By MARK WASHBURN

David Cook was crowned American Idol Wednesday, his smooth showmanship defeating a favoured young challenger who swept the judges’ praise the previous night.

“This is amazing. Thank you,” Cook said, after bending to the stage floor with emotion when the results were announced.

Defeated was David Archuleta, 17, a fresh-faced balladeer groomed most of his life for the stage by his jazz musician father. Archuleta was widely praised by the judges for slam-dunk performances in the final round.

Cook, 25, who grew up outside Kansas City, Missouri, and most recently worked as a bartender while playing in clubs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a rocker in the style of one of the show’s most successful runners-up, Chris Daughtry.

He wasn’t even going to audition – he accompanied his brother to the tryouts to support him and a producer talked him into giving it a try.

He wound up in the finals.

Wednesday’s Idol finale, timed to fall on the last night of May ratings sweeps, featured all 12 finalists of TV’s No. 1 show.

Among the parade of stars entertaining: Donna Summer, comedian Jimmy Kimmel (“Hey, I valet parked outside; how much do I tip Sanjaya?”), ZZ Top, OneRepublic, Gladys Knight, Ben Stiller, Carrie Underwood and George Michael.

Wednesday’s show opened with host Ryan Seacrest announcing that the contest wasn’t close – a 56-44 percent split among the 98 million votes cast, exceeding last year’s total by more than 20 million.

But it was widely judged a lacklustre year for the popular talent show.

While it still delivered a blockbuster audience, ratings were down about 8 percent and it lacked strong personalities and breakout talent of previous seasons.

Judge Randy Jackson wouldn’t agree. “This has been one of the strongest years ever,” he said before the winner was announced.

Simon Cowell, who had been unsparing with criticism of both at times, congratulated the two finalists, praising them for taking chances.

“For the first time ever, I don’t care who wins,” Cowell said. “I think you’ve both been terrific.”

- Copyright (C) 2008 mCT Information Services

David Cook looks happy as he sings Roberta Flack’s old hit, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

David Archuleta wows the audience with his version of Billy Joel’s song, “And So It Goes”

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One year later, the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct and Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy. The four children will soon meet a curious new character: Narnia’s rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding, as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians–led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian–embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz’s tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

Rebecca Murray reviews that many of the scenes in The Chronicles of Narnia are simply gorgeous to watch, even breathtaking, but looks arent everything. There has to be a connection made between whats on the screen and the audience, and this overly long, joyless film never breaks through.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is two distinctly different films. The first part is a quiet, gentle story of four siblings trying their best to make do and comfort each other during a terribly lonely time in their young lives.

The youngest child Lucy (Georgie Henley) stumbles upon an enchanted world while playing hide and seek with her sister and brothers. Exiting the back of a magical wardrobe, she finds herself caught in a wonderous wintery land where she runs into Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy), a half-man, half-goat creature who tells her about the world of Narnia.

Lucy shortly returns to her family practically bursting at the seams with news of Narnia. Of course, no one believes her. Its all too fantastic. But each of her siblings eventually discover for themselves that Lucys telling the truth. As soon as the children enter the snow-coated world beyond the wardrobe, Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) find themselves cast as central figures in the battle between good (the Lion, voiced by Liam Neeson) and evil (The Witch, played by Tilda Swinton), with the fate of the citizens of Narnia resting in their young, innocent hands. At that point, the film becomes all about the action and special effects and loses focus on the storytelling. The humanity goes missing from the tale and in its place are horrific bloodbaths and brutal, graphic killings. Read more.

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