‘American Idol’ Finale Recap: It’s Anyone’s Game to Win

Both 'American Idol' finalists Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina are Southern. Both like country music. Both are young. Both are attractive. It's the youngest match up in the finale ever. It's anyone's game to win, as both turned in excellent performances all season.

On tonight's final 'Idol' performance episode of season 10, the judges gave a slight nod to Alaina; but as we all know, it's not exactly up to them. It's up to Americans, who are voting as we speak. Here's a rundown of what McCreery and Alaina did on tonight's 'American Idol.'

Scotty McCreery: He came out of the gates with 'Gone' and rocked like the freight train he sings about in his rendition of Montgomery Gentry's anthem, which was his favorite of this season. It's an upbeat, punchy song that found McCreery moving between ranges and ultimately showed that Scotty McCreery is anything but a one note.

George Strait chose 'Check Yes or No' and it was not the best choice, as it was not as dynamic as we know McCreery to be; his possible single, 'Love You This Big,' worked because he was able to sell the story, since it's a song that no one knows, with the deftness of his delivery. It showed both sides of his range.

-Watch his performance of 'Gone'
-Watch his performance of 'Check Yes or No'
-Watch his performance of 'Love You This Big'

Lauren Alaina: 'Flat on the Floor' by Carrie Underwood was her first (and favorite) track. Since Alaina's vocal chords were stressed and strained from practicing too hard, she sounded good, but not great. She went with a big song requiring a big voice and we hope that the voting public doesn't hold that against the bubbly teen.

Underwood chose 'Maybe It Was Memphis,' a classic ballad that made us think, wait, Lauren Alaina had voice trouble earlier today? As if! She kicked the song's venerable a-- and that round went to her. During the third round, the teen queen offered up a little Mariah Carey breathiness for her possible single, 'Like My Mother Does.' She may have won it with that song, which is a paean to moms all over the world. The subject matter, and Alaina's voice, have serious mainstream appeal.

-Watch her performance of 'Flat on the Floor'
-Watch her performance of 'Maybe It Was Memphis'
-Watch her performance of 'Like My Mother Does'

Tune in tomorrow at 8PM EST to see who will be crowned this season's 'American Idol'!