Top 2 Recap

After four months of sitting through auditions, Hollywood, annoying contestants and difficult eliminations it all comes down to this. Our seventh American Idol will be either David Cook or David Archuleta. One is a mature rocker who seems to have the most overall appeal to America, the other is a shy teenager with a big voice who has a diehard legion of fans in his corner. Tonight is crucial though, because plenty of people will be tuning in for the first time and voting.

We get a teaser with a boxing theme to it. In fact, it's a recurring theme throughout the night. Boxing analyst Jim Lampley even gives us an analysis of each round during the video segments. It's pretty cheesy, but if you watch "American Idol" you have to have to love cheese or at least tolerate it.

We see a video talking about what the American Idol title means. It's reserved only for superstars, they say, while showing us the faces of Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood. Chris Daughtry? Last I checked he didn't win "American Idol". I'm sure a lot of people think he did, but no matter how many times we hear that "America got it wrong" Taylor Hicks will always be the rightful Season 5 title holder. Take that, "Idol"!

We learn that Archie won the coin toss and opted for the pimp spot. Smart kid. Ryan chats with the Davids and the judges. It's nothing special. He asks them to talk about their opponents. Archie says that Cookie is awesome and that he wishes him the best of luck. Cookie says that he figures the competition is over and they're just having fun.

The first round will be songs chosen by Clive Davis. Aw man, I thought he was done picking songs for contestants after Randy criticized his song choice for Katharine McPhee. I guess we're stuck looking at his creepy face a while longer. We all know he's only here because of name recognition, because his recent demotion indicates that even his bosses haven't been that impressed with his work lately.

The Combover leads off with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". This could be a good song for him. It's a continuation of his transformation from grungy rocker to sweeping anthem singer. I think it's pretty good. He stays on key and delivers it well. My mother doesn't like it because she thinks it's too much of his typical yelling. Randy says it was hot. Paula says he's in great voice tonight. Simon says it was phenomenal. I say thumbs up.

Mini-Carmen's song from Clive is Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". This performance marks the fifth time this song has been performed on "American Idol". As he sings it I can't help but think how Clay Aiken-ish he is. His musical style is the same and now he gets to sing a song Clay sang on the show. Andrew Lloyd Webber advised him to keep his eyes open in the video clip, and you can see him consciously keeping his eyes open at one point. I think it's pretty good, but not as good as it could have been. Randy says it was flawless and unbelieveably molten hot. How many times is he going to use that comment this year? Paula says she got chills. Simon says it was arguably his best performance, and that he wins Round 1. Wow. They're actually pimping Archuleta? I thought they didn't want him to win anymore. Maybe this is all for drama and Rounds 2 and 3 will go to Cook. I can't help but feel good for Archie as he gets emotional listening to the judges. While Cook doesn't seem to care if he wins or loses, Archie really seems to want this. I didn't think the performance was as great as the judges did, but it was solid.

For the second round the contestants get to pick their own winner's singles from the songwriting contest. Does this mean the show is moving in a direction that'll encourage artistry and give the winner more creative control? We can only hope.

Cook is doing a song called "Dream Big" by Emily Shackelton. The opening lyrics are "When I was a little boy/I swore that I would change the world". I'm guessing that since it was written by someone named Emily and it didn't rhyme that the lyric was originally "girl", not "boy". He plays guitar along with it and for the first time we hear a winner's single that has some rock to it. The lyrics are the usual pap, but Cook manages to make it kind of cool. Randy says David's voice made it work. Paula says it was a great way to make us fall in love with a song we didn't know. Simon says it didn't feel like a winning moment. I can agree that it didn't seem like one, but is this competition about finding talent or finding what looks best on TV? Sadly, I think I already know the answer.

Archuleta is doing "In This Moment" by Ryan Gillmor. Now this song is pure winner's single cheese. Of course, that's the type of song Mini-Carmen was born to sing, so he does a pretty good job with it. My mother says she likes it better than Cook's. Randy says he wasn't crazy about the song (as he does every year), but that David can sing the phone book (as he does every week). Paula says he was on fire. Simon says he chose the better song and that Round 2 goes to Archie. Wow. More pimpage. I thought they didn't want to deal with his father. Could they actually want him to beat Cook?

The final round is where the contestants get to choose any song they want. This is often where the contestants reprise a performance from earlier in the season. One chooses that route, the other doesn't.

Not choosing that route is Cook. He performs Collective Soul's "The World I Know". I'm not familiar with this song, as I didn't really enjoy music in the 90's, but I actually think it's pretty good. Cook accompanies himself on acoustic guitar and sings it perfectly. This guy is showing himself to be a worthy Idol. I'm not going to go crazy over this type of performance, but it's well-done. Randy says he's showing his nice, sensitive side. Paula applauds him. Simon says it was the wrong song choice and that he should've done "Hello" or "Billie Jean" again. Cook explains that he views the competition as a progression and didn't see the point of doing something he'd already done, though he understands where Simon is coming from. Honestly, I think Cook did a very good job tonight, and the criticism he's gotten only tells me that they want Archuleta to win.

Archuleta decides to repeat his performance of "Imagine", and it's about as good as I remember it being when he sang it in the Top 20. I'm sure the judges will eat it up. I can't deny that this kid knows what he's doing when he sings this song. Randy says it was exactly what the show is about, and that the best singer in the competition is standing on the stage. Paula says it was stunning and left her speechless. Simon says (continuing the boxing theme) that it was a knockout. Wow. I guess that's the first unpredictable thing that's happened all season. In the finale they pimped Archuleta and de-pimped Cook. Who would have thought?

Ruben Studdard closes the show with a live performance of "Celebrate Me Home" and a montage of clips from the season on the screens behind him. Ahh...fun memories. Hey, there's a clip of Syesha! I'd totally forgotten about her!

I've been saying for a while now that David Cook has it in the bag, but now I'm not so sure. The judges made it clear who they liked better tonight, and there may be enough swing votes to give little Archie the title. Honestly, if I had to predict right now I'd say that tomorrow we'll be crowning David Archuleta the next American Idol. I hope it's Cook for reasons I've already explained, but Archie is a likable kid and I'll be happy for him if he wins it. The real highlight of tomorrow though, will be seeing Chikezie, Brooke and Amanda on stage again! How exciting will that be?