American Idol 7 The Final 2

It’s all come down to tonight, and the two Davids, as the ‘American Idol’ 7 final two perform. David Cook and David Archuleta take the stage for their last chance to earn votes to be this year’s ‘American Idol.’ Will it be the rocker, or the teenager? The Davids will each sing three songs tonight. One they choose, one Clive Davis chooses, and one from a list of twenty provided songs.

That was a, uh, creative intro.

Tiff: David Cook’s first song started the show, which was chosen by Clive Davis. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” the first U2 song to be cleared for use on the ‘Idol’ stage begins finale week. This is one of my favorite U2 songs, easily. David actually had a really good voice for this song, and it’s probably not something I would have thought of him singing until now. I really liked the performance even though it wasn’t changed a whole lot from the original. I think that was smart, because U2 is classic, and you really just don’t mess with their stuff. Simon: “I thought it was phenomenal.” Does anyone else think David looks distracted? Heck, I would be too. There’s a lot on the line.

Kim: Great song choice on Clive’s end, which is surprising. I think he’s been missing that extra “charisma” he showed in the early weeks of the top 12, and that’s a huge shame, but that’s the only criticism I’m going to give him here. I wasn’t really paying that much attention but what I saw looked pretty good (not quite phenomenal though) and he actually SOUNDED good through most of it, which surprised me.

But I agree with Tiff, he does seem very serious and not like he was “having fun” at all.

Tiff: David Cook’s second song was chosen from the songwriters who entered to have the winning song. His song was titled “Dream Big,” which he chose, and he accompanied it with the electric guitar. I didn’t like the song until it got to the chorus. I don’t love the song, but I like the vocal. But does America really want a ‘rocking’ single? I’m not sure, considering the rest have been ballads. But this one would probably do well on radio. It is not the song that was chosen as the winning single. Dare I say I’m glad? But again, I liked the vocal. Dare I say I almost think he DOESN’T want to win and go out a la Daughtry?

Kim: Uh, anything is better than those sappy, awful ballads. But I’m not sure how anyone could like that vocal, I personally don’t care for being shouted out, nor do I like mumbling. Intonation is always a good thing too. But with that aside, the arrangement on this song was a MILLION times better than the original (which is a country/pop tune). It’s catchy.

Tiff: David Cook’s last song was “The World I Know” which was his choice. It had actually been rumored as one of his choices last week. I’ve always adored this song, and I thought he should perform this song, a la my suggestions. I love the acoustic guitar accompaniment with the strings. I’m not sure it was the right note to go out on in the realm that it’s not the cheeriest song, but I love it all the same. I loved the performance, and the high notes. And awww, the tears after. That has to be a phenomenal moment to be *that* close to what you want. I agree with Randy, this is the sort of record he could make. Simon: “You are one of the nicest, most sincere contestants we’ve had.” Simon thought he should have re-performed “Billie Jean” or “Hello.” I loved the song, period.

Kim: I listened to this song last week when it was rumored to be his choice and I thought it was really, really boring. Oddly enough I thought he gave a great performance with it; wasn’t expecting that and Im still not sure how it happened. Emotional ballads are usually the type of songs that are remembered on AI, so I’m surprised so many people thought it was such a bad song choice. And wow at RANDY of all people defending him against Simon. Just wow.

Tiff: David Archuleta’s first song, chosen by Clive Davis was “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” performed once by Clay Aiken on the show. I wonder how Clay fans feel about little David doing this song? He’s a sweet kid with a great voice, but this song sounds old fashioned, like the others, sans the Chris Brown disaster. I liked the performance much better once the tempo sped up. He did good, but I honestly liked Clay’s better, but he did do good. He looked like he was going to pass out or cry at the end, poor fellow. Simon: “I thought tonight’s performance was arguably the best you’ve done so far…Round one goes to Archuleta.” He was trying not to cry, poor guy.

Kim: Clay isn’t the only one who has sung this, Clive chose it for Jasmine Trias and Bo Bice. Real original that guy is. I actually think he could’ve chosen something slightly more creative and interesting. Although it’s certainly not an old fashioned song, nor did it sound that way when little David sang it. But I didn’t think his performance was quite as good as they made it out to be (except maybe the last 30 seconds). I actually preferred Cook’s first song.

Tiff: David Archuleta’s second song was chosen from the songwriters who entered to have the winning song. His song was titled “In This Moment,” a ballad, which he chose. Okay, this is a slightly better song, at least it sounds more like the traditional ‘Idol’ songs. And his vocal was really good. He’s on point tonight.

Kim: I don’t really love this song, but I did love the way he sang it. Like Paula said, it was heartfelt; I’m really impressed with how much conviction he’s put into these performances! He’s focused and on his game; the other David is not, and the difference is really showing.

Tiff: David Archuleta’s last song was “Imagine,” which was his personal choice. He performed the song earlier in the season to rave reviews. Like before, he did well with the song, though honestly, I thought he did better in the original performance. But, it’s clear he really wants to win this. Seriously, he looked like he could have used a chair or something. Watching his face, I don’t know how he was standing the whole night.

Kim: This was boring the first time and boring again the second time.

Tiff’s Ranking Best to Worst
1. David Cook - The World I Know
2. David Archuleta - Don’t Let the Sun…
3. David Cook - Still Haven’t Found…
4. David Archuleta - In This Moment
5. David Archuleta - Imagine
6. David Cook - Dream Big (Sorry. Didn’t like it so much.)
Who should win: David Cook (Biased? Maybe. I’m basing this on the whole season.)
Who will win: I think David Archuleta will win, then collapse in disbelief. Haha.

Tiff’s Final Thoughts: Whew. Technically, it’s over. Really, I liked both contestants in the final two this year. I thought they both deserved to win, for different reasons. Either way, however things happen, I think they’ll both go on to be successful if that is what they choose. David Archuleta would be more traditionally ‘Idol,’ but David Cook could bring something different to the title. So however it goes, I’ll be happy. But, for the record, I’m rooting for David Cook.

Kim’s Rank

Uh, okay, I’m awful at having to rank multiple performances like that . Overall, I think Cook gave better performances but Archuleta connected much better. But this was one of the best finales; usually they’re about as interesting as a box of rocks.

Who Should Win: Cook sells the sizzle, Archie is the steak. It’s a shame we couldn’t have a contestants who sold both in the final 2 like Michael and Carly.
Who Will Win: Archuleta. I don’t think there’s ANY way he could lose after the judges declared the night his.