American Idol (season 7) American Idol (season 7) The seventh season of "American Idol", the annual reality show and singing competition, began on January 15, 2008 and concluded on May 21, 2008. Ryan Seacrest continued to host the show with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returning as judges. David Cook was announced the winner of the competition on May 21, 2008, defeating runner-up David Archuleta by a margin of roughly 12 million votes out of over 97 million, which was at that time the highest recorded vote total ever recorded in the show's history. The split was 56% to 44%. The seventh
American Idol (season 5) Ninth-place finisher Mandisa's "True Beauty" album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2007. Season five is the season from the first ten seasons of "American Idol" with the most number of finalists who have made it onto the Billboard charts. The compilation album for this season was performed by the top twelve finalists. In 2006, American Idol also became the most nominated unscripted show ever, and has several nominations in the 2006 Emmy Awards for season five: American Idol (season 5) The fifth season of reality television singing competition "American Idol" began on January 17,