TV

The David Archuleta coefficient

Will the rocker beat the teenybopper?

Last night was the blank-iest of the blank, with the coaching of Mariah Carey taking center stage. Perhaps other than “Whitney,” there’s no single name more feared than “Mariah.”

Then again, maybe last night’s challenge was so daunting, we headed into it with lowered expectations. Singing Mariah to Mariah, shockingly, sounded OK.

1. How does one define David Cook? Two words… “American Idol.” OK, that’s going a bit far with two months left in competition. But at point, he’s clearly established himself as the leading performer.

Whether David C. can break David Archuleta’s electoral strangle hold is a whole other issue.

David C’s power rock take on “Always Be My Baby” could be a hit today.

2. It was nice of Carly Smithson to shout out to Michael Johns in her pre-song chat, telling viewers how his sense of humor is sorely missed back stage.

Her “Without You” (an homage to Michael?) sounded great although we were had a split decision on Carly’s appearance. M.J. believed she looked beautiful, while K. Li thought our lass came off too old for her real age.

3. We’re not ready to brand Kristy Lee Cook a contender, but you can’t deny she’s pulling it all out for the final weeks.

With straight hair and a beautiful dress, she also looked a bit older than her real age — but in this case, that’s a good thing. She looked like an adult. She looked like a star, “Forever.”

4. We agree that Brooke White, a gorgeous gal to begin with, might actually be getting prettier week to week, if that‘s possible. After that, we have sharp difference of opinion.

M.J. bought into Simon’s “order a hamburger and only getting a bun” critique of Brooke‘s stripped-down piano rendition of “Hero.”

K. Li loved it, arguing you can’t put down a performer for interpreting a song to her stylistic strength.

5. The judges and K. Li enjoyed Syesha Mercado’s “Vanishing.” Mariah seemed to connect with Syesha in the coaching clip and helped build her confidence that came through in the performance.

M.J. wasn’t sold, and was bored by it.

6. We’re going to start invoking the “David Archuleta Coefficient” around here, when it comes to the judges on-going love affair with this fan favorite.

In David A. math, mediocre performances are doubled into good comments from judges; and when he sings even reasonably well, Simon multiplies him into the hands-down, next “Idol.”

Last night’s “When You Believe” pleased the studio audience — and that’s fair, but it shouldn’t have completely blown away the judges. Simon said David A. “has stolen the show.”

Huh? We’re bewildered.

7. “I Don’t Want to Cry” — but we did, in tears of boredom, for Jason Castro.

We expect Paula to lavish undeserved praise every week, but Simon (who called Jason’s performance “cool”) too? In what oddball universe was that performance, “cool,” Simon?

We’re going to pull our dreads out if there’s a Michael Johns-less Super Six that includes Jason.

– By MELISSA JANE KRONFELD and DAVID K. LI