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Molten hot chills
As a confirmed David Cook fan, I have to admit that his best performance tonight on American Idol was the song he didn’t choose, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” on which he gave his signature passionate reading. The Collective Soul song he finished with was emotional for him, obviously, but I didn’t feel it until I saw him in tears after the song was over.

David Archuleta was phenomenal with his opening number, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.” It was an inspired version of a song that was perfectly tailored to his talent, and Clive Davis might have handed him the competition by assigning it to him. On the other hand, I think he actually sang “Imagine” better the first time, all those weeks ago, although he added some vocal artistry at the end that helped. I still don’t think he gets the song, because he insists on leaving out the first verse, but that’s okay.

That leaves the middle song, the one each of them had to choose from the top ten in the songwriting contest. Let’s face it: there has never been a good song come out of that contest, and I’d be happy to see them do away with it. Both of the songs the two Davids chose were kind of awful, but this type of songwriting is more in line with Archuleta’s style, so he had the advantage. Cook probably picked the only one of the ten that made any sense for him to attempt, and although he did fine with it, it turned out pretty lame.

I’m predicting what I didn’t think likely a week ago: a win for David Archuleta. People who were on the fence, or fans of other contestants, or viewers not otherwise motivated to vote for one or the other probably saw this as an easy choice. And I wouldn’t be surprised if David Cook wouldn’t mind coming in second. In fact, judging by tonight’s show, he might have planned it that way. One thing we know is that neither will begrudge the other one the win (although Jeff Archuleta probably won’t take it as well as his son, if it doesn’t go his way).

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