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
Cenla Idol was among four contestants who were either born or lived in the Alexandria market who made it to the Hollywood rounds phase of "American Idol", the most from any market in the U.S. for season four. In 2011, Meeks auditioned for season six of "America's Got Talent". He eventually made it to the live performance rounds, but was eliminated in the first week of the quarterfinal round. Shreveport native Jenny Snider, who won the "Cenla Idol" competition in 2006, made it past the judges in the Memphis audition for season six of "American Idol" to go to Hollywood and was