David Cook was crowned the seventh American Idol last night. A record 97.5 million votes were cast (23 million more than in any other season), and David C. took home 56 percent of the votes to runner-up David Archuleta's 44 percent. "I started this season, much to Simon's chagrin, as the 'word nerd' and I'm absolutely at a loss for words right now," a near-tears David said after he was announced the winner. "Thank you guys, this is amazing. Thank you." It was a star-studded finale with Janice Dickinson, Mike Myers, Marissa Jaret Winokur and former Idol contestants Sanjaya Malakar, Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle in the audience. The most unexpected part of the evening was when Simon apologized to David Cook. "I want to congratulate both of you on last night because... it was a terrific show," said a contrite Simon. "In fact, David, I will take this opportunity to apologize because I think I was verging on disrespectful with you and I don't think you deserve that... I think you've both done terrific."