'American Idol': David vs. David face off in the finals
Tonight's American Idol kicks off with the "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" guy introducing David Cook and David Archuleta like they are boxers, complete with silk robes. So which one of these Davids will take the Idol title?
Depends on how things go tonight, with three rounds of songs.
David Archuleta won the coin toss a few days ago, and will go second.
The first songs were chosen by Clive Davis.
For David Cook, he's picked "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and for David Archuleta, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."
Cook is first. He starts out quiet, and unlike last week's softer starts, his tone is strong and he sounds great. About halfway through, the band comes in, and he ramps it up, too. Nice choice by Mr. Davis. Judge Randy Jackson says it was "a great way to start this duel of 2007" (um, whoops), and that even though he isn't sure David did everything he could with it, it was still "hot, baby." Judge Paula Abdul, "We have found David Cook. ... You are in great voice tonight." Judge Simon Cowell says at the top of the show he looked tense and emotional, and, "taking all of that together, that was phenomenal."
Then, it's Archuleta's turn. He does a nice job with it, showing more emotional range than usual, though the bouncing around the stage is a tad awkward. But another good song choice. Randy says it doesn't matter what happens, that this was one of the best performances of the season, and he had "crazy hot molten vocals." Paula says her heart is still pounding and that "that was a beautiful, stunning performance." Simon says it's easy to get overexcited tonight, adding that last week he was "OK," but that this performance was the best he's sounded so far. "Round one goes to Archuleta," who looks like he is going to bawl.
Round two, each of the David's gets to choose from among the Top 10 finalists from the Idol songwriting competition.
David Cook is singing "Dream Big" by Emily Shackleton and David Archuleta's is "In This Moment" by Brian Gomar. (I'm guessing on those name spellings.)
Cook hits the stage for "Dream Big," guitar in hand. It's a fairly cheesy pop-rock song, but at least they had some variety to choose from. Cook wouldn't have had much fun with "A Moment Like This" or "This is My Now," I don't think. Randy says the song was just OK, but he tells David, "You were singing your face off!" Paula says it was mesmerizing and congratulates him. Simon says he made the most of what he had to work with, adding that it's supposed to be "a winning song, but it didn't feel like a winning moment."
Then, Archuleta. Not surprisingly, the cheesy ballad works much better for him, though the backup singers kind of overwhelm his sound except during the big notes. Randy says again for him, he wasn't crazy about the song, but, as usual, "you are so in the zone, you could sing the phone book." Paula says it's pure magic. Simon says he loved the self-centered lyric, and that he picked the better song for sure. "Round two," Simon says, "goes to Archuleta."
The final round is contestant's choice. David Cook is singing "The World I Know" by Collective Soul, and David Archuleta goes with "Imagine."
David Cook brings out the acoustic guitar for this one and gives a nice, not overblown, performance of the song. Afterward, he tears up almost immediately. Randy says one of the cool things about him is that he is showing a lot of different sides, and it was good to see his sensitive side. "Very nice job, dude." Paula says he is "standing in your truth" and she stands and applauds him. Simon says he is one of the nicest and most sincere contestants they have ever had. He adds that it was a beautiful song, but it was the wrong song choice for tonight. David says the whole thing has been a progression, so he wanted to do something new, but he understands what Simon is saying.
The last song of the night is David Archuleta reprising "Imagine." I wasn't totally sold on this the first time he did it because, hello, it's John Lennon. But I think he does right by the song tonight, and he seems more confident on the stage. Randy says they are looking for the best singer, and that the best singer is David Archuleta. Paula says, "It's the culmination, and you left me speechless. ... You were stunning tonight." Simon says this show is about finding a star and that tonight, they have witnessed one of the best finals, and that David Archuleta came out to win, "and what we have witnessed is a knockout."
So who do you think won the night? I don't think any of the fans are going to switch allegiance, but maybe some of the more casual viewers will chime in tonight. I don't know what to predict.
The show closes with Ruben Studdard -- haven't seen him in a while! Too bad they don't bring him on until 9:02, which is when the show was supposed to be over.
(Photo by Michael Becker / Fox)
Comments
I really wish David Cook wins. He is by far the better contestant in the competition. He is more talented, he isn't boring and he is original. I am so frustrated I cannot vote... Go David Cook!
Posted by: dana | May 20, 2008 9:27 PM
Sarah, the "Let's Get Ready To Rumble" guy is Michael Buffer. I kind of figured last week when they showed him sitting in the audience on Wednesday night that he would probably play some sort of role in the finale.
I cannot disagree with anything Simon said tonight. I believe Archuletta won all three rounds tonight. However, that said, I also agree with your statement that fans are not going to switch allegiance. I think Cook can pull this out if the people who would have voted for Michael Johns and Carly Smithson jam the phone lines for him. I can tell you that as of the time I am posting this, my wife has been dialing non-stop for Cook since the lines opened.
The bottom line for this season is...it was probably the 6th best season out of the 7 the show has been on. David Cook has a better chance of selling records because he is more versatile than David Archuletta. Archuletta could very well be the second coming of Taylor Hicks.
Posted by: Scooter | May 20, 2008 9:53 PM
hate to say It I'm a big fan of david cooks but he certainly didn't sing to win tonight. just didn't feel the magic
Posted by: bgfan | May 20, 2008 9:58 PM
I hope America gets it right..choose Cook for a cooked show. But Archie came out with fire in his eyes so who knows!!
Posted by: Sequoia | May 20, 2008 10:29 PM
david cook has consistently out-performed david archuleta throughout the season. it seemed that david cook was thrown by simon's comments on his second song and was a little off on the third.
archuleta was great with the first song .. but the second and third were his usual, boring, bland, ballads.
it doesn't matter if david cook wins the official title of American Idol .. he will have the bigger music career and i, for one, will be waiting for his first record.
rock on david cook!
Posted by: raven | May 20, 2008 10:29 PM
David COOK should be the next Idol, Archie may have come alive a bit but still his "stage appeal" is akward at best. VOTE DC!!!
Posted by: laura r | May 20, 2008 10:31 PM
I think Archuleta will win, based on his teeny bopper fanbase and his performances tonight. He seems like a nice kid and he has a great voice, so I'd be OK if he won, even though I like Cook better. Cook would be better off not winning, a la Daughtry. He'll be unencumbered by the brutal Idol contract and will be able to do his own thing. I have no doubt he'll be successful, even (especially) if he doesn't win.
Posted by: Julie | May 20, 2008 10:53 PM
I can get through MUCH better using my landline phone. all I get on my cellphone is a busy signal. Keep voting, everyone
Posted by: Connie | May 20, 2008 11:05 PM
OK...the singing was just about what we expected; the result probably more one-sided than we expected and Simon probably got in trouble for saying on Leno Monday night that he wanted Cook to win, so he had to make it up to Archie, just so Archie's dad wouldn't beat the crap out of him.
Singing aside, was this the worst show of the season or what?
The whole Michael Buffer introduction thing is lame and cliche. Come into this century, Idol. Do something original.
The boxing metaphor is silly.
Yo, dawg, check it out...2007 ended almost five months ago. (I've said it a thousand times: If you can sing, dawg, you can sing a calendar.)
And what have they done? Started scripting Paula? First she tells Cook, "You may not have found what you were looking for, but we have...: and then uses the same let-me-work-the-song-title-into-my-critique device with Archie when she tells him the "sun won't go down on you." There's no way Paula could have come up with that on her own, even though she appeared relatively sober tonight.
And why did they boot Clive to the audience instead of having him at the table as in the past? Geeze, we know Arista is moving him out, but Idol could treat him with some respect. He is Clive Davis after all. Doesn't he deserve better than, say, Jim Lampley?
Posted by: Bucky | May 20, 2008 11:15 PM
I really tried not to be a conspiracy theorist about this season, but it was completely obvious that the judges either decided before the show started to back Archuleta or the producers told them to do so. Archuleta did do well last night I will give him that, but I think this was Cook's best week of the season and the fact they knocked him down in some fashion for every song just shows their bias. U2 was great, and the 2nd song Cook picked fit perfectly for his type of singing. If they forced a stupid ballad like they did with Blake last year he would sound like an idiot.
Just watch, Archuleta is going to be another Taylor Hicks. He will win because he gets the teenie-boppers vote, and then when he comes out with an album similar to something Michael Bolton would release no one is going to buy it.
Though the talent was good this season, it was one of the most disappointing to watch because of the way the show was handled by the judges and the producers.
Posted by: Bill | May 21, 2008 8:40 AM
I agree that it semed like some kind of conspiracy against D.C. last night. I also think the judges sort of told on themselves or the producers about how the show must be rigged because D.A. was not alll that good in fact he sounded like he's sounded from the beginning. D,C. should win and if he doesn't it doesn't mean he isn't the more talented. This was the worst season ever, all the songs were boring and they should go back and take notes from pass seasons.
Posted by: Yvette Bell | May 21, 2008 4:28 PM
The best talent lost.
Popularity wins again.....:o(
Posted by: Anonymous | May 22, 2008 5:02 AM