It wasn’t a close run thing in the end – in fact, more than 12 million votes separated David Cook from widespread favorite David Archuleta when all was said and done. It was a surprise to most. Simon Cowell had earlier thought that David Archuleta has delivered a knockout blow to David Cook. Mr Cook himself was “…absolutely at a loss for words right now. This is amazing.”

And the weird thing is, it almost didn’t happen. David only attended auditions to support his brother Andrew (who didn’t get through the auditions). Thank God he did, otherwise we wouldn’t have such a fabulous winner this year, and Andrew wouldn’t have had the opportunity to support his brother back from the crowd last night.

The final show itself was pretty special too, with guest appearances from Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., One Republic & the Jonas Brothers amongst others. All topped off with the now traditional group hug from the top 12 as David Cook finished his first live performance as American Idol – his new single “Time of my life”.

I’ve been waiting for my dreams
To turn into something

I could believe in
And looking for that
Magic rainbow
On the horizon
I couldn’t see it
Until I let go
Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now I’m coming alive
Body and soul
And feelin’ my world start to turn

And I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time
To be more than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

Holding onto things that vanished
Into the air
Left me in pieces
But now I’m rising from the ashes
Finding my wings
And all that I needed
Was there all along
Within my reach
As close as the beat of my heart

So I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

And I’m out on the edge of forever
Ready to run
I’m keeping my feet on the ground
My arms open wide
My face to the sun

I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
This is the time
This is the time of my life.
This is the time of my life.

So David Cook is the winner of the 2008 season of American Idol! It was an unexpected result, but a clear cut result at the end of the day, and David will now go on to release single “Time of my Life”.

This song was written by professional song writer Regie Hamm, and recorded by both David’s so that whichever one won, it could be released immediately.

We will be listing all of the various sites from which you can download or buy the American Idol CD on this site once we’ve tracked them down…

So, it’s boiled down to the American Idol final that everybody was predicting: David against David! Syesha Mercado had a good run, making it all the way down to the top three contestants, but everybody always knew if she was in with a chance of the final, then it was a slim chance at best.

So, let’s recap a little about the two finalists, before making our prediction of who is going to be the American Idol winner:

David Archuleta

17-year old David Archuleta is from Murray, UT and nearly never made it to American Idol due to paralysed vocal chords in his youth which could have stopped him from singing altogether. However, he overcame this, and in style too, with an outstanding run of great performances on the show. Stand out performance for AIF? “The long and winding road”…

Best comments of the competition: “You crushed the competition.” (Simon about his ‘Love me Tender’ performance)

Worst comments of the competition: “That was a mess.” (Simon, on his rendition of ‘We Can Work it Out’)

David Cook

David Cooks hails from Blue Springs, MO and has brought the ‘rockier’ element to the fore again, in a similar way to Chris Daughtry. Whether things will go the same way for him as they did fo”r Chris (i.e. second place, but then faaaaarrr more successful in his musical career than the winner) remains to be seen, but he has definitely come in to form at the right time.

Best comments: “David Cook wins the night.” (Simon on the pre-final performance of ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’)


Worst comments: “Just above average.” (Simon, again, on his performance of ‘I’m Alive’)

So, who do we think will be the 2008 American Idol Winner? Whether it’s the right result or not, we expect Mr Archuleta to walk away with the crown (the granny vote will carry it…)