As he’s wont to do, Simon Cowell ended off tonight’s AMERICAN IDOL on exactly the right note by telling David Archuleta, “At the end of the day, this show is about finding a star. And tonight, I think we’ve witnessed one of the great finals. But here’s the difference, in my opinion David [Archuleta] you came out here to win and what we have witnessed is a knock out.”

In other words, there’s no denying that David Cook is a star and will no doubt parlay his stint on IDOL into a bona-fide career. But Archuleta was at the top of his game tonight and truth be told, this TV Addict still has chills from his flawless rendition of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”

Agree/Disagree? Which David will be crowned America’s seventh IDOL tomorrow night?

The facts are these. Simon, Randy and especially Paula’s opinions are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The real measure of an IDOLS’s popularity is if they get you reaching for your proverbial pocket book.

Which begs the question, one that may in fact accurately predict who will win this year’s competition. Who’s performed well enough to actually get you to head on over to iTunes and purchase a song for 99¢?

Thus far, I’ve purchased David Archuleta’s rendition of ‘Imagine,’ David Cook’s ‘Billie Jean’ and am planning to pick up [when it's released] last night’s Jason Castro version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. And bonus points if you can tell me which popular TV show killed off one of their most beloved leading characters to ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’

Welcome to theTVaddict.com’s new AMERICAN IDOL recap. As Simon likes to remind us it is a singing competition so we don’t plan to judge interviews, video packages, fashion choices or the coherency of judges…who are we kidding this is reality television!

Last night had the theme of songs from the year you were born. Birth is a celebratory event but only a few performances deserve a cigar. The clear winner of the brass ring was David Cook. This may be the first Addict recap but I have been at the front of the David Cook fan club for weeks. Cook takes risks that result in massive payoffs. He is ripping 80s pop from our walkmans and churning them out for repeat play on our iPods. His Billie Jean last night was incredible and he has managed to do what a great singer on a reality television should do, get us excited to tune in to see what he will do next week. David Cook will be on the stage of the Nokia Theatre saddled with an ill fitting finale song which may force the crown to David Archuleta.

Archuleta is consistently great, but consistently great becomes tired quickly in the land of TV. David A. must find a way to take risks and become more interesting or he will go the way of season 6’s MindyDoo. No matter how good you are if you don’t get us excited week after week we become complacent and complacency only gets you to number 3 or 4. One side note, I found David’s song catchy but Simon’s comment about someone else making the song choice was an awkward moment alluding to reports of an overbearing showbiz dad. Did anyone notice the traditional post judgment interview was dropped and Ryan went right to the numbers? Perhaps time was short but the moment was a little uncomfortable.

The next contestant worth writing about, and I can’t believe I am giving her praise after her unforgivable butchering of Eight Days A Week is Kristy Lee Cook. Her choice of God Bless The U.S.A. gave a girl on the edge of elimination a free pass into the top 9. Michael Johns proved his only hope of fame is playing the lead in a production of We Will Rock You. Outside of the Queen catalogue this guy has not scored a hit on the show. Syesha Mercado showed why she deserved to be in the top 10 but it may be too little to late.

The others gave run of the mill safe performances with little flair but my most pointed criticism goes out to the most boring contestant in Idol history, Ramiele Maluby. Absolutely nothing is compelling about this girl. I can’t believe David Hernandez was sent packing while this girl sucks the life out of the Idol studio and my living room. How can this girl inspire anyone to even contemplate picking up their phone to dial her number??? Ramiele your 15 minutes is up and it is shame you have a spot on the tour, you can bet I’ll be re-filling my popcorn when she warbles her solo.

Photo Credit: Frank Micelotta/FOX

Quick question IDOL Addicts, what do the four time Super Bowl loser Buffalo Bills and David Archuleta have in common? Turns out they both can’t deliver when it really counts.

Don’t get me wrong. One can’t begin to imagine the amount of pressure any of the twelve IDOL contestants, let alone seventeen year old Archuleta must be under as they walk on the stage to perform in front of Simon, not to mention millions of viewers. But this competition isn’t your run-of-the-mill reality television show. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime career making opportunity. As Randy might say, You got to bring it!

Which begs the question, who do you think is going home tomorrow?

This being the first season I’ve seriously jumped on the AMERICAN IDOL bandwagon, I’d like to pose this question to all you IDOL veterans out there.

Is the competition over?

After last night’s mature-beyond-his-years performance by David Archuleta, should the rest of the IDOL contestants start packing their bags? Will any of them be able to compete with as Paula put it, “one of the most moving performances I have ever heard.”

[UPDATE 11:28AM] Apparently, while the woman of THE VIEW ‘watch’ AMERICAN IDOL, they don’t watch too closely. Elizabeth just showed a clip of David Hernandez’s performance from last night, claiming he’s “wrapped up the competition”. Umm… Elizabeth, what show were you watching?