ai7: america got it right

we had just finished watching the season finale a second time around and we were still perplexed. what was going on? what were the judges thinking? is this how they’re gonna end the seventh season of american idol? 😕

fast forward to last night’s results show. did david archuleta do enough to become the seventh idol? did the judges sway the casual viewers to vote for da? did david cook’s excellence transcend the judges comments and went straight to the viewers? it would’ve been an exciting and suspenseful results show but we were robbed of this experience as we already knew who the winner was prior to watching the show… no thanks to a couple of friends’ text messages and emails. *sigh*

anyway, the results show was entertaining (although a bit cheesy at times 😮). on a 2-hour show packed with performances, here are some of our random thoughts:

• carly smithson and michael johns will each have successful careers. they’re so good that that pair could easily have been an alternate finale for the idol crown.
• is it just us or was amanda overmeyer not having any fun at all?
  why was jason castro the only ai contestant who had a solo number?
• it was so nice to see jordin sparks well after her bout with throat sickness. her performance not only showcased her doped vocal skills but it had massive tons of her bubbly personality too. great job, jordin. 🙂
• wasn’t it great that zz top decided to give the spotlight to david cook instead of sharing some of it or getting most of it as most guest stars do when they perform with idol contestants? amusing dance by david cook during this performance btw. 😀
• by giving renaldo lapuz his 5 minutes of fame, ai just assured that there will even be more weird auditions next year.
• george michael, having colds and all, rendered a poignant rendition of the song, praying for time. great performance though we felt like it didn’t suit the overall mood of the results show.

the highlights of the night though came during the announcement of the winner. first it was simon’s public apology to david cook.


(video courtesy of youtube by aifreak08 )

that act took much humility and it was a very nice gesture by simon. some naysayers would argue that simon already knew the result and he’s just backtracking because of all his comments the night before. we don’t buy that because we felt his sincerity and his reaction after the result was announced would not support such conspiracy theory.

david cook was simon’s choice all along. prior to the finale, he verbally announced on two hit tv shows (tonight show w/ jay leno and the ellen degeneres show) that dc deserved to win. maybe simon’s comments were brought about by having extremely high expectations on dc. or maybe simon was playing the reverse psychology game so that dc fans would panic and vote like crazy. whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter. he said just a few minutes earlier that he didn’t care who would win but based on his reaction to the announcement of the winner, simon cared deeply as he looked both relieved and extremely happy that david cook won. 🙂

and david cook’s reaction after the announcement was another classic. first, he acknowledged david archuleta (those were the first words out of his mouth). then, just as we thought he’s gonna act cool about winning the whole thing… it hit him. he got all emotional and all. gotta love the drama. 🙂

and then dc singing the coronation song with all the finalists was a sight to behold.



great job, dc. congratulations. ai8 contestants have a tough act to follow… but we will watching again as it all unfolds next year. 🙂


(video courtesy of youtube by penneyboy245)