American Idol 2008 Grand Finale Winners and Sinners

The Winner:  Cool, edgy, uber-original David Cook won the 2008 American Idol crown tonight after a record 97.5 million votes rolled in last night.  The tally:  David Cook received 56% of the vote to David Archuelta’s 44%.  This despite the judges declaring last night to be a ‘knock-out’ for the 17-year old David A. 

The Sinners:  If you watch Idol, you’re used to cheesy.  You may even enjoy the occasional touch of cheesy.  Like the return appearance of Renaldo LaPuz, songwriter extraordinaire, in the grand tradition of Berkeley engineer cum singer, William Hung.  Renaldo sang his signature ditty, something about ‘we’re all brothers’ and was joined by the famed USC Marching Band. This, in fact, is the sort of cheesy one enjoys. The sort of cheesy one doesn’t enjoy is the rather random appearance of George Michael, who mystically appeared (in the grand tradition of that TV show, Eli Stone) and sang something, muttering something about a ‘cold’ to Ryan Seacrest as he finished. Hmmm. 

And Jordan, please.  That dreadful gold dress.  And Carrie. Those bizarre floaty batwings.  Still, both of you grrls could wear an I AM NOT A PLASTIC BAG and look gorgeous.  Time to fire those stylists, ladies.

Soon I will return to my serious business commentary but tonight, well, as I am still recovering from the cheesiest of Grand Finale songs, I can be forgiven for the temporary loss of a few braincells.