The finale of the American Idol Season 7!

Performance show was fantabulous.
Plus point to David Archuleta because he nailed tonight's performance show.
David Cook did great too, just that he did not perform as well as I thought he would.



David Archuleta:
I have been rooting for him since the auditions.
And honestly, I am just proud of how far he has come and
of how well he maintained his quality standards of singing.
He is just one of those outstanding young singers that made onto TV.
David A's singing reminds me of James Morrison though.



David Cook:
He was a low-profile contestant at first.
I did not favour him that much during the earlier stage of this competition.
Well, maybe there were too many contestants for me to concentrate on.
But as time progresses, his singing gain recognition.
The tone of his singing is just pure clarity.
I began to like his singing even more
when he sang 'Always Be My Baby' (current song that is playing);
which I must say I am dangerously addicted to.
I sing it almost ALL the time!
Wherever and whenever!


The two remaining finalists each performed three songs
in their bid to take the crown in the talent show's seventh season.
Despite rocker David Cook's surge in recent weeks, the judges were uncharacteristically united in proclaiming early fan favourite teen David Archuleta had outperformed his rival.

"You came out here tonight to win, and what we have witnessed is a knockout,"
said prickly judge Simon Cowell.

Judge Randy Jackson concurred,
proclaiming "the best singer of season 7 is right there,"
following Archuleta's rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine,"
a song that earlier in the competition had brought him some of his best feedback.

Cook, 25, and Archuleta, 17, each performed three times
in the live telecast before some 7,000 people at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre.

One song was chosen for each by Sony BMG executive Clive Davis,
who assigned U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" to Cook,
and the Elton John ballad "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" to Archuleta.

Cowell, who had earlier predicted Cook would triumph, firmly stated
"Round 1 goes to David Archuleta."

The next set was chosen from the "American Idol"
songwriting contest's top 20 submissions,
with Cook doing "Dream Big" by Emily Shackelton,
while Archuleta went for Ryan Gillmor's "In This Moment."

Cowell said Archuleta had definitely made the better choice,
calling Cook's "a bit of a lightweight."

In the third selection, the singers were free to sing anything they wanted.
Cook, the black-clad Kansas City-area bartender,
opted for "The World I Know" by Collective Soul,
which Cowell pronounced "completely and utterly the wrong song choice for you."

Cook's response was that the experience for him had been
"a progression," so "why do something I've already done"
-- which was precisely what Archuleta did with "Imagine."
He wowed the judges, who all but termed it a clean sweep
for the baby-faced crooner from Utah.