"Idol" finale: rigged by Diebold, or the producers?

Everybody wave your hands in the air. And now wave 'em like you just beat a twerp.

UPDATE! In a shocking upset, David Cook won "American Idol" last night by 12 million votes. The soulful emo showboat beat virtuosic teen priss David Archuleta 56 percent to 44 percent. On Tuesday's showdown, Season 7's crushingly obvious finalists got tricked out in hokey boxing gear before singing their last three songs, and the judges had predicted a knockout for Archuleta (psych). The Davids were the most evenly matched final two "Idol" opponents in ages, making up for an excruciatingly dull competition overall.

The Davids' careful, media-savvy personalities have charmed the nation's already-overheated tweeners, but for the rest of us, there's something about the battle between the vaguely wooden, long-assumed champion Archuleta, and the rising star of his more genuinely charismatic upstart rival that's been feeling more than a little Democratic presidential nomination-ish. Just look at the outcome. Is David Archuleta the Hillary Clinton of "Idol"? And does that mean David Cook is the Barack Obama? The similarities are way eerier than we could've ever guessed.

DAVID vs. DAVID = HILLARY vs. BARACK?

Why Cook's upset over Archuleta looks an awful lot like the Democrats' Final 2.


Coached by meddling family member	Adorable family
Slightly robotic	Smoother, flashier
Faux-humility	Faux-edginess
Likely to garner the Latino vote	Likely to garner the indie vote
Thought he had it in the bag	Momentum has a life of its own
Soft yet somewhat masculine features	Dreamy, yet sorta goofy-looking
Popular with old ladies	Popular with college students
Disturbingly experienced	Youthful vibe, but secretly grizzled