Five Ten Song Friday: Best of American Idol Season 7

American Idol is over for this year, but I would just like to take one final look back at the best performances of the season.

Honorable Mentions: Although not technically any good, Kristy Lee Cook's flag-waving tribute to our country "God Bless the U.S.A." was the most brilliant song choice I've ever seen in any of the seven seasons and made me not give a crap that she lasted longer than she should have...Carly Smithson and Michael John's duet on "The Letter" at this year's finale wasn't part of the competition, but I was mourning the fact that, just like Jennifer Hudson, we let these two brilliant singers go way too early (especially when the mediocre Syesha Mercado and awful Jason Castro both lasted longer than both of them). They need to make a duet album pronto...David Archuleta's version of Chris Brown's "With You" made me swoon like a 13 year old girl at a Backstreet Boys concert

10. Michael Johns "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right"
Too often, Michael Johns picked the wrong song for his voice and ended up being labeled as mediocre for the first few weeks. But, all of a sudden, this soulful number popped up out of nowhere and proved that there was more to him then that sexy Australian accent.



9. David Archuleta "Think of Me"
By taking this enormous Andrew Lloyd Webber ballad and stripping it down to the bare minimum, Archuleta finally proved that he could be a contemporary recording artist.



8. Brooke White "You're So Vain"
"You're So Vain" is hardly the first song I would have picked for Brooke, but as soon as she started singing, it made complete sense.



7. David Cook "Eleanor Rigby"
I thought Beatles week would be a complete disaster, but it actually provided one-third of this list. Winner David Cook's "Eleanor Rigby" is the first entry and the first time I realized that he was a force to be reckoned with.



6. Syesha Mercado "One Rock 'n Roll Too Many"
After weeks of mediocre performance after mediocre performance, Syesha came out of nowhere on Andrew Lloyd Webber night with this sexy and fiesty performance.



5. Carly Smithson "Superstar"
I thought Carly had peaked a few weeks before, but she too came out of nowhere on Andrew Lloyd Webber night with this fierce performance. The voice is back! Too bad America got it wrong and kicked her out that week, but have you ever seen an exit song this strong?



4. Brooke White "Let It Be"
Possibly my favorite Beatles song and Brooke did complete justice to it. She would never match the vulnerability she poured into this song or her complete understanding of every lyric.



3. David Cook "Always Be My Baby"
I was ambivalent the first time I heard this, but I must say it has grown on me over the weeks. David C. got a little too much credit during his Idol run for turning random pop songs into rock songs, but this was one time he earned every complement he received.



2. David Archuleta "Imagine"
The moment America fell in love with little Davie Archuleta and proved he was a forced to be reckoned with. No other male teenage contestant (who are usually laughed off during the semi-finals) has every gone this far transforming a song to suit their needs. But, then again, David Archuleta always has been special.



1. Carly Smithson "Come Together"
This may come as surprise, given my complete love of Archuleta the entire season, but no other performance got me as excited as Carly's rendition of "Come Together." I listened to it over and over and started telling everyone about it. It's a shame that Carly went week after week without ever following up on the promise of this performance (that is, until "Superstar") but it's hard to match this top-notch work.

Let me know your favorite performances of the season in the comments!