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
Charles Jackson (judge) of the United States Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Charles Jackson (judge) Charles Jackson (31 May 1775 – 13 December 1855) was an American jurist. He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Jackson was the son of Newburyport merchant and Continental Congress Massachusetts delegate Jonathan Jackson and Hannah Tracy. He graduated from Harvard University in 1793, studied law with Chief Justice Parsons, and began to practice in 1796 at Newburyport. In 1803, he relocated to Boston, where, associated with Judge Hubbard, he had a most lucrative practice, probably more lucrative than any other in New England had been up until that time.