What do you do when you've got two talented young people left on "American Idol" and only one spot to fill during this week's finale?
You start weighing each of their strengths, find out whatever you can that will give you more information to make your decision and then take a wild guess.
Let's look at how one goes about doing this, shall we?
If you plug Jordin Sparks' name into Google, 1,040,000 items come up; Blake Lewis produces 1,020,000, a good 20,000 less. So, Jordin should win, right? Not so simple. A mere two hours later, Blake's name brings up 1,050,000 results. Scratch Google as a good source of information on this one.
Perhaps you consider how long each has been singing and learn that Jordin started at 18 months while Blake was the late bloomer, having not begun until the age of five.
Give another point to Jordin before you stop and consider the fact that Blake, at 25, has been in the world an entire eight years longer, and has thus been at the singing thing for four-and-a-half years more. Abandon plans to discern the winner based on this.
Maybe you then consider the nepotism angle. The kids of well-known people tend to get more attention than the children of the unfamous for doing a lot less. (If you even try to argue this one, you'll be stuck explaining to me why I even know the names of such sibling duos as Kimberly and Sean Stewart and Tori and Randy Spelling.)
While I'm not arguing that Jordin's dad, Phillippi Sparks, is a famous football player along the lines that say, Derek Jeter is a famous baseball player, he did play cornerback for both the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys.
Blake's dad, while undeniably sweet, is the manager of a Seattle construction company. Score one point for Jordin.
Finally, you'll remember YouTube, plug in each of their names and discover that a search for Jordin brings up 856 videos while one for Blake produces 3,750. Feel that this should net Blake a point, if not two.
Ultimately, you consider the paraphernalia supporting each of them and are overwhelmed to discover the nine different T-shirts, trucker hat, mouse pad, messenger bag, mug, hoodie, boxer shorts and more emblazoned with the "Blakers Girls" logo.
Compare all of that to Jordin's decidedly less impressive set of products (mug, buttons, sticker and shirt) while briefly considering what kind of a guy would proudly don a "Blaker Boy" pair of boxers.
Declare Blake the winner, and then wonder if, by putting this out in the world, you're helping to make it happen — in a law-of-attraction kind of way right out of "The Secret." Ultimately decide that you'll be happy for either one but secretly gun for Blake, since you'll probably look silly if you're wrong.
"American Idol" airs on FOX, which is owned by the parent company of FOXNews.com.
Anna David is a freelance writer. Her first novel, "Party Girl," is coming out in June 2007 from HarperCollins.
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