Last night, American Idol witnessed some of the greatest performances of the last seven seasons. David Cook as well as David Archuleta dazzled the audience and invigorated the judges with a new sense of joy. Both contestants had three songs for last night's episode. These songs were in three categories namely, a song chosen by RCA chairman Clive Davis; a song selected from the seventh-season's songwriting competition; and a contestant's choice, that could have been a previously performed number or a new one. Before the show began, judge Randy Jackson said, “I think tonight you've both got to leave everything on the floor. You've got to bring everything that you've got tonight. This is a duel."

David Cook:

1st Song: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2 (Clive Davis' choice)

Judge Randy Jackson commented, "I think it was a great way to start off this duel of 2008. Very nice song choice, I mean great song. I don't know if you did everything you could do with it, but I love the scoop of the note at the end. That was hot baby. Hot!" " Even Simon Cowell, couldn't incorporate any sarcasm in his judgment and said, "Okay, okay, okay. It's very easy to get overexcited tonight. David, I'm going to be honest with you. I thought last week you were okay. I thought tonight's performance was arguably the best you've done so far. Taking everything into account, Round 1 goes to Archuleta."

2nd Song: "Dream Big" by Emily Shackelton (Contestant's choice from songwriting competition)

David chose to play the guitar himself with this song and he really did a fabulous job at that. Paula Abdul said, “David, a song in your heart, a guitar in your hand. We millions who sit were all mesmerized by you. This is a great way to take a song we don't know and fall in love with it. Congratulations."  Adding to the remarks, Simon said, “Using the boxing analogy, it was a bit of a lightweight I thought. I thought the end was okay. You made the most of what you had. Bearing in mind that this is supposed to be a winning song, it didn't feel like a winning moment for me. Just an opinion! Look, the good news is we've got a third song, right? That was a six-and-a-half out of 10."

3rd Song: "The World I Know" by Collective Soul (Contestant's choice)

David picked up the guitar for this song as well. Rand Jackson said, “One of the cool things about you is that you're showing people tonight a lot of different sides of David Cook. That was a very nice, sensitive side of David Cook. I love Collective Soul and I've been saying this for weeks now — I think this is the kind of record that you could definitely make and get by with. Very nice job dude. Very nice." However, Simon Cowell wasn't that impressed and added, “David look, I just want to say publicly that you are actually one of the nicest, most sincere contestants we've had. I thought that was a beautiful song, but I'm going to be honest with you — it was completely and utterly the wrong song choice for you on the night. You should have sung 'Billie Jean' or 'Hello'."

David Archuleta:  

1st Song: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John (Clive Davis' choice)

As expected from the younger David, he just nailed the performance and drew everyone crazy! Randy Jackson said, “David, it doesn't matter what happens right now. You've got to know one thing, this is one of the best performances of this whole season. You picked the right time to peak baby! That was flawless and unbelievably molten hot! Crazy vocals… Crazy!" Paula Abdul with every bit of emotion added “I've got to tell you my heart's still pounding. I've got chills up and down my arms. The sun is never going to go down on you because you bring out so much sunshine in everyone throughout the whole world through your singing. David, that was a beautiful, beautiful, stunning performance. I'm so excited, tonight is unbelievable."

2nd Song: "In This Moment" by Ryan Gillmor (Contestant's choice from songwriting competition)

Simon Cowell commented, “I love the egotistical lyric. Fantastically self-centered! You definitely, definitely chose the better song there. Much more in keeping with the night. Round 2 goes to David Archuleta."  Paula added, “It's just another heartfelt performance. It doesn't matter what song you're singing. It's like you're on fire tonight. It's pure magic. That was why you are in the spot that you're in — in the finals. Congratulations."

3rd Song: "Imagine" by John Lennon (Contestant's choice)

Randy Jackson loved the performance and commented, “David Archuleta… I'm really happy and proud that it's the two Davids standing on the stage because we thought all season it would come down to this. Dude, you are so good tonight. You are exactly what this show is about — finding the best singer we can find, and the best singer of Season 7 is right there!"  Simon almost came close in his comment declaring David Archuleta as the winner and said, “We've taken a little bit of stick this year — the competition. But at the end of the day, this show is about finding a star. Tonight, I think we've witnessed one of the great finals. But here's the difference. In my opinion David, you came out here tonight to win. What we have witnessed is a knockout."

Now whatever may come tomorrow, for the final results my heartfelt wishes go to David Archuleta. This 17 years old kid has really proven his worth and I wouldn't be a slightest bit of a surprise if he takes the American Idol crown.

Gerry Grant

Reporter
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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 12:32 am and is filed under American Idol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.