Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium - July 30 and July 31, 2007. He was still 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adam' "Heaven" to unanimous praise) and, along with other contestants not yet 18, will have to go to school ("doing schoolwork in the morning and then come onto the stage and then go back to the schoolwork") while a part of American Idol's seventh season.His parents have been on hand, because he's a minor.Archuleta has also taken advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments; he has accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."

The Los Angeles Times noted that Archuleta likely avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine" because, "as a Mormon (member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'"Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13.

Along with David Cook, Archuleta is one of just two contestants to have never been in the bottom three or in danger of elimination on American Idol's season seven.

SYESHA MERCADO

She auditioned for American Idol Season 7 in Miami, Florida singing "Think" by Aretha Franklin where she made it to Hollywood with all three judges saying 'yes'.When she arrived in Hollywood she had lost her voice and insisted on going on vocal rest. She was seen communicating through pen and paper throughout the week.She sang "Chain of Fools" and was accepted into the top 24.She is currently in the Top 3 and is the last girl remaining in the competition.

Despite fairly good reviews from the judges, Mercado has been in the bottom two or three five times without being voted off.

According to her AmericanIdol.com profile, Mercado's musical influences are Whitney Houston, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Zap Mama, Lauryn Hill, and Aretha Franklin.

DAVID COOK

Cook auditioned for American Idol in Omaha, Nebraska, performing Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer." He originally did not plan to try out for the show; he came to the auditions initially to support his younger brother Andrew (who did not make it to Hollywood) and then decided to try out himself.For his first Hollywood audition, Cook performed "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Later in the week he performed "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain.

Cook has taken advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments. Besides his Hollywood audition, he also accompanied himself on electric guitar for his performances of "All Right Now," "Hello," "Day Tripper," "I'm Alive," and "Baba O'Riley" and on acoustic guitar for "Little Sparrow" and "All I Really Need Is You"." His white, left-handed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar has the letters "AC" on it; as Cook told TV Guide, "I have two brothers, Adam and Andrew. So, because of superstition, I put their initials on everything growing up."Since the Top 12 week, he has also been wearing an orange wristband to support a 7-year-old fan, Lindsey Rose, with leukemia.

Cook has been both praised and criticized for his song choices, as several of his performances have been based on covers of the original songs. "Billie Jean," one of his most notable performances so far, was credited on the show to Chris Cornell and was highly praised by all three judges, especially Simon Cowell (Cowell later said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the performance "was in a different league to anything we've heard on the season so far," and although he knew where the arrangement came from, "that doesn't really matter.") The performance received great attention on YouTube with over 1 million views. Another of Cook's performances, "Day Tripper," was credited to Whitesnake. It has been claimed that his performance of "Eleanor Rigby" was based on Seattle-based band Doxology's version.On April 1, before performing his self-arranged rendition of "Little Sparrow" on American Idol, Cook responded to Ryan Seacrest in the interview session, revealing that his performance of "Eleanor Rigby" was based on Neil Zaza's and Doxology's versions. He also reiterated the credits of Whitesnake and Chris Cornell. Despite the controversy, critics praised Cook for choosing versions of songs that fit his vocal style. His arrangements of "Hello," "Little Sparrow," "Always Be My Baby," and "All I Really Need Is You" were original arrangements.

On April 1, 2008, a few hours after American Idol aired, TMZ.com first reported that Cook was driven to the hospital in a rush because his "heart was palpitating at a high rate and his blood pressure was high."The website claimed that Cook was not feeling well before the performance of Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" that night, but he had refused to go to the emergency room until the end of the show.Stress over a recent "setback" in his brother's struggle with cancer may have been a contributing factor.Subsequently, David Cook was released from the hospital and is so far doing fine.

- INFO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA -