Scotty vs Lauren on Idol

MANILA, Philippines - It’s going to be a showdown between Scotty McCreery (far right), 17, and Lauren Alaina (right), 16, on American Idol’s finale today at 8 a.m. on GMA News TV Channel 11. 

Following the performance night last week, a record-setting 95 million viewer votes were cast. It’s the third-highest number of votes in Idol history and the highest total ever for a non-finale episode.

Scotty, the teenager with a very deep voice, said in an interview that the most surprising part of his Idol experience is “(m)aking it this far. Never in my wildest dreams would I have realistically thought I would have made it this far.”

He may have had a more low-key audition and early-finals phase, but as the finale drew nearer, most Idol watchers had been considering Scotty the frontrunner.

The Garner, North Carolina native had not really been in danger of elimination throughout most of the finals and during last week’s results show, he was first to be called to go on to the finale.

Scotty’s musical style is “a mix of older and newer country artists. Legends like Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Conway Twitty, and even Elvis. But then some like Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Randy Travis, and definitely Josh Turner.”

Lauren, on the other hand, was one of the standouts during the auditions. But the Tennessee resident, despite having one of the best vocals this season, has not really delivered a performance unforgettable enough to make her one of the frontrunners during the Top 12 finals.

“Carrie Underwood has been a major influence on my musical style because she has a sound to her music that has no limitations. I love how she is like a country pop-artist,” she said.

She also said that if she could perform with any person or group, it would be “Aerosmith because Steven Tyler is extremely talented and a cool person!” During her audition, one of the season’s most memorable, Lauren also sang an Aerosmith song and even asked judge Steven Tyler to sing with her.

During last week’s Top 3 showdown, Lauren wowed judge Jennifer Lopez with her performance of Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. Scotty’s version of Thompson Square’s Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not had judges J. Lo and Randy Jackson proclaiming him winner of last week’s Round 2.