'American Idol' runner-up says it was 'agony' going into the season-6 finale because he could tell Jordin Sparks was set up to win
Danny Moloshok/Reuters
- "American Idol" runner-up Blake Lewis said he knew he was going to lose season 6 to Jordin Sparks.
- They both had to sing the same song on finale night, and he felt like it was "written for" her.
- A fellow finalist and one of the songwriters also found the choice a bit "obvious" and "awkward."
Season-six "American Idol" finalist Blake Lewis said he knew he was "screwed" as soon as he heard the final song he had to sing.
Speaking to Insider ahead of the show's 20th anniversary, Lewis said both he and Jordin Sparks had to sing the same song on the finale that was chosen as part of the show's first national songwriting contest in 2007.
But after hearing the song, "This Is My Now," for the first time, Lewis said he immediately felt like it was "written for Jordin Sparks." And before the big night, he said the producers told him, "You can't arrange it this time."
As an award-winning beatboxer, Lewis said he would stay up all night arranging his own music before each round of competitions on season six, but that apparently wasn't an option for the finale.
"I gave them all the fingers. I said, 'Fuck you all,' and I walked out of the room," Lewis said, adding, "It immediately turned the whole entire experience that I had sour."
Lewis said Sparks deserved to win "American Idol" — he even told Insider that he and several other contestants predicted she was going to win all the way back during Hollywood Week. But he said it was "agony" going into the finale week feeling like he was set up to fail.
"This should be like the dopest week of my life, but I know I'm getting second place," he said, later adding, "I had the greatest time of my life and then it became bitter."
Lewis wasn't the only person associated with season 6 who found the situation 'awkward'
Fred Prouser/Reuters
Fellow season-six finalist Sanjaya Malakar also told Insider that it seemed "very obvious" to him that the finale song "was written for Jordin."
Even "This Is My Now" songwriter Jeff Peabody said he and his cowriter Scott Krippayne had "mixed feelings" about their song being used for the finale.
"It made it a little awkward for us to feel like the song was so clearly a better fit for her," Peabody told Insider.
The writer was happy to win the songwriting contest and attend the finale in person, but he said he "had nothing to do with being protective around the song or saying Blake couldn't arrange it."
When the songwriters spotted Lewis at the finale, Peabody said, they even apologized to him in person.
"We can tell it was awkward, so we felt bad. I mean we really mostly just wanted him to know we just wrote the best song we could. It wasn't like we knew what they would do with it," Peabody said.
A representative for Jordin Sparks declined to comment. Representatives for Scott Krippayne and Fox did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.