American Idol

It is David versus David in this season's final showdown

David Cook

David Cook

Frank Micelotta / FOX / Getty
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Baba O'Reilly

How do you apply the David Cook song-reinvention magic to a rock song? In his second song, he figures it out: instead of rocking up a staid oldie, you take a big rock classic and dial it down. In the opening verse, he turns Roger Daltrey's yowl into a whisper, and it works, putting the urgency back into on a song millions of Idol viewers associate with Gary Sinise staring into an electron microscope.

by James Poniewozik

Cook's first song: Hungry Like the Wolf

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