was all honest, true emotion. After all, she was only 17, and Randy wasn't going to let us forget it, reminding us of that every week.

It was always Simon that would bring Jordin back down to earth, and who was always very honest in his critique, finding her a bit shrieky at times. Guest mentor Diana Ross critiqued her pretty honestly as well, saying she had an inner light about her, but she needed to work on getting the audience to believe what she was singing. It was the words Randy had for her that week that seemed to sink in the most, though. He told her she made it a three girl race between herself, Melinda, and LaKisha Jones. That, combined with the good critiques she received the following week for a very good version of I Who Have Nothing, made her seem like she was listening too much to how good people thought she was, and while the sweetness was still prevalent with her, it seemed a little forced.

Jordin seemed to fail when she was singing current songs like Gwen Stefani's Hey Baby, as it just didn't seem to be who she was, but the judges, give or take Simon Cowell, were usually always in her corner, and after awhile, it just seemed like she was being pushed on us. I went from really liking her and saying I just couldn't help but love her to just wanting her to go away, and it really wasn't her performances so much as I felt she was being forced on me. This was who my American Idol was going to be whether I liked it or not.

It all just seemed to be such a weird year in the making at American Idol. Jordin had a few really bad weeks in the middle of the competition, and at one point people were wondering if her time was up, but no matter what, every time she pulled through, and every time the judges kept talking her up, all except Simon Cowell. After singing Never Walk alone, Randy said it was the best performance ever on any American Idol season. Ever? Better than anything Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, or Carrie Underwood did? Jordin really struggled with Bon Jovi week. Her look as well as her performances were off, and even Randy had to admit it this time. Yet, she stayed, while Chris Richardson and Phil Stacey, who had had a great week, left.

It made us all begin to question the season. Phil may have struggled in the earlier rounds of the show, but we were really digging him his last few weeks. Yet, he was gone, and Jordin stayed. The following week, Bee Gees week, she took on a Barbara Streisand tune and it just didn't seem like a 17 year old should sing a song like that. LaKisha Jones was getting slammed for taking on classics by like Fantasia, and no one mentioned perhaps Jordin shouldn't have taken on Streisand, yet Simon did mention that it seemed pageanty. When the dust settled after the elimination, LaKisha was gone.

Final three week it seemed like even Simon was tired of having Jordin pushed on him. After Blake Lewis, Jordin, and Melinda sang three songs apiece, and the judges were asked who they thought would make it to final two, Randy picked both the girls and Paula refused to choose sides. Simon said it didn't matter to him, as long as his girl Melinda was there. After results night, Melinda was out, the Blake and Jordin were in, along with executive producer Nigel Lythgoe's comments that he was upset with Simon for dissing Jordin, because she was his personal choice for this year's American Idol. If she made it through the votes anyway, why was Nigel upset?

What Nigel should have been concerned with instead, was during that last week of the show, instead of people sitting around on message boards and forums discussing who should win the show, people were discussing where it went wrong this year and looking forward to next year. That's a big concern. And once Jordin went on to win, there still doesn't seem to be the excitement we've had in years past. While the show did lose viewers this season, the two nights still ranked number one and number two in the ratings, so it's not in danger, but Nigel should be considering this a warning.

It seems Nigel and Randy were backing Jordin because they saw her as marketable, which is understandable. She's cute as a button and young, and has no identifiable sound, so they probably see her as pluggable. And this is coming off of Clive Davis' disagreement with Kelly Clarkson over the direction of her third album. They probably figure they can choose all the songs they want and just insert Jordin's voice and marketability.

Despite the fact that of six separate American Idols, my favorites have only won twice, I felt America's choice had always been represented. This time I just don't feel it. Either I missed something major somewhere or something is off. Even during the finale the cheers were louder for Blake and on americanidol.com, asking viewers to choose the most entertaining part of the results finale, people are overwhelming choosing Blake and Doug E. Fresh over Jordin and Ruben Studdard and a few other great moments. I'm just one of those people that needs to make sense out of things and I can't from this one.

Regardless, I hope the best for Jordin. I fear her getting this big giant thing at such a young age may have her fizzling out too quickly in her career, but I do hope she does really well and proves me wrong. She is a sweet girl underneath it all, but I think she became caught up in her own hype when the show began pushing her on us.

You can contact me at LauraBelle@realityshack.com

For more information on American Idol, see Reality Shack or SirLinksalot: American Idol and for more on Jordin Sparks, see SirLinksalot: Jordin Sparks.