On a night that without question belonged to her, Fantasia was simply a better performer than Diana. I'm actually surprised she won by only 1.3 million votes (out of 65). I figured she would have earned 55-60% of the vote. Even though Simon Cowell declared her the best Idol ever, you don't really think he believes that do you? Honestly, Latoya was a much more developed talent with a few more years and experience under her belt. Jennifer had a more tried and true tone to her voice. Unfortunately, neither was around to challenge her on the final night.

Instead it was little ol' Diana who showed very little heart after really coming on strong in the past couple of weeks. The youngster just couldn't compete with the intimidating Fantasia and was probably rattled by the rave reviews her competitor received.

Overall I think it is the consensus that the best singer did not win this season. Diana was bottom 3 material in the second week of the final 12. Fantasia was a storm in the Chicago area away from being eliminated the week that Jennifer bit the dust. The only time that Clay made a trip to the bottom 3 last year was when there were only 3 people left. Ruben hit it only once, when 5 remained.

Next year they promise to hit more remote locations (Alaska, Cleveland, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Orlando, New Orleans and Washington D.C.) to find talent. For now America has an unlikely role model in teenage single mom Fantasia. Lovely.