American Idol 7: Which David Will Win?

Season 7 is now building to its crescendo as only two contestants remain to battle it out for the title. They’re both named David, but our David – Bloomberg – has to pick between them, as do I. As a final reminder, when I’m talking, I use plain text; David’s words are boldfaced.

As usual, it has been a strange and curious trip. But not as strange and curious as past seasons. For some, that is a blessed relief. For others, it translated as “boring.” Well, it was fairly obvious that the two Davids would be the final two for a while. But it was also “obvious” early on that David Archuleta would win – which isn’t quite so obvious now! And with Idol, you just never know.

Personally, I was glad not to have a season of Antonella Barbas or Sanjayas muddying my Idol water. The public has shown itself to be quite fickle in some corners. Last year, e-mailers were bristling in their indictment that Sanjaya could even make the top 12 (perhaps forgetting he was voted in, not appointed), yet some of these very same e-mailers were complaining this year about the lack of “exciting personalities.” I tried to explain that when exciting personalities happen, Fantasia for instance, folks immediately start polarizing, they don’t like her, she’s too this, she’s too that.

All that is to say that is this season’s finalists seemed pretty savvy. Not much controversy… a stripper past, some forgotten lyrics, a lost spark, but nothing Sanjaya level.

So it has come down to the Davids. Young reality show veteran David Archuleta and former bartender David Cook. Same first name, but the two couldn’t be any more different.

David Archuleta is all youthful awkwardness and sincerity. He tends to sings ballads and inspirational songs (the most easy to emotionally connect with), but what’s most important is that he tends to sing them well, which is the brief. Even his detractors admit he sings brilliantly, but the mantra that follows is, “but, I wouldn’t buy his album.” The music industry in general will tell you, no one is buying many albums these days. I’m certainly no Archuleta detractor, but I have to say the same thing – I think he does a great job at what he does, but no way in heck I’d ever buy his album. It’s just not the type of music I listen to.

Stories continue to swirl around David’s father, Jeff. So far, it doesn’t look like America is ready to punish Jeff through his son, but could it cost David enough votes to lose the title? Nah, I can’t see how it would.

Then there is David Cook, who I will admit finding pretty forgettable when the top 24 started. Around the time he performed “Hello” was when I actually started to take note of him. Same here. And when other people started noticing him, I was still a bit behind. Even now, I don’t always like his performances as much as other people seem to – but I recognize his creativity and would probably give his album a listen.

David Cook, as we learned, is very intelligent, and he definitely used his brain this season. Cook showed absolute fearlessness in tinkering and adjusting arrangements to make the musical part of his performances dynamic and compelling. The knock against him has been that some of those clever arrangements haven’t been completely original.

The rocker guy has never won American Idol, and it seems like the rocker guys are a bit grateful for that. David could break that trend.

So, who is going to win American Idol this season? I think it will be close. But, I think the mass appeal of David Archuleta is going to edge out the edgier vote for David Cook. It will be close, but it will be the younger David.

For the final time this season, Sting and I disagree. I think David Cook has built himself a fan base that will put him out front for the final vote. However, I’m making this prediction based on Idol giving him a finale song he can actually sing. In other words, not like last season, where the creative Blake was stuck singing the corny finale ballad and not being allowed to change it up. If Cook is allowed to make changes to the arrangement, he will win. If not, Archuleta stands a much better chance – and many people will once again be complaining about the finale song.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent articles on Foxes On Idol:

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for many years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He currently lives in Europe, loves cold lemonade, ice cream and kittens! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com. David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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