---

WRENTHAM - It's a tough decision for the owner of a sports bar.

A Red Sox-Yankees game is on during the two-hour season finale of "American Idol." What do you put on surround sound?

Tom Gianfrancesco, owner of Tom's Tavern in Wrentham, went the "Idol" route.

"It drew a few complaints," Gianfrancesco said. "I had people saying 'hey, I thought this was a sports bar.' "

The Sox may not have won out in the sound department, but they did at least dominate the majority of televisions in the tavern. The two-hour "Idol" finale - in which Jordin Sparks was crowned this year's Idol after countless performances by music icons, current pop stars and Idols past - served mostly as a diversion to the game until the last-minute crowning.

While Sparks' victory didn't exactly cause an eruption in the tavern, it did elicit some applause.

"I think she's kind of the epitome of what a pop star is," said Maureen Chasse, 31, of Foxboro, who has been watching the show "since the beginning."

"She's cute, she's fun and I think she's an amazing singer," she said.

Chasse, incidentally, will be buying Tom's Tavern in mid-June, and plans to carry on the tradition of broadcasting the show there.

"We figure that people are going to watch, so we'll show it here," she said. "We'll do something fun."

Lenny Leon, 47, of Wrentham, also wasn't surprised that Sparks won, though his trip to Tom's had more to do with dinner with his family, and later drinks with his soccer teammates, than indulging in Reality TV.

"I watched it more last year because I think there was a lot more local interest," Leon said, referring to 13th-place finisher Ayla Brown of Wrentham.

One patron, who would only identify himself as "The Legend" or "Lenny's friend Bob" said he also came for the atmosphere more than the programming, comparing the tavern to "Cheers."

But Gianfrancesco admitted he hasn't missed an "Idol" episode. "I just like when they take someone with raw talent and make a success out of them," he said. "It's like winning the lottery."