AMERICAN IDOL LIVE BLOGS Transcript MAY 20 Performances Show

And we're off! Just remember to refresh your screen often when it starts so you can see this blog changes as we update it.

Starting with the Rocky theme...the Let's Get Ready To Rumble guy kicks it off! They come out like boxers. Pretty funny! They tap boxing gloves and the opening theme begins. Here's Ryan asking for cheers for Cook...now cheers for Aruchuleta. Hi to the judges. Rules for the night. Three songs each, three numbers to call, four hours to call in after the show. Continuing the boxing theme.

Fox News reported earlier Arch is exhausted and his voice is "shot." We're still waiting to see how he sound. Here they are taking the stage. Arch won the coin toss and has decided to go second. Cook is fired up. Arch is soft spoken, sounds OK. Randy tells them to leave everything on the floor. Pauls reminds them they're at the Nokia theater (who cares) soak it in, let the best man win. Simon says you've got to have a desire to win, and you've got to hate your opponent. The David's compliment each other nicely - both have great things to say about each other. David Cook to open the show after the break. While we wait...we'd like to welcome our overseas guests who are watching the blog tonight - thanks for popping in!

And now some words from Clive Davis, the music mogul. Clive picked for David A "Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me," and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" for Cook. Cook is singing. Sounds good...on key so far. Beat picks up, Cook works the crowd - they're into it, and he's doing great. Cook ends behind the judges to cheers. Mom is there. Randy says it was a great way to start of this duel, nice song choice, liked the scoop at the end it was hot. Paula says we found what we're looking for, David has arrived. Simon says at the beginning of the show, he looked tense, but taking in all that, he thinks it was phenominal.

Arch takes the stage, seated on the stairs singing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." He's up with the chorus and cutting loose - sounds very nice! Dead on key - smooth - sounds great! Big cheers...emotions are about to break. Randy says it's one of the best performances of the seasons...molton hot. He's going to pass out. Paula's got chills, the sun is never going to go down on him, because he brings out so much sun. Simon thought last week he was OK. He says tonight's performance is arguably the best he's done so far. Cheers; Simon says taking everything into account, Round 1 goes to Archuleta. He's going to fall over! Calm down, Arch. Time for a commercial break.

Wow, what a way to start things off tonight! We're back with the New Song contest. From the song writing competition, they let the guys were allowed to pick from the top 10 entries. We won't know these songs. No one has heard them before.

David Cook sings "Dream Big." He's got his guitar, and of course, it's a rock song. Starts off a little pitchy, but he pulls it together quickly. NICE SONG! He's rocking it out now. Oh, here he goes - OH YEAH - that's a HUGE hit record right there, and his voice is perfect for it! Randy says the song was just OK, but his voice made it work - NICE. Paula is trying to sound deep. She liked it. Simon says it was a bit of a lightweight. Says it wasn't a winning moment for him...says it was a 6 1/2 out of ten. 866 IDOLS 01 03 05 Break time!

While we wait, we'd like to welcome our blogwatchers from Ireland and Japan! Archuleta is up next.

Good news, Arch fans, looks like his voice is holding up just fine! And he's singing a ballad "In This Moment." He sounds great, we're not crazy about the song here...not a radio hit at all, but his sounds good. Randy says he wasn't crazy about the song either...once again we hear he could sing the phone book though. Paula says he's on fire tonight, it's pure magic. Simon says he loves the egotistical lyric, and Arch chose the better song. Round 2 goes to Arch, who is about to hyperventilate. 866 IDOLS 02 04 06 Commercial time.

Thanks for the comments! We're back with singer's choice. Cook is doing "The World I Know" by Collective Soul. He's got his acoustic guitar, and it's sounds like another solid performance so far. He needs to cut loose. Suits his voice, but hmm...really needed to cut loose but didn't. Sounded great, could have been better. He is in tears. Randy says it was a nice sensitive side of Cook, very nice job. He like it. Paula says he is standing in his truth and she stands and applauds. Simon wants to say publicly David is one of the nicest most sincere contestents they've ever had, but it was the wrong song choice...should have done Billie Jean. Ryan asks Cook to respond - he says this has been a progression...why should he do a song he's already done, but he sees Simon's point.

Arch to end the show with "Imagine." Commerical break. We're back. Ryan reminds us cuts and clips from the show are only available through noon tomorrow through iTunes. Arch doing the familiar favorite. On key, sounds nice. A solid performance. Randy says he's really happy it's the two Davids...yells he's the best singer in Season 7! Paula says he left her speechless, he was stunning. Simon says this show is about finding a star, and tonight we've witnessed one of the great finals. In his opinion, Arch came out to win, and what we've witnessed is a knockout. Near tears, and finally a big smile from Arch!

Recap of the performances. Both are winners, no matter what. Great show!

David Cook's numbers are 866 IDOLS 01 03 05
David Archuleta's numbers are 866 IDOLS 02 04 06

Four hours to vote, vote, vote! Ruben Studdard to close the show with "Please Celebrate Me Home" as videos from the season flash on the screen. Paula can't sit still. I forgot Ruben was this good! lol A nice, sentimental way to close the season.

That's a wrap folks! We're headed over to Dancing with the Stars to live blog the finale. Hit Home, and we'll have that blog up in moments. Otherwise, we'll see ya'll back tomorrow night for the Idol results!

your blog is god-send! cheers to you guys!
oh and yeah, go david cook!

Glad you enjoy the blog jennypot! It brings us joy to know our hard work keeps you entertained! You are certainly welcome to visit anytime!

In early voting at 9:23 ET David Cook has an early, but slight lead

Voting update at 10:50pm ET...nearly two hours into voting, and David Cook is stretching his lead in phone voting

Still a little more than an hour away from the beginning of West Coast voting

11:36pm ET...Cook has a commanding lead now...doubtful that the West Coast votes will be much different than what we've seen thus far tonight.

12:25 am ET Wednesday...West Coast voting is in full swing, and David Cook has taken a commanding lead!

It will be quite a shock if Archuleta is named as this year's winner, but this has been one long unexplained season! Join us for the results show blog Wednesday night at 8pm!

FYI, we'll also have early response to the new Indiana Jones movie Thursday morning, so keep chaking in to www.CraigandSam.com!