Enlarge Fox Smithson: Played it straight on Without You.

Yet the seven remaining Idol contestants 
rose to the challenge. 
David Cook superbly transformed 
Always Be My Baby into a 
grunge ballad, while Jason Castro 
converted I Don't Wanna Cry
 into a lulling "luau" (as judge Randy 
Jackson put it) ballad. 
Brooke White was a little less successful 
in turning Hero 
into a singer/songwriter plaint, good idea
 though it was.

The other singers were more 
conventional in their approaches, 
but wisely avoided oversinging or, for the most part, attempting 
Mariah-like vocal feats beyond their abilities. Kristy Lee Cook's 
skillfully restrained Forever may have been her best of the season.

Routine belting from David Archuleta (When You Believe), 
Carly Smithson (Without You) and Syesha Mercado, whose 
Vanishing was regrettably mannered, paled by comparison. 
But it was a surprising victory for the Idols, and you have to call the win …
 Mariah.