Just in case you missed it, one week ago a brand-new pop star was born out of the American Idol machine.
Surrounded by cheering fans, draped in confetti and swarmed by already-ousted contestants eager to bask in the winner's glow, David Cook became the seventh champion of the unstoppable pop show, edging out runner-up David Archuleta by 12 million votes in a surprising and trend-bucking landslide victory.
Cook's impressive win came after last Tuesday's second-to-last show, which saw both him and his young competitor lay everything they had on the line. Burdened by delivering the biggest performances of their lives, which would either make or break their chances to claim T.V.'s most coveted crown, each contestant manned up. The 17-year-old Archuleta provided the silky, impeccable vocals that have become expected of him. And Cook, a seasoned guitarist, channeled the gritty, amp-driven bombast he relied on so successfully all season long.
It was a boxing-themed penultimate episode, one which began with both finalists bouncing around and mock-sparring in brightly colored robes as tuxedoed announcer Michael Buffer bellowed his famous line -- "Let's get ready to rumble!" -- to the dizzying cheers of a packed Nokia Theatre.
Yes, it was all smiles, air jabs and love taps at the beginning. But once the gloves came off, the showdown between Idol season seven's two most talented contestants got underway in a hurry.
In none of the three rounds did either David concede an inch.
Only problem was that, as one of the real-life boxing analysts reminded us in a feather-glow montage, "In any one-to-one competition, it can only come down to one winner."
Rocky would agree. And so would Apollo Creed.
With U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" to kick off the first round, Cook showcased his spectacular rocker growl of a voice, continuing in confident stride from where he'd left off the prior week with Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." But Little David, as the media has been calling him of late, paced beautifully through the lilting valleys and explosive peaks of fan songwriting contest winner "In This Moment," shining with on-point pitch, passionate delivery and restrained melisma.
Cook countered with a heartfelt rendition of Collective Soul's "The World I Know." The esoteric song choice, however, seemed to leave the audience and the judges a bit cold. This allowed Archuleta to steal the show with a soulful effort of his own -- a retread of his unforgettable, week two rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine."
Acerbic judge Simon Cowell emphatically declared Archuleta the better performer on Tuesday evening, telling the viewers at home that they had witnessed the baby-faced teenager "knock out" his older competitor.
But on the following night, Cowell was humming a different tune. Mere moments before host Ryan Seacrest announced the voting results, the notorious Brit backtracked and said upon rewatching the Davids' performances, neither had overwhelmingly outdone the other.
Good call, Mr. Cowell.
Raking in a record 97 million votes in the finale's special four-hour window, an altogether lackluster season was redeemed by the American public that continues to keep the show king of the ratings. Many had correctly thought it a foregone conclusion that this season's championship would be a duel between Davids, and Archuleta, indisputable lord of the schmaltzy ballad, had been the season's presumptive winner for months. The high school kid had been season seven's Goliath from day one.
So perhaps it's only fitting that it took a rough-around-the-edges rockstar to take him down.
Cook's lips quivered and his eyes were red and welling as the guitarist's mother and brother joined him onstage and embraced in a shower of streamers and white light as Cook belted the lyrics to "The Time of My Life," the song that won this year's Songwriter's Competition.
In that moment, it was clear that Idol viewers had done the right thing in going against the judges' grain. For the first time in three seasons, the person winning the straight-shot ticket into music industry fame wasn't a dubiously talented bar act (season five's winner Taylor Hicks) or a technically sound but ultimately uninspiring vocalist (last season's winner Jordin Sparks).
Something about David Cook reminds people of three-time Grammy award"winner Carrie Underwood, Idol's super-successful victor of season four. Maybe it's because, like Underwood, Cook has continually received heaps of (deserved) praise in a year when American Idol featured very few slouches.
