FOX's Idol Breaks Voting Records

LOS ANGELES, May 22:
Season seven of FOX’s American Idol came to a close last night with David Cook being crowned the winner
after a record-setting 97.5 million votes.

The votes received for
this season shattered the previous Idol record of 74 million after last year’s finale. The two-hour final
episode featured performances by previous winners Carrie Underwood and Jordin
Sparks, as well as Donna Summer, George Michael, The Jonas Brothers, One
Republic, Seal and Gladys Knight, among others. There was also an appearance by
Mike Myers promoting his new film, The Love Guru. In addition, a spoof music video featuring Robert
Downey Jr., Ben Stiller and Jack Black as “Pips” to Gladys Knight, performing Midnight
Train to Georgia, aired during the
episode. Proceeds from the downloads of the video from iTunes will be donated
to charity.

Last night’s episode was
viewed by an estimated 31.7 million viewers—up from last year’s 30.8
million. The winner, a 25-year-old former bartender, was the first rock artist
to win the competition. He amassed 56 percent of the vote, beating out teen pop
balladeer David Archuleta.

AT&T announced today
that it recorded more than 78 million text messages for the show this season,
topping the previous record of 64.5 million.

American Idol returns to the FOX schedule in January 2009. The
19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia North America production is distributed
worldwide by FremantleMedia Enterprises.

—By Mansha Daswani