SEATTLE (AP) - Baby got back, and Seattle got Blake.

"American Idol" finalist Blake Lewis returned to Seattle on Friday, playing a free concert before more than a thousand fans at Westlake Park, where he was joined onstage by Seattle's own Sir Mix-A-Lot. Mix-A-Lot sang his hit "Baby Got Back" over what many in the crowd came to see: Blake's beat-boxing.

"Every time you watch 'American Idol,' you see people that can sing, and that's it," Mix-A-Lot said to wild applause. "This cat got real talent. ... He's the new king of Sea-town, baby."

Lewis, 25, is one of three remaining contestants on Fox's wildly popular singing contest, and his homecoming plans included a parade in his suburban hometown of Bothell and the national anthem at the Mariners-Yankees game Friday night. He looked out on the crowd in the warm midday sunshine and said: "I'm speechless. Thank you guys for all the support."

But Lewis directed most of his onstage banter at urging his fans to support local music, giving repeated shout-outs to rising Seattle hip-hop stars Blue Scholars and Common Market.

"A lot's changed since I saw you last," Common Market's RA Scion said to him before unleashing a torrent of lyrics over Lewis' beat-boxing.

Many in the crowd, populated largely by truant teenage girls, screamed and waved signs that read "Blaker Girls" or "We (heart) Blake."

Blaire Ginnever, a 14-year-old eighth-grader, said she was skipping her lunch period and Spanish class at Villa Academy in Seattle.

"Blake es muy bueno," she said.

Her favorite part? "The beat-boxing - it's just, like, unique and nobody else can do it on the show."

Ginnever's mom, Marilyn, was also in the crowd, and said she didn't mind that her daughter was missing school.

"It's the end of the year, and this is big for Seattle," she said. "We follow the show. It's kind of a family event, and rooting for a hometown boy makes it special."

City Councilwoman Jean Godden, who is old enough to remember a significant chunk of Seattle's musical history, read a proclamation declaring Friday "Blake Lewis Day" and placing the "reknowned beat-box musician" in a local tradition that includes Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Nirvana, Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie.

Lauren Barberena, 26, said she had never watched "American Idol," but she bounced with the music and held her cell phone high in the air as Lewis, backed by local trio Ari Sawkadoria, sang Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know."

"My friend's 11-year-old daughter asked me to call her," she said. "If it's good music, it's good music."