A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

TV Poll: American Oddsmaker

Your challenges are simple:

Who wins American Idol tonight? What song would you pick for David Archuleta to sing? Which for David Cook?

I'm going with Cook, on the theory that he will be able to successfully emo-ify whatever big sploogey anthem is this year's Idol coronation song, and thus outshine Archuleta's pure but straightforward take on the same song. If Cook boots it, of course—or is forbidden to do a re-arrangement—he'll be in the same situation as Blake Lewis, who last year had no idea what to do with the Idol anthem tailor-made for Jordin Sparks.

Archuleta: you're singing All By Myself. Cook: you're doing Landslide. (Note: No editorial comment intended by the choice of song titles. I swear.)

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