'American Idol' Finale: The Case For Lauren

Michael Becker / FOX

We realize this is a futile effort. Everyone knows that Scotty McCreery, the clean-cut, mild mannered, country kid with the aw, shucks grin from Garner North Carolina, has this contest pretty much sewn up. And we’re not just talking about Tuesday night’s DialIdol results that has him leading with twice as many votes as Lauren Alaina. Let’s face it, he’s never been in the bottom three, and a source tells THR that earlier this month, Scotty led his fellow finalists by a country mile over the number two vote-getter that week. So Wednesday night’s result show should come as a surprise to, well, nobody.

Even so, this should not dissuade Lauren Alaina’s fans from harnessing their power and influence to put the Georgia peach in the winner’s column. There’s still time! But even beyond tonight’s four-hour window, we’d like to offer top five reasons why Lauren is the better choice for Season 10.

5) Lauren has versatility. Her range not only suits the country genre she so clearly loves, but it has pop undertones that would work very well with what we like to classify as “crossover” potential. Think: Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood.

4) Look at the Top 40 and the iTunes charts these days -- the biggest sellers of the past two years are female: Pink, Lady Gaga, Adele, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Beyonce, and, yes, Jennifer Lopez. Girls are huge sellers in multiple genres, or, in the words of Beyonce, “run the World.”

3) The top two best-selling most beloved Idols? Women. The aforementioned Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, ‘natch. And can’t you just see Lauren fitting nicely into that coffee klatch? 

2) Despite nearly losing her voice last night, Lauren soldiered on and did more than “work it out,” as Randy Jackson would say. She put heart, soul and every muscle she had into that performance Tuesday night, showing true poise and professionalism. The show must go on, and it did. Some say Scotty is the more mature of the two. We say, who cares?

1) It has been far too long since a girl won American Idol. The last one was season 6’s Jordin Sparks who won in 2007 and, incidentally, has multiple singles still being played on the radio. No, the closest Idol had to a female winner was last year’s Crystal Bowersox.

Bottom line: Lauren has marketability and the most potential to strengthen the Idol brand by selling music, and isn’t that really what this exercise is all about?

As always, we welcome your thoughts, Idol Worshipers...