
Did the right David win?
Total Votes: 1611
Cook rocks his way to victory.
Welcome to the two-hour Fox promo machine - I mean, the season finale of American Idol. And believe it or not among all the stars, a new star was crowned in what had to be one of the closest finales in seven seasons.
It was easy to forget that the purpose of the night was to award the Idol title as Fox paraded star after star among this season's Top 12. But never fear, the answer to your long awaited question of who is the next American Idol is answered.
With a fairly narrow 56% of the record-setting 97 ½ million votes, David Cook beat out David Archuleta for the 2008 American Idol title. Who knew that the cougar vote was more powerful than the teen vote?
Seriously, I was sure that Archuleta had the crown cinched especially after the judges gushed all over him last night. But just before the winner was announced, Simon apologized to Cook saying that after rewatching the performances of Tuesday night, he didn't give Cook enough credit and that the race was closer than he thought.
As the new Idol, a very emotional Cook closed out the show with a performance of "Time of My Life," the songwriting contest winner. This song was worthy of the award and suited Cook to a tee. It was a nice finish to a busy night.
Individual Performances
But if I was Cook, the highlight of my night would have had to been jamming with ZZ Top to "Sharp Dressed Man." Second on the list would have been doing the Guitar Hero commercial a lá Risky Business - which for me was the best cross-promotion of the night (sorry Archuleta, your boxer version just didn't cut it).
But sing with a star was the name of the game tonight. Archuleta sang the hit "Apologize" with One Republic. And I actually liked him with this group. Maybe there is hope for him yet. But did anyone else notice that he seemed to have a little trouble keeping up with the group? I think the multiple performances were taking their toll on him.
Syesha Mercado returned to sing "Waiting for You" with Seal. I'm not sure if it was the time off, the song or her duet partner, but I thought she sounded great. Guess it's easier to perform without the pressure of being judged.
But apparently the producers couldn't find anyone willing to sing with Jason Castro, who gave us an encore performance of "Halleluiah." My husband kept wondering if he'd remember the words. I think the song was handpicked for him because they knew it was his best performance all season.
Brooke White teamed up with Graham Nash to sing "Teach Your Children," a song that suited her style well. She seemed more relaxed than ever. Maybe she wasn't struggling with stage fright afterall, but with the stress of the competition. Either way, I was impressed with her performance.
Carly Smithson rounded out performances of the Top 6 by teaming up with fellow contestant Michael Johns to perform "The Letter."
Group Performances
The finale was packed with so many performances by the Top 12 that it seemed more like a preview of the upcoming tour with special guests. But if the confident performances we saw tonight are any indication then the tour shouldn't be as bad as I once imagined - at least for the more individual performances.
The group numbers weren't quite as impressive. The finalists of So You Think You Can Dance joined the Top 12 to liven up the opening number. Clearly the producers are saying they don't expect the Idol contestants to have any dancing abilities. Do you think the dancers will be going on the tour too?
The two Davids treated us to a duet of Chad Kroeger's "Hero," a performance that clearly exaggerated the differences between the two and why Cook deserved the title. As my husband said, Cook has a rocker sound that is more interesting to listen to.
The Top 6 women did a medley with Donna Summer featuring her new song "Stomp Your Feet." I was not impressed with this number. Amanda Overmyer looked totally uncomfortable - maybe it was all the red outfits for "She Works Hard for Her Money." Somehow with these outfits the song wasn't bringing to mind a woman working as a waitress. But even with the prostitution undertones, Brooke still managed to look pure and innocent.
And then there was the aging Donna Summer who had to be helped down the steps. Couldn't they come up with a better entrance that didn't make her seem so feeble?
The Top 6 men had a better outing with their Bryan Adams medley. They all looked sharp in their dark suits and Adams aged better than Summer. He sang his new single "I Thought I'd See Everything."
And finally the Top 12 performed a George Michael medley with the man himself. Who knew that the Wham alum was resurrecting his career with his first American tour in 17 years? Personally, I can do without the medley numbers.
Additional Filler
The musical side of the show was rounded out with performances by past Idol winners Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood. The Jonas Brothers also performed. I guess they had to have someone on the show that was within Archuleta's age range. But even the Jonas Brothers made Archie look young.
While I expected to see the array of singers, I was a little shocked by the number of comic acts.
Of course, we'd be treated to a promo for the new Mike Myers's movie The Love Guru. The mock advice of the guru was cute, but it was when Ryan almost drove his "flying pillow" off the edge of the stage that I laughed.
Surprisingly, Jimmy Kimmel (not a Fox product) put in an appearance to give us a season recap monologue. Unfortunately, his Simon video just didn't compare with his Ben Affleck video.
My favorite comic act of the night was the try outs for Gladys Knight's Pips which featured funnymen Ben Stiller and Jack Black, and the surprisingly stoic Robert Downing Jr. This skit was my favorite bit of the night.
It definitely beat out the return of Renaldo Lapuz who got to perform his original "My Brother" song with the USC marching band. This Best of the Worst feature was still better than last year's "awards."
Overall, the two hours of fluff could have been worse - at least most of the time was filled with performances and a few of them were even good.
What do you think? Did the best David win? Was the show a complete waste of two hours or have the producers finally found a good mixture of fluff and performances?
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WOOHOO!! I am still reeling at the fact that David Cook won! I am soooo happy for him. You tell he thought David Archuleta was going to win by his reaction. I am so glad I watched the results show because I'd have kicking my butt now if I hadn't. The winning song wasn't too bad and it was so good hearing David Cook sing it instead of David Archuleta.
I can't wait for his CD to come out! I am such a nerd and downloaded "Billie Jean", "Music of the Night", "Always Be My Baby", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "Hello" from iTunes before it was too late. I'll need them to get my David Cook fixes until then.
Him and me both. I was even more shocked by Simon's apology! Very glad that Cook won!!!
Yes, he deserves it. I really think he is the "best singer" and not Archuleta as claimed by Randy during the performance night.
Maybe Simon apologized because he already knew the results? Perhaps, he really did review the taped performance show and realized Cook was also great.
Perhaps he was really sincere but the trend or results kinda pushed him to really blurt out the apology.
i'd be shocked if the judges weren't told the results. Whether Simon had alreardy planned his apology is another matter. FWIW Simon did seem apologetic when I saw him on Ellen earlier in the day.
Yes, Simon is the type who can admit to mistakes.
David Cook Wins it All, Named 2008 American Idol
Isn't it just sad that this is what we all accept as 'It All' at this point?
I just whipped over to have a look at the major contenders......well all right the final two and while the winner has a really strong voice the second place getter sent goosebumps down my back with his sensitivity. So it must be really hard to make those kind of decisions when two different styles compete.
Yes, I am sure that you are right, and let's face it, my mothering instinct also gets in the way of objectivity.
honestly,i know cook would win...David A.is a good singer but then again his fan base is very young compared to cook...he only has one style of music while cook can sing any song and has more experience musically..for me,i really think"IDOL"producers should stop the judges from making coments on the finale night because their comments can easily ruine the outcome...it shows that the judges and producers were going for David A. if that's the case,y not pick the winner early in the show instead of draggin us along their nonsense?GO D.C,u were the best since day one...
A lot of people vote based on what Simon says on the performance,but this time he was very very wrong and the voters wanted to prove him wrong...those judges should know better...David A. remind me of TAYLOR HICKS...VERY FAMOUS,JUDGES FAVORITE yet he sucked since he won the title...go D.C
His apology seemed curious to me as if maybe the producers reprimanded him for his comments on tuesday? It seemed kind of a cue up from Ryan to bring it up... sort of like other times when theres been a controversy in the news about AI and they quickly and politically address it in the midst of the show.. like when nude pics of one of the contestants show up on the net or Paula makes on of her drunken flubs on the show... Any body else get this sense?
Backtracking of all the event in the IDOL's performance from start up to the grand final can easily determine really who is best among the idol participants, the judges comments is also good,atleast give the viewers the time to think and pose for a minute why the obvious winner got a bad comment, at least have the exciting thrills in the event. But I know my IDOL David Cook can made it up to the final, I'm happy for him, good luck IDOL!!!
So the writer chick of this article says "the results were fairly close?" Hun, there was a diff of 12 million votes. She also asks if "the dancers will go on tour" too. They have for the past 4 years, hun. Perhaps she needs to get a new eyeglass prescription and/or keep up with current events.......
Shoot, spoke too soon. This is the caliber of people MSNBC is bringing in? That sucks.
Great recap, vacelts.
This is the caliber of people MSNBC is bringing in? That sucks.
Ditto.
Hi vacelts,
Great recap. I got a sense of what was going on even though I don't watch the show.
As for the voting math, correct me if I am wrong...if the one David got 56%, wouldn't that leave the other David with 44%? That would be a difference of 12%, right? If it were a primary, that would be enough of a margin for the talking heads to call it pretty early in the evening.
In any case, I'm not a bent about it as our friend Tom-286396 (if that IS his real name). Keep up the good work.
Tom, you call this author, a professional adult female, "hun" twice in your little condescending blurb. Perhaps you need a refresher on how to be respectful in 2008.
If you're approaching 80, and are thus perhaps unfamiliar with the convention of equality between the sexes, or if you know vacelts personally and have a casual rapport with her, I apologize.
Otherwise, try expressing your opinion with some respect; maybe you'll be taken a bit more seriously.
There is no need to be so rude, hun!
I didn't watch the performances, but this was a pleasant surprise.
I too was pleasantly surprised. Until those last five minutes I was hating the program only liking three parts (the David A ad, the pips and ZZ top.) I'vealways wanted to grow a beard like that. Incidentally, do you think one of the two bearded men ever blackmailed the other, i.e "how much will you pay me not to cut my beard?") Then it ended in a great way with the better more talented David the winner. Woo hoo! I seeded Television without Pity's recap of the finale here and their recap of Reaper here. I got into both programs because of my friend Vacelts.
Simon sent some mixed messages. To watch the Idol clips it looks like he was saying David A. won or would win (which was, of course, just a guess.)
I myself was a bit confused because he was on Ellen Wednesday and on that show he was saying what Vacelts and I have long been saying – that David A. is ok but he comes off as a manufactured one-trick pony.
So Wednesday nite I was trying to decide if Simon was being two-faced and/or intentionally sending mixed messages or what.
Actually I'm still trying to decide that.
that David A. is ok but he comes off as a manufactured one-trick pony. So Wednesday nite I was trying to decide if Simon was being two-faced and/or intentionally sending mixed messages or what.
Oh, his message was very consistent. To you a manufactured one-trick pony is a negative, but Simon is all about the potential marketability, and to him a manufactured one-trick pony is quite fine.
Good point. That would explain a comment made by Television Without Pity namely David A was the better performer but David C was better at Playing The Show... i.e. he knew what he had to do to win.... only he didn't.
Yes I got them backward - David A played into the show's usual strategies while David C ignored many of them which is why the show had the surprise that shouldn't have been a surprise as The NY Times suggests in a good analysis piece on what happened.
Vacelts,
Great job reporting on AI! I enjoyed your artilces and I think a lot of other people did too, so don't let those negative comments get to you.
Glad to see DC win. I think most people saw that he was the better performer and took some risks that Archuletta didn't.
Being from Utah, I am taking flack today because I was rooting for Cook to win. If nothing else, Archuletta will have a successful career in Utah. People here love him.
Having been in musical theatre all of my life, it was easy to see what happened. DA was closer to opera and predictable music which Simon prefers; DC was creativity and originality which is the bedrock of R & R stars. A good metaphor is that DA is the Republican and DC, the Democrat. Tonight, the Democrat is the "White House."
Slate said the same thing.
I wasn't surprised, when I saw this headline.
I was very excited with the victory, I couldn't hold it in. :-)
I am glad you wrote this article. Someone had to do.
I was not referring to that factor, though.
I meant that in the snippets of his performances I saw on news shows, I thought Cook would be the poplar pick...I thought the kids would like his edginess. Hence I was not surprised by the choice.
I set my DVR for the finale and missed the final song. I am glad David won and would like to see him sing that last "Time of my Life". Does anyone know of a site where there is a video of it? Or where I can listen to it?
Woah!!!! This is my first year watching American Idol and I have to be honest, I got sucked into it big time. It's funny how emotionally invested you can be with people that don't know you from Adam. To be honest, I liked David Cook from day one. His voice, style and sound just appealed to me. I prayed for him last night that God would give him a spirit of peace no matter the outcome. How exciting that he has won. My one wish for him is to live up to the full potential and purpose of his life. I absolutely loved "Time of My Life" and cannot wait for his debut album to come out. Ingrid
I wouldn't put it past at least one of the judges to try and influence the vote in an opposite way. Especially Simon. There have been instances before where he gets to the point with one of the weaker contestants and he just gives up and very pointedly makes a tongue in cheek positive remark in the hopes of achieving the opposite result. In this particular case I almost wonder if the overflowing gush for David A. the previous night was really a sneaky way to energize the David C. fanbase. You have to figure that the Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers devotees are all pulling for David A. If they have such positive confirmation that their golden boy is the winner maybe they figure they don't need to vote as much. As an older viewer I enjoy watching the show but I never vote.. ever. Until this time. I strongly felt David C. was the better choice and felt compelled to vote for once to counteract the "knockout" commentary by the judges. Perhaps their evil plan worked. Additionally if you watch the results show back after the winner is announced and watch Simon it almost appears that he has a look like "Aha, told you it would work." Either way I'm very glad that the better David won.
Thanks for the information. What next? Is the show finished?
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