‘American Idol’: David Archuleta vs. David Cook
GEOGRAPHIC BASE
DA: Utah.
DC: Missouri and Oklahoma
The Edge: David Cook. Every Idol except Jordin Sparks has hailed from the Bible belt. Cook had the good sense to move to the home state of Carrie Underwood. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)
WILD CARD:
DA: Won the coin toss and elected to go second, the favored position. Also, the songwriting competition winner likely favors Idols genre of choice, pop balladeer.
DC: Has proven his ability to take songs from unlikely sources (e.g., Mariah Carey) and transform them into dynamite, more powerful than the original version.
The Edge: Archuleta by a nose, or a coin toss. (Kenny Crookston / Associated Press)