LOS ANGELES - The way Simon Cowell sees it, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis are the most evenly matched "American Idol" finalists yet and either could win Wednesday. "It's all to play for. I think it's going to be a good competition. ... You've got the better singer versus the better entertainer," Cowell said, with teen queen Sparks the former and beatboxer Lewis the latter.

This file photo originally supplied by Fox Television shows Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks on Fox's 'American Idol' on Tuesday, May 15, 2007. [AP]

The tipping point, Cowell told The Associated Press, could be the tune picked by viewers in an online "American Idol" songwriting contest introduced this season.

Cowell, a series judge and record company executive, listened to a demo of the song that was kept under wraps until the finalists were to perform it on Tuesday's show on Fox. After audience votes are counted the newest idol will be announced on Wednesday's finale (8 p.m. EDT).

"It's a ballad, so I think Blake will have to do his own interpretation of it," Cowell said, referring to Lewis' penchant for arrangements that include beatboxing. "That's what he does well."

Cowell's thoughts - and those of many viewers - also will be with arguably the best "American Idol" contestant yet to miss out on the finale, Melinda Doolittle.

"I can understand why they (Sparks and Lewis) both made it. But I would have happily swapped either of them for Melinda, to be honest with you," Cowell said before Tuesday's performance show.

Despite her artful performances, the one-time backup singer from Brentwood, Tenn., didn't get the fan support she needed to make it to the top.

"The fact is she was up against two much, much younger singers and, guessing that most of our voters were younger, my feeling was that she was going to miss out (based) on her personality, not her singing," Cowell said.

"I'm pleased for the two of them," he said of Sparks and Lewis. "They're nice kids. But I would have liked to have seen one of them up against the big singer."

Sparks, 17, of Glendale, Ariz., is the daughter of retired NFL player Phillippi Sparks and a performer who's talented and poised beyond her years. Lewis, 25, of Bothell, Wash., adds dance and fashion flourishes to his contemporary treatment of songs.

Cowell and fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson help pick the contestants in the early rounds but then watch as viewers take over and choose the finalists and winner. What happens after that is up to the singers and those producing their records, Cowell said.

"With all these artists, it depends on the material you put out. We saw that with Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry," he said. "One made a quite good record, one a very good record. Chris is selling more than Taylor."

Hicks was last year's winner, Daughtry a finalist.

Cowell has kind words for another of this season's contestants, Sanjaya Malakar, despite often expressing on-camera irritation about the teenager and his erratic performances.

"I thought he was quite amusing. I don't ever want to be in a series where everybody is sort of good but without any controversy," Cowell said. "It wouldn't be `American Idol.'"

He was concerned that "exterior forces" such as the Web site votefortheworst.com could be controlling the show. That would have made the competition moot, he said.

"But toward the end, sanity prevailed," Cowell said.