David Cook commits Idol suicide

David Cook fans are still dumbfounded: Why didn't he perform Billy Jean? That brought down the Idol house last time! It was a sure winner. Below is the clip of Cook's performance of Billy Jean earlier this season in case you missed it.

David Cook's performance leading up to tonight's finale almost ensured him the American Idol trophy. But David Archuleta fought his Goliath not just valiantly but also wisely. Archuleta smartly chose to re-perform his smash cover of John Lennon's Imagine (shown below) to "knockout" David Cook,

Although it was one of the worst produced Idol wrap-ups in the history of the 7-year-old show -- with plenty of boxing jargon and metaphors -- the vocals by the Davids were brilliant. David A., however, was completely focused and in the zone all night.

His first performance of Elton John's Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me clearly beat Cook's opening number of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Despite Cook's raspy performance he couldn't come close to what Bono offers.

Round two featured songs never heard before. They were rather boring and the lyrics were reminiscent of adolescent song writing but it differentiated the Davids even further. Cook wasn't quite there vocally as his younger opponent -- some parts seemed out of tune. Even Simon was unimpressed and called the performance "a bit of a lightweight."

Finally, when both contestants were allowed to choose a song it was apparent that David Cook didn't want to win Idol as bad as Archuleta. He committed Idol suicide. Certainly, his performance of Collective Soul's The World I Know was great but it could never top some of his more brilliant performances -- a notable example being his cover of Billy Jean. Archuleta gave Idol fans what they wanted with Imagine.

We won't have to Imagine how this will all play out. David Cook literally handed the (sorry for this reference) championship belt to Archuleta.

- Biff

nehked.com