The Morning After: Win-Win?

David Cook gestures hypnotically to the Idol crowd. / Michael Becker / Fox

My final American Idol reviews of 2008 (dear God in Heaven, I actually wrote 157 of them) are up at time.com. And now we sit and wait to find out which David won.

Is it possible that both of them did?

Both of them? What do you mean, James? Is this because you predicted that David Cook would win, you're having second thoughts, and you're constructing some elaborate CYA argument so you don't look like a total idiot?

Why yes. Yes I am. But hear me out.

Having watched last night and heard the judges, I have to admit my prediction for David C. is not looking very good. Clive Davis' choice, the cornball Idol-coronation songs and his choice of Imagine all played to Archuleta's strengths, and the judges all but declared him the winner.

But can David Cook win for losing? As I said in my reviews, I never bought into the idea that Cook wanted to lose—so he could retain rocker cred, Chris Daughtry-style—but his choice of that boring Collective Soul song last night had to make me wonder.

Now, do I actually think Cook was trying to throw the competition? No; if for no other reason that he seems too much of a decent guy to do anything that Machiavellian. But Idol's producers and judges? Ah, that's a different story. And the judges certainly seemed to have their thumbs on the scales last night for Archuleta, who had a better night, but not so much better as to justify their over-the-top praise.

Why would they? Maybe on the reasoning that David C. would benefit commercially from a loss, like Daughtry (because losing on the contrived Idol show would make him appear more authentic), whereas the more traditionally pop David A. would only benefit from winning.

That's if their main concern is the record sales. But why would it be? After Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks, the powers behind Idol have been pretty candid about saying that the show's reputation and ratings can't survive many more winners who are commercial flops. (In re which: if you really want to get the viewers back, hackneyed stunts like dressing up the finalists in boxing robes are not the way to go.) And while David A. could sell big by fitting some kind of Josh Groban niche, the judges (especially Simon in his interviews) seem to see David C. as having more commercial potential. (Look at the finalist selection—season 7 was obviously engineered to give a better chance to a rocker.) Could the judges have been overpraising David A. on purpose—insert evil laugh here—to produce a pro-Cook backlash?

Ah, the Idol judging process inspires more voting conspiracy theories than the Diebold corporation.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the judges simply thought David A. was better last night, and called it like they saw it.

Naaaaaaaaaah.