6 Responses

1. Annette

   May 22nd, 2008 at 1:07 pm

   1

   SOOOOO upset. He is not easy on the eyes and he can ONLY sing rock and sound like a knock out. He was NOT the right American Idol!

2. Sabrina

   May 22nd, 2008 at 1:29 pm

   2

   I totally expected Little David to win because that is how it seemed, but boy was I wrong! I was shocked when Ryan said that Big David was THE AMERICAN IDOL but I wanted him to win, he was the better performer and singer. For me, LIttle David was too Disney/High School Musical and would be better suited to that sort of area, in my opinion.

3. Charity

   May 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm

   3

   I was so super surprised. I missed the part of the show where they announced the total # of counted votes because I was watching it from the bone marrow transplant unit of the hospital I work at, so thanks for the 56/44 scoop.

   I can see why people like Cook. He’s musically daring and really good at re-inventing old songs with new arrangements. But his voice is, well, I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard it before. If I hear a song of his on the radio, I won’t be like, “Oh, that’s David Cook…OMG!” because his voice sounds arguably similar to many of the other artists who swim around in that figurative pool that is the rock/emo/mesesy-hair genre.

   I guess I thought that after surpassing Mariah Carey in iTunes sales several weeks ago, Cook had already won a major battle in the war for the title of American Idol, and that his new-found thirst for fame might be relatively quenched. However, America wanted to give him more, more, more. Afterall, he’s already made so much money for charity, Cook clearly would have been a successful recording artist whether he won the #1 title, or not. Last night, I honestly thought Archuleta was going to win. Perhaps the kid was cursed by Simon’s praise the night before. You know, like when Carly Smithson was eliminated the very next night after finally receiving a compliment from Simon and whipping out the “SIMON LOVES ME (this week)” T-shirt. Simon’s compliments may have been the kiss of death that hurt Carly and cost Archuleta the title.

   Perhaps the take-home message here is that America sympathizes with the underdog. They might not say it out loud, but they do it with their cell phones as teeny-boppers nationwide vote hundreds of times each Tuesday night for the contestant they think no one else would otherwise vote for. I believe that people stop going out of their way to vote for the recipient of Simon’s approval, because they mistakingly believe that Simon’s approval is sufficient to keep anyone in the game.

   In metabolic biology, this same phenomenon is called “feedback inhibition”: when sufficient or excess amounts of the final product of a multi-step chemical reaction have been made, the products of certain reactions will sometimes go back to the beginning and inhibit the first step of their own synthesis, thus inhibiting all subsequent reactions so that no more of itself can or will be made. Terminating the synthesis of a product that already exists in excess saves energy and makes sense. However, in American Idol language, the “product” inhibiting itself is, basically, APPROVAL. Approval from the judges doesn’t hold the same weight as votes of approval from viewers, which is why I believe the Season 7 finale was so damn disappointing. Feedback inhibition occurs each time time you assume that a contestant received enough or more public approval than you were expecting them to get in the first place, so logic tells you to stop voting so hard for that person and save your voting energy for the contestant who was snubbed by Simon this week, because you assume that they’re suffering from an approval defficiency of some sort.

   So when Simon gave that sincere, “total 3-round K.O.”-esque compliment to Archuleta in the finals, it is my opinion that America once again assumed that the recipient of Simon’s praise was already “safe” enough to make it to the next round based on that merit alone… so they stop voting as much or rooting as hard for the contestant Simon liked. Just as Simon gets the contestant’s momentum going, America accidentally turns around and puts an end to it the next day. America is sending contestants the message that if the judges already love you so much, then why do you need our help? America does love underdogs, but the basis for becoming an underdog shouldn’t be based on Simon’s insults alone. My perspective is that David Cook may not have been praised by the judges in the final round, but for christ’s sake, he’s ALREADY OUTSOLD MARIAH CAREY! America must love hearing that same played-out, generic, grungy rocker voice come out of each greasy musician they hear so much that they were willing to punish Archuleta for entertaining the judges with three flawless and memorable performances. Unless, of course, 56% of you were really voting for Cook’s brother. You know, the one with brain cancer on the cover of all the entertainment magazines. Because, that’s understandable. I would have voted for Cook based solely on the fact that he has a brother with brain cancer also, and thus hold no grudge against anyone who voted for Cook 400 times in a row on Tuesday because his family really is that goddamn compelling. After all, Archuleta’s dad was kinda creepy, and Joel McHale really drove that point home even further on last week’s episode of The Soup.

   But when the lights go out, the fans go home, and the next season comes and goes, one thing about the only season of American Idol that was worth a damn will always remain engraved in my memory: David Archuleta, the adorable kid with a remarkably unique voice, who sang songs about hope and synchronicity, and who reminded us to “IMAGINE all the people living life in peace”….didn’t win.

   That’s democracy for you. I wonder how the presidential election might turn out if, like American Idol, there was no minimum age to vote and compulsive tweenagers could submit hundreds of votes each, as many times as physically possible within 2 hours. Hmmmm…..IMAGINE that!

4. Margaret

   May 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm

   4

   As soon as i saw that david cook won the first thing i said was, ” i bet dana is so happy! she will def. have a post about it soon!”

5. Lindsay

   May 22nd, 2008 at 6:37 pm

   5

   I’m SOOOO excited that David Cook won! David A was definitely highschool musical-esque.

6. Melissa

   May 23rd, 2008 at 3:53 am

   6

   I love David Cook. I’m very glad he won! And he doesn’t have a girlfriend – he said it on american idol a few weeks ago