Both Davids impress with final performances

In an epic battle of the ages, 17-year-old David Archuleta and 25-year-old David Cook took to the Nokia Theatre stage and delivered stunning performances. Going into the night it was anyone's game, but there were certain events that took place during the broadcast that swayed the momentum in one person's favor.

Just an aside: the theatre was too big and there was no excitement compared to past finales. It was too dark and dull, plus the stage was overwhelming.

Beginning with the cheesy and childish mock boxing introduction complete with Michael Buffer serving as the emcee, we knew the show was off to a rocky start. Especially when Arch was introduced as weighing "100 lbs. when soaking wet." Yes it was a joke, but please.

Once all the seriousness began, things seemed to get back on the ground. Clive Davis the crypt keeper was there in all his glory, despite being demoted over at Sony BMG earlier this year. And Andrew Lloyd Webber made an appearance, seeming that he cannot get enough of this show. The two helped coach the Davids in their song choices, which amounted to just fluff. If they do not know how to perform by now, they are not fit to be the next idol.

So after a long, drawn-out montage we finally get something noteworthy, as Cook kicks off the show with Clive's choice for him, U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Although upon hearing he would be doing this song days ago it sounded like a sure thing and would fit his voice perfectly, it did not sound special at all. It was virtually a straight-up rock cover of the song, which Cook is not always amazing at. Randy seemed pretty impressed, and said it was a "great way to start off this duel of 2007." He brought up the fact that they were competing for the "King of the Nokia" for the first time of the night, but definitely not the last. Right. Paula was a little more creative, even though her "You may not have found what you're looking for but we sure have" comment was scripted to the core. She said Cook had arrived and said "Amen" three times. And then Simon even cut him some slack when he said the performance was "phenomenal" despite the fact that he was tense.

But as soon as Cook left the stage, Arch took to it and belted out Clive's choice of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me." The much overdone song sounded great coming from him, and is completely the right genre of music for him to be pursuing. Suddenly Clive's crazy song choice seems alright. Aside from the vocals, Arch incorporated his annoying arm-stretching, but it did not take away too much from the overall performance. Randy went above and beyond with his syrupy praise of Arch, calling the performance "molten hot" and his vocals "crazy" among other things. He was so blown away, in fact, that he kept repeating "crazy" even as Paula was giving her own critique, which was another unoriginal "The sun is never gonna go down on you' kind of thing. She did say she got chills, though, so that probably was not in the script. Simon declared Arch the winner of round one, saying the performance was his best so far.

So after getting Clive's songs out of the way, Cook retook the stage and delivered a rocked up version of Emily Shackleton's "Dream Big," which he chose from the top 10 vote-getters in the AI songwriting competition. The song completely fit his style, but the cheesy as ever lyrics anchored it down. It also did not feel like a "winning" performance. Randy let everyone know that the song was "just ok" but Cook "sang his face off." Paula was just mesmerized and sat in awe of him, and Simon gave the performance a "6.5 out of 10," using the boxing analogy to say it was "a bit of a lightweight" and "didn't sound like a winning moment."

When it was Arch's turn, he took on "In This Moment," which was even cheesier than Cook's choice, but to his credit it actually sounded like an Idol song. He was able to hit the high note while the song;s lyrics were fairly inspirational and sugary. Randy again was not crazy about the song but pulled out one of his five usual compliments in telling him he could "sing the phone book" and that he was "in the zone." Paula told him some more bland statements in saying the performance had "magic" and that was why he was in the final two. Simon again said Arch was in fact the winner of round two, claiming he chose the better song and it fit the night better, and saying he liked the "egotistical lyrics.' You would, Simon.

As for the contestants' choices in round three, Cook finished out his performances with Collective Soul's "The World I Know," which everyone could see had some meaningful connection to him. It started off acoustic but then the band came in and he even showed off some of his rare falsetto. Upon finishing, Cook started to tear up, which added even more fuel to the audience's fire of applause and cheering. Paula gave him a standing ovation. Randy said he did a very nice job and that this was the kind of record he could see him releasing. Paula again stood and applauded him, saying he was "standing in his truth" and that he delivered performances "with integrity and originality." Simon started his comments off by calling Cook one of the nicest, most genuine contestants they had ever had on the show, but brought spirits down when he told him he should have sung "Billie Jean" again and that his choice was "completely and utterly the wrong one."

So then Arch came out and took on his most memorable performance in "Imagine," again starting at the second verse and not changing the arrangement up from hi earlier performance. His vocals were no better than either of his two prior performances that night, but the mood seemed perfect, and that he had a "winner's moment" with the song. Randy said the best singer of Season 7 was "standing right there!" and that he was what this show is all about. Paula basically echoed Randy's comment, adding that he "left her speechless." And Simon, who had been praising Cook on every show he was on promoting the finale (mainly Leno and Ellen), said that Arch came out to win, and that the audience had witnessed "a knockout," and once again declared that round three in fact went to him. Arch did his best to hold back tears, and definitely seemed like he realized he had just won.

Following the final performance, Ruben Studdard moseyed out to sing this season's "Bad Day" and "Home" in "Celebrate Me Home," set to a montage of some of this season's most memorable moments.

Despite what would seem to be an unequivocal blowout in an Arch's favor, this is far from the case. Simon's one mistake in trying not to cover up his "grand plan" was giving Cook a "secret wink" after he gave his final critique. Translation: Simon was being extra hard on Cook because he knew it would stir up the fans and get them to vote even harder. All week the odds were heavily in favor of Cook winning, and in order to keep the stars aligned, this was his weapon of choice. So now no one should be surprised when Cook is crowned the winner tonight, but legions of casual viewers will surely be shocked. Either way, they both should be fine no matter what, but Cook's emotions and Simon's technique were enough to give him the win.

Now off to tonight's supersized finale, which will hopefully not (but most likely will) feature hologram duets with dead singers. At least Carrie will be there to save the show.

Prediction:
Winner: David C.