'American Idol' Recap: On the Scene at the Finale

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By Debbie Appel, Special to Hollywood.com | Thursday, May 22, 2008

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DAVID ARCHULETA

David Archuleta

On the show being over: “After last night I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, no more getting judged after each performance!’ It's like now we get to do what we love to do and have it not be viewed as a competition and be judged right after singing. Just let me enjoy this for a second!’

On the best part of his AI experience: “I love singing and I love being able to perform whenever I get a chance. I just love what I do, and what this competition has done for me, I really appreciate it and all the fans who helped me make it this far. I just can't believe I made it this far! I didn’t think I’d even make it past the first round! This has been such a blessing.”

On what he learned from David Cook: “Cook is like my big brother. I've learned so much and I've looked up to him since the beginning of this. He’s such a great guy. He's really humble and down-to-earth, and I just feel like, I can't believe I'm standing next to him. I told him, ‘I feel just so honored to be standing next to you, Cook.’ I'm just so proud of him, and I can't believe that people decided for me to be next to him, of all people! It's just such an honor.’

On what he wants to do next after the Idol tour: “Right now I just hope to see what happens. I really want to make an album and see how that turns out. And if music doesn't go as far as I was hoping it would, then I will focus on completing an education. That's really important, especially after all of this. It would be nice to be living off of it but you just never know. People can have years of performing and touring and making money that way, but they have to go back to something else afterwards. So you always have to be prepared.”

On singing with One Republic: “It was really fun working with them. I've been a fan of them, and the fact that I was able to share a stage with them was so cool!”

On performing with Bryan Adams: “That was really cool! Bryan Adams was someone I’ve always enjoyed listening to and I sang ‘Heaven’ during Hollywood week, and it was really neat to be able to talk to him and hear what he had to say. He is such a nice guy. I couldn't believe how just normal he seemed.”

On being seen as a new teen idol: “I don't really see myself as that. That's kind of weird [laughing]. I still just think I'm David.”

JORDIN SPARKS

Jordin Sparks

On who she was rooting for: “I voted for both of them last night so I can’t really say I have a favorite, because I got to meet both of them and they were both so sweet. But I was totally reliving the moment that I won when I was watching them both, just sitting there waiting. Both of them are going to be fine. I’m so proud of both of them.”

Her advice to David Cook: “I would say sleep as much as you can ‘cause it’s a full year later and I still haven’t gotten a full eight hours sleep yet! Get as much sleep as you can while you can, and it goes by so fast. Here it is a year later and I’m still reeling from winning last year. So I guess just try to enjoy every moment that you have. Sometimes I don’t know what I did last week, I totally forgot. So try to remember as much as you can.”

On how the Idol judges still make her nervous: “This show does something to me. After I got off the stage I was shaking. I was like, ‘Why can’t I get over this? Why? Oh, wait, I’m supposed to get off the stage now.’ During the song I was trying really hard not to make eye contact because you know sometimes they talk through the song, so I was trying really hard not to look at them. But after I made eye contact with Paula (Abdul) and Randy (Jackson)--it was like really fast. But it was really cool coming back and seeing everybody.”

On why she wears an orange bracelet: “My mom’s best friend--she was like a second mother to me--she had melanoma and the color is orange. We found out she had it in February, so we put orange streaks in our hair and have been wearing orange accessories and I painted my nails orange. She actually passed away this morning. So I’m representing her in any way I can.”

DONNA SUMMER

Her advice to new artists like David Cook: “Save your money--seriously, save your money! For the first year don't buy any major, major things like a house unless you just make so much money that it's stupid! And even then you should just pace yourself. The second piece of advice is to get yourself a good lawyer, a good accountant and have great songs, whether you write them or someone else writes them. If you have great songs then I think you have longevity.”

On the phenomenon of American Idol: “I think American Idol is really a social statement. It has gone way beyond just being a show. It's much more than that. It's an experience and is a life lesson.”