Here's my final column that will appear in Friday's newspaper. I hope y'all enjoyed the season as much as I did. I learned many lessons ... one of which is to never, ever slam Taylor Hicks.
I didn't believe it when David Cook won. Really didn't. I mean, he was my favorite, but I just didn't expect it. I was so ready for Archuleta to take it. In fact, I was almost glad DC was going to get second place. Second place may have been a better position because he'd be free to go and do his own thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he won. I feel more closure now. I don't feel as jaded. But I don't know what to do with that yet. 
David Cook won. Wow, y'all, it's over. Weirdly, last night while I was watching, I kind of got sad. You know that summer camp sadness you used to experience when you were young? You'd go to camp, meet great friends and then have to leave them a week or two later. It was always so traumatic on that last day. When they showed clips of the first auditions last night I kinda had that feeling. I know it's cheesy, so don't hold it against me. But if you think about it, we've been doing this since January. That's a heck of a long time to be committed to something like this. You guys have been great. I've had a blast doing this blog (most days, anyway).
Thanks so much for reading and supporting me and calling me out; that's the whole point of a blog. And I feel this one was successful because of the readers.
What next? For now, check back for my full analysis later this morning. It's for the newspaper, but I'll post it here, too.
Right after Simon said "you've got to hate your opponent," David Archuleta said "I just love this guy" about David Cook.
Round 1
David Cook opened the show and kicked it off with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." (Duh, at first I wrote The Police...thanks to the commenters who corrected me). Once again it was nearly perfect, complete with star presence as he perused the crowd and took center stage right behind the judges. Randy loved the song choice. Paula pulled out one of her puns ... "You may have not found what you're looking for, but WE have found it." Simon pointed out David's nervousness and said even with him being so nervous he did a phenomenal job.
Little Archuleta sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." A good choice for him, although he skews a little older in his song choices. At least this one has a little more beat to it so he had to really show off his pipes. He did a good job with it. Randy called it one of the best performances of the season. Paula got chills. Simon agreed with Randy that this was the best performance so far.
I just read an update on USA Today that David A. plans to do an up-tempo song tonight. Oh no. Remember what happened last week when he sang Chris Brown's "With You"? Of all nights, tonight is the night he needs to stick to what he does well, boring as it may be.
The Davids will perform three songs each tonight ... their choice. Should be a good watch.
Looks like Taylor Hicks is hitting the Broadway stage, too (Clay Aiken currently appears in Monty Python's "Spamalot"). According to Zap2it.com, Taylor Hicks will join the cast of "Grease" as "Teen Angel" at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City.
So if you want to see Taylor this summer, you have to take a trip to NYC.
Is anyone having an "American Idol" finale party this week? Or have you heard of any places hosting an event? If so, let me know. You can e-mail me or post a comment.
Thanks!
Here's my weekly column for Friday's newspaper. (Yeah, that printed word.)
Have at it. Only one week to go. What will we do for entertainment then??
Tonight was the last night for Syesha Mercado (I wrote this before I even heard the final results ... it's just a fact.)
Next week should be a real "humdinger." David vs. Goliath.
"Longer" by Dan Fogelberg ... what were the producers thinking? Has David A. even heard of Dan Fogelberg??? I barely know this song and I'm almost 20 years older than him. The kid is not 95 years old.
Observance: Justin Guarini, who was in the audience, looked kind of old.
The producers chose a Rihanna song for newly sassy Syesha. She seemed a little uncomfortable with it, but I think she pulled it off OK. It wasn't any worse than David Cook's Switchfoot song or David Archuleta's rendition of "With You." Just my two cents.
Aerosmith's "I Don't Want Miss A Thing" ... very fitting for David Cook. I love the song, personally. Frankly, this one was my favorite of the night. It moved me to want to get out of my seat, and not to turn the channel. That's talent in my opinion. Apparently by the applause (and Paula's standing O), it was the crowd's favorite, too. Again, Randy, what's with your whole "very predictable" comment?? You never say that to Archuleta. You only say "you can sing the phone book." I think the phone book would be very boring.
I'm with Simon ... David Cook wins the night. And hopefully the competition.
Aren't y'all glad I'm back??
So David A. does finally shake it up a bit. He sang Chris Brown's "With You." He mentioned that he wanted to change things up a bit and sing something younger. It was very funny hearing him say "Boo." Randy agreed.
Again, he flubbed when he had to sing something fast. I'm not trying to pick on the kid; he has a great voice. He just needs more practice. Simon said it was like "a chihuahua trying to be a tiger." Looks like he might've needed Daddy's help afterall on song choice.
