Both David Cook and David Archuleta sang three songs in the fight to the finish: the "American Idol" title.

It was the "American Idol" title bout of the season with DAVID ARCHULETA vs. DAVID COOK taking center stage.

As ET earlier reported, there was a coin toss after the Final 2 were announced last week, and David A. won. He opted to go second, so David C. went first.

For the first round of the competition, music legend CLIVE DAVIS, whose label will be releasing the winner's CD, selected the song that each of the finalists performed.

For Cook, he selected U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For." Judge RANDY JACKSON pronounced, "I am going to call you DC. I think it was a great way to start out this duel. Nice song choice. It was hot." PAULA ABDUL teased, "You may not have found what you are looking for, but we did. We need to look no further. David Cook has arrived. You are in great voice tonight." SIMON COWELL pointed out, "At the top of this show, you looked tense and emotional. I understand why. Taking that all together, I thought it was phenomenal."

ELTON JOHN's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was Clive's choice for Archuleta. Randy declared, "It doesn't matter what happens. You got to know one thing. That is one of the best performances of the whole season. That was unbelievably molten hot. You picked the right time to peak." Paula agreed, adding, "Chills up and down my arms. The sun is never going to go down on you. You bring out so much sunshine through your singing. That was a stunning performance." Simon tried to play it as if he was going to say something negative: "David, I am going to be honest, I thought last week you were okay. I thought tonight's performance was arguably the best you have done so far. Taking everything into account, round one goes to David Archuleta."

For round two, each of the two finalists selected one of the Top 10 songs from the songwriters' competition. This is the hardest part of the competition, because the audience has never heard these songs before, and it is up to the performers to put their own stamp on the tunes.

Guitar in hand, Cook took to the stage for "Dream Big." Randy told him, "The song was just okay for me, but what made it work was you were singing your face off." Paula praised, "A song in your heart, a guitar in your hands, we were mesmerized by you." Simon was harsher, saying, "I thought the end was okay. Bearing in mind this is supposed to be a winning song, this didn't feel like a winning moment to me. The good news is we have got a third song."

Archuleta's song selection was "In This Moment." Randy enthused, "Once again for me, I wasn't crazy about the song. You are so in the zone, you could sing the phone book and it would be good." Paula rated it "another heartfelt performance. It is like you are on fire tonight. That is why you are in the finals." Simon said, "I love the egotistical lyric. You definitely chose the better song -- much more in keeping with the night. Round two goes to David Archuleta."

For round three, David Cook picked COLLECTIVE SOUL's "The World I Know," which he has never sung before. Randy said, "One of the cool things about you, is you are showing people different sides. This is the kind of record you can make." Paula gave him a standing ovation, saying, "You are standing and delivering unbelievable songs with integrity. I truly applaud you." Simon prefaced his criticism, saying, "I just want to say publicly, you are one of the nicest, most sincere contestants we have had. I thought that was a beautiful song. I thought it was completely and utterly the wrong song for you on this night. You should have sung 'Billie Jean.'"

The final song of the night was David Archuleta's version of "Imagine." Randy declared, "We thought all season it would come down to this. You are so good tonight. The best singer is right there." Paula stated, "It is the culmination. You left me speechless." Simon wrapped up the night, saying, "At the end of the day, this show is about finding a star. Tonight we have witnessed a great finale. In my opinion, David, you came out here to win. What we have witnessed is a knockout."