David Cook Wins American Idol

Cook, 25, who was tending bar and playing in a band before he auditioned for the singing competition, stood back to applaud rival David Archuleta, 17, and then bent over crying after host Ryan Seacrest said he had won by 12 million votes.

The dueling Davids garnered a record 97.5 million votes between them, smashing the previous record by 23 million.

Also, it was announced that seventeen-year-old Josiah Leming, known as the teary-eyed "American Idol" contestant who just missed making it through the show's Hollywood audition rounds, has signed with Warner Bros. Records for a record and publishing deal. He is to begin recording his album this week.