Well they knocked out the runner ups one by one, and although the order they went may not have been in the order I predicted we all expected this final two to be the Davids. And the winner, either despite the judges calling of the finale night for Archie, or because of it, was Cookie.

I have never gotten the whole David Archuletta attraction, I find his voice at times good but overall has a weird strained quality to it (he apparently had some vocal issues early on in his childhood), I found his song selection to lack any sort of interest – all balladesque and not all that emotional, and overall I found his youthful asexual presence to be lacking energy and connection. But he was unquestionably able to hold up vocally week after week and he’s comes across as a sweet kid.

David Cook on the other hand was working the rocker vibe. He pretty consistently gave what was actually a performance and tried to make interesting choices on his songs picking an alternate arrangement or rearranging a bit on his own. He worked the electric and acoustic guitar and was actually able to back it up vocally. He was working to balance out that cocky/cool attitude but he too comes across as a good guy.

For the finale Archie’s final performances were all quite good. As Randy Jackson says if you can sing, you can sing a phone book, and he picked a good time to peak. But again the songs weren’t all that, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, “In This Moment” (a songwriting competition runner-up), and a reprise of his “Imagine” performance.

Cookie didn’t have a wow moment in the night but he showed us some of the reasons why we like him. He’s got range, he’s got presence, and he’d rather take a risk on a song than do something safe. And as Randy put this one he sang his face off with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Dream Big” (songwriting competition runner-up), and “The World I Know.”

Oh and as for the over bloated 2+ hour finale show… I forgot to tape it. I went as far as to check that nothing else was conflicting that I needed to record… and I never put it in as a season pass because I was in denial all season that I was going to watch every episode. And although I enjoyed the season I’ve had my fix and I plan to not get sucked in again.

Though rumor has it they are going to retool things a bit next year to catch some of the ratings drop this blockbuster has started to suffer. They will at least narrow the results to a half hour and if the populous has any say they will find some way to get rid of some of those dreadful group numbers and limit the theme shows so that they can still push the singers to show some range but allow them to stick to songs that are remotely relevant to what their career might be.

As for last night’s ep it was reportedly a little more interesting, though still containing must ffwd through moments, with the full gang back together again and mixed with performances and duets by real artists. I’m sure I’ll catch most of it online, where I can probably waste more than the 2+ hours. Other than that I’m actually a little curious to see what Cookie will do with his first album, other than being forced to sing a dreadful Idol inspirational pop song of course.

Ok so it’s really five to go since there are six left but that didn’t sound as good. So we’ve gotten rid of some of the riff raff, and Michael Johns. So who might win? Let’s do a little ranking.

1. David Cook has really stepped it up consistently, or at least the most consistently, doing an interesting take on the song of the week and actually seeming like rock star, or at least a pop star, instead of a karaoke/cruise ship singer (to steal a phrase or two from Simon). But do I want him to win? I’m not sure… there is something negative about the perception of being most loved by America as well as being tied down with the winning contract instead of taking your notoriety and running.
2. David Archuleta is the young kid with the good, but slightly raspy voice, who sings a lovely inspirational ballad, and who I couldn’t be more bored by. There is something a little too young about him and he has failed to shine in a good upbeat song and his romance appeal so far seems limited even for a teeny bopper audience.
3. Carly Smithson has a great voice but to date has dipped into the bottom three because folks haven’t been won over by her song choice, lack of connection, and angry singing. But when she called Simon out on being hard on her it sounded like he actually appreciated her more than initially thought, he just expected even more.
4. Brooke White has dipped into the bottom three a couple of times but she’s got that folk singer thing down and when she’s not trembling with fear, or whatever, she’s actually quite likable. She’s been slipping but I’m thinking she has another good one or two in her.
5. Jason Castro doesn’t have the strongest voice but he has started doing some good song picking to make the most of what he’s got and his laid back thing is just making him so darned not hateable. I should put him above Carly and Brooke but I feel like he’s due for a weak one.
6. Syesha Mercado also has a lovely voice and has had some good performances but she has been picking songs of great singers or at least singers who make the song their own and she’s been unable to do that. She started out not at the top of people’s lists and has consistently hit the bottom three.

But leave it to America and a bunch of inconsistent singers to prove me wrong, that’s one of the things we like about reality, right? So stay tuned tonight as the gang performs song from Andrew Lloyd Weber, really? And of course see who will be the latest castoff — it may surprise us all — on Thursday!

Well on American Idol we are down to the final ten, which in Idol terms is apparently important because these ten are the ones who ‘go on tour.’ Whatever that means… And so what I was reminded of as I sped through the results episode, was how in this reality show America votes, which could result in anything. And how sometimes, as my dear friend Paula puts it, sometimes America gets it wrong.

So kicked off this week was rocker chick Amanda Overmeyer who joined previous week’s loser David Hernandez. And while Amanda wasn’t going to ever win the whole thing, there are a few kids who I think should be kicked off before her, namely runner up loser Kristy Lee Cook. David Hernandez leaving wasn’t going to get an argument from anyone, except maybe his family. Though I wonder if anyone cared about his whole revealed stripper past.

But while I may not agree with the order that the kids get the heave ho, most of these kids are going and it’s just a matter of which week. The big surprise was that this week’s second runner up loser was Carly Smithson. And while she was an early favorite of mine, there is something I don’t love about her persona. But seriously she is one of the way better singers and although Simon slammed her song choice last week, along with possibly every other person’s song choice, no one is arguing about her talent.

Who will be eliminated next week and will I actually care?

Well the time has come for the start of Season 7 of American Idol, and with the state of new television being what it is I thought I’d check back in. And I have to say what our fine friend Randy might: I’m just not feeling it dawg. Watching a two hour episode, even fast forwarding through it, just from Philadelphia… The good, the bad, and the awful singing a quick tune and leaping away with joy or slinking (or raging) away in defeat just isn’t what it used to be.

I wasn’t that engaged with the folks who were trying to be funny like the guy in skimpy costume who when they said they were too distracted by his chest hair went and got it waxed. Or the guy who sang a stalking love song to Paula, ok I chuckled with lyrics like ‘If she were Columbo I’d Peter Falk-her. If she was a bathtub I’d caulk her.’

And I thought the people who weren’t trying to be funny was kind of painful and sad. Like the poor Janice Joplin wannabe who they said wasn’t right for the show but maybe she should sing in a 60s or 70s band, and then she proceeded to rant about Simon for fifteen minutes, which they of course showed for drama. Or the self proclaimed dork dressed like Princess Leia who didn’t get picked and they showed her on the phone fuming that they only picked the same kind of girl. Right, the kind of girl who could sing well.

Do they gear the selection toward folks who can not only sing but are also cute and personable? Yes of course they do. But at least at the first round if you can sing Randy and Paula will usually at least overrule Simon and let them through. And Simon wasn’t even being that mean. Simon did perhaps provide the funniest moment of the show where he was literally stunned at how happy people were for each other, he couldn’t imagine being happy for someone else. Vintage Simon.

The novelty of this phase of the show wore off some time around season 2 though I think I stuck through season 3. I do have to remember that like many good reality shows I don’t really get hooked until there’s a person to root for or against, with at least some personality. And at this stage although they highlight folks we’re just not invested yet. And we shouldn’t be. They picked 30 people just from Philly to go to Hollywood and it’s a few more rounds of initial auditions before they start to narrow it down to the final twelve (?).

Though if I had to pick today I liked that girl who trains horses and cage fights. Maybe I’ll tune back in when they get to Hollywood… Maybe this will be the year that more people vote for President than for the next Idol.