Two champs were crowned yesterday, with the culmination of the Champions League in Moscow and American Idol in LA.  Two worthy yet unexpected winners in Manchester United and David Cook.

As always, you can get the best commentary about American Idol from Michael Slezak at EW.com.  Included in EW’s coverage are the first Q&A’s with winner David Cook and runner-up David Archuleta (where you can almost feel his wrist swelling from the allergic reaction he’s having to the bracelet he’s wearing as he answers the questions).  We fast forwarded through as much of the finale as we could, watching it after Top Chef was done (and if you’re not watching Top Chef, you’re missing some great food for anyone who loves great food!).

We pushed through all of the medleys and ridiculousness of these finales when I had to stop at Syesha and Seal.  She set the tone for the show’s performances, looking almost giddy at times to be singing with Seal in front of America.

The other highlights of the night were Carly Smithson’s duet with Michael Johns, Brooke White singing barefoot with Graham Nash, David Cook with ZZ Top (you knew he just kept shaking his head that he and his little stubble were next to those beards), and even David Archuleta with One Republic.  It was the first time in about ten weeks that I liked Ahchuleta, and maybe the first time I could see him doing something other than joining Up with People.

If I’m going to honest with you, I have to say that I was expecting to see Men Without Hats, Milli Vanilli, Ray Parker Jr, or Billy Ocean after George Michael pimped his upcoming Wham tour.  The Jonas Brothers (who I’d never seen) added some here and now to the parade of acts, and AI should head in that direction as much as possible.

Then David Cook took it all.  Cook could have turned his nose up at American Idol throughout the season, as it seemed AI needed him alot more than the reverse.  He’s been humble and gracious throughout, and did so until the very end last night.  America, surprisingly, got it right.  I’m still an American Idol junkie, but they need to revamp all the fluff in the show if they want to see the ratings head north.  They won’t get rid of Paula and Randy unfortunately, which would help as well.

Earlier in the day, Manchester United bested Chelsea in penalty kicks to take the Champions League final.  There was really no reason that the game was as good as it turned out to be.  It could have been a slugfest, as in more like a slug or snail, as in a defensive war of attrition.  What materialized wasn’t necessarily the beautiful game of Brazil, but it was tense and entertaining throughout.

When Christiano Ronaldo headed Man U into the lead, I felt like we were really going to see a great game.  The Red Devils had a bunch of chances to extend the lead to 2-0 and 3-0, but Tevez last whiff opened the door for Frankie Lampard’s equalizer at the end of the first half.

Chelsea had the better of the second half but could not push the winning goal through.  Didier Drogba and Lampard both hit the woodwork It was really two teams evenly matched, and then a situation only found in soccer set the stage for the penalty kicks drama.  I actually haven’t seen the blow-by-blow analysis of exactly what happened, but here is my best guess after watching it once.

With Chelsea players cramping due to the field conditions (torrential rain on a turf which had replaced the existing turf when it was determined the latter wasn’t good enough), their keeper Petr Cech kicked the ball out of bounds to allow for players to be taken care of (standard soccer practice when there is an injury as there are no time outs or stoppages of play).  Play gets read to be resumed, and Man U’s Carlos Tevez (who was a workhorse throughout the game) kicks the throw-in out of bounds on the side, deep in Chelsea territory, then motions to his teammates to hustle down to defend the throw-in from Chelsea.  Well, in the unwritted etiquette of soccer, this is viewed as extremely bad form (he was supposed to have kicked the ball through the end line so Cech could have a goal kick again).  Chelsea’s Michael Ballack runs to Tevez and then half of all hell ensues (without any real swings or blows that you would find in a similar NBA or MLB situation).  Everyone is pushing and yelling, then Drogba slaps Man U’s Nemanja Vidic (probably a 5 on the 10-point slap scale).  As one commentary stated, everyone knew “…this referee wore tight pants.”  After he settled everyone down, he issued a direct red card to Drogba then a yellow to Tevez, as captain John Terry whispered sweet nothings to Tevez through his collar pulled to up to his lips.

Drogba would have taken one of the penalty kicks, which may or may not have changed the outcome.  Penalty kicks are frustrating way to decide a winner, but there it was. Having said that, you can’t ask for more drama than what followed (below).

Congrats to Cook and Manchester United on becoming worthy title holders.  Cook could joining Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson as the best this show has produced.  Manchester United should be more stable in the coming off season, with Chelsea ridding themselves of several players while overpaying for more.  For the soccer junkies out there, James and the Giant Blog has a great video collection of the top goals from all the top leagues this year.

My wife and I watched American Idol last night from our TiVo last night (the only way to watch the show, btw). She truly loathes the show but sits through it with me, week after painful week. The catalyst for her misery?

Little David Archuleta.

As she’s ranted and yelped about how little she likes him, I’ve tried to figure out what exactly it is that makes him so difficult to watch and listen to.

From Star Search

From 2002, singing to Kelly Clarkson and other AI finalists

By now, I’m sure everyone has heard about Jeff Archuleta’s banishment (EW has an interview with Nigel Lythgoe about this). If you watch the videos above, you see and hear a child with a very big voice, a child who has been molded just like a beauty pageant youngster. You can hear his father directing him to sing to Clarkson in the second video. How does that translate into singing and his performance in AI today?

I just think he comes off as a mimic, regardless of whether he is singing an exact replica of a song or not. He channels Mariah or some such singer as he sings the same song, over and over, week after week. His attempt to sing something different, “With You” by Chris Brown, came off just dreadfully. He bounced around like a bobble-head chihuahua, just totally missing the soul and connection with the song (along with bumbling lyrics along the way). The judges are no help either. The harshest his critique was? He was applauded for trying something different after the fiftieth Little-David-squinted-eyes-ballad. That’s criticism?

Maybe it’s unfair to bash Little David too much. I think the real problem circles back to his age and his father’s handling of him. It’s easy to think that he’s 12 or 13, but he’s 17 years old. He’s almost the exact same age as Jordin Sparks was last year when she won AI. The difference between the two could not be more apparent. Girls mature quicker than boys. For some boys, that means they remain sophomoric and goofy and brainless until they are in their twenties (or forties, actually). In a singing/performing contest like this, it’s easy to see that Little David just lacks the emotional depth of great performers. Combine his age with his father’s apparent micro-stage-managing, and you get someone who just cannot lose himself in the meaning of any song.

If you have the patience to watch until the 3:40 mark, Naomi Judd talks about Little David’s dad during his time on Star Search (”The worst stage dad…they had to put him in the Security Guard’s little box…”) Will Little David win? I don’t know that I really care as I don’t know if it really matters. The iTunes junkies, all of us will vote with our pocketbooks after these first albums come out down the road, so we’ll let that be the final vote. My hope: that Little David can join Up with People for a never-ending tour. For your viewing pleasure: Up with People during the halftime of Super Bowl X Steelers v Cowboys (with Phyllis George, Brent Musberger, and Irv Cross).

Alan Sepinwall at the Star-Ledger has a terrific article on American Idol (see 5 Reasons the Best 12 Weren’t). Just a terrific deep-dive into this season vs the overall franchise. Some of the new gimmicks haven’t exactly worked out (for example, the use of instruments this season has more often been a prop than an exhibition in musicianship), while some of the old new gimmicks have been ridiculous (see the Q&A from viewers). His on the money with his discussion of themes and mentors. Everyone is probably very gun-shy about doing away with these things, but I think it is time to do that.

What he fails to mention is how those who have remained (aside from David Cook) are so lacking next to some of those who have been cast away. Carly and Michael Johns should absolutely still be here with Jason Castro and Brooke gone in their place. I’d much rather have seen those two added to the trio that remain to see who could have made it to the last three. My wife cannot stand Little David (photo above from Star Search at age 12). He drips child beauty pageant, and he probably needs a wild weekend with Miley Cyrus to knock some reality into him. From all accounts, his father is in the Crazy Stage Parent Hall of Fame, so it’s hard to attack Little David too much directly.

David Cook (above) has been a breath of fresh air in this competition. He’s escaped the so-called controversy of knocking off previous knock-off’s found on YouTube to become the best this season has had to offer (regardless of who wins). You can definitely see him having a career with legs in the future. The big question AI has to ask itself is what needs to change in the show to have six others like him in the last eight or nine (we’ll always have some strange person who makes it deep, like Sanjaya or Jason Castro). As much effort and investment in weeding through the tens of thousands of possibilities, you’d think the show would do a better job of finding more diamonds in the rough.

One reason they haven’t had more spit out at the end is that the obstacle course the contestants have to run doesn’t correlate with what makes a successful recording artist. A young man or woman with a particular style and tone shouldn’t have to somehow push that style on a succession of songs from the Beatles, Neil Diamond, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Dolly Parton, and Mariah Carey. Maybe they can simply perform the absolutely best song they want to perform each week then let us decide.

The cliche that the judges’ feedback has become is also a problem that Sepinwall omits discussing, one that makes the show less appealing. Let’s go worst to first. Paula really needs to be replaced. She brings no critical eye to the show and doesn’t appear credible most of the time. Randy should be much more focused in his feedback rather than simply rambling and throwing in his slang terms. Maybe I’m overstating things a bit, as he does seem to focus on the accuracy of the singing and specifics of the arrangement.

Colin is such a key part of the show that it would be hard to imagine AI without him. The constant booing whenever he speaks is overworn and ridiculous, as is chiming the music in immediately after he says his first words. To watch him on AI then watch him on “Britain’s Got Talent” is like watching two different people. He generally likes and respects his two cohorts across the pond. He repeatedly shows that he thinks Paula has no sense at all. He also has resigned himself, it appears, that AI is what it is and there isn’t much he can do about the American public.

Lastly, me email to Sepinwall (about to send):

Really terrific analysis of American Idol. As part of the wrong demographic (>40 Male), I’ve still been a fan of American Idol. The one thing you fail to mention is the impact of TiVo/DVR on American Idol viewership. There is absolutely no way I would watch American Idol live, and I never watch anything on the results show except for a performance that might catch my eye. I fast-forward to the end to see who was voted off then delete the episode. I haven’t even sniffed listening to a group sing number and haven’t seen a cheesy AI commercial since maybe Season 2.