A new “American Idol” has been crowned, and his name is David Cook.
The 25-year-old rocker beat seasonlong favorite David Archuleta, the teen heartthrob who seemed to have the title all to himself weeks and weeks ago.
But in the end, it wasn’t even close. Of 97.5 million votes cast, host Ryan Seacrest announced at the top of the show that one David amassed 56 percent of the vote, leaving the other David with 44 percent. That translated to about a 12 million-vote victory for Cook.
“This is amazing,” Cook, fighting back tears, said after Seacrest’s announcement. “Thank you.”
Cook then took the stage to sing “Time of My Life,” winner of the annual “Idol” songwriting competition.
Archuleta entered Wednesday as the clear favorite of the judges, wowing them during Tuesday night’s sing-off with crowd-pleasers including Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Cook opted to start with a well-received version of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” but closed with Collective Soul’s more obscure hit “The World I Know.”
Cook said he had no regrets and wouldn’t have approached the night any other way.
“If I had to choose between playing a song that not a whole lot of people know that I could get behind, or the opposite, I’ll choose the lesser-known every time,” Cook told The Associated Press backstage Tuesday.
On Wednesday’s finale, even the acid-tongued Simon Cowell remarked that he didn’t care who won — that was how impressed he was with both finalists.
Win or lose, the music business has been kind to “Idol” alums who prove to be popular regardless of where they finish in the competition (See: Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken). Meanwhile, past winners Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino have struggled to stay relevant to music fans despite major-label backing and the exposure they get from Fox.
But before Archuleta and Cook can get started on their pop music debuts, both hit the road with the American Idols Live Tour, set to kick off July 1 with a planned stop at Allstate Arena on July 19.
