An Idol Mind

Clash of the Titans - AI7's All-David Finale

As much as I wanted to scoff at the cheesiness of tonight's boxing introduction, I must admit I was sort of smiling all the way through it. I couldn't help but think that Ryan Seacrest was right the other day when he said on Larry King Live that the show just needs to loosen up a bit and become more unpredictable for it to return to its original glory. Sure, all the boxing metaphors were a little gimmicky (and after awhile, tiresome), but to have David Cook and David Archuleta bouncing around in bright prizefighter robes and pounding their inflated gloves together and taking mock air-jabs at one another to kick off "the biggest showdown in showbiz history" - well, it energized the people in the theater, the judges, and the viewing audience at home. What more could you ask for in the final performance episode of the biggest talent show in the history of television? I probably could have gone without the Rocky-esque, feather-glow montages in which some boxing analyst kept offering gems such as, "In any one-to-one competition, it can only come down to one winner." (Woah. Really?) But the friendly-yet-brutal honesty of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, this season's most charismatic and interesting mentor, helped make affairs seem less lofty and self-important. He was awesome, and on his game. Unlike the judges, who I won't say did a complete 180, because they have very clearly been in the tank for Archuleta from the beginning. But they did do their fair share of pimping and bandwagoning tonight for the kid. Cookie got the Syesha treatment - do a decent to good job, then get torn to shreds. Doesn't feel too good, does it, Mr. Rocker? (Not that it's his fault everyone associated with the show seems to be pulling for the Mormon. I especially liked how in the introductory video package, Archuleta was called a "phenom," and the best descriptor they could muster for the nation's favorite stubbled guitarist was "bartender.") But enough banter, on to the performances! If you missed any of them, after you flog yourself for being such a poor Idol fan, you must YouTube them.

First Round - Songs Picked by Clive Davis

Cook - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2

Cook started the night's festivities with a heartfelt bang, essentially picking up where he left off with last week's "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing," by allowing his throaty growl of a voice to resonate clearly and bombastically over well-known, epic lyrics. David had that Neil Diamond thing going on - his pitch was mostly on, but it sounded like he needed to clear his throat the whole time. When Cookie didn't try to do runs, he fared nicely. But when he got overly complicated for the limits of his voice and started flirting with melisma, he had trouble. In the very last phrase of the song, he went both flat and sharp in the span of about two seconds on account of this over-ambition. But because his ending note was unexpectedly glorious (he scaled his pitch upward in a Michael Johns-esque way), there was no mention of this on the part of the judges. Like Randy, I felt that David could have done more with the song. However, I don't fault David for interpreting the piece as simply as he did. Best to start off the most important night of his life nice and easy. After such a restrained performance, it definitely felt like there was something special David had up his sleeve for later in the evening. Though I will say that Simon overpraised the rocker by calling the performance "phenomenal," David still did a solid (if unspectacular) job.

Grade: B/B+

Archuleta - "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John

Another ballad performed by Archuleta, and another one done so in unsurprising fashion. Maybe I'm in the minority here - the judges went semi-orgasmic in their praise, after all - but to me this performance was nothing stellar. In the beginning his tone sounded off, like his voice was caught in his throat because of nerves. Honestly, the rawness of his pitch early on was pretty shocking. By the middle portion of the song he had pulled himself together, but as I started focusing on his trademark gut-clutching and hand-extending dance moves, I couldn't help but feel like everything about Archuleta is so banal that I couldn't stand it if he were the winner of this season. (What's he gonna sing if he wins? Adult contemporary?) After the performance, Simon, Paula and Randy tripped over themselves declaring how marvelous and "beautiful" and "stunning" his rendition of the melodic classic was, and Little Archie looked about half a second from bursting into tears. He "Gosh"ed and "Wow"ed his way through the uberhype, and somewhere in the audience, his banned daddy was looking on with pride. Sorry if this paragraph is coming across as extremely bitter, but I just really couldn't believe that everyone thought this was such a masterful performance. Maybe I missed something, but for me it was pretty unmemorable, and even had discernible pitch problems (not to get all Randy on you).

Grade: B+

Judges' Round One Winner: Archuleta

My Round One Winner: Cook

Second Round - New Contest Songs Picked by Contestants

Cook - "Dream Big" by Emily Shackelton

Sir Andy started things off by making fun of these songs written by amateurs (supposedly), and wow - he was well within his rights to do so. That was some horrible, horrible stuff, my friends. The lyrics are drivel and make Chris Brown's "With You" sound like Shakespeare, and the melodies are trite. But that said, David did pretty much the best with what (little) he was given. He grunged out the played-out words about love, pride and faith, and used a quick tempo and lots of guitar amp to make the song about as palatable as it's ever going to get. With some serious lyrical overhaul, David's version of the song sounded like it could be a minor radio hit by a band along the lines of The Ataris or the Goo Goo Dolls. His voice did get away from him in some places, but his ending note was very nice - it began as a booming, even-toned scream in his middle register before it tapered down into a slight, shall we say, "trickle." Randy said that Cook was "singing his face off." Totally true. However, Simon "Rusty Nail in Your Balloon" Cowell gave it a way-too-low 6.5 out of 10. Dude, a 6.5 out of 10 is a D+. The song deserved a D+, not Mr. Cook's performance.

Grade: B+

Archuleta - "In This Moment" by Ryan Gillmore

The simple jangly acoustic fluttering in the beginning of this song was wonderful, and lo and behold - it set the stage for what would be a truly well done performance. Although Little David's lower register was not solid enough to soar above the band, when he sustained high notes and avoided runs, his silky tone hit notes he's never even attempted before. He allowed his voice to lilt in brief phrases that preceded vocal explosions, a tactic that he worked beautifully. I had been expecting to find Archuleta's performance of one of the cheesy contest songs unbearable - even without the help of cliched lyrics, he usually comes off like a vocally gifted cornball. But Simon hit the nail on the head when he said that Archie simply chose a better (bad) song than his opponent did. Archie did well to limit his runs and focus on being as on-pitch as possible, which was a refreshing change-up for him. For once, he attempted to deliver more than boring competence with his voice, and I really enjoyed it. (His performance, that is. Not the song. The song was horrible. [To be clear.])

Grade: A

Judges' Round Two Winner: Archuleta

My Round Two Winner: Archuleta

Round Three - Songs Picked by the Contestants

Cook - "The Role I Know" by Collective Soul

Nice obscure song choice here, but there is very little about it melodically that is memorable - which, in case David wasn't aware of this, is a problem. It sounded like David has started trying to shore up the inconsistency of his lower register. This is a good thing. But surprisingly, it was his middle range where the majority of his pitch flubs happened in this one. His voice alternated mostly well between being gentle and breezy, as it was with a well-executed final note, and being gritty and throaty, per usual. Still though, the problem was that the song itself was so monotonous and mellow that there's very little to reason to go crazy about it, or to even remember it. His guitar playing was lovely and confident, and I got the impression he was very satisfied with himself for choosing the song he did (nothing wrong with that). But to rely on Simon's old, overused adage, the selection may have been just a wee bit too "self-indulgent." Like Paula, I do feel that Rocker David's creative integrity and originality is worthy of high praise (tonight her compliments were more than bland requisite filler, for once), as those are the things that have all season long ensured his separation from the pack. And I understand that David is the kind of guy who is not willing to sacrifice his personal musical taste in the name of pandering to the pop predilections of Idol's viewing audience. (His "Why do something I've already done?" response after Simon said he should have done a retread of "Billy Jean" or "Hello" was priceless.) But votes do count, and this performance was unremarkable. Good, but unremarkable. However, the audience did sustain simmering background applause for him longer than they have for anyone this season. This may be a positive sign for Mr. Cook.

Grade: B

Archuleta - "Imagine" by John Lennon

When it was announced that Archie would be redoing this song, I groaned. Literally. I groaned. I hated it when Katharine McPhee rehased "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" over and over in season 5, and I don't like that Archuleta is employing that same tactic now. It's just so uncreative. I mean, yes, it's smart (as Simon was sure to point out). But resourceful? Inspired? No. It's neither of those. For the first time in forever, the producers loosened the reins completely and told the contestants they could choose any song they wanted, no theme. From yesteryear, from yesterday - from indie rock to anti-folk to bluegrass rap. But it's like after last week's tragic excursion with Chris Brown's R&B hit "With You," Archuleta has resolved that he will forever stick to what he does best - soft, slow schmaltz. And of course, the second time around is never as good as the first time: in "Imagine" Part Deux, the runs came in most of the same places, which made them infinitely less spine-tingling, and his half-second long ventures into the very heights of his voice sounded like they were included merely because he had to do them again, not because he was feeling the song. It was just necessary that this outing with Lennon's masterpiece would sound less haunting and (ahem) imaginative than the first. But technically speaking, it was still quite competent.

Grade: A-

Judges' Round Three Winner: Archuleta

My Round Three Winner: Tie*

*Just keep reading on before you call me a cop-out!

End-of-Match Tally

David Archuleta

Little David's vocal prowess shined tonight, and for once Randy's stale comment about "being in the zone" seems truly to apply. It seemed like the little Utah wunderkind was channeling some sort of effortless essence, doing his best to apply restraint and to go all out at once on everything he sang. His tone was, for the most part, velvety as usual, even if his free-range song choice was completely uncreative and his first song was outlandishly overpraised. He's a poor gesticulator, but his performances tonight were spirited and impassioned. Simon said that we were all witnesses to a "knock-out" - on Cook by Archie - but I'm not so sure. And, naturally, I will soon tell you why.

David Cook

For all intents and purposes, Rocker David was the actual David tonight - you know, in the sense that his smaller counterpart was Goliath. (Oh come on, you knew that reference was coming.) The judges crowned Archuleta ringmaster of all three rounds, but I feel that despite Little David's unquestionable brilliance (in parts) this evening, there is no way he so handily won this contest. As I have said, I disagree wholeheartedly with the judges' assessment of Round One, and think that Cook rocked out to the bombastic U2 ballad more than Archuleta mustered sincerity with Elton John's introspective piece. (But again, I might be incredibly alone in this opinion.) In Round Two both Davids did a fantastic job transforming a soppy goo contest song into something enjoyably representative of each of their trademark sounds - but there I do give an edge to Archuleta, as he both chose a better song and made that song far more lovely than Cook made his. As for Round Three, the strengths of each David were, I believe, counteracted by certain discernible weaknesses: i.e., Rocker David was true to himself as an artist, but may have been a little too mellow and esoteric for his own good; and Little David was wise (I suppose) to bank on the beauty of his most famous performance of the season, but the performance itself was nowhere near as good as his original effort many weeks ago.

Judges' Match Winner: Archuleta (in a landslide)

My Match Winner: Archuleta (by not that much)

So Archuleta Is the New Heavyweight Champion of the Pop World?

Wait wait wait, not so fast there, Sparky. The demographic that likely votes the strongest for Archie (tween girls and their moms and their moms' moms) is the kind that will stay up all night and vote for the entire four hours; and the kid, shockingly, also has the jaded folks at Vote for the Worst calling for him. But I do believe that Archie ultimately has less fans than does Mr. Cook, whose fan base probably consists of hundreds of thousands of people coming from the defunct bases of people like Michael Johns and Jason Castro and Brooke White. Also, most people have been either for or against Little David from the very beginning of the season, and have not had their opinion changed over the course of it - and I dare say that more people have probably resented Archie's huge judge overpraisals and constant producer pimping than have adored him for it (though there are certainly droves of people that adore him). This will be a very close finale in terms of number of votes, and neither man (or boy) will have an overwhelming victory. But I do have to pick a winner. Thus - drumroll, if you would - I predict that the people's champion of American Idol season 7 will be David Cook: native son of Missouri, former leader of two critically acclaimed bands, and all-around good guy.

Put me down on record.

In a few hours, it is David Roland Cook who will be named the winner of American Idol season 7.