For the epic battle of the Davids, American Idol began the week with a boxing, King of the Ring-type theme. Famous ring announcer Michael Buffer kicked off the night not with his famous catchphrase, but with Ryan Seacrest’s (”this is American Idol”). He called this final showdown between the two the “fight of the century, scheduled for three rounds of competition.”

The competitors were announced as David “Sugarfoot” Cook and David “Babyface” Archuleta. Both were replete with silk robes and boxing gloves, while the season’s other Idols looked on from the audience. Ryan Seacrest finally appeared to hype up the crowd, encouraging the audience to sound off for their favorite David.

David Archuleta looked a little swamped by the Nokia theater, shyly admitting that it was, for him, a “dream come true” just to be there. Randy Jackson urged both the competitors to “leave everything on the floor,” calling the night’s contest a “duel for the King of the Nokia.” He advised each to “drop it hard tonight.”

“May the best man win!” Paula Abdul cried enthusiastically. Simon Cowell told each that “you’ve got to hate your opponent.”

David Archuleta, of course, can’t follow this advice. Before things were well underway, he said “this guy is awesome” of his fellow David. “Now whatever I say is gonna be just, trite,” David Cook laughed, before he called Archuleta “consistently nice.” Honestly, the little speech he gave was a little trite.

But finally it was time for the competition to really begin, round 1 beginning with songs picked by Clive Davis. For David Cook, who began the evening, this meant belting out “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

It was an utterly horrible song choice, but David Cook managed to bring a little something special to the tune just the same. He started out a little mumbly as usual, but seemed well in his element as he walked through the crowd and to the judges’ island. I’m not sure he did quite enough with the tune, however. I wasn’t completely wowed and I didn’t much like the ending, either. For this first number, I felt a little under whelmed. The judges did not agree with me. “Very nice song choice,” Randy Jackson praised, saying of he and David Cook “we’re boys.” Jackson’s final proclamation - “hot, baby.” “We have found David Cook!” Paula Abdul cried, adding “you’re in great voice tonight.” Simon felt that David began the evening “very tense, very emotional,” but found the performance “phenomenal.”

David Archuleta had the misfortune of being saddled with “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” a song which has appeared numerous times on Idol. I would have loved -loved- if another Elton John song was given out instead, only to David Cook. “Tiny Dancer,” y’all, and there would be no question as to whether or not Cook could win Idol. But, that’s not the way it shook out. It was Arch on Elton instead, and he put a ton of conviction into the somewhat sad song. He was very strong in the chorus and managed to -somehow- make me believe it. Honestly, during his first performance Archuleta made David Cook look like a complete hack. Archuleta ended with a great big finish that left me wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Randy Jackson praised this as “one of the best performances of the whole season,” calling it “flawless and unbelievably molten hot.” Paula Abdul admitted, “my heart’s still pounding,” and told Arch “the sun is never gonna go down on you.” Simon Cowell started out on a bit of a sour note. “I though last week, you were okay.” What about tonight? “Arguably, the best you’ve done so far.” Cowell finished with a big claim: “Round one goes to Archuleta.” And I agree.

The second round was devoted to songs from Idol’s songwriting competition, picked by the contestants from the top ten finalists.

David Cook chose a tune called “Dream Big,” accompanying himself with an electric guitar. More mumbling was evident, but Cook sounded really good in the chorus. His sheer showmanship and big ending made the performance good…but again, I’m not so sure if it was great. Make no mistake, I’m not the biggest David Cook fan. But during the course of Idol’s seventh season, Cook managed to provide a “wow” moment more than once. He also has beautiful vocals hidden somewhere under those gravelly tones. Last night, he simply chose not to showcase them - and I think it might be his downfall. Randy Jackson found that the “song was just okay,” but that “you were singin’ your face off.” Paula Abdul likewise seemed to love it. The “end was okay,” for Simon Cowell, but “it didn’t feel like a winning moment.” He rated the performance as “six and a half, out of ten.”

Did David Archuleta find perfection with the somewhat sappy song “In This Moment”? He performed it with classic Archuleta stylings, and I would have rather heard a different song (and sound) out of Arch. But as always his vocals were beautiful, and he rounded off the performance with another big ending. “I wasn’t crazy about the song,” Randy Jackson admitted, but he found it to be “another hot performance.” “You’re on fire tonight,” Paula Abdul praised, and it was true. Simon Cowell felt that Arch “definitely, definitely chose the better song there.” And the second round? “goes to Archuleta,” Cowell declared.

For the final round of competition, the two Davids were allowed to pick any song under the sun. This was their final and last chance to make a stunning impression. David Cook began the round already up against the wall - Archuleta made it known even before Cook started that he was going to sing “Imagine” again, and that’s hard as heck to compete with.

So, David Cook chose to sing “The World I Know” with acoustic guitar in hand. It was filled with unintelligible lyrics and started out a little weak, though Cook did get stronger toward the middle of the song. It was, I believe, a pretty terrible song choice. Paula, however, gave him a standing ovation at the end and Cook found himself reduced to tears. Randy enjoyed the “very nice, sensitive side” Cook showed off, calling it all “very nice.” Paula Abdul again applauded him, literally and figuratively, for “integrity and originality.” Simon Cowell found it to be a “beautiful song,” but it was “completely and utterly the wrong song choice.” Indeed. “Why do something I’ve already done?” David Cook countered, when Cowell suggested he sing something he’d done previously on Idol.

Why indeed when Cook didn’t stand a chance in round three as it was. The minute David Archuleta started singing the second verse of my favorite song in all the world, “Imagine,” I was ready to hand him the title and skip tonight’s two-hour finale episode in its entirety. His vocals were incredibly strong and his performance literally brought me to tears. “Dude, you are so good tonight,” Randy Jackson praised him, calling Arch the “best singer, season seven.” Paula Abdul claimed “you’ve left me speechless,” but negated her own words later by adding, “you were stunning tonight.” Well, that much is true. “This show is about finding a star,” Simon Cowell announced, calling David’s performances of the evening “a knockout.”

The night ended with Ruben Studdard singing his good-bye song to all of the season seven contestants, as clips of them played in the background.

How did the two Davids measure up after going toe-to-toe? I would say the night fully belonged to David Archuleta, and if the votes were based on this alone he is the hands-down winner of the whole bloody thing. But the votes will not be based on Tuesday alone - they never are.

David Cook is highly talented, much more so when he breaks out of his box and shows off his softer, sweeter vocals. He somehow manages to convince me of his rockstar angst even when I’m not necessarily digging on his scene. He’s got the right look, the right attitude and a sound which could break several barriers. There’s no question about what Cook will do when he’s released from Idol restraints - he’ll make a rock record. This neat, easily-identifiable label gives something for Idol watchers to latch onto and believe in.

David Archuleta is more of a mystery. He’s frankly adorable and almost prodigal in the way he sings so far beyond his own years. But what will Arch create when he’s able to do his own thing? Preachy ballads that make people feel somehow sad and guilty? Cuteness and great vocals aside, album-buyers don’t want to be lectured to musically by some kid.

But when it comes to voting, how much of this will come into play? With the memory of “Imagine” ringing in our ears, is it really possible that David Archuleta won’t win American Idol? I predicted weeks and weeks ago that he definitely would not…but I never thought David Cook would make it to the final two, either. No matter which way it shakes out, it’s going to be a first for American Idol…and it’s going to make huge stars out of them both.