Youth will be served?
Not on the seventh season of American Idol, which saw 27-year-old David Cook best 17-year-old David Archuleta for this year's title.
A tearful Cook was clearly stunned by the outcome.
You could practically hear teen-age girls, cookie-baking grandmothers and the entire state of Utah wailing at the announcement.
The outcome was at least a moderate surprise coming after Cook's mediocre performance during Tuesday's final night of singing. Yet 97 1/2 million voters gave the Blue Springs, Mo.,-native the edge 56 percent to 44 percent. Cook won the competition by 12 million votes.
All season long, the baby-faced Archuleta (the most famous high school kid in America) had been pegged as the likely champion because of his pure voice and awe shucks demeanor. Some will speculate that because last year's winner was 17-year-old Jordin Sparks, viewers were inclined to go for someone older. Cook consistently proved himself the better show man.
Cook may also have benefited from the sympathy factor. He initially accompanied his younger brother Andrew to the Idol auditions, and stepped into the show as a contestant only after Andrew was diagnosed with cancer.
As television goes, Wednesday's broadcast had all the makings of a Grammy show circa 1979 - literally.

No one sang LL Cool J Tuesday, but there were boxing analogies aplenty during the first night of the American Idol finals, with a ring announcer introducing contenders David Cook and David Archuleta, and boxing commentator Jim Lampley offering obtuse video comments throughout ("Be brave. A faint heart never won the day.").
Clearly both of the Davids are talented, a fact echoed by the 7,000 fans at the Nokia Theater who never stopped screaming for their favorite.
Tuesday's show unfolded in three rounds, with veteran producer Clive Davis (the guy who discovered Whitney Houston) choosing songs for the first round.
David Cook kicked things off with U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. He came at it hard with a great voice and an even greater understanding of how to play to the crowd. He may not have had the best voice this season, but he's proven himself the best showman.

You could see this one coming from a mile away. Hell, you could see it from the moon.
Baby-faced David Archuleta of Utah and indie rock aficionado David Cook of Missouri will square off next week to become the 2007 American Idol.
It's been a long season, with dozens of credible singers kicked to the curb, including third place finisher Syesha Mercado. She ended up on the losing end of 56 million votes.
That said, it was a mostly upbeat show. In addition to a performance by Fantasia Barrino (with hair the color of space shuttle exhaust), each of the finalists went to his or her hometown with a camera crew in tow.
Naturally, Fox had orchestrated a turnout better suited for the pope.
Archuleta's visit to Murray, Utah, recalled visions of Shaun cassidy in the '70s being mobbed by young and old women alike. The best part was when he returned to his high school (after being mobbed by the cheerleaders who probably never gave him a second thought when he actually attended classes). Imagine being 17 and returning to your high school a superstar?
Syesha Mercado alighted in Sarasota, FL., to citywide acclaim. It seemed like half the town showed up, including a woman who thrust her baby into Syesha's arms and demanded a photo. Can you say, "Security"?
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Finally, American Idol is starting to get interesting.
After a season of fairly predictable performances and comments from the judges, the three remaining AI contestants got a chance to show different facets of their personalities Tuesday in singing songs chosen by the judges, the producers and the singers themselves.
A couple of the performances were homeruns. Most weren't.
The dilemma? All three singers are supremely talented. The one who gets the edge has to bring a little something extra to the table.
Baby-faced David Archuleta kicked things off with Billy Joel's And So It Goes, chosen by Paula Abdul. His voice was beautiful and he seemed more relaxed than ever, perhaps because his father has been banned from being backstage by the producers.
Syesha Mercado came next, singing Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You as chosen by Randy Jackson. It was a nice, tuneful performance, but it certainly didn't leave anyone panting for more.

Here's an interesting item for a New York public relations firm.

It looks like talent is not the only way to gauge success on American Idol - the competition has gone from on stage to online. So who's winning the Idol race on eBay? According to eBay data, over the last month:

257: Number of David Cook items sold
$23.59: Average selling price of David Cook items
$202.50: Highest David Cook selling item - David Cook Memorabilia from his first band, Axium
493: Number of David Cook listings on eBay.com.

191: Number of David Archuleta items sold
$8.46: Average selling price of David Archuleta items
$124.49: Highest David Archuleta selling item - David Archuleta doll

1: Number of Syesha Mercado items sold
$1.99: Average selling price of Syesha Mercado items
22: Number of Syesha Mercado listings on eBay.com.

"The contest is really heating up and from the looks of sales on eBay I am left wondering which David will it be?" says Karen Bard, eBay Pop Culture Expert.

After mangling Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff during a performance Tuesday night, 20-year-old Jason Castro found himself taking a critical bullet Wednesday when 51 million American Idol votes left him on the losing end.
Or maybe it was the ghost of Bob Marley exacting a little revenge. (No word on whether Bob Dylan was in the parking lot with a baseball bat. How dare the kid forget the words to Mr. Tambourine Man.)
Castro has had a love affair with viewers and judges for much of the show, although he seemed to run out of gas Tuesday. When he heard his name announced Wednesday, he almost seemed relieved to be out of the musical rat race. (He'll still be on tour with the gang this summer.)
His depature leaves only three contenders for the top spot, which will be announced on May 21.
Host Ryan Seacrest announced that the remaining three singers -- David Archuleta, David Cook and Syesha Mercado -- all finished within 1 million votes of each other.

The medical establishment's Hippocratic Oath might well have applied to the remaining contestants on American IDol Tuesday night: "First, do no harm."
Alas, not all of the four remaining singers took that advice to heart.
Culling material from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame songbook, the performers had a wide range of tunes to choose from. Those who chose wisely were lavishly praised by the judges. Those who didn't got a face full of verbal buckshot.
David Cook kicked things off with Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf. Yes, David's a rocker and, yes, he connects with the audience. But there was something studied about this performance, as if he were acting out something he saw in a music video.

The blogosphere has been alive in recent days with rumors that Paula Abdul might be on the way out at American Idol after her bizarre performance on Tuesday's show.
She critiqued two songs by performer Jason Castro, even though he'd only performed once.
Abdul fans need not worry. Her job is safe.
Here's an excerpt from an Associated Press story Friday, which interviewed Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia North America which produces American Idol:

"Why would we get rid of Paula?" wonders Cecile Frot-Coutaz
matter-of-factly, when questioned about possibly nixing the wacky
American Idol judge now infamous for - among other things -
critiquing both of Jason Castro's songs after he'd sung only one.
All the chatter about Abdul's slip-up during Tuesday's Idol
performance show doesn't faze the FremantleMedia North America CEO
and "Idol" executive producer. Nor did the subsequent speculation
about the singing competition's authenticity.
And really, why should it?
"I love that everyone was talking about it," she told The
Associated Press over lunch in her office two days after the show.
"It was so unexpected. It was something that took up 2 seconds of
airtime. You'd think there was no other news on television."
To Abdul's credit, the incident happened following an on-the-fly
format switch.
"We thought it would be a good opportunity for the judges to
give the contestants a good kick in the butt and tell them they
were going to have to kick it up a notch for the second song,"
said Frot-Coutaz. "That decision happened during the live
broadcast. It was at the very last minute, so Paula wasn't planning on doing any judging."

Simon Cowell won't have Brooke White to kick around any more.
One of two remaining women still in the running for American Idol, White was on the losing side of 45 million votes Wednesday, reducing the ranks to four.
Joining her in the bottom two vote-getters was Syesha Mercado.
Personally, I thought White had made giant strides in recent weeks, especially given some of Simon's withering criticism. (He called one of her performances Tuesday "a nightmare.") Plus, she's the only adult I know of who claims never to have seen an R-rated movie.
You could almost hear what she was thinking during the announcement: I missed my sister's wedding for this?!
I've got to give Brooke props. Before taking the stage one last time amid tears, she took the time to thank the audience and viewers. Classy.
If Tuesday night's Neil Diamond celebration was like a sprint, Wednesday's results show sort of sauntered along, with lots of conversation between host Ryan Seacrest and the judges, and performances by British pop sensation Natasha Bedingfield and Neil Diamond himself.

It is Neil Diamond week on American Idol, with the five remaining singers trying to master the music one of the most prolific songwriters of the last half of the 20th century.
Great music. Mixed bag of performances.
Diamond seemed a bit wary during the video clips of him coaching the singers, as if this was some sort of community service assigment. Yet he always ended with something complimentary to say. He's a pro.
For the first time this season, the contestants got to sing two songs each. Theoretically, if they messed up on one they could redeem themselves.
Jason Castro started off with Forever in Bluejeans, which would seem a perfect, hippie-flavored tune for him. The trouble is, it had a coffee house quality to it. There was no authenticity to his delivery.
He did much better on September Morn, investing it with a heartfelt quality that made you believe that he believed in the lyrics.