The two-hour American Idols Live [ tickets ] performance had a variety-show feel to it, with the Top 10 finalists taking turns singing solo and in groups. The show kicked off with the entire group singing The Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started." When Sparks hit the stage in a mini skirt and football jersey, the energy was palpable.

But it wasn't all about Sparks, the daughter of former NFL player Phillippi
Sparks. Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones served up the classic songs "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Baby Love" during a Motown medley. Richardson joined the two women, who donned evening gowns, for an impressive spin of Marvin Gaye's "Heard it Through the Grapevine."

A fan favorite, but lowest on the talent totem pole, was Sanjaya Malakar, who ripped off the bottom of Doolittle's train to reveal a shorter get-p to finish "Proud Mary."

The bald Phil Stacey, who obviously received some vocal coaching before the tour began, delivered a powerful version of Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory." Stacey wasn't the only one who sounded better live than on television. Rocker Gina Glocksen, joined by the mop-topped Chris Sligh, put punch into Fall Out Boy's "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs." But the song still fell short of the energy provided by the original.

Haley Scarnato, whom American Idol judge Simon Cowell often lauded for her nice legs, showed some improvement on songs such as McBride's "When God Fearing Women Get the Blues." Still, she relied on shaking her body and strutting her stuff during her numbers.

Perhaps the most absurd performance of the evening was Malakar's take on Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel." He arrived on a pedestal from underneath the stage to the tune of "Thriller." But the band slowly segued into "The Way You Make Me Feel," which Malakar just butchered. The grandiose entrance and a quick moonwalk couldn't save the song.

Runner-up Blake Lewis charmed television audiences with his beat-boxing skills, but live it was incredibly overdone, with nearly every one of his songs featuring his forte. It was subtle in his cover of "Time of the Season," but the overwrought beat-boxing eventually was like nails on a chalkboard.

Shortly after an intermission, Stacey and Sligh, among others, pushed the audience to audition for season seven of "American Idol." The self-promotion feel of it didn't fit well within the show.

It's unclear whether Sparks will be as successful as former Idols Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson, but at 17 she has the poise, grace and talent of someone 10 years older.