My thoughts on Who will be the American Idol...
I am not sure I've ever watched the show as closely before as I have this season.
Or, that is to say, that I've actually watched it this long. I usually only watch the auditions and I must admit that I haven't really watched it much the last few weeks unless David Cook is on the screen. Let me warn you right now, I'm rooting for David Cook tonight and not David Archuleta.
I'm not sure why David Cook's engaged me as much as he has. Right from the beginning, I liked him a lot.
But I wanted to figure out how I felt about them both, to see whether my impulse to like David Cook was one driven by personal preference or whether there was something to it.
So, home sick for the day (damn kidney infection), I decided to take a look at them both again and see if I could figure out what it was exactly about David Cook that makes me prefer him over David Archuleta.
I went back and viewed every single performance from both Davids since they made the top 20.
http://www.americanidol.com/videos/?cat=494
Archie is cute and sweet. His singing can be at times powerful, but he does better singing ballads. Despite that, his emotional depth seems a bit lacking and, to be a nitpicker, there's something about the faces he makes and how he reflexively licks his lips that has always bugged me... Also, he sounds like so many others and he doesn't inject much of himself into the songs he sings.
To be honest, I've never really seen the appeal.
David Cook has a stronger personality and it comes through in every song he sings. He feels more, understands the real meaning behind the lyrics than David A., it would seem to me. In comparing him to David A., his eight years on the younger guy seems to make a huge difference. He puts far more emotion, real feeling, passion even, into his performances.
Maybe that's the real difference there.
Archie seems to sing, while David Cook performs.
As sweet and as cute as he is, with Archie unfortunately what you see is what you get. The meaning of what he's doing on the stage doesn't seem to go any deeper than a pretty song to him.
For Cook, it's an all inclusive thing. You get the whole package. Passion. Pride. Real Emotion. He performs with everything he's got.
He doesn't always make the best choices, but they're his. His takes on even well known songs, like Lionel Richie's "Hello" (a song I never liked much until David sung it), is all David Cook. It's not the same old cookie cut-out vocalist take on the song you could hear anywhere, like on the radio or in the Vegas Club. It's unique and unmistakably all David Cook.
I don't see David Archuleta giving songs that same stamp.
I do like Archie, he's a cute kid, but I really don't think he's cut out for getting a real music career. He doesn't put enough of his own personality into the songs he sings.
David Cook, on the other hand, makes every song his and he's charming and adorable. I'm thinking he's the most deserving to win and I hope the rest of America agrees with me.
I figure tonight the contest is his to lose and I hope he will come out on top.
ETA: Shoot... David Archuleta did better overall last night, so I hope David Cook can still pull it through. Athough, I must disagree with Simon and the other judges: I just don't like Archie's take on Imagine. He sung it prettily enough, but I just didn't like it. I thought the first time he sang that song it had been better than what he'd done last night.
Although, there's a blogger that loves Cook and thinks it'll be better for his career if he loses:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/80108/david-vs-david-idols-ultimate-psychological-struggle
Pretty interesting take on the whole thing, actually...
Or, that is to say, that I've actually watched it this long. I usually only watch the auditions and I must admit that I haven't really watched it much the last few weeks unless David Cook is on the screen. Let me warn you right now, I'm rooting for David Cook tonight and not David Archuleta.
I'm not sure why David Cook's engaged me as much as he has. Right from the beginning, I liked him a lot.
But I wanted to figure out how I felt about them both, to see whether my impulse to like David Cook was one driven by personal preference or whether there was something to it.
So, home sick for the day (damn kidney infection), I decided to take a look at them both again and see if I could figure out what it was exactly about David Cook that makes me prefer him over David Archuleta.
I went back and viewed every single performance from both Davids since they made the top 20.
http://www.americanidol.com/videos/?cat=494
Archie is cute and sweet. His singing can be at times powerful, but he does better singing ballads. Despite that, his emotional depth seems a bit lacking and, to be a nitpicker, there's something about the faces he makes and how he reflexively licks his lips that has always bugged me... Also, he sounds like so many others and he doesn't inject much of himself into the songs he sings.
To be honest, I've never really seen the appeal.
David Cook has a stronger personality and it comes through in every song he sings. He feels more, understands the real meaning behind the lyrics than David A., it would seem to me. In comparing him to David A., his eight years on the younger guy seems to make a huge difference. He puts far more emotion, real feeling, passion even, into his performances.
Maybe that's the real difference there.
Archie seems to sing, while David Cook performs.
As sweet and as cute as he is, with Archie unfortunately what you see is what you get. The meaning of what he's doing on the stage doesn't seem to go any deeper than a pretty song to him.
For Cook, it's an all inclusive thing. You get the whole package. Passion. Pride. Real Emotion. He performs with everything he's got.
He doesn't always make the best choices, but they're his. His takes on even well known songs, like Lionel Richie's "Hello" (a song I never liked much until David sung it), is all David Cook. It's not the same old cookie cut-out vocalist take on the song you could hear anywhere, like on the radio or in the Vegas Club. It's unique and unmistakably all David Cook.
I don't see David Archuleta giving songs that same stamp.
I do like Archie, he's a cute kid, but I really don't think he's cut out for getting a real music career. He doesn't put enough of his own personality into the songs he sings.
David Cook, on the other hand, makes every song his and he's charming and adorable. I'm thinking he's the most deserving to win and I hope the rest of America agrees with me.
I figure tonight the contest is his to lose and I hope he will come out on top.
ETA: Shoot... David Archuleta did better overall last night, so I hope David Cook can still pull it through. Athough, I must disagree with Simon and the other judges: I just don't like Archie's take on Imagine. He sung it prettily enough, but I just didn't like it. I thought the first time he sang that song it had been better than what he'd done last night.
Although, there's a blogger that loves Cook and thinks it'll be better for his career if he loses:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/80108/david-vs-david-idols-ultimate-psychological-struggle
Pretty interesting take on the whole thing, actually...