David Archuleta's 2nd Place Finish Prompts Comparisions To Clay

It should come as no surprise that with the first all male American Idol finale since Clay and Ruben, there should be comparisons between Clay and this year's 2nd place finisher, David Archuleta. I'm not talking comparisons between how they sing or their personalities. But comparisons concerning how David A did not have to win to be successful. After all, just look at Clay and his success.

Here are what some of the online news sites have to say about this:

College On The Record (Penn State) - The title of their article is, "David Archuletta: Next Clay Aiken?"

The Improper - "But Archuleta is sure to get a solid career start out of the show as well, just like Clay Aiken before him."

STLToday.com -

In this first man-to-man "American Idol" face-off since the David-and-Goliath dust-up of Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken in Season 2, the franchise is getting its best shot yet at a male superstar winner.

WashingtonPost.com (The TV Column) -

Nearly 32 million viewers watched the two-hour coronation of David Cook on "American Idol" on Wednesday -- the show's third-largest finale crowd ever.

The singing derby's biggest finale audience remains the more than 36 million who watched in '06, when Taylor Hicks took the "American Idol" tiara. Ironically, Hicks is widely regarded as the show's least successful winning Idolette.

Next in line is '03, when more than 34 million tuned in to see whether Clay Aiken or Ruben Studdard would become Idol 2, following Kelly Clarkson.

Roanoke.com -

Wednesday night's battle of the Davids may have been the most watched "American Idol" finale since the 2003 showdown between Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard.

I wasn't a Clay fan, but I just knew he'd be crowned the next Idol. From where I sat all season, he was indisputably the fan favorite ... wasn't he?....

....Besides, I'm already convinced that David Archuleta is going to win the crown anyway.

And then something happens. David Cook wins. And I think about all those David Archuleta fans who at this moment must be feeling blindsided the same way ClayMates felt blindsided when Ruben took the gold that night in 2003. Like Clay, Little David held the popular vote and was considered the frontrunner most of the season ... wasn't he?

Deseret News -

Like Clay Aiken, runner-up for Season 2, Archuleta is every bit as popular as the winner and has nothing to be bummed about. In fact, this could actually work toward his advantage.....He'll be in good company. The label is home to several other "Idol" contestants (Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Blake Lewis, Aiken, Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood), half of which were winners, half of which were not, but all have had great success at the label.