david looked nervous at the nba. he looked really tired and didn't start the song on key. i feel so bad for him.

:nod:
yeaa i know! i was like AWWWZ.
i still love him tho.

I agree very nervous and scared. It is a very difficult song to sing, and his voice was not very strong tonight. I think he needs vocal rest. He didn't have his normal confidence; he probably knew he couldn't perform his best and his voice would be shaky. I felt sorry for him, so many people watching, some fans, others hoping to see him fail. He had a lot of pressure on him. I hope he gets some well needed rest- sleep and vocally. He simply didn't seem himself and he has now performed to a large crowd, so i don't think it was that. I think it was the song, the pressure, and voice needing rest.

It's starting to take a toll on him.
He needs some time to rest.

Even though his brother said every time he contacts david he wakes him up.
Sounds like he's sleeping but not for long periods of time.

They need to give him at least a week off AT LEAST just to rest!!
Especially since they will be starting the tour soon. He needs to rest for that. Tours are exhausting!!

I haven't watched it yet but its recorded on my PVR.

What I'm about to say is JUST constructive criticism...I absolutely LOVE David Cook's voice BUT

He sounded horrible, and it was because he was nervous. It was written all over his face just as the title of this thread states, he looked absolutely petrified. He kept staring at one area the whole time, his eyes didn't move, and he sounded like he just wanted to get through it as soon as possible.

On that note, I applaud him for going out in front of the whole Staples Center (which is huge...I've been forced to a Lakers game before...that place is humongous) as well as in front of all of America and God knows where else it's being broadcast. He's overworked, but he did the best that he could, and that's all that matters. He needs time to get used to all this, and he'll be absolutely fine in the future, I'm sure of it.

yeah.. i just watched it... he did look really sad.. he just sang the national anthem and walked off... i do feel bad. ... he really does need some well deserved rest!!!

He sounded (and looked) very tired and a tad flat. He started out and I cringed but I thought he pulled it off well. That song is so hard to sing and to sing it a capella is even harder -- I hope he's able to get some much needed vocal rest - I'm sure the tour rehersals are taking a toll on him.

When was he on? I didn't see him. The sportscasters were talking, they went to commercial and when they came back the game started. Please tell me someone will post it on YouTube.
I hate to hear he didn't do well. But he has been doing an awful lot of singing lately. Maybe he does need to get some rest.

And I completely agree with you. This is probably the largest live crowd he has sung in front of thus far and with all the celebrities and stuff in attendance - I'd personally be throwing up beforehand (And probably after too)

Poor guy!
He did look extremely nervous. I just wanted to give him a huge hug after watching it.

i think his nerves got the best of him...he looked SO pale i seriously thought he was going to pass out!!! his hands were shaking really badly too. i wonder why he was nervous? i mean, he's been singing in front of millions for months now... i hope everything is okay.

I didn't even think about the celebrities in the audience

But I can't even imagine doing what he just did...mad props to him (and that's also why I'm sitting here and not pursuing any attempt at being famous)...I can barely present in front of my class of 14 people

I absolutely agree with you. It takes time to get used to singing in front of that many people with that kind of pressure. Also, like you said, with rest, he'll do a lot better. But through the nerves, he still did alright.

I think he was staring at the flag. And "petrified" was the first word I thought of when I saw him.

Did you hear the boo's? Must have been some Archie fans there. Maybe that's what threw him off.

On the other hand, I thought there were a few magic Cookie moments, especially when the song went higher into his range.

Archie fans or not booing during the National Anthem is pathetic.

You could definitely tell he was dissapointed with the performance. He was starting at the flag the entire time and didn't look like he even blanked. He started off key, and was never truly able to get it back on track. Unfortunately i think the media will rake his performance over the coals. There is always talk about how celebrities perform the national Anthem. Archie's fans are probably eating this up.

Were there really boo's? I must have missed them.
Gosh people suck!

yeah i heard the boos, i thought it was either archie fans, or just drunk dudes who think american idol is "gay"... but i definitely think that could have been a contributing factor.

Not one of his better performances. Something was definitely off tonight. He looked exhausted and like he was gonna upchuck at any minute.

I didn't hear the boos...but there was very little applause, and that made me go

I seriously wanted to just give him a hug...poor kid.

come on people, its the national anthem lol


he did good, its not his cup a tea anyway

For real! Who the heck boos during the National Anthem?? Some Americans...

Play it back . He sounds much better the second time. Still he had fear in his eyes

I know I said it on the other thread "AWWWWWWWWw hes scared to death!!" I just wanted to hold his hand!! He was Defenatly out of his comfort zone!!! But it was a diff stage and a diff audience to sing to!! But all in all he made me proud to be a DAVID COOK fan and a gutter slut or I mean girl!!!

I thought except for the first couple of notes he did pretty good but his voice sounded really tired. They really do
need to find a way to get him some vocal rest and maybe some additional coaching on how to preserve his
voice for the long haul. This is just the beginning.

Major hugs for a job well done under very tough circumstances!!!

Some people seem to think maybe the Celtics were actually the ones getting booed but it's really hard to say. The NA is one of the most difficult songs to sing. I'm seeing a ton of negative comments from fans at MJ's blog. She already has the vid posted.

I just watched David on the NBA countdown and he looked so wiped out. I agree with all of you it was obvious he is tired and everything is starting to wear him down. I feel so bad for him. I wanted to hug him so bad after he sang that song. He didn't look like the same David Cook we saw performing at the American Idol final and if they keep running him around like this, he isn't going to be able to perform at his best. Poor guy. I really hope they give him a break soon because he so deserves it. But all in all I thought he did what he could with the song and I still enjoyed his performance

Word Nerd #1429

The booing was after they introduced him as the winner of American Idol, but before he started singing. Still not nice though.

Yes, I will listen to it again tomorrow. I wonder if I projected some of my nervousness for him onto him, making me think it was worse than it was. I do that.

I agree with most of what has been said here. It is the National Anthem after all and it takes guts REAL GUTS to get through that song and perform in front of such a large audience. And for his sake and all that he has been through these past few weeks, I give him much credit for trying. And I am not just saying this just because I love him to death, but I think he did do an okay job with it, unlike most people. But nothing to really say it was awesome or fantastic, because yeah it was not sadly enough, which is not really his fault anyway. I just really hope he gets some much needed rest sooner rather than later. I truly wanted to give him a big hug after that performance and bring him some comfort.

Keep the pics coming I'm putting them up on my fansite on MySpace

This is unwelcome news...he must really, really be given at least a week of break from the grind...I hope he feels better soon...yep, he must have needed a huge hug...

Yeah, unfortunately his "I'll sleep when I'm dead" philosophy won't *actually* work...

still looked sexy though

&$&^* the anthem, he looked HOT

His voice just sounded so tired, I felt so bad for him...

I did not see the actual, will need to wait for the video, but looking at the string of comments, as you know the National Anthem is very hard to sing no matter who is singing - there is a lot of emotion and if you are exausted which I'm sure he is, you can be off. From what I am reading, he was off in the beginning, but recovered. The best performance I ever heard was Witney Houston during one of the Super Bowl Games - that was the most memorable. I know even in the past some of the largest artists have recorded the anthem ahead of time and they lipsync the anthem. All 10 of the Idols (especially David because of his position) are under a lot of stress to prepare for the tour - I don't think any of them are getting the proper rest - especially David. I am sure that he will leave this experience on the stage and he will rise above it.

I am sure this guy feels bad enough, he always sets high expections. Like Dolly Parton said that one week on AI with Lil" Sparrow - when he reaches for something he catches it am sure he is exausted, with the all press, photo shoots, preparing for the Idol tour, meeting with other artists for the writing process, on and on and on. Plus, he might be thinking of family....I applaud anyone who gets up to sing the National Anthem especially what is going on in the world today. He'll over come this and when tour time comes, he will be fine.

In regards to the booing - the Lakers are down (# of games wise) - I read an article that Kobe Bryant blasted the Lakers prior to the game, and I am sure that the booing was for the players and not for David.

---------------------
Oh BTW - on a lighter note - it looks like the question of the week (shave or not) has been answered, it looks like the scruff look is still in.

I haven't heard his performance yet, but they always seem to boo the American Idol. They want a "star" to sing and they don't consider someone just off that show to be one.

Jeannine

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5qjrs_da...ok-anthem_music

That's the link to the video of him singing if anyone wants to watch it again -- after watching it for a 2nd time, I thought all things considered he did a good job.

Yeah, it's there already, but not a very HQ video

I didn't think he sounded bad I love how he kept his eyes on the flag that was waving on the screen above him. I thought he did a good job he looked nervous but pulled it out he was fine.

I just watched and I was expecting something horrible, but to me it sounded fine.

Of course he looked scared out of his underpants and that may have contributed to him sounding a little "off". But he was singing it a capella and sometimes without accompaniment the National Anthem doesn't sound as great. It's a hard song to begin with!

As for the booers in the audience..I hope they feel ashamed. Because it's always rude to boo and during the National Anthem? Just awful..how disrespectful.

He looked tired an nervous, but not terrible. Pretty good , Not awsome. Good. I doubt he wanted to screw around with the national anthem His 1st time out. It was acapella for Christ sake. How hard is that for your first time?!!! I am not sure why they didn't give him some backup music
As for the booing. That is at every game!! It is a fan thing

aww really?
i haven't seen it but well, i guess it's pretty expected that he'd be tired and what not
i mean, his schedule is insane and trying to get a hold on its reality is hard
gosh, i feel bad for him *sighs*

I thought he did good. He was singing a tough song in front of sports fans, a tough crowd. I did feel for him, he was so nervous. I just wanted to reach through the screen and give him a hug.

I'm nervous to watch it. Ah what the hell, Cookie's always amazing.

I think he did great. He did look nervous, but hello, that should be expected.

And was he interviewed? I totally turned off the game after the anthem. LOL.

He started flat yes, but horrible? I don't think so. He nailed those high notes and those are a bitch. But lately it sure seems like this board is looking for the negative.

I totally agree with you.... David looked nervous, but I think he did a good job!