The battle of the two sixteen year old country singers, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery came out with McCreery on top.

After the announcement of his win, he performed on stage.

The two hour live show took place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. As all American Idol shows, the finale was hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

A number of surprise performers took the stage including Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Tom Jones, Lady Gaga, and the cast of the Spiderman musical. Mark Anthony also performed a song in Spanish while his wife, and American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez danced around him.

Another judge, Steven Tyler, performed Aerosmith's Dream On while playing the Piano. He was not accompanied by the other members of Aerosmith.

All of the Top 13 contestants of this season of American Idol had a moment on the stage. The girls performed a medley of Beyonce songs while the boys sang a mix of Tom Jones hits.