Finale fever..which David took the crown?

Ok folks, we have reached critical mass...who will we choose Obama or Clinton...oops...wrong topic. Just kidding! Tonight we start the American Idol season 7 finale off "white" with a rousing group number of "Get Ready." (A notice to us all perhaps?) I could have used a little less dancing from the singers and more dancing from the dancers.

Apparently 97.5 million votes were cast with one David taking home 56% and the other (pause while Ryan does the math) 44%.

8:10 - The Davids do a good duet to "Hero" They kind of look cute...like some sort of mismatched variety act.

8:13 - Let the media shilling begin! Guru Pitka? Really? OK...Sitar Hero saves this whole lame bit. It only proved to us that Cook has some mediocre acting skills and David Archuleta is "pinch-his-cheeks, gosh darn cute" all the time. And Mariska Hargitay to that lame bit.

8:18 - Syesha is singing "Waiting For You" with a very "special guest" and who would that be...Seal! Oh, so much better than a holographic Elvis! Syesha is suspiciously sequin and rhinestone free. Is it me or are they forgetting the words toward the end?

(Insert missed Janice Dickinson sighting...ew.)

8:25 Jason Castro The Speechless returns to sing one of his best songs of the show "Hallelujah" (I would have gone for Iz's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow.")

8:28 - In case you didn't get enough of all those cheesy Ford commercials...you just got the outtakes from them all. Whoopie.

Both the Davids got Escape Hybrids..of course Ryan had to check that Archie had his license.

8:29 - The top 6 girls are all tarted up for She Works Hard for the Money with Donna Summer...This just proves why none of these girls won. - Brooke just smiles while singing anything...it's insane and she just shouldn't dance..ever. Amanda Overmeyer sang a whole verse of the song and I couldn't understand a darn word.  Donna Summer has a new single?  It's pretty sweet though that her shirt, earrings and microphone all match in awesome sparkliness. (How much of a bonus did they give Ryan to dance like that? hahaha...that was the most entertaining thing all night..oh except for the time he nearly rode off the stage on the Guru's rolling magic carpet.)

8:40 - Carly Smithson and Michael Johns are singing "The Letter" since they were unexpectedly voted off. It was pretty good. Although Carly is still kinda scary when she sings.

8:44 - First  (and hopefully last) Simon nipple reference of the night and cue in to Jimmy Kimmel. I love the Simon insult montage...first time I've laughed all evening.

8:46 - Now it's the Top 6 guys singing Summer of 69. OMG pizza stripper! I've missed Hernandez. Oh, Chikeze, you're so bubbly! David Cook singing Bryan Adams' "Heaven"...why did they have to screw it up by having Archie sing too! Grrr. I'm seriously a sucker for Bryan Adams' voice...gritty, gravely...yeah.Well, the guys were better than the girls...again.

8:56 - "Sharp Dressed Man" David Cook rocks out with ZZ Top. How old is ZZ Top..has anyone ever seen their faces? How long has it been since they've seen their faces? It's still "molten hot." (Blake sighting!)

8:59 - Some girl in a gold dress is talking to David Cook's music teacher in Kansas City.

9:00 - Graham Nash (from Crosby, Stills and..Co.) and Brooke White sing "Teach Your Children." Here is where Brooke is comfortable...not dancing in a skin-tight white pleather suit.

9:04 - I just saw David Cook channel Tom Cruise in "Risky Business" for a Guitar Hero commercial. That was amazingly cool. (Dang, I sound like some crazy fan girl.)

9:07 - Oh it's the Jonas Brothers...I didn't get it..now I do. They're like the brunette Hanson with shiny pants.

9:10 - Sit back and enjoy the weirdest of this year's auditions. Renaldo... what a guy.

9 :13 - The official "What the...."? moment of the evening...Renaldo with the USC marching band playing back up and the USC cheerleaders dancing the can can. I need a drink...and NO I don't mean Coke.

9:20 - One Republic and David Archuleta wail together on "Apologize." Archie must heretofore always be accompanied by strings...(this is just the Idol fatigue talking folks).

9:25 - Jordin, that dress is truly tragic. I can't even describe it... "One Step at a Time" is kind of like Mariah Carey lite. I would have voted for "Tattoo" and I don't even like "Tattoo."

9:32 - Gladys Knight and Pips starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Ironman - I mean Robert Downey Jr. - that was so pointless...although I really enjoyed Downey's facial expressions immensely.

9:36 - Good little American Idol Carrie Underwood. She's turning into a full out country diva. I just can't jump on board with those sleeves though. Seems dangerous if you ask me..don't get anywhere near an open flame dear. "Last Name" is a hot track though.

9:41 - Just saw David Archuleta channeling Tom Cruise in his boxers. It was really just cute not DC awesome.

9:43 - George Michael is making his US comeback by guest starring on "Eli Stone" and singing on "American Idol." But first the top 12 has to sing a medley of his greatest hits. GM's first tour in 17 years starts in San Diego and he has a cold...can we just get the results now?

***Warning...we are approaching critical mass***

9:57 - Final thoughts of the year. Randy: You are both winners, Paula: This isn't a finale...the party has just started...get me a drink. Simon: Wants to congratulate both men...wow..Simon said he was verging on disrespectful to Cook...he doesn't really care who wins, he thinks they both did well. How sweet.

And the results...(why am I chewing my nails...?) The winner by 12 million votes is...David Cook

WOW

I can't decide if I'm happy or not. Happy that Cook got the recognition but kinda sad that he might be strapped to a stinky record. Oh well. I'll be downloading it from iTunes I'm sure.

Thanks to our guest blogger Cathy and to all the Idol Tracker readers who followed along this season. Who knows...maybe I'll see you next year! Below are Cathy's parting remarks:

Is it not totally amazing the lengths to which apparently intelligent people will go to fill up 2 hours of television?  The finale was a mixture of the awesome with the strange and weird.  It was kinda nice to see some of the top 12 again.  I just left the room when certain ones did solos. 

The group songs are always peculiar to me because a lot of the voices don't seem to blend well, and the song choices just don't suit everyone's voice.  Kind of like the whole competition, huh? The celebrity performances were...interesting.  The ladies with Donna Summer?  Not bad, she can still bring it.  The "3 stooges" with Gladys Knight?  Not so much.  And, when did Bryan Adams and Graham Nash get so old?  David Cook's performance with ZZ Top was the most a-w-e-s-o-m-e of the entire 2 hours not counting the final reveal. Actually, the Davids' duet was pretty cool, too.  All in all, a good battle hard fought and fairly won.  I guess 12 million little girls couldn't stay up late enough to vote for David A. Make that twelve million and one.  They deserved to be the last 2 standing, and I wish them both success in their careers.  Especially in a year or two when they can break free of the AI chains and do their own stuff.  Here's to King Davids!

Comments

[Ron]

Did anyone else notice the damage control done by the judges just prior to announcing the winner? Both Randy & Simon had been singing DA's praises for weeks while telling DC that his performances were just OK. So much for a sealed envelope. Simon apologizing was way out of character and both judges said that they would be happy with either contestant. Switching alegiences was a bit lame "dogs".

[Simon Fan]

YEESSSS!! I'm thrilled David Cook won, but like you said, he will be chained to AI's limitations. I truly felt badly for David Archuleta because he's very talented and a sweetheart. I hope he does well on his own without AI. Just loved Syesha & Seal and David Cook with ZZ Top...awesome performances! The GK & Pips thing went on way too long...not funny after 20 seconds. And George Michael's (ick) song was a downer. I just didn't care for it, especially as the final big performance. Carrie Underwood is amazing! Great season...David Cook ROCKS! :o)