May 27, 2004
Fantasia Barrino Crowned America's Idol
And the winner is Fantasia Barrino…
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Feisty soul singer Fantasia Barrino was voted the newest “American Idol” on Wednesday after a nationwide television search for the nation’s next pop star.
Barrino, 19, edged out rival Diana DeGarmo at the end of the hit reality TV show that saw 70,000 wannabes audition in a bid to win a recording contract and instant stardom.
Victory was sweet for Barrino, a black single mom from North Carolina who had twice narrowly escaped being booted off by viewers earlier in the season in favor of cuter but weaker singers.
Producers said a total of 65 million votes were called in by telephone or text message on Tuesday after lines were kept open an extra two hours and extra numbers added to counter logjams and busy signals that have called voting procedures into question.
“Idol” host Ryan Seacrest told Access Hollywood that the two finalists were separated by a margin of just over 1 percent.
[ Full Story @ Reuters Limited ]
Source: Reuters Limited © 2004 Reuters Limited
Posted by akvalley at May 27, 2004 01:24 AM | TrackBack