25-year-old David Cook from Blue Springs, Missouri, was crowned American Idol 2008 (Season 7) Wednesday, in a surprise result at the year-old, 7,000-seat Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

david cook

A record 97 million votes were cast overall, 23 million more than American Idol’s previous high. In the end, Cook won by a relatively wide margin, 56% to 44%, or 12 million votes.