Last night’s stunning upset in the final on American Idol was a fantastic win for all of us fans of the show who have been sick and tired of the judges telling us who has won. From day one of this season all we have heard is that David Archuleta was the one to beat. On Tuesday night all three judges were positively giddy telling the audience and the contestants that Archuleta had soundly won the night and the competition , criticizing David Cook on both of his own song choices and heaping praise on the 17 year old wunderkind from Utah.
Last night right before the winner was announced Simon Cowell had the guts to apologize to David Cook- stating that he had been disrespectful of David (Cook) and that in viewing the tape back later what he saw in the broadcast was not nearly as clear cut as what the judges thought they saw in the theater the night before. DUH! Archuleta sounds great- he has a beautiful voice but his vocals are limited. David Cook came to the finale and rocked the house down with the Clive Davis pick “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and then continued with David C’s pick from the songwriter submissions with “Dream Big”.
“Dream Big” and its arrangement played like a great stadium rock anthem with Cook in his element looking like a star not a scared boy on stage who still won’t open his eyes when he sings even though Andrew Lloyd Webber got after him (David Archuleta) about it- not once but twice.
David Cook’s final choice of the night for the finale was the emotional Collective Soul song “The World I Know” . The judges trounced Cook for not repeating one of his hits from earlier in the season and Cook had responded that he wanted to do something new and that he had sung a song he had never done before one that was emotional that would change things up from the rock anthems he had started the show with. This was a dig to his opponent who took the safe course of action and repeated the song he received the most acclaim for with Archuleta repeating “Imagine”.
What the judges did not calculate into their pronouncements on Tuesday is that the American public is fickle and easily turned off. Do not make assumptions and decisions for us- don’t tell us who to vote for. We will listen to your opinions but in the end we make our own decisions both with voting now and with our wallets as we shell over money for David Cook’s 1st album!
