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American Idol 7: Why David Cook Wonby David Bloomberg -- 05/22/2008
View Printable version of this article Rockers never win on American Idol. Just ask Bo Bice or Chris Daughtry. The ballad singer is supposed to have the bigger fan base and be able to spur the larger number of votes. Except that didn’t happen this year. What turned everything upside-down? Why did David Cook win? 
Throughout the season, we have been analyzing why 23 previous contestants lost by looking back at What ‘American Idol 7’ Contestants Need to Know. Now it’s time to do the once-a-year look at why somebody won instead – but we’ll use the very same criteria. The first and most important rule – though not the sole determiner of success – is to demonstrate singing and performing talent. Even though many people believed David Archuleta did a better overall job on finale night, nobody was saying that David Cook didn’t do well – just that he didn’t do as well as his opponent. The fact is that David Cook did perform three songs quite well on Tuesday. But one knock on David was his particular choice. Indeed, I was among those giving that knock. I liked Clive Davis’ choice for him. I even liked the second one, and considering he had to pick from among only ten songs that were voted to the top, that’s saying something. But I wasn’t thrilled with his third choice. I thought picking a lesser-known song rather than re-performing one of the songs that brought him so much earlier attention would hurt him. I guess I was wrong! One thing I failed to consider at the time was just how much David Cook’s song choices showed a much wider variety of his abilities than David Archuleta’s did. That takes us into the third rule, which talks not just about consistency, but also the ability to sing different types of songs. While David Cook was typecast as the rocker, he showed over the weeks that he was much more than that. He could sing a slow song successfully. He could rock out. He could take the usual Idol coronation song and make it listenable. He could slow it down for a ballad, or take a ballad and ramp it up. Last year, Blake Lewis gave us a lesson that David Cook added to. Quoting from this rule: Last season, Blake taught us an interesting lesson that I think could be useful for future Idol wannabes. Rather than sing solidly throughout, Blake took chances. Sometimes those risks paid off. Sometimes not. But when they did, they really did, and outweighed the issue of consistency. … While it is certainly important to be consistently good, there is something to be said for going out on that limb from time to time.David Cook was the rock version of Blake Lewis when it came to these statements. He took a variety of songs and either found different versions of them to perform or created the new versions himself. He went out on various limbs. Sometimes, it wasn’t a complete success. But other times, he was able to draw vast amounts of attention and new fans (myself among them). And that was key. He was more than consistent – he showed us his wide range. Certainly, that made David unique, thus following the fourth rule. He was much more than just the rocker. He was creative, he was contemporary. And yes, he was unique. Compare him, for example, to Amanda Overmyer. She bombed out early because she refused to bend. She was living as the stereotype. If you needed reminding of that, all you had to do was watch her during the finale’s group numbers to see how completely uncomfortable she looked. But David was able to do so much more – and will be in the future. 
As for the fifth rule, it says to be memorable. Honestly, I don’t remember when I first started noticing David Cook. It was after the world noticed David Archuleta, I know that for sure. But Cook made us remember him as he changed up song after song (or used less well-known already changed-up versions) and performed the hell out of them. Along the way, David changed himself a bit, in accordance with the sixth rule, saying each contestant is a package. After a few weeks, he got himself a haircut and became a bit more mainstream looking. It wasn’t anything drastic, but many of us noticed it when it happened – and it was a good thing. He still was able to show individuality without being off-putting about it. 1 2 Next-->View Printable version of this article
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