Welcome to the last column of Haterade's Idol Recap...sniff...sniff...sob. But we still have 6 more performances from the two idolists to go through. And based on Michael Buffer being the fight announcer and introducing both candidates who come through in boxing robes and gloves, there will be plenty of campy cheese to be making fun of.

The rules: The people sing three songs. The first set of songs are selected by musical guru Clive Davis. The second set is the idiotic coronation song - but the contestants get to decide which of the final 10 songs they want. The third set is chosen by the contestants.

After we get the David's playing pattycake with each other, David Cook starts the show off. He gets U2'S 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. It's certainly a song he's been looking for - it's right in his bread basket - if he nails the high notes, something that he's had a history of problems with.

The Good - Unless he takes the tune 4 whole steps downwards so he can hit the pitch. Smart move, and you know he's not going to screw this song up. And he hits a nice money note at the end.

The Bad - Despite taking the song down a few pitches, he's still flat in a numerous amount of spots in the second third of the song. And in the final third, it seems like he ran out of gas.

The Verdict - If it was just one song, I'd be more critical, but he has to sing 3 songs, and knowing that he has to do three of them, it's a solid first effort.

David Archuleta gets 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' Will the voters let the sun go down on David?

The Good - Perfect song for him. He makes every single part of it work. The amazing part about the performance is that he took a page out of David Cook's book - which would be improvising the end of the song and made some of his own runs. Amazing performance.

The Bad - He. Still. Can't. Keep. His. Eyes. Open. Maybe during the break, his dad Jeff can take some toothpicks and stuff them in his eyelids to keep them open. Oh wait, Jeff's been banned from backstage. Never mind. A special boo goes to Randy Jackson, who apparently doesn't know what year it currently is. We are in 2008, Randy, not 2007. Have you been drinking from Paula's cup?

The Verdict - As long as you don't look at his eyes, that was one of the best performances this season. I'll agree with Randy. Flawless performance.

Round 1 Winner: David Archuleta

David Cook starts off the second round with 'Dream Big'. I could make a cheesy pun here, and it would resonate with the rest of the show this evening.

The Good - When he gets to the second chorus, He makes it sound not only nice, but top 40 capable. He absolutely nails the money note. He shines through the song like a shoe shiner gets through a pair of loafers.

The Bad - But it felt like for the first half of the song, the shoes were covered in NYC sewer sludge. Was that a case of lyrical dropsies? Sure sounded like it. Either that, or it sounded so mangled and mumbled that I couldn't understand it. He covers for the second half, but that first half was ghastly and oversung. And another special boo goes to Paula Abdul, who questions whether the song actually won.

The Verdict - Usually, I would say that it's the song's fault, but Ryan pointed out that the CONTESTANTS CHOSE the song they would be singing. If Archie comes out and sings his song the way I think he's going to sing it, Mr. Cook is in danger of falling 0-2.

And speaking of said singer, David Archuleta chooses 'In This Moment', by Billy Vera and the...no, only kidding.

The Good - Amazing performance by David again. He not only makes it his own, but he makes the song actually sound like something I want to listen to. And again, he nails all of the notes.

The Bad - Someone get some plastic cement for Archie's eyeballs. And someone get a new script for Randy Jackson, who says 'You Can sing the phone book and it would sound good' for the 19,569th time this season.

The Verdict - I will agree with Randy on this one though - David is in the zone. Not only is he beating Mr. Cook, he's spanking Mr. Cook like Gordon Ramsay spanks raw meat as it goes flying into a trash disposal unit.

Round 2 Winner: David Archuleta

For David Cook to get any sort of momentum going, he needs to have some sort of breakout effort here. Mr. Cook performs 'The World I know' by Collective Soul.

The Good - It's sort of a good song to sing. It's well known and he can rock the song out which he does. Also a very nice ending, nice, soulful and sweet. A sort of good way to end his performances - and the tears at the end will certainly pick up more votes. He does a great job on the song.

The Bad - But my problem is the song itself. Out of all of the songs he could have picked, he selects a new one? Wha? It's an awful song choice because it's not reminding the audience on why they should vote for him. It's...nice, but it's not a reality show-winning song. And his reasoning that he sounded like he wanted to grow as a singer sounded very condescending to the judges.

The Verdict - Remember the rocker's decree when they say they do not want to win the competition because they are afraid that they can't select their song choices? It really feels tonight that David Cook sang for second place.

David Archuleta may as well sing his coronation song now. He won't, but he'll sing 'Imagine' one more time.

The Good - You don't think he's going to screw this up, do you?

The Bad - David Cook does have one point - if you are going to sing a song that you have sung before, do something with it that you didn't do the first time. We didn't get that from David - maybe because we've heard it before, and maybe because he did the exact same thing with it, but we get the same song. And maybe a stapler will work on hiseyelids to keep them open.

The Verdict - This round was a knockout, a tap out, a 6th grade softball game with a 14-0 lead in the bottom of the 5th inning. Whatever you want to call it, Mr. Archuleta cuts a swath of destruction on the stage for this round.

Round 3 Winner: David Archuleta

Final Verdict: One of the things that you always hear from the rockers is that they don't want to win American Idol because it would take away their creative freedom. I'm not sure if David Cook wanted to lose it, but the song selection and performance certainly didnt seem like he wanted to win it. That's not to say that David Cook wasn't good last night. He was very good - but David Archuleta was better and Cook's third choice could come back to haunt him.

But does it mean that Archuleta wins it? Not necessarily. Cook has a huge fan base, and you could say that Archuleta was the underdog going into the finals. But if Archuleta wins it, tonight is the reason why.

Finally, You all know that 3 months ago, I selected David Archuleta to win the whole thing in the Round of 24. I'm not going against it now. The question is - how will the general public vote? If they voted on past performance for the past few weeks, Mr. Cook wins it. If they vote based on what happened tonight, David Archuleta wins it. It really could go either way this year, and it's refreshing to see that instead of the one sided affairs for the past 3 years. I think that many people will vote based on what happened tonight, and if that's the case, then the Idol Powers that be will have to deal with the most annoying stage dad in American Idol history.

Predicted Winner: David Archuleta

Thanks again for reading my columns. See you next....week? Maybe....