Last night's American Idol was masterful on a number of levels. First, the production of the event as a heavyweight fight, complete with Michael Buffer of all people doing the "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" thing at the beginning, to the boxing commentary interspersed throughout, to giving two of the best possible advisors to the contestants they could possibly have (Clive Davis and Andrew Lloyd Webber) to coach them through the week.

David Cook's version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was incredible. But there wasn't any stopping David Archuleta's ascendancy to stardom. The guy has seriously got to be one of the most talented vocalists I've ever heard. And obviously his level of preparation, work ethic, and dedication has been equal to his talent every week, as it pretty much has to be to advance this far in the show. The joy he gets from performing comes through every time he takes the stage.

And regarding American Idol itself, it really doesn't matter if people like one feature of the show, don't like another, or whatever...as long as it discovers music talent anywhere even remotely close to David Archuleta or even David Cook, the show's going to last a lot longer than seven seasons.