And here we are: Top 2/Finale week. I will be doing a Magic Rainbow thread on Wednesday [duck], even if the Rainbow would like a thread [duck] sooner, but today's thread is for the Top 2 songs. I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole night. At some point, the euphoria of "Damn, Clive gave DC an awesome U2 song to sing" had changed to "Damn, Clive gave DC an awesome U2 song to sing that some might consider to be sacrosanct," but then DC came out and hit it out of the park. Rock star. Shivers. Dream Big was not (ahem) my favorite DC performance of the year, but as coronation songs not featuring the Magic Rainbow goes, pretty damn good. And then there was TWIK. What a gorgeous, emotionally connected performance. Way too nuanced for Simon to get. But so many of the rest of us did. Nothing that I would have ever expected to see on the Idol stage. A few commenters:

Michael Slezak, ew.com: As much as Little David impressed me during round 1, however, I was even more taken with Rocker David's heartfelt cover of ''I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'' (and his very stylish gray jacket). I'll admit that when Randy started his yammering about how Rocker David hadn't done everything he could do with U2's anthem, I actually found myself doing something I never thought I'd cop to: Looking forward to Paula's critique! (Oh, snap!) But really, while Rocker David's rendition may not have been a radical reinterpretation of the original — and why should he be asked to clear that bar every stinkin' time unless Archie is asked to do the same? — it accomplished something even more impressive, by making me hear every word of the well-worn lyrics like I was hearing 'em for the first time. Nope, it wasn't allergies that had my eyes watering at the end of the performance; somehow, when I really wasn't expecting it, Cookie made me cry....

Not so thankfully, however, Simon berated Rocker David for his brave (and delightful) decision to choose a brand new number for his last performance, instead of trotting out one of his ''greatest hits'' from earlier in the season. I mean, I took Cookie's cover of ''The World I Know'' as a very special gift to all of us who've made it a point to watch every single episode of Idol this year. We've already heard his takes on ''Billie Jean,'' ''Hello,'' and ''Always Be My Baby'' — why look backward on the biggest night of his life, especially knowing that it'd be damn near impossible to re-create the magic of those original performances? Instead, David tackled a pretty terrific Collective Soul track that he's been jonesing to do all season, opening with a gentle, acoustic vibe, gradually building momentum throughout the performance, and wrapping it up with a gentle falsetto note. To me, it was near perfection — including the evening's snappiest fashion choice, a black shirt, a black pinstripe vest, and an audacious pink tie — except for the fact that I would've liked to hear the entire track, not just a two-minute snippet.

Alan Sepinwall, nj.com: Could Cook tackle one of the most iconic songs by one of the most iconic rock bands of all time and not seem, at best, like a decent imitator? As it turned out, yes he could. The arrangement straddled the line between a faithful cover and a complete reinvention, in that it sounded in the style of the original but not so much so that I was unfavorably comparing Cook to Bono on various notes. (Compare that to the way male contestants usually fall apart trying to do Freddie Mercury.) Because he's the "rocker" this year, I don't know that Cook gets enough credit for what a talented and versatile singer he is, but I just enjoy hearing him work, and this was no exception....

I'll say this: Cook's version of "Dream Big" is the first performance of an "Idol" coronation song since Fantasia's "I Believe" that I actually wouldn't mind hearing if it came on my car radio. I don't know how much of the arrangement was his and how much was the songwriter's -- I was way too afraid to actually listen to all the top 10 contest entries -- but it was uptempo and upbeat without being too cheesey or seeming out of character. But it also wasn't a showstopper.

Jacob, TWoP: David is singing "The World I Know." Not a Song I Know. He's got an acoustic guitar though and his fake-ass earnest face on, so it's going to be awesome. I can tell you that I watched the Armageddon song about fifty times. I can tell you that and not feel bad about it. Because there is a point in that song when the guitar kicks in and you realize that you are watching somebody win this show, and that's a neat moment... As of right now I am not convinced that was actually what was happening, depending on how he does here, but it felt like it at the time and it kind of still makes my tummy feel funny to think about, because how exciting for him! I think that there will always be an audience for this show because there is something very good, and right, about watching somebody get something they want. It feels good.

Oh, this is the sad clown song! Total Leery-Clifton Nuptials song! I had no idea what this song was called. Who is this, like Candlebox or something? Collective Soul. I had no idea this song was good! You just have to sing it like a person and it turns out that it is a really good song. He's such a sweet boy. I'm going to watch this part again. It's that song about the tears roll down and there's something in his eye and then he laughs at himself and there are more tears. You know what, I'm going to go listen to the other one and then listen to this one really loud. I think it was because I couldn't hear the cello or whatever, which is the whole point of this song.

...What am I doing? I'm not doing that s***, I will just watch it a couple more times instead. It's slower than the regular flavor, and his voice is a whole lot better than that guy's, and also not processed to hell like that version. I think the problem is no strings, which provides a lot of the dynamic of the real one. I cannot evaluate this on the merits except to say that his vocal choices are genius, the places where he diverges from the old song, but that's it. His voice sounds really good, though, and he does the falsetto thing at the end, which is... Oh, David Cook is crying. He totally finessed the end of that last high note because he was going to cry. That's how Kelly Clarkson f***ing got me too, when I was just a little child like David Archuleta. I don't even know what to say about that. He actually looks like a human being. I've called him a lot of things but I never really thought about that part. On review, I think he just about loses it three different times, because it is very huge, and he's very much trying to hold it together after the song. He looks incredibly young, for a man.. . . .

To review: David Cook sang the U2 tune and David Archuleta sang the Elton John song, and they were both the same person for a second. Then two horrible songs, one or more of which we'll hear tomorrow, which was weird because the Cook one was a bad song done well and the Archuleta song was a marginally better song done marginally better by someone marginal. Then Cook did a very good performance of his song followed by a truly amazing performance of being a person and I think I sort of fell in love with him, but then Archuleta excelled at being on this show, which is the point of being on this show.. . . .

So by that measure, the even more optimistic and slightly less cynical side of me says that Cook will win, because joy doesn't necessarily imply innocence.... But even if none of us ever see it, I still believe that you can be honestly joyful in the Brooke way without ever getting bipolar about it. So if you take away the neutered, enforced innocence and weird blankness of Archuleta or Jordin, you just have somebody who loves what he does, and wants to move forward into the future and make changes and play around with sounds and make new sounds that nobody ever heard before. I think you can be a bartender who writes crap on his hand and pretends to be a rock star as long as it takes to become one and has a weird melon-shaped head, and cries onstage when it gets to be too big -- you can be that guy and do your crosswords and still be something hopeful, and beautiful, and messy, and good. I think if there's a theme running through his song choices this season it's that, and I'm a fan of that. And I am even more in love with that kind of America, even if this show generally is not.

ISHFWILF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OmPr2JFHjk&feature=related

Dream Big: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ5Y1ysEOKk&feature=related

TWIK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfOA6zKeeV8.

Oops. The youtubes here don't include the judges' comments. Can't imagine how that happened.

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For more links and such on this and other DC AI performances, check out the Nostalgia thread.

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