Chris Stover

If only the judges’ comments were enough.

More than 97.5 million votes were cast on Tuesday night for the season 7 winner of American Idol. And 12 million people separated the votes.

And the one who received 56 percent of the vote?  David Cook.

David Archuleta’s continuous awkward smile never even left his face.

I was rooting for David A., and I was shocked when Ryan Seacrest coyly announced David C. as the winner.  I thought it was a joke, but clearly not.  That’d be one sick joke.

It is a well-deserved title; neither David C. or A. were in the bottom two or three throughout the entire competition.  Even Simon Cowell said he honestly did not care who won because they both deserved it.  That’s when you know you have a good competition.

It’s my personal belief that David C. didn’t really want to win — he didn’t want to be bound by the extensive contracts an Idol typically goes through.  And, in my personal opinion, David C. would have had a much better chance at making it had he not won than David A.

Surely, someone will pick him up.  But who’s David A.’s target audience?  As my hip cousin pointed out, she doesn’t want him singing some ballad about love at the ripe age of 17 years old.

But it is what it is.  Despite the corniness of the boxing theme, the season 7 finale was fantastic.  The competition throughout the entire season (minus a select few, as in Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Ramiele Malubay and Chikezie) was fierce and unpredictable.

Seriously…who had Syesha in the top 3?

The personal highlight for me was seeing Philadelphia favorite Renaldo Lapuz perform with the USC marching band.  That moment right there sold the night for me.

To quote Mr. Lapuz, we are bwothers fo-ever.