Not faring quite as well in the Idol champions department was Jordin Sparks, who seemed to struggle with the quick cadence of ''One Step at a Time,'' a composition that I'd place somewhere between ''Dream Big'' and ''In This Moment'' as examples of radio-ready songwriting. That said, Jordin looked adorable (as usual), and seeing season 6 runner-up Blake Lewis mouthing the words to his one-time rival's song gives me one more reason to plug his sadly underappreciated album Audio Day Dream. (As for that Disney ''Idol Experience'' Jordin was plugging, let's hope it involves a cranky British person hurling cruel barbs at delusional children, prompting them to focus on their studies and quit thinking that fame belongs on a list with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.)

Well, in the case of David Cook, actually, it does. Fifty-six percent of the 97.5 million votes, and yet somehow the resident rocker dude didn't let the rush go to his head. I loved the way he stepped back and momentarily turned the spotlight to Archie, who handled his runner-up finish with equal class, disappearing into a huddle of his fellow finalists and allowing Rocker David to begin the season 7 victory ballad (title irrelevant), which contained the words ''magic rainbow.'' (Oy!)

No matter that the song put the ''eek'' in ''weak.'' I was too busy getting choked up watching a grown man break down in tears of joy, watching his mom beam as if someone had just run a kilowatt of electricity through her internal filament, watching his brother — the one who was supposed to be trying out for Idol in the first place — tearfully mouth the words ''that's my brother'' into the camera. Heck, even The Practice's Camryn Manheim approved! And Simon Cowell himself apologized for ''verging on disrespectful'' with the way he downplayed Cookie's terrific Tuesday-night performances.

Still, as much as Rocker David's win warmed my heart, I got an even bigger charge seeing him surrounded by his 11 fellow finalists on the platform behind the judges. There was David Hernandez, the undeniably handsome fella who had whispered the word ''naked'' with such unabashed cheesiness during the George Michael medley. And Chikezie, who had approached the night's group performances like a shy family member suddenly getting his freak on on the dance floor at your cousin's wedding. And Amanda Overmyer, stoic to the end, just the way you wanted her to be. And Kristy Lee Cook, unstoppable country crooner, the woman who kinda sorta won me over even after putting ''Eight Days a Week'' through the musical meat grinder. Whether you loved 'em, downloaded 'em, or trash-talked 'em on our message boards, the whole delicious smorgasbord of a season wouldn't have been the same without 'em.

The fact that the right singer took home the big prize, well, that was just gravy.

Oh, and speaking of tasty treats, keep an eye out for the Idolatry season finale (coming Friday to EW.com). Plus, we'll have Idolatry interviews with Syesha and the two Davids going live on our site next week, which should help you all survive one additional week on the road to season 8. Until then, thanks for your passionate, hilarious, and occasionally scary message-board postings, and for taking this ride with me for the fourth consecutive season. To paraphrase Ryan Seacrest, our journeys end tonight!

But first, tell us what you thought of tonight's show. Were there any performances that took you by surprise (either positively or negatively)? How does this season's winner stack up compared with Idols past? Did anyone catch Cookie's extra-exposed midriff as the credits rolled? And what the heck did the Jonas Brothers have to do with anything? Seriously!

More American Idol finale:
David Cook's Idol journey
David Cook's Idol backstage Q&A
David Archuleta's Idol journey
David Archuleta's Idol backstage Q&A
The Idol finale: A photo album

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