Fall TV Blog

After shocking almost everyone — including himself — by winning the season 8 of American Idol last week, Kris Allen told reporters, “I’m not a man of many words.” We noticed! PEOPLE caught up with Idol’s dark horse from Conway, Ark., Saturday, and finally got him talking. Here’s what we learned:

1. He Drives a Clunker: Before leaving Arkansas for Los Angeles, Allen, 23, drove a silver 2001 Pontiac Bonneville. “It’s the most comfortable car to drive,” he says, “but it has a lot of problems. The speedometer doesn’t work; the gas gauge doesn’t work; the windows won’t roll down; there’s something wrong with the gas pedal. But it drives!” Allen admits he couldn’t afford the $300 to fix the fuel gauge — and got stranded as a result. “I’ve ran out of gas a lot,” he says. “Probably four of five times.” Hopefully, those days are over. On the finale, viewers saw season 7 winner David Cook hand Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert the keys to a 2009 Ford Fusion Hybrid.

2. He Married His Best Friend: “She’s been my best friend for a long time,” Allen says of his wife, Katy, who he began dating his junior year of high school. “She’s the coolest chick in the world.” (more…)

In the wake of the biggest upset in American Idol history, winner Kris Allen was still surprised he’d beat out front-runner Adam Lambert, when the two spoke to reporters on a recent conference call. “Adam was the most consistent person all year, seriously one of the most gifted performers I’ve ever met,” Allen said. “I think it could’ve gone either way, and America could not have got it wrong.”

Lambert, for his part, had made peace with the results. “I’m totally okay with it,” he said. “I know it sounds cliché, but I really feel like I won by getting to the final. I was able to use American Idol as a platform to get myself out there, and now I have a career. So there’s no need to dwell on the negative.”

Sounding exhausted but excited, both Allen and Lambert gamely addressed questions from the press. Keep reading for the highlights. – Shawna Malcom (more…)

Behind every great man, there is a great woman. Such is the case of the latest American Idol winner Kris Allen.

Admitting during his appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, set to air on May 26, that he was “shocked every week” during competition, he says it was his wife who kept him going.

“I’ve been singing for a long time I started playing guitar when I was 13 and I’m 23 now,” he tells the talk show host. “I did the music scene in Arkansas, which isn’t that big … and It didn’t work out and I almost gave up.”

But, he continues, “My wife has been the support. I seriously almost gave up a lot, and she was just like you have to keep going. She believed in me more than I believed in myself. She is just great.”

Of Simon Cowell’s declaration Allen “shouldn’t of played the wife card so early,” DeGeneres disagrees. She tells Allen, “I thought it was great and you seem like an adorable couple and I think it’s important for people to see that you have a wife and how supportive she was.”

It was an issue that never crossed Allen’s mind. “I care about her a lot so it didn’t bother me that she was brought up,” he says. “I think it bothered her more than it bothered me.” (more…)

It wasn’t long ago that Kris Allen was living a quiet life with his wife in Conway, Ark., planning on going back to college. But that was then.

After upsetting Adam Lambert in the most surprising turn of events in Idol finale history, winner Allen is pinching himself.

“I’m shocked,” the 23-year-old told PEOPLE after the show. “I feel great, but I’m just shocked.”

His brother Daniel, who Kris credits with making him audition for the show, put it a different way. After Kris’s name was announced, the stunned look on his face “was the same look he had when he got his first car!” he said.

With Daniel, his wife, and other family members proudly looking on, the season 8 champ thanked his home state for “rallying behind me,” he said.

He also thanked his competition: “Adam deserved this just as much as I do. He’s an amazing performer, a gifted guy — an amazing guy.”

Ever a good sport, Adam, who’d been heavily favored to win throughout the season, offered kind words for the victor. “Kris is my bud,” he told PEOPLE. “He’s such a good guy, so humble, and he’s super talented. I’m really happy for him.”

As for his own unique style — which often involved heavy-eyeliner, “lots of hair dye, a blow-dryer and a flat-iron” — Adam said, “I’m a little bit different, and people enjoyed it, and that feels amazing. It feels really cool to be able to challenge people’s concepts of what is an American Idol.”

Also cool: “Getting to sing with Queen and Kiss on stage tonight,” he said, “That, to me, was winning.” – Kristen Mascia and Lisa Ingrassia

Did the right man win? Take our poll.

F Micelotta/American Idol 2009/Getty

Kris Allen’s win over Adam Lambert on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale is considered the biggest upset in the reality singing competition’s eight-season history. Allen, for one, was shocked at beating glam rocker Lambert, who was all but considered the inevitable winner. He received news of his victory by stammering, “Adam deserves this.” Does he, or was Allen’s come-from-behind victory well deserved?

Check out all our Idol coverage at PEOPLE.com/idol!

Michael Becker/FOX/AP

Kara DioGuardi, American Idol’s newest judge, proved she’s more than just a talking head Wednesday, when she bared her bikini body — and her singing voice — on stage at the American Idol finale in Los Angeles.

After the show honored the notorious “Bikini Girl,” Katrina Darrell, with an award for having the best attitude, DioGuardi appeared on stage to perform with the former contestant.

The pair sang a few verses of Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love,” a song Darrell auditioned with and DioGuardi critiqued, before DioGuardi ripped open her little black dress to reveal a bikini body to rival her duet partner. Watch the clip.

Darrell auditioned for Idol’s season 8 in a bikini and DioGuardi famously criticized her voice and demonstrated the right way to sing the song. Thanks to Simon Cowell, however, Darrell got a golden ticket to Hollywood, but was eliminated in the second round.

At the time, Darrell told PEOPLE she was at a disadvantage because DioGuardi “had it out for me from the beginning … Maybe there was a little jealousy.”

Tell us: Did Kara surprise you? Who looked better in a bikini?

David Cook, on the verge of relinquishing his title Wednesday night, told Ryan at the start of the two-hour finale: “I don’t know that America can get this wrong.”

Actually, America’s decision will be a point of considerable debate in the next day and maybe even days beyond that — with just under 100 million votes cast, dark horse Kris Allen beat out Adam Lambert, who for weeks has been considered the all-but-inevitable champ.

This is the biggest upset in eight seasons. The result was an even bigger surprise considering that — as even Kris’s supporters would concede — Adam gave the stronger performance on the Tuesday performance show. Simon anointed him a “worldwide star.”

Apparently stunned by the news of his victory, Kris couldn’t help but stammer, “Adam deserves this.”

Oh, please! Adam was the most acclaimed Idol contestant ever, but also one of the most divisive. (more…)

The wait is almost over! Kris Allen and Adam Lambert have come a long way on their journey to the American Idol finale, including performing three songs each on Tuesday’s show.

“I think I did my best probably on ‘Ain’t No Sunshine,’” Allen told reporters backstage at the Nokia Theatre after the broadcast. “I kind of get that song and I’d already rehearsed it plenty and it was ready. So I think I did my best on that one.”

Lambert also picked his reinterpretation of a season highlight as his best moment of the night. “The ‘Mad World’ song was a really cool opportunity to reinvent it because I changed the staging and the wardrobe, even though at heart it was still the same song,” he said.

So, who had the best night?

“[It's a] great competition,” Paula Abdul told reporters. “It’s an interesting one … They’re both separate, unique, distinct talents. They both had defining moments tonight. It’s all up to America.”

But before Ryan Seacrest crowns a winner, Idol producers are putting on a big show that includes performances by Lionel Richie, Carlos Santana, Cindi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Black Eyed Peas, Keith Urban, the reigning American Idol David Cook and more.

Tell us: Who do you think is going to win? What do you think of the big finale show? Discuss!

Check out all our Idol coverage at PEOPLE.com/idol!

Michael Becker/FOX/AP

Will Simon Cowell and the odds-makers be proved right — will the next Idol be Adam Lambert, the dazzling glam-rock prince? Or does Kris Allen, the guy with the acoustic guitar, square jaw and plaid shirts, have a chance of upsetting the race? Can Smallville beat Vegas?

Tuesday night’s performance finale seemed to clinch Adam’s victory, but Kris could win, for at least four reasons.

1. The Johnny Depp Analogy: Look, Johnny Depp is a huge, glamorous, risk-taking star, but off camera doesn’t he look like someone you could scare with a sock puppet? Something like this comes into play with Kris. Simon has faulted him for not having star swagger, something Adam exudes with every flash of his smile and swivel of his hips. But what may seem like modesty on a live stage can project to the viewing audience as a different kind of charisma — cool, even. Just because Adam rules the stage doesn’t mean he rules the camera.

2. The Kara Principle: It drives me crazy when Kara talks about artistic growth and development, as if she were a tenured lecturer at the pop academy — but why deny that Kris has improved, quite a lot, and that this is key to the competition? His folk-pop approach is not only melodic but surprisingly versatile, as when he won over the judges with his acoustic version of Kayne West’s “Heartless.” Adam is absolutely the better performer, but the whole competition seems too consistently easy for him. It’s like Apollo coming down to Athens and competing in a few Olympic events without breaking a sweat. It’s not that Adam is smug or proud — he’s entirely likable — but there doesn’t seem to be any need for him to have bothered even auditioning. He’s right where he started: perfect. Kris has discovered himself. That’s important. (more…)

Whether she’s sugar-coating her critiques of contestants, smacking Simon Cowell for saying something inappropriate off mic, or performing her very own song on the Idol stage, Paula Abdul has proven to be the judge who’s most fun to watch over the course of any American Idol season.

So, we thought it fitting to condense Tuesday’s hour of performances (by Adam Lambert and Kris Allen) and feedback (from the judges) into the night, according to Paula (with a little Randy Jackson thrown in).

Enjoy!

Check out all our Idol coverage at PEOPLE.com/idol!