Congrats to Lee Dewyze

by Rick Maese

If you were trying to call Chris Cooley Tuesday night and had a difficult time getting through, there's a reason: He was busy texting in his "American Idol" vote.

"I think I voted or text-messaged 20 times last night," Cooley said. "It may be pretty lame, but I sat with my wife, voted and did my part."

The winner of the televised singing competition will be revealed Wednesday night, but Cooley and his wife, Christy, have been in the bag for Lee DeWyze since early in the season. Watching the show is a weekly ritual for the couple.

"Christy is die hard. But I watch it with her," he said. "If I miss it and someone's good or something happens, she'll TiVo it and make me watch it the next day."

The final performances were on Monday night and the final-round voting will be revealed Wednesday, along with the winner.

"[Christy] was really nervous for him last night. I don't know if Lee did that good, so she was nervous," Cooley said. "I was like, 'Sweetie, it's just a TV show'."

Cooley explained that his small household drastically changed its voting philosophy this year.

"We've been watching for a few years, so we decided you have to pick someone early and vote for just them. You can't spread your votes," Cooley said. "The first couple of years, we spread them out and people we liked were getting knocked out. We were like, 'shoot, we can't give him and him and him all votes.' So we consolidated. We went with Lee."

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