posted May 21, 2008 at 12:38 in Other Articles

The long winding road otherwise known as American Idol will come to a close Wednesday evening with the airing of the final elimination show of the season. It’s been a very interesting competition to say the least, and hopefully entertainment bettors looking to make a buck in a less popular arena have followed this article closely throughout. If you have, you’ve made a couple bucks to throw down betting on the NBA, AFL, or MLB over the next month. We predicted another winner last week when Syesha Mercado got voted off leaving American Idol bettors with the final showdown they’ve been clamoring for since the Final 12 was announced. That’s right, David vs. David.

The show started off a bit cheesy by making the audience sit through Michael Buffer’s bantering while giving the specs of both the David’s before they trotted down to the stage in their best boxing gear to “get it on” while doing their best Muhammad Ali impressions. Heavyweight battle, I think not but I press on…

The judges told both contestants they need to come at it with everything they’ve got and not to leave anything on stage. I figured David Cook would do so since he managed to do just that in just about every one of his performances this season. I wasn’t as sold on Mr. Archuleta. That said, David Archuleta simply came out and earned the right to become the next American Idol. Randy has stated all season long that, “he’s in it to win it”, and that was exactly what happened last night. With David Cook smashing the competition last week, I told you all to buy as much of him at –140 to win it all as you can since the line would certainly increase. Oddsmakers were quick to make the adjustment, and David Cook opened a –230 favorite to take the season 7 crown at BetUS.com. After being an underdog for most of the season, Cook became the favorite a couple weeks back, but his effort on Tuesday night, while good, just wasn’t enough to overcome the following that Archuleta has gained throughout the last four months. Cook knew he had his hands full when Ryan Seacrest introduced them both for their fans to take notice, and even admitted it.

Where Cook really faltered was in his final act by allowing Archuleta to perform “Imagine” again, while deciding to tackle Collective Soul’s “The World I Know” for the first time. He stated that last night’s show was all about having fun, but he couldn’t have been more incorrect. Last night’s show was about sealing the deal, but his carefree attitude allowed Archuleta to really outshine him. Cook really let him off the hook even though he did a solid job. What he should have done was give us a longer version of “Billie Jean” or “Hello” since those two songs were of his most memorable.

Look for the odds on Archuleta to continue to plummet throughout the day, but he can be bought at +200 at BetUS.com right now. With the fan base this kid has gained throughout the show and the performances he churned out on Tuesday night, Archuleta deserves to be crowned the next American Idol. So grab the plus odds on the kid that’s been groomed to win this event since he was just a little kid.

BetUS.com American Idol Odds to win it all:

David Cook -230

David Archuleta +200

Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found in the BetUS.com Sportsbook, in Futures/props, under Entertainment Props.