“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell has watched every performance this season up close, but the opinionated Brit still can’t say who is going to win the title.

There are just two contenders left: Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, who will each perform tonight.

“One is a better entertainer and one’s the better singer, so it will be down to what they do [tonight],” Cowell said last week.

If past seasons’ finales are any indication, we can expect the contestants to sing three songs each this evening, two of which will come from their previous weeks’ performances.

“I’m hoping Blake does the Bon Jovi song ['You Give Love a Bad Name'],” says Cowell. “It was his best performance.”

And Sparks?

Last week, Cowell said he didn’t know what she would do, adding, “She hasn’t done one performance yet that I think of as a wow.”

The finalists’ third vocal will be a song written specifically to be the winner’s first single.

Cowell said he has heard the song and thinks “it’s going to be harder for Blake to sing, because it’s more of a ballad.”

While singing the “Idol” song best has obviously never hurt a contestant, singing it second-best doesn’t necessarily mean second place (hello, Taylor Hicks), so Lewis shouldn’t consider himself down for the count.

Whatever the outcome, Cowell considers this season one of “American Idol’s” best.

Yes, even with Sanjaya Malakar.

“I thought the whole Sanjaya thing was hysterical,” says Cowell. “Well, I’m happy now because he’s out. I don’t think I’d be happy if he was in the finals, so I can now be quite smug about it. But looking back, I thought it was quite amusing.”

And as for talk of dwindling ratings, Cowell doesn’t bat a lash.

“You know, you go down, you go up, but it’s still, what, 8 million ahead of the second-place show,” he says.

“I didn’t think we’d get beyond season one, so every other season is a bonus.”

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