The first single from the album

In Swedish Idol, for example, the first single from the winner’s album is actually the coronation song and it’s released immediately after the show is over (and then the album is rushed and out within a short couple of months and it’s never anything worth to remember).

I have heard that’s not the way it goes with AI and that we can expect a single from the upcoming album. My question is: If Cook’s album is scheduled for November, when can we expect the single to be released ?
Just curious (and anxious) you know …

Kansas City Star Article

David Cook, front and center
TIMOTHY FINN
The Kansas City Star

After a quick trip back to his hometown of Blue Springs last weekend, “American Idol� winner David Cook is back in Los Angeles, where he started work this week on his first post-‘Idol� album. He talked with us on Wednesday about that record, his hometown and other “Idol�-related issues.

What can you tell us about the record? It'll be a jazz calypso record. No, I'm lying. It'll be a rock record. The goal is to put some twists and turns in it and make it a little interesting. We're actually in the writing process now. I have songs that I've done in the past that have been submitted. Nothing as of yet

Have you selected a producer? We're in the midst of figuring that out. A few names have been thrown out but nothing solid. Hopefully we'll get that mapped out here in the next week or two.

When do you hope to release it? The goal is mid-fall, mid- to late fall.

Will you be part of a band or will you be a solo artist? I like the idea of the band atmosphere. Being out on the road you should to be able to have a "band of brothers" to kind of ease the transition. We're bouncing around a lot of ideas. Nothing is set in stone but I'm of the mind a band woudn't be such a bad idea.

What do you remember about your years in the Kansas City music scene? I just remember playing shows for next to no money and having nobody there and still loving it. Doing those kinds of shows was probably more eye opening for me showing me this is what I really want to do as opposed to a lot of bigger shows. It's easy to get that feeling when you're playing in front of a few hundred people who are all really into what you're doing but if you can have that same feeling playing to an empty club it probably means you're doing something right for yourself.

Did you ever get discouraged? Yeah, I got discouraged. That happens to anybody. You take your lumps and move on. In 10 years of being in bands there were times I got discouraged and wondered if I'd was going to be one of those sob stories down the road. The road to where I'm at is paved with a ton of musicians who are far more talented than me who never got the opportunity. I feel like I'm not only representing myself but in a very small way representing a lot of those people, too.

Why did you move to Tulsa? I'd been in the Kansas City scene for a long time. I just thought maybe a change of scenery would spike some inspiration. The opportunity to move down to Tulsa came up. I'd traveled to Tulsa a lot to play shows and had really kind of fallen in love with the music vibe. It seemed like a natural progression to me and it was close enough to home so I could come back and not feel like I had dropped a fortune. For me it was about getting into an environment that cultivated the kind of music I wanted to write, which is good rock with a pop sensibility. Towards the end of “Idol,� there was much more for you to do than prepare to sing a song or two. For the finale alone you had several songs and dance routines, a commercial, a skit with Mike Myers. How long were those days leading up to the last week? It wasn't unfathomable to do a 12- to 15-hour work day, just kind of prepping for it. Oddly enough, it never felt like a long day. There were times when it got a little more maybe stressful, obviously, it's such a huge platform. But Archie and I were both pretty firm in our resolve to love what you do and do what you love, it. We were certainly, for lack of better phrase, living the dream at that point. They were long days but not grueling or strenuous

But there was way more to memorize. For sure. And how we both managed to make it through relatively unscathed is beyond me. You learn it then kind of have to omit from memory at that point and hope you can recapture the memory for what is supposed to happen then. When did they tell you you’d be singing with ZZ Top? I found out abut a week before. Your reaction? Glee, really. I can't say I was a huge ZZ Top fan but to have any knowledge of music from a pop-culture standpoint you have to recognize and acknowledge how important ZZ Top is. To be able to share the stage with them was great. The fact that they were so down-to-earth and opted to make it as easy as possible for me with 20 mill other things going on, they were fantastic . What did they tell you? They just tried to give me snippets of advice enjoy it for what it is and just have fun. That's what Wednesday was about. The votes were in; there's nothing you can do so you may as well just enjoy it. That's what I did. To share the stage with them and Brian Adams and George Michael and so many other people who were very giving of their time: That was massive.

How vastly have things changed since the show ended? A little different. Obviously they have kept me pretty busy, which kind of comes with the territory. But it’s a different vibe. I’m out in the open more so I’m getting to experience some of the fruits of the labor a little bit. People have been great, very complementary and respectful and I’ve gotten a lot of great complements about my family, which is huge. From that aspect it’s nice. But I can sleep when I die. I’m kind of welcoming it all right now. It’s sensory overload but that’s part of what I like about it.

You realize everything you say is scrutinized. Apparently you said to someone that you’d like to get a dog. A lot of our reader want to know what kind of dog you want. I would like to get a Great Dane and name him Quagmire. They also want to know about the star necklace you’ve worn. It was actually given to me by our stylist, Miles, at a merch shoot for the Top 10 tour we're going on. He gave it to me. I thought it looked kind of cool. I put it on and he explained to me what the vibe of the necklace was It s supposed to mean captured by fame: It’s got these two handcuffs kind of holding a star. I think given the context, its kind of fitting. You mentioned the phrase ‘everything I say is scrutinized' well that kind of plays into the necklace. Talk about the process of picking and arranging songs for “Idol.� Is it all up to the contestants or does the band or someone else help? The arrangements and song selection is all the contestant. Every week obviously with the themes we’re given parameters. But it’s on us. As far as the finished product, we send our notes on the arrangements to the band and they do what they can with those notes. From that there is a little give and a. They give us as much time as possible to make sure we’re able to make the song suit what we want to do. But it’s on us. Do you have a favorite? I have to say “Music of the Night.� I’d gone into the week with a little bit of momentum, I guess, and had kind of done a lot as far as rearranging and felt as though people expected it of me. So at that point to be able to do this song straight and it was something I knew I could do because I have a theater background which is something I didn’t think a whole lot of people knew. So I was excited about that week. To do it straight ad have it be unexpected was a nice break for me.

http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/652543.html

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David Cook’s Victory 100% Justified – No Longer can be Viewed as “Surprise Upset.�

By Erika Blake

Entertainment Hotline Reporter

Today’s announcement from Billboard magazine that American Idol 2008 winner David Cook is about to debut on their top 100 chart with an unprecedented 11 singles (a feat only topped by the Beatles) shows that Cook’s victory last Wednesday was no fluke but the long culmination over the course of the 19 week televised competition for the grand prize that the show’s producers must have been salivating for him to achieve.

Once May 22nd came around all but the last 3 performances from the two Davids were pulled from sale, this means that 7 other singles of David’s that were released during his time on AI have also entered the charts, whereas his competition, David Archuleta only managed to bring three to the charts.

David’s new solo single (which hasn’t even had an official launch yet) “Time of my Life� which will debut at #3 on the Billboards thanks to it’s outstanding performance on iTunes is the first collaboration between Cook and the production staff at American Idol. On his website (davidcookofficial.com) he states that he’s proud of the single and was allowed creative license on its arrangement. This I believe, for the lyrics of the song truly could’ve come out as sugary sappy with anyone else helming them, however, sung with David’s grainy, gravelly mature vocal style the song does what it’s intended to do, it marks a moment in his life. The uplifting lyrics are his one opportunity to crow to the world that the golden doors to superstardom had just been shown to him and now it’s his opportunity to make the most of what they offer.


American Idol’s fickle judges seemed to be somewhat in the dark over who the forerunner was in the competition each week constantly heaping praise on the boy wonder David Archuleta, however, there were always subtle signs that the producers were keeping careful watch over Cook’s staggering downloads and orchestrated things to help lead towards his victory by carefully pushing him towards songs that appealed to a broader, older audience.

Week 3 when David Cook was home in Blue Springs Missouri, he received a call from Simon Cowell during a TV interview letting him know that he’d be singing Roberta Flack’s “The First time Ever I Saw your Face.� You might ask why this seems important…it’s also the same song that Simon’s newest pop sensation Leona Lewis sings on her debut album. Interestingly though Cook’s heart-wrenching, vocally perfect on pitch version of the song didn’t end up being the song that they chose to record in the studio for that week, instead they opted for the producers song choice “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing� by the legendary song writer Diane Warren attended the performance and launched on her feet grinning from ear to ear and applauding Cook’s rendition of her rock anthem that brought down the house. Was this perhaps an audition set up between the show and the multiple Academy Award & Grammy nominee to see if she might be inspired to write for him? We suppose only time will tell.

The first sign that we might’ve had that Cook was caught in the producer’s eyes was back in week 16 when he sang Lionel Richie’s “Hello.� On elimination night Cook was shocked to learn that the show had contacted the Grammy winning artist/writer of the song and couldn’t praise Cook enough for his take on the 80’s classic. However it was his version of the Chris Cornell cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean� that truly made Cook a force to be reckoned with in the competition and immediately separated him from the pack. Cornell’s westernized version lacks the yearning, heart, and pure rich emotion that Cook poured into his rendition. If you thought that his live version was magical, you should’ve downloaded the full studio version for it’s utterly intoxicating and causes the hairs to stand up on end (can be heard HERE.) Cook took an OK cover and reinvented it into a power rock anthem that if released as a single would make a cash strapped Michael Jackson much needed millions.

Not satisfied with simply being known as a man who is successful at covering covers, David spent the next weeks carefully arranging his own song choices. His version of Dolly Parton’s “Little Sparrow� delighted the songwriter and has proven to be a fan favorite for showcasing Cook’s rarely seen gentle side. He also earned much deserved internet buzz after running away as the clear victor on Mariah Carey night by taking her song “You will Always be my Baby� and shocked the nation and the Diva songwriter by how mesmerizing he reinvented her song.

During Andrew Lloyd Webber week the Knight of Musical theater was terrified that Cook wouldn’t be able to emote the sense of longing of unrequited love into his sexy ballad “Music of the Night� from “Phantom of the Night.� Cook who was notorious for breaking rules on the show did the unthinkable and sang the song straight, for older female viewers, that song was all they needed to fall in love with his mesmerizing gaze and dead on key, impossible to sing rendition of the song. In the studio version of the song it is nearly impossible to differentiate Cook’s vocal rendition from part’s originator Michael Crawford. Yet as always Cook wasn’t trying to impersonate Crawford, he was singing on his own proving that he can sing anything thrown at him and come out on top.

During “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame� week Cook selected Duran Duran and The Who to sing. The judges were somewhat baffled by his choice of the 80’s pop hit “Hungry like the Wolf� but heaped praise on his his rendition of “Baba O’Riley.� We can only assume that the shrewd businessman in Cook understood the tiger that he was wrestling when he made his song choices, his musician heart was likely more into singing The Who, however, Duran Duran was more commercial and would appeal to a broader audience. If you need further proof of that decision, “Hungry like the Wolf� was the song that the producers chose for him to sing in the studio and to release onto iTunes. It was more important for them to secure the interest of females in the 18-49 age bracket than for the older baby boomers who would’ve preferred The Who but who very likely did not have iTunes accounts.

The fact that again the producers seemed to be searching for songs that would help to seal Cook’s connection to the 18-49 age demographic was vitally apparent in the final week. These earlier attention grabbing song choices still paled in comparison to the performance that would follow legendary record industry leader Clive Davis’s song choice for Cook in the final showdown between the two Davids. Davis chose for Cook, “I Still Haven’t Found what I’m Looking for� by U2. Clive described his choice as seeking a song for David to sing that evoked “the yearning of a generation.� Cook’s eyes lit up at the song choice and you could see him barley controlling himself from smirking in delight. In interviews conducted earlier in the season Cook cited U2 as one of his largest influences. When he performed the song Cook took to the stage, marched out onto the platform behind the judges and commanded the audience with his performance with every bit of charisma and energy that makes Bono a rock legend. Vocally he never wavered off key and belted out the anthem like a superstar and just like every one of his performances it was Cook singing, not Bono. This performance which Simon did cite as the best of round one translated into households that the true star of the show arrived and was ready to claim his well deserved prize, even if a humble Cook himself doubted that he had done enough over the season to earn such an honor.

American Idol is often cited as being a big karaoke competition, but Cook came on and proved week after week that pure talent can truly elevate the competition to a new level. He took folk’s growing low expectations of the show and instead of ever impersonating the original artists of the songs that he sang, he made true covers of each one, infusing each one with his personal passion, creativity, and personality. All previous winners of the show have been great singers but didn’t come with much in the way of any real training in their backgrounds to make them “artists.� Unlike Cook’s competitor David Archuleta who is just beginning his journey as a singer Cook has been singing, writing songs, and performing in bands since he was 16. Two years ago he released a solo album under an independent label titled “Analog Heart� that won several awards in Tulsa and sold out. For those who are fortunate enough to have gotten their hands on a copy of this record (which is selling for $200-400 on ebay) they’re in for a real treat. All 8 songs were written, composed, and performed by Cook with a background band. I would personally classify the songs as 3 Doors Down meets Nickelback – slamming, jamming rock songs w/ an approachable pop twist that will appeal to folks from today’s kids to the aging baby boomers who attended Woodstock.

The true standout on the album is the one love song “The Truth� which tells the story of confusion over naively giving your heart fully to someone only to have them ruthlessly stomped on it in return. The melody that goes with the chorus “If you want to know the truth, you make or break my day…if you want to know the truth I wouldn’t have it any other way� is catchy and sounds every bit as solid as anything that you’ve heard in the past 10 years being produced in the alternative rock genre. Cook the resident “Word Nerd� in the competition uses his rich vocabulary on his album to produce memorable lines such as “your laugh intoxicating, one touch and I’m negating everything around…� If Cook had lived anywhere other than Tulsa (which isn’t exactly the usual stopping ground for rock music scouts) and released his record, someone would’ve snatched him up earlier and he’d currently be a household name.

Simon Fuller is quoted on David Cook’s MySpace site as saying this about their newest winner: “David Cook is a remarkable talent and is a worthy winner of American Idol,� says Simon Fuller, creator of the popular TV series and chief executive and founder of 19 Entertainment Label Group “he has an astonishing voice, and is capable of truly memorable performances as he showed throughout the season. He’s mature, well grounded and knows what he wants. It’s this quiet determination that sets him apart from other singers; I honestly believe that David has the potential to go on to become one of the most successful Idols of all time�.

With eleven songs entering the top 100 hits chart on Billboard, with local awards already in under his belt for his writing and singing, Cook is undoubtedly about to take the music world by storm. The question will be how much creative license that the producers give him on his first album. If they were smart they’d offer him piles of lyrics to choose from and let David run wild with them. His second song choice from the final 2

showdown “Dream Big� which Cook turned into an up tempo rock-pop toe tapper became instantly a song that most of his fans would have preferred to be his debut song than “Time of my Life.� “Dream Big� which apparently didn’t sound that great in the theater sounded amazing on TV. It was originally written as a country song for a female performer only further proved that Cook can take anything and stamp it with his Midas touch. Moments after winning and thrown into the arms of journalists from around the country, Cook exuded excitement about his new album. Even though he’s got a cross-country concert tour with the rest of the Top 10 American Idol finalists to deal with first, his eye is on the prize. He is cited over and over about wanting to make a record that he’ll be proud of. Let’s just hope that the producers let Cook do what he wants with the record. The show certainly needs a mega-hit on their hands. With the last several Idol’s having commercial flops for records they need to see Cook as a rare gem and let him shine on his own. I could count at least 4 hit singles if they had the opportunity to have been globally released from Cook’s solo album “Analog Heart� – the man’s already got what it takes to create mega hits on his own, he really didn’t need this show to make him a superstar, he was on his way, he just needed the right person to hear his earlier works.

Right now strangling Cook’s creativity won’t get the producers anywhere with this winner. America has given them a winner who is the entire package…and with his staggering win over Archuleta, America has thrown down a challenge to the powers in charge of the show, let David do what he wants and let Cook do what he does best and they might see people actually return to the ratings struggling show next season with excitement. I can only hope that Simon Fuller’s words of praise for Cook indicate that he heard our mandate loud and clear. If not, if they strangle David’s creativity and try to overly pop his first record, American Idol can expect their strained credibility to be gone. And in true Idol fashion, American viewers will “vote� to switch channels away from Fox next season and anxiously wait for David’s first non-Idol record to be released.

Simon Cowell explains David Cook apology

Simon Cowell explains David Cook apology, didn't know he'd won 'Idol'

Simon Cowell continued to be in an apologetic mood the morning after American Idol's live seventh-season finale -- further explaining his desire to repent for why he felt his Tuesday night criticism of David Cook was "verging on disrespectful
"I was almost horrified when I went back home and watched [Tuesday night's performance show]. It was literally like watching and listening to a whole new show. What you thought was good wasn't very good and what you thought was bad actually was a lot better," said Cowell as a guest on Thursday's broadcast of Ryan Seacrest's KIIS FM radio show.

"[Idol's live finale] is the only opportunity I got to sort of say something publicly, because he's quite a proud man, David. That felt like the right time to say it."

Cowell's apology to Cook came moments before Seacrest revealed home viewers had crowned the 25-year-old Tulsa, OK resident Idol's seventh-season champ over 17-year-old David Archuleta.

"I didn't know at that point who was going to win -- but win or lose, it had to be said," Cowell told Seacrest about the timing of his apology.

An Archuleta vs. Cook finale was both forecasted and anticipated by Cowell, who only predicted Cook as his favorite to take home the title during a Tuesday appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. However during that night's live performance episode he awarded all three rounds to Archuleta and said the teenager scored a "knockout" over Cook.

Cowell told Seacrest he was only thinking of one word when Cook was revealed to be the champ -- "justice."

"I thought it was the right thing," said Cowell. "You always think in a situation like this where someone who's cute like David Archuleta, that it's going to be carried by young girls or grandmothers or [whoever] vote for people like David Archuleta. But actually the person who I thought did the best performances over the 11 or 12 weeks actually deserved to win and he did win. It was good."

In addition, Cowell said he was "actually quite emotional" after Cook was crowned, however he couldn't tell if it was because the seventh-season's resident rocker had won or because the latest installment of the Fox mega-hit had come to a close.

"A bit of both I think," he said with a laugh. "As soon as the announcement [of the winner] comes in, you realize how long its been. It's quite a relief when it's over."

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/simon-c...n-idol-7169.php

David Cook's victory grew from coast to coast

'American Idol' producer: David Cook's victory grew from coast to coast

American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe knew David Cook would defeat David Archuleta as the home viewer votes were rolling in immediately following Tuesday night's live performance episode The votes were coming in from the east coast and the percentage was about 6% in Cook's favor quite early on, and it got wider and wider as the evening went on," said Lythgoe as a guest on Thursday's broadcast of Ryan Seacrest's KIIS FM radio show.

"So I really knew [Cook would win] around 10PM, 10:30PM [west-coast time]."

Cook won Idol's seventh-season title after "97 and a half million" home viewer votes were cast following Tuesday night's final performance episode that saw Archuleta and Cook each sing three songs. During last night's finale Seacrest said Cook defeated Archuleta by a 56% to 44% home viewer voting margin, or roughly 12 million votes.

Lythgoe explained that knowing Idol's home viewer voting results before they're revealed to the public is simply part of his job.

"I'm used to it really. It happens every single week. You've got to keep a straight face," he said. "We always say to them in the beginning of the series, 'Don't look at me and don't ask me any stupid questions because I will lie to you and I'll probably lie badly to you and say something like I'm ever so sorry it is you going home this week.'"

When asked by Seacrest what he told Archuleta and Cook prior to the live finale, Lythgoe said it didn't make a difference.

"It didn't really matter to either of them, I believe, who was going to be the winner," he said.

Lythgoe also weighed in on Simon Cowell's apology to Cook moments before the results were revealed. During Tuesday night's live performance episode, Cowell awarded all three rounds to Archuleta and said the teenager scored a "knockout" over Cook.

"I think Simon with his apology made it quite clear that he felt bad he was so tough on David Cook," said Lythgoe, who was then asked why he thought Cowell felt the need to apologize.

"Just in case it was wrong," said Lythgoe with a laugh. "Let's be honest about it. I think we call it covering your ass."

Lythgoe said it takes "months" of planning to put Idol's annual finale broadcast together, and now that the seventh-season is in the books, he wasn't shy about his feelings on it.

"It was one of the best, no question about it," he said. "That's because the talent that was on it."

Despite the finale featuring performances by the seventh-season Top 12 and numerous other artists -- from the Jonas Brothers to George Michael -- Lythgoe made it clear he thought it was a former Idol winner who delivered the most memorable moment.

"I've got to say for me, and this has been a little partisan, but Carrie Underwood stole the show," gushed Lythgoe. "I thought she was absolutely sensational."

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/america...-coast-7173.php