by Kenneth Schonmeier

Created on: April 20, 2009

With every new season in American Idol, there soon emerges the one or two contestants who just seems to be a notch above the rest of the crew. In season seven it was obvious early on that it would come down to the two Davids. David Archuleta and the eventual winner David Cook. Archuleta being the likable personality with the easy voice and David Cook having the rock-n-roll persona with the grittier voice. What put David Cook over the top was the "X" factor. His uncanny ability to make each performance to seem it was a full concert. He commanded the stage and put on a great show each performance.

This year in Season 8, we practically have a replay of season 7. Two contestants have stood out, lifting themselves a notch above the others. Once again we have Danny Gokey, a guy that you can't help but to like with a gentle voice. Again, in Adam Lambert we have the rocking artist with the punkish hairstyle who also happens to have that same "X" factor. With each week, we anxiously await his performance to see just what he will do. Will he come out and head bang with one of the band members as he screams harmoniously or will he show the gentle side and put on a show filled with an intriguing heart felt quality? Which ever it is, one thing that we can be sure of is that watching him will feel like you are watching a seasoned artist putting on yet one more electrifying show.

So who will win? Will it be the lovable personality that we seem to connect with or the X-factor quality? If we take a lesson from season 7, we would put our money on Adam Lambert to take the prize. Like David Cook, his ability to put on a concert with each song will give him that edge that should put him over the top. Yet this year there are other factors to consider. Unlike David Cook, Adam Lambert seems to be more of the harder rock persona. This could fall against him as there might be more people who dont like the black leather, black hair and eye-liner. Where Cook was more of the tame rock-n-roll style, Adam's hard rock style might turn a few more older voters away. Along with that, Danny Gokey has something that David Archuleta did not have going for him. He has a story that grabs at our hearts. Being a young music director for his church, his wife passed away not long ago. Any married man can connect with him for that reason alone. To lose a loved one at such a young age, it is something none of us wants to consider going through. Understandably, this will give Gokey a compassionate edge.

If I had to take my early guess, I would say that Adam Lambert will be this years American Idol. I would not want to place any money on it though. Just keep one thing in mind. As much as Adam Lambert and Danny Gokey seem to be the two standouts, don't forget what happened to Chris Daughtry a few years back. He was considered the favorite by many and was voted off with four or five weeks left. There are no golden rules saying this cant happen again and the judges have now spent their one 'save'.

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