Meet your new pop ‘Idol’
David Cook fans disagree with the ‘A.I.’ judges and give the underdog the crown
TELEVISION. Though 25-year-old David Cook looked down for the count after the über-cheesy boxing metaphor of a final performance show on Tuesday, his fans lifted him to victory over favorite David Archuleta and crowned Cook the Season 7 “American Idol” champ last night. But first, the bloated finale extravaganza at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles featured performances by former contestants, Donna Summer, George Michael, Bryan Adams and a shameless promotion for the Mike Meyers film “The Love Guru.” It wasn’t until nearly two hours later, amidst a shower of audience adoration, that the husky voiced Cook was named king and belted the gooey anthem “Time of My Life,” which will be his first single, with his trademark rock edge and the requisite tears.
Heading into Tuesday’s epic battle of the Davids, it seemed the deciding factor in selecting a new Idol would be which singer’s group of female fans had the fastest ability to text message their votes. The real fight looked to come between squeaky clean Archuleta’s core support group of tweens, soccer moms and grandmothers and rocker Cook’s fan base of sorority girls and single thirtysomethings still looking to tame a “bad boy” — and it did.
Cook delivered top-notch performances through Tuesday’s three rounds of songs. “I thought it was phenomenal,” judge Simon Cowell gushed after Big David’s take on U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Meanwhile, for his rendition of “Dream Big,” a finalist in the songwriting competition, Randy Jackson praised, “What made it work was your voice. You were singing your face off.” Paula Abdul commended him for ‘’delivering unbelievable songs with integrity and originality” after his performance of Collective Soul’s “The World I Know.”
But it didn’t seem to be enough; Archuleta (all 100 pounds of the kid, if you don’t count the weight of the stage dad on his back) seemingly pummeled his competitor, prompting Cowell to declare Little David the winner of the night.
Even Cook seemed to concede: “As far as I’m concerned, the competition’s over, and we’re just having fun,” he admitted.
Nonetheless, the former bartender bounced back on the love of his supporters, reminding everyone that “American Idol” is as much popularity contest as talent show.