David Won!

David Cook, that is!

Yep, I watched the American Idol finale... all two hours of it. Could have done without the plug for "The Love Guru" but other than that, it was pretty enjoyable. In case you missed it, here were my favorite moments:

• Seal singing with Syesha - No, not "a seal" but the singer Seal. Yowza, that man got's an awesome voice. Heidi Klum, you are one lucky woman!
  
• David Cook singing with ZZ Top - This is what I love about David C. He can sing anything: rock songs, ballads, show tunes, even eighties standards. The only thing missing was the twirling guitars (guess they can only do that in videos)
  
• Gladys Knight and the Pips - in this case, the Pips were Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. Black and his amazing trained eyebrows stole the show, as usual.
  
• Simon Cowell admitting that he got it wrong - Last night, Cowell crowed that David A. won with a "knockout." But after watching it back, he realized he made a mistake. Oops. It was quite nice of him to admit it, though.
  
• Not having to see David A. quiver and pass out - That was my big fear if the younger finalist won... that he would finally have a complete emotional breakdown right there on the stage. I'm so glad we were all spared that. And now David A. will go on to great success (remember, Clay Aiken came in second, and that worked out okay for him).
  

So congrats to David Cook. Not only is he an incredible performer, he seems like a truly nice guy. And I'm so thrilled that the person I've wanted to win from the beginning actually did! (This is especially satisfying because I don't vote... never have, never will. But I send really good thoughts out into the ozone.) So that's it for American Idol until January. Now, on to So You Think You Can Dance!

American Idol - The Battle of the Davids

Let me just say, this has been a really weird season of American Idol. The judges seem totally bored with the whole thing, so much so that they pay more attention to each other than the contestants. And the the singers have been an unusually chatty bunch, explaining why they relate to broken birds and how hard they've all fought in the industry. Yep, we get it, it's hard. But you're up on stage now. It's time to live the dream, not explain why you goofed up that last song!

I don't mean to be down on the contestants. There was a lot of talent in this bunch. Many of them had previous record deals that never panned out (which is a whole other topic of discussion!) Once it was narrowed down to a final 12, I picked my favorites: David Cook, Jason Castro and Brooke White.

Now you might be thinking, What? Why not David Archuleta? Good question. David A. is a very talented young man. But there's something... off about him. The poor fellow looks like he's about to break down in tears at the end of every song. And his Q and A sessions with Ryan are simply painful to watch. Granted, he's only 17, but I think it's more than immaturity.

So now it's David A. and David Cook in the final two, and I'm SO glad. David C. has impressed me from the beginning, but even more so on Andrew Lloyd Webber night. When he sang "The Music of the Night" as it was meant to be sung, well, I got a bit choked up. It was truly beautiful. The thing about David C. is that I believe he gets the songs he's singing. He connects with the lyrics and finds the meaning in them. He also sounds great and has a really cute smile.

So in the end, it's not a battle of David and Goliath. It's a battle of David and David, two competitors equally matched in their vocal skill. What it will come down to, in my opinion, is their ability to translate emotion through their songs and connect with the people who choose to vote. I wish them both good luck and look forward to the finale next week!