American Idol finals set: It's David vs. David...

As predicted, David Archuleta and David Cook will compete for the title of "American Idol" next week and THAT will be a final not to be missed! It'll be epic, a real battle of the titans. Syesha Mercado seemed prepared for the inevitable and was radiant even though it was her elimination night. As well she should be. Third place out of more than 100,000 people who tried out. I'll be among those interviewing Syesha tomorrow morning and I look forward to hearing what she has to say about her experience.

And I wonder who Syesha thinks will win next week? Will it be David the boy or David the man? As Simon Cowell said: "I think we're gonna have a real humdinger next week"

Since there are no performances to recap, I took notes on each of the hometown visits.

David Archuleta: After watching David A's hometown trip back to Utah, it was clear that this guy has already won the competition. The girls are nuts for him in the way they were for THE BEATLES! Then he won me over when he cried at his high school because he couldn't believe so many people had shown up.
At an earlier stop at the mall - which also had huge, screaming fans, he wondered: "Where did everybody park?"
We're so used to David just smiling and kind of laughing and kind of talking. We got to see more of his personality and were reminded of his youth when after watching the clips of his hometown visit from the stage he said to Seacrest: "It's embarrassing, they showed a lot of me crying. Gosh."

Syesha Mercado: At her elementary school in Florida, there was a wild crowd and people were absolutely losing their minds: "This is crazy, I've got people throwing their babies at me." Before she went on to her high school, there was a visit with her parents. Her dad, a recovering drug user, called her success on the show "a natural high" and said it was a reason to stay clean and sober."
Well, he was honest. It also gives you some insight into what a tremendous person of grit that Syesha is to rise above that and my hunch is, she's got a pretty terrific mother.
In the limo back to the airport, she sobbed: "This is so good..I feel so happy. This is my dream and I'm living it."

David Cook: Blue Springs, Mo. The newscasts were on "Cook Watch" He was latrer seen doing the weather, on radio and later thowing out a pitch at the ballpark: "It's amazing how crazy this is." There were throngs of fans (some weeping) at his concert. He then went to his elementary school to surprise his music teacher whom inspired him: It was all topped off by a parade - people lining both sides if the street: "This is a trip," he said. "I can't process it ... I got to do all the things that I wanted to do growing up here in one day...This is AMAZING!"