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Tonight was the culmination of months of eliminations. The Davids finally faced off against one another. Fox did some, um, interesting things production-wise. Like the whole night had a boxing theme— complete with boxing commentary. Why? I have no idea. I found it distracting more than entertaining. Then there was the clever camera work to disguise that David Archuleta still hasn’t gotten over squinting his way through songs in spite of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s best efforts to break him of the habit. They simply hardly showed him in close-up. As a matter of fact, many of the shots of him were of his back. I do have to admit it was a lot less annoying that way. The coin flip last week went to David Archuleta, who chose to sing second (smart call). Both singers’ first songs were chosen by Clive Davis. David Cook was given “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and David Archuleta was given “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”. I thought both did a decent job. David Cook added in a little flair, but you really don’t want to mess with the U2 classic too much. Clive Davis really did right by David Archuleta, choosing a song that already has a lot of the runs and drawn out notes that he likes. Because they were already written into the song, David didn’t feel the need to overdo the song. The second songs were from the song writing competition. Unlike previous years when both singers have been saddled with singing the same song, no matter whether it suits them both or not, this year the Davids were allowed to choose their own songs from the top ten vote getters. David C. chose an upbeat number that I thought was a little “pop” for him but still at least entertaining. David A. chose a sappy ballad— exactly the kind of song that the producers would usually choose for the finalists to sing. Exactly the kind of song I really don’t enjoy. Simon thought it was more in keeping with the tone of the night. Really? Given the boxing them, wouldn’t that be “Eye of the Tiger”? The final song of the evening was contestants’ choice. David C. chose to tackle a new song— Collective Soul’s “The World I Know”. It was good, more of a sensitive low-key performance from him. Simon thought he should have returned to “Hello” or “Billie Jean”, but he said he preferred to show progression by singing a new song, rather than something he’d sung before. David A. chose to sing my favorite song of the year (not really) “Imagine”. Frankly, I was talking on the phone during the performance, so I’m not absolutely sure whether it was better or worse, but I think it was about the same. Since I thought it was hideously oversung to begin with, his comments about giving it more sent shivers down my spine. So, that was it. As expected, the judges favored David Archuleta. Randy said he was exactly what “American Idol” is about. And he’s right. American Idol is about turning out a very mainstream pop singer. David Archuleta will be perfect for that. I had to keep reminding myself, though, that I don’t want David Cook to win because it’s in his best interest to come in second. Still, part of me can’t help but wish… What about you? Who was your favorite tonight?

Kinda like Paula knew Jason's performance was crap before he had even had a chance to sing it. I don't know when I've ever seen such a one-sided final performance show in the seven seasons of this show. There is no argument that David Archuleta turned in probably the best string of performances he's had in weeks. I won't even argue that he won the night. And I won't argue that David Cook was just missing something, even though I can't find the right word for it. Spark, maybe. Fight, maybe. Desire, probably. Maybe he got the memo from Daughtry that not winning has all kinds of benefits. (Which it does.) And he took a dive. Whatever Cook didn't bring to the table, though, Archuleta brought extra. After peaking in the early episodes, Archie has been plagued by dropped and forgotten lyrics, ballad boredom and watched his stock drop as quickly as David Cook's stock skyrocketed. But there was none of that tonight, as young David, perhaps feeling free of paternal pressure finally, showed more spirit, more animation, more personality and more presence than he has all season. And that was just in one song. My complaint about this episode is not with the Davids. It's with the panel of judges, one of whom cannot seem, no matter how much money he's paid, to stray from the hot molten zoned phone book, who tonight made it abundantly clear which of the Davids is supposed to win. Hell, they couldn't even make it close to heighten the suspense. But here they are, my initial impressions, subject to review and revision and, for the first time, separated by "rounds," in the spirit of the "match" instead of the traditional worst to first. Clive Davis round, the living corpse with the golden ears. David Cook (I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For). Clive Davis tells Cook that this song represents a generation searching. Cookie doesn't play around much with the arrangement, which is smart considering it's a U2 song, using the stage and the "judges stage" to good effect. Unlike last week his voice is strong, but there's just a fire that I've grown used to that just isn't there. David Archuleta (Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me). Clive always seems to choose this song for the guys. Okay, so maybe just once before, so Archie runs the risk of being compared to the versions that preceded him. He plays it very smart, switching it up from the versions Idol addicts recognize, showing more animation and more stage presence than he has all season. By far. The judges call it (sorta) his best performance of the season, and I can't disagree with that. Judges: Round One to Archuleta. Me: Round One to Archuleta. _______ David Cook (Dream Big). Considering the batch of songs Cook had to choose from, Simon was right: he did the best he could. It was sung well, but it just didn't "fit." The ending made the song, but seriously, can't there be a better song out there somewhere? David Archuleta (In This Moment). Again, I'm not gonna slam Archie for the poor song - good heaven's could those lyrics be any worse? - but Archie's issue all season is that he stumbles with complicated lyrics - too many syllables, perhaps, if they're sung in quick succession. He's fine with the chorus, but not fine enough, even though Randy pulls out that insipid "phone book zone" comment. Judges: Round two to Archuleta. Me: Round two to Cook. _______ David Cook (The World I Know). Cook has his acoustic guitar, takes this one slow and easy. And beautifully. He ends his last song in tears, to thunderous applause and gets told he should have taken the easier road and chosen a proven winner like Billie Jean or Hello. That's stupid. He gets extra points from me for not giving us a retread that is easily available on iTunes. David Archuleta (Imagine). Taking on a song performed already to great reviews is always risky. (Ask Diana DeGarmo.) But Archuleta knows his season was defined, in many ways, by this song performed back in February, throws in some extra vocal acrobatics, and turns in another fine performance. Judges: Round three and match to Archuleta. Me: Round three a draw. _______ I don't know who's gonna win, and I don't care. Both are guaranteed a contract, and, as has been proved, there is a ton more freedom with second (or third or fourth) place. David will win, that's for certain. If David wins based only on tonight, it will be the youngster. If David win based on a body of work throughout the season, Archuleta will get Cooked.