TVSquad

Oh brother...

People are over doing it.

Cook won this year because he is more liked. David A had a huge fanbase in the beginning but it didn't seem to grow, David C grew his base.

The last few years proved that people like a good singer that is unique. Last year Jordon won because she was a good singer, Blake came in second because he was unique and couldn't sing. The year before was Hick, people picked him only because he was unique.

This outcome means nothing other than more people voted for DC than DA.

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I did want Cook to win, but he certainly isn't what I'd call unique. Maybe compared to a straightforward pop singer he is unique, but anyone who has heard a few popular rock or alt-rock band in the last 10 years has heard this style before.

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Hicks maybe was more likeable on camera but reports now are that he's more like a horse's ass. Cook's victory makes up for Chris Daughtry's elimination...although not winning Idol certainly hasn't hurt him! I just hope Jeff Archuleta isn't taking this loss out on David now. I'm sure little Davey will still have a fine career for daddy to manipulate!

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Well, I don't know about all that Mr. Article Writer. I think it is pretty much a matter of opinion whether David A or David C is more talented. David A is younger for one thing, and I personally think he has a better voice,...being only 17 David A has nothing but potential, so he MAY have more raw talent. But I will agree that I thought David Cook was the "more interesting" because he played a style of music that was closer to my taste,...thought I didn't know you average AI fan was more into rock than the fluffy stuff, I guess now I know better. Man, I don't know. I am not really sure why COOK won, I will have to think about this. It may be an indication that there are a lot more fans of American Idol that are older and like classic rock type music that anyone had thought, makes ya say hmmmmm... Well, there's more good articles on this American Idol situations here where maybe we can sort all this business out: http://jviz.blogspot.com

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As I was watching the show last night, I realized something. It doesn't matter how lame or hokey we think AI is and it doesn't matter if we like the contestants or not...what matters is that this show gives people a chance that they would probably never have. AI is the only reality show that changes lives the way it does. Sure, a Survivor winner gets $1 million bucks and it changes their life, but do they become a superstar? Does the second, third or fourth place person get the recognition and life changing experience that comes with the same place in AI...no!

I think AI is hokey and I don't always agree with the places people finish in it, but I continue to watch because AI is entertaining and it changes lives. Who thinks Carrie Underwood would have the career she now has without AI? How about Fantasia or Jennifer Hudson? Look at the other non-winners who are all over the radio right now. I was listening to a country station the other day and within 30 minutes I heard Phil Stacey, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Pickler, Josh Gracin & Bucky Covington.

No matter what we think of the show, AI changes lives and it entertains...that's the bottom line.

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Yeah, you're definitely overthinking this bit. Cook won because more people voted for him. That has always been the case since season 1. It really is just as simple as that sometimes.

And 44% of 97 million is still 47.7 million votes. Archuleta is no chopped liver. Both individually will probably sell more than Studdard and Hicks combined. Season 7 FTW.

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It truely shows the sad state of American musical taste when I hear people say that David Cook was the more original and talented vocalist. It goes to show you that America has been programmed to accept cookie cutter for original and easily acceptable for creative. David Cook is basically the same singer with the same vocal stylings as any of the these interchangeable modern rock sinegers today. The kind of singer that sounds like they are constipadted and straining very hard while singing. Modern Rock is a joke with one band sounding like another and one cookie cutter lead singer adfter another. Chad Kroeger, Chris Daughtry, etc all wanna be grunge singers. David Cook is just another in a long line of these boring, lame singer.

I’ll quote Daily News Music Critic Jim Farber who I think put it perfectly.

“David Cook sounds like any number of mainstream rock singers in bands that wish they were Nirvana - from Nickelback to Daughtry. However, Archuleta owns the more individual voice. Archuleta boasts a subtle rasp that shades his more boyish tones and gives him a hint of soul. Archuleta also connects to his material in a more probing way, taping into the darker well of feeling his doll-like visage obscures. In the end, he's both a better, and a rarer, singer than Cook.”

I just think main stream music fans in America have had their listening dictated to them for so long by Mtv, VH1, modern rock radio , etc that their ability to distinguish good music from mediocre music has dwindled beyond recognition, and this is just another example.

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Oreo and other daft typers, put aside your pink cells phones and take a look around. Its a big world and not everyone agrees with you that Archuleta is the bee's knees. Cook may sound similar to other rockers out there but he is UNIQUE in that he takes a song and makes it his own. Baby Elmo really didn't do that, he doesn't appear to know HOW to do that. Now stop pouting you hosers! There'll be plenty of time to whine when Cook's ablum outsells Archuleta's by 7 to 1.

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David Archuleta has a rasp? David Cook is a singer who sings the same style as other mainstream singers?

Neal, you gotta be kidding me.

IIf Cook is cookie cutter, what does that make Ballad Boy? An American original?

Please, don't take as gospel what some third rate music critic from the Daily News says. America got it right this year, thank goodness.

As for you, Neal, when I count to three and snap my fingers, you will emerge from your ridiculous trance.

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I disagree with Neal above. Archuleta, while very impressive vocally, doesn't have a lot of range in style or genre. Ballads. Slow soulful songs - that's it. Minimal stage presence. He absolutely "won" Tuesday's competition (head-to-head), but AI voters didn't take that into consideration - they seem to have looked at the entire body of work.

Sure, Cook's voice is too similar to other rock and alt-rockers, but gained respect (in my opinion) as someone who artfully re-arranges a tune, is an actual musician (with guitar), has some knowledge about music before he was born (always a plus) and had a better "story" (brother's cancer, didn't even plan on auditioning). Lastly, I'd actually pay money to see/hear Cook (or at least download something - let's not get ahead of ourselves).

Like the classic ESPN SportsCenter commercial - I think Archuleta came out too early. A baseball analogy - Cook is major-league ready, while Archuleta needs some seasoning in the minors to work on parts of his game (genre, stage presence, turning 18 and getting out from under his stage father, etc.).

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I think it's too early to gauge what Cook winning means in the scope of the show. On the face of it, 97M votes is a lot, but until Idol tells us how many unique voters there are it's really hard to know whether America is making the decision or a much smaller number like 10M voters or less.

I think Idol really knows how to put on an entertaining show but are flailing about trying to figure which contestant gives them the best shot at making money in the rapidly changing music business. Idol is also confronted with the factor that the young viewers are abandoning the show with this season's median viewer age being over 35, the highest it's been. Idol's audience is getting older, which is not the large music buying demographic the show really desires.

Idol the show continues to be a money machine, but Idol the post-contest music business has had a pretty rough record and it has to be frustrating them to have winners or runners-up who struggle to sell 1M units considering they draw 30 to 35M viewers each week which is the kind of mass promotion you kill for.

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I hope it means finding a winner who's more than just the best karaoke singer.

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I completely agree with everything Neal said.

Dawn, you have got to be kidding me.

Sure, Cook can rearrange a song... into something that will sound EXACTLY like all the other modern rock on the radio today! Now that's originality, right? How many 17-year-old male singers are out there with an amazing voice like Archuleta's? None that I know of. But no... the people would rather hear more of the shitty rock that is currently around. Way to go America... not picking the better contestant to be the AI winner once again.

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Just because a song uses a guitar, doesn't mean everything was the same. Cook was able to slow things down, speed things up, play an edgy song with loud electric guitars and drums, and play a slow song with nothing but acoustic guitars in the background. He even went completely out of the box when he sang "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera without anything going on in the background. Cook was much more challenged than any of the other contestants. Andrew Lloyd Weber, Dolly Parton, and Mariah Carey are about as far away from the alternative rock genre as you can find, and yet Cook was able to make it work.

Archuletta has a terrific voice but no versatility. All of his songs were slow ballads, and he was grilled every time he looked outside the box (like when he did Chris Brown and the Stevie Wonder version of "We can work it out") He had a bunch of genres/themes that fit right into his wheelhouse and was never challenged to move outside of that "ballad" box. Can you even imagine how he would've done if there was, say, a Metallica or a Bon Jovi theme?
So to say a guy who can only sing one type of song is more versatile than a guy who switched styles virtually every week, I just don't get it.

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