TVSquad

It's getting closer. On Wednesday, America will crown the next Idol winner. Which David will it be? Of course, these two polar opposites have sparked some debate online as to who will win the competition.

Okay, is someone holding down Jeff Archuleta? According to E! Online, the oddmakers at BetCRIS.com have chosen David Cook to take the title Wednesday night. As per the online bookies, Cook has a 74% chance of winning this season of American Idol.

But E! Online makes a good point about Archuleta's young quick-dialing fanbase: "Of course, last we checked, Gambling 101 was not a part of a grade schooler's course load, meaning the actual voting demographic might not jibe with the oddmakers' pick and it still could be anybody's contest."

So, who are you voting for? Who do you think will win American Idol? Better yet, who do you think deserves to win American Idol this season? Check back with TV Squad for our review of the big night.

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, which turns out to be not very much except in a few select cases anymore. Of course, it's all come down to the inevitable finale everyone expected. Unfortunately, it turned out to be rather anticlimactic though it would have been a lot of fun to see our girl Syesha sneak her way into the finale. What it does accomplish is setting up a finale that's almost impossible to predict. Both Davids have been at the top of the polls for weeks now, so it may come down to what they do Tuesday. We'll be back next week on Wednesday before the results to analyze the available polls at that time and see if we can predict the ultimate winner.

(S07E40) This is it, the penultimate episode and possibly the most tense and contested results of the whole season. Based just on the comments here, fans of each contestant are passionate, so you can expect the world to erupt in chaos tonight, especially if David goes home. Syesha has been the comeback queen, but I don't know if she has what it takes to break through into the Finals, and after last night's performances I certainly don't think she did enough there. Join us here for our live chat and live out the excitement with billions (give or take billions) of other Idol fans and see who's going to vie for the title of American Idol in next week's finale!

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has come out in confirmation that finalist David Archuleta's dad has been effectively banned from participating in David's rehearsals, though he stops short of saying Jeff Archuleta's been banned altogether from the backstage area. In an interesting choice of words, Lythgoe said, "He has been asked not to participate in the choice of music with David or be in the room when David is working out his routines that he wants to sing. He's fine to be in the studio -- nothing wrong with that. We just want David to be able to be free like everybody else to get on and do what they want to do." I find the use of "free like everybody else" very interesting.

Later Lythgoe said they were concerned about giving everyone an equal opportunity and taking away "some of the pressure" that David was under. It's certainly an interesting comment in that you wonder if Idol should even take on that role of reducing parental pressure. He did stop short of declaring Jeff Archuleta a "stage dad," instead saying only that a stage mom or dad is only "someone who's protective."

First, the good news: each of the final three American Idol contestants are guaranteed record deals and a music career. The bad news? I have this awful feeling in my stomach, the way I sometimes feel after eating too many potato chips, that David Cook is going to win the whole thing. That would be a shame.

I know that there are a lot of Cook fans out there, but I'm wondering: have you noticed that he sings just like 88% of the bands you hear on the radio right now? I don't want to call him a poseur, but I'm curious if he has that voice and style because that's how other successful, current singers sing. Don't we already have a Chris Daughtry?*

(S07E39) It only took until the Final Three, but finally the contestants are going to be able to sing at least one song that is entirely their own choice. No themes, no specific artists just whatever their little hearts content. Expect David Cook to do a rock song, Syesha to do a Whitney song and David Archuleta to do a ballad he's been singing his whole life. After that, the judges get to select a song for each and the producers get to do the same. Traditionally these Top 3 episodes have featured some pretty amazing performances, as the songs are better suited for the kind of vocalists we have left. Now, this may not be your favorite Top 3 (it's certainly not mine), but stop by anyway in our live chat during the episode and talk about how they're doing.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each installment, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated at the same point. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Jason Castro's elimination last week, we'll be looking at other fourth place finishers.

This week: 4th place finishers, featuring featuring Tamyra Gray (Season One), Joshua Gracin (Season Two), LaToya London (Season Three), Anthony Federov (Season Four), Chris Daughtry (Season Five) and LaKisha Jones (Season Six).

Just when some people are saying that American Idol should shake things up a bit comes this bit of news from one of the judges: they might lower the age for contestants.

Right now the youngest a performer can be on the show is 16 (fan favorite David Archuleta is 17) and the highest limit is 30, which is really old in pop music terms I guess. But judge Simon Cowell tells Extra that the FOX show might drop the lowest age from 16 to 14. Then, if that works out well, the plan is to eventually have contestants audition directly from their mother's womb. That would be fantastic television, having fetuses go up against 25 year-olds.

Cowell also suggests that potential contestants, especially the girls, cry a lot more to get sympathy and get more votes from viewers. FOX should get ready for some phone calls from the L.A. chapter of NOW.

[via TV Tattle]

Despite a few amazing performances through his run on American Idol, Jason Castro seemed to be really running out of fuel by the end here. On the show he even said that he felt his inexperience was really starting to hurt him. He could barely handle trying to prepare two songs each week, along with the required group number choreography and those awesome Ford commercial shoots and flying to Vegas to help promote Cirque du Soleil, and was really sweating having to try and handle three more for next week.

It's easy to forget that Jason's only been singing a year or so, so unlike most of these other contestants who've been doing this for years in one capacity or another, he's not only new to singing competitions and performing, but new to the discipline of singing altogether. In Jason Castro's exit interview, he said he came into the competition just to see where it would go and didn't even consider the possibility of him winning until more recently.

At this point an argument can be made for any of the Top 3 to win the whole thing. In fact, that's just what we're going to do. Now that we've said goodbye to so many other hopefuls we're down to a Final Three every bit as strong as Season Two's Kimberly Locke, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, though drastically different. All three have proven that they have great voices. All three have proven that they have tremendous fan support. And all three seem to tap into a very different fan-base.

But who's the most deserving of the win? David Archuleta has wowed the judges and audience week after week with his polished vocals, but lacks a commanding stage presence. Syesha Mercado has played the role of the underdog throughout this competition, but has been coming on strong these past few weeks with passion and conviction. David Cook quickly emerged as a front-runner with his powerful rock vocals and innovative arrangements, but is he too limited to be the next Idol?

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, which turns out to be not very much except in a few select cases anymore. Well, Syesha managed to take all those last place poll positions right into the Top 3 while Jason's miscues and forgotten lyrics made his fans forget to call in for him. It's been building toward a David-David finale, but if we believe that Jason has never placed number one in the votes, then that means Syesha has proven herself capable of beating the Davids head-to-head. Will the inevitable play out or will a David go home? We'll see next week.

(S07E38) Tonight, Maroon 5 joins in the fun as we narrow down the remaining finalists to the Top 3. Where did Brooke's voting constituents go? If they went to Jason Castro then maybe he can pull of a huge upset and supplant a David or Syesha. If they went Syesha's way, it may be the end of the road for Jason Castro. If they all swung my way, who knows what will happen because Ryan forgot to give out my numbers ... again! Chime in through the show and critique the amazing Ford commercials, sound off on the amazing live viewer call-in feature (*cough*crap*cough*) and let us know who you think is going home.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

If you're a regular viewer of CNN's Larry King Live, you know that's not an Onion headline. Seacrest has filled in for Larry King several times over the past few years, usually on pop culture-oriented shows, and now it looks like Seacrest wants the gig permanently.

MSNBC "The Scoop" column is reporting that the American Idol host is in secret negotiations to take over for King, and the change could take place as early as the end of this year. Of course, this goes against the recent news that King had signed a contract extension through 2011, but that contract doesn't necessarily guarantee him the 9 pm slot, just that he'll stick with CNN in general.

(S07E37) Finally, the plethora of mentors is gone and we have a potentially more expansive theme with "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." I'm not sure what it means exactly but if it means music by artists in the Hall that's a lot of good songs to select from, and artists that better suit the individual contestants than some of the mentors. I like the idea of mentors, I just don't think it should be limited to their specific body of work on those weeks. What do you think? Chime in about that, the performances tonight or whatever's on your mind in the live chat tonight.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each week, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Brooke White's elimination last week we'll be looking at other fifth place finishers.

This week: 5th place finishers, featuring featuring RJ Helton (Season 1), Trenyce (Season 2), George Huff (Season 3), Scott Savol (Season 4), Paris Bennett (Season 5) and Chris Richardson (Season 6).