The End...For Now...?

I joined 106.7 Dream-FM almost four years ago, back in February of 2007. Every time I think about that fact, it again brings me to the realization how quickly time passes by. It honestly doesn't feel like it's been nearly four years...! But it has. But a few months ago, I got a job as one of the DJs for Shakey's (yes, Shakey's.....they've recently started their own Live Radio thingamajig, heard via Shoutcast over the internet and broadcast at almost all their 500-plus restaurants). And since October, I'd been working almost 18 to 21 hours a day everyday! I'm a workaholic, what can I say? I actually managed to squeeze in my Shakey's gig along with my radio stint for Dream, my numerous dubbing projects, the occasional voiceover jobs, as well as hosting gigs. Whew! The thing is, working that hard for months on end, with hardly a day off (I've got work for Shakey's and sometimes have hosting and/or dubbing even on Fridays, my day off), can eventually take its toll on a person. And I've succumbed to the feeling of being burnt out.
At first, I thought I was just in one of my mood swings. I told a couple of people I know, about how I felt like I wanted to resign from my Dream-FM job, but one of my friends/colleagues told me I say that this time of the year every year (I do? I honestly don't remember). So then, I thought that it was probably just the Holidays kinda bringing me down. That I would get over this hump after awhile. But it never happened. One morning (yesterday, Monday, to be exact) I simply woke up feeling that I've had enough.
It wasn't that I was miserable at work. Even though we weren't exactly getting paid better, I didn't really have a problem working at Dream-FM (it was never about the money for me). It was a quiet place to work at, I didn't have a problem with any of my other co-DJs, there were hardly any intrigues or inter-office politics (I guess that's because we were only a small group). So what was the problem? First off, there was the daily commute. Novaliches (specifically, Quirino Highway) had a different breed of moronic drivers. Almost everyday, I would find myself playing chicken with douchebags on motorcycles, as well as jeepney and taxi drivers, etc. These bastards always love to overtake unnecessarily! Then there's the parking situation at the TV5 compound which has frustrated me to no end. In the beginning, the parking slots at the already-small compound was slowly disappearing due to the addition of a couple of new shows, Face To Face and Juicy. Fortunately, that was remedied. Until Willing Willie came along. With the addition of that show, everyone else who wasn't part of WW bid goodbye to getting decent parking (parking, period!). But then, SM Novaliches came along, and they saved the day by opening up their parking as early as 6am (lucky for those who have to do sign-on at Dream-FM almost everyday). Thank God. But then, Christmas came, SM started to offer up free parking AND opened their parking at 10am! So there goes (my) happy days again. There was no way in hell I was going to commute all the way from home to Novaliches and then to where the Shakey's head office was! That was going to be too much of a hassle for me. And let's not forget about the fact that I was working for nearly 21 hours a day everyday! So, lack of sleep being factored in as well, I had to make a decision. And that decision was one that was logistically sound.
Well, it's been fun, Dream-FM.
Au Revoir! Who knows? Maybe given some time, I'll find myself back there again. Next year perhaps? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

'Nuff said.

Videoke Night...

Normally, I would choose to stay home, watch some TV, or possibly sleep. I already work too much that I'm often tired and would rather rest when I'm not working. But, one of my New Year's resolutions was that I would make this year not simply about work, work and work. I told myself that I would gimmick/party as hard as I work (or, at least, as hard as I'd been working for, uhm, as long as I can remember), time and energy willing.
This was the first of what will be many more gimmicks or get-togethers with friends and such. I was actually touched that I was one of those who got invited by Karylle to join her and company for some videoke-ing (I know she didn't specifically ask me, but being asked just the same was good enough for me), and it was a fun evening. It's a rarety that I get to unwind and it was quite nice, never mind the fact that I was a bit tired (I had work yesterday morning at Dream-FM and then dubbing in the afternoon 'til the time I went to Centerstage in Makati).

I really didn't know what the reason was for the get-together. I thought that it was to celebrate the birthday of (sir) Jesmond (the current boss of Polyeast Records). But then, I found out that Centerstage (Makati) had opened a new, huge wing (the name escapes me), perfect for large, private functions or gatherings. The place was actually so big that even with the number of people who came that night, there was still so much more room!

Karylle wanted everyone to see the new "room" and give it a test run of sorts. It's a very nice function room and I probably would have wanted to "rent" out the place as well for whatever get-togethers I might have in the future. The problem? It's a little too expensive! For me anyway.

I probably should have kept my trap shut and be intimidated by the fact that I was with some professional singers there (Karylle, of course, as well Hale's vocalist Champ and, as I found out, this fella by the name of Nani - who was the entertainment of the night - and Zsa Zsa Padilla also came by), but that didn't really stop me from "belting" out a couple of tunes in front of everyone. I couldn't help it -- it had been awhile since I last went videoke-ing with my best friend and the usual cohorts we go with when we go out to a videoke joint, I wanted to sing! Besides, I also had hoped that with me showing that I wasn't afraid to make an idiot of myself, my other friends from Polyeast would also follow suit. Well, they did. But only very much earlier that evening, before anyone else had arrived.

I made sure to pick a song that was well within my reach, vocally, so as to not embarrass myself too much in front of everyone else (well, when more people had arrived): Beautiful In My Eyes by Joshua Kadison is always my first pick if I'm going to do any singing in front of people that I don't know (all that well or at all), because Kadison's voice or vocals, uh, "registers low", just like my own voice. I can't exactly do any ear-piercing singing, so I stick to songs that I can sing. Of course, in front of other people I'm comfortable with, that's another story.

I kinda wish though everyone from Polyeast Records had done their turn in front of the mic. Sure, most of them sang, but only when there were just a few of us at the time. Except for myself and Romy (the guy who sits at the desk at the lobby of the Polyeast office), nobody else really dared sing when there were more people. Which was kind of a shame. We were supposed to have fun (not that we didn't)!

If there was a Coolest Chick of The Night award, it should go to Zsa Zsa Padilla! First of all, she slimmed down from the last time I saw her (when I was hosting her mall shows last year), she looks great! Apparently, she'd been taking this asthma medicine that had steroids in it, which was what caused her weight gain. She changed medicines, and now she's thin(ner) and looks terrific! But what really impressed me was how she behaved, how she interacted with her daughters. She was dancing and singing along and even sang Evanescence's Bring Me To Life! Wow.

All in all, it was a great and fun evening. Truthfully, I'm wishing that I get to go out some time soon, just with my close friends from Polyeast, and go to a videoke bar, drink, sing and be merry!
But, damn, I look fat in these pics!
'Nuff said.

It's 2010, Baby...

It's the first day to the/a new year! It's 2010, baby!! Oh, how time flies. Honestly, I didn't even feel that another year has just passed us by. Which, I guess, can be or is a good thing. I want to forget a lot about the previous year. Truthfully, I don't remember most of what happened, or what I did during 2009. Some of the things I do remember? Michael Jackson and Brittany Murphy's deaths, the Ampatuan massacre, Ondoy, Tiger Woods and Manny Pacquiao's infidelities and a thief constantly breaking into my apartment. Of course, it's not all bad. But why is it, so far, I can only remember a few of (the) good things? And two of them are movies : Star Trek and Avatar. The other is the fact that I nearly caught the thief who broke into my pad (he was breaking into my place one Saturday morning, I woke up, chased him down, but he got away because I couldn't get past the gate of my apartment due to the fact that I was only in my underwear).
Before posting, I was contemplating on whether I should make another list of New Year's resolutions, and making this post about said list. But then, like every year, I know that I would just end up breaking most, if not all of them. What the heck....
One of the things I noticed about myself in regards to last year is that I've been prone to get agitated on the road more than ever when encountering stupid motorists (of both private and public utility vehicles). I'll be the first to admit, I have road rage. I've just been fortunate, thus far, not to have come across anyone whom I've actually had to get into a fist fight or war of (curse) words, or worse, get myself shot. Whew. But I can't expect to get lucky all the time. I really have to try and calm down and just ignore these morons on the road. My patience has been skating on thin ice a lot lately most likely because of exhaustion and lack of sleep. I remember having a breakdown in my car one morning on the way to work. Here's hoping that doesn't happen again or anytime soon this 2010.
As much as I would like to cut down on work this year, I can't. I have to keep working. I don't work, I starve. I also have a lot of bills to pay every month. Plus, I am a certified workaholic. But I will try and get as much sleep and rest as I can every chance I get. Not to say that I'm going to coop myself up at home every time I'm not working. I also want to try and spend time doing a lot of other stuff that is not work-related when I'm not working. Maybe go out with friends, drink and unwind, etc, just to make sure my life won't only be about work. But then again, that would entirely depend on the kind of schedule I'm going to have this year. Hopefully, time permitting, I'll be able to do other stuff that isn't only about hosting, dubbing and/or my radio and tv gigs.
I've spent a lot on comic books the previous year. And because of work, I haven't had much time to read every title that I've purchased that I've accumulated a big pile of unread comics. I've got to cram and read, read and read, just so I can finally also decide on what titles to cut down on. Because I've got to be honest, some of the comic books that I've been buying are a bit of a let-down (The Mighty Avengers, The New Avengers, to name a few). Even though it's too late and I've already fallen off the wagon so to speak and have gotten back into my comic-buying-addiction again, I don't necessarily want to go cold turkey and cut off comic books from my life (being a little dramatic there, I know). I love comics. Besides movies, it's another one of my means of "escapism". It makes me happy. I love the artwork and super heroes and super villains. But I know that when I get to spend over three thousand pesos every week, just for comic books, it's, well..... ridiculous! I've got to lessen the titles I purchase every week, stat!
I've been eating a lot the past few months. I've managed to lose weight at the start of '09 (or was it the year before that?), but eating food is too damn hard to resist, especially if the food you get to eat is delicious! I mean, eating is good, of course -- one has to eat. But gluttony is not exactly good either. And that's what I've been doing. Fortunately, I've managed not to look so fat in a lot of the pics that I've been in - in fact, I actually look quite good, shape-wise that is - but I know I've gained weight. And I don't like that. I can see it when I look at myself in the mirror. My face is rounder (not as round as it had gotten back in '08, thank God) and the tummy -- ! Oh, the horror...! The other night, I ran into a friend and he said I was "(so) fat"! Of course, we hadn't seen each other in years, and back then, I was a scrawny runt. I know that I'm not that fat. But, still, I feel fat. So, last night, I swore that I'd not have any rice for the next couple of months or so (please, please, let my will power be strong enough), try and cut down on soft drinks, and, more importantly, lessen the amount of food I eat!
I am also in terrible shape. Something that I've been meaning to do in, like....forever, is to go back to the gym and work out again! I don't really remember how long ago I made that plan, but it's been years. And, so far, it hasn't happened yet. This year? I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that my lazy ass manages to find its way back into the gym. Rock-hard abs, here I come?
This 2010, I want to post more stuff on my blog(s). I seem to recall me making that resolution last year as well. Besides being too busy, laziness is another reason why I never got to write more posts. Sometimes, I feel that some of the things I want to post about is just too short. Why do I even worry about that kind of thing? It's not like anyone really reads my blog (heck, I don't invite anyone to check out my blog), so why should I care? I guess it's mainly because I feel that if I were only going to write a post that is a short one, then I should just do it on Facebook and Twitter (two things I got into only last year). Blog posts are meant to be long, be more elaborate or perhaps more detailed, allowing the one writing to really let loose with whatever is on his/her mind.
As always, I've been tardy at work. In fact, I have been arriving so late almost every single day at Dream-FM, especially during my sign-on shift(s). And when I say late, I mean 30 minutes to an hour or even an hour and a half! Yes, I've been that tardy. Hopefully, I can keep it down to "just" five minutes. I know that I'm still going to be late anyway, so I won't even try and say that I'm going to change and not be late anymore this year.
Well, there we have it -- my New Year's Resolutions for 2010.
'Nuff said.

It's My Birthday, It's My Birthday...

Another year and I'm older again. There's a saying about one getting wiser as we get older. I just don't think that applies to me. The getting-wiser part that is.
So, how did I spend my birthday this year?
Well, working.
Monday, September 21 : I was dubbing as usual. And, as always, it took me 'til the wee hours of the next morning before I finally got home. Past 3 a.m. to be exact. At least the nice thing about spending your birthday working was that I was with people that I liked. And we did have lots of food, as well as two birthday cakes!
I didn't start my (birth)day on the right foot so to speak come Tuesday. I was stuck in traffic for an hour! Along this stretch of road that only takes ten minutes to get to my place of business. And this was at 5:30 in the damn morning!! So, I was late for my sign-on shift at Dream-FM for about thirty minutes. Damn.
After my radio stint, it was dubbing again as usual.
10:30 p.m. : I finally made up my mind and decided that I did not want to spend the last hour of my birthday working. So I cut short my dubbing and went to Makati to catch the last full show of "The Ugly Truth".
After the movie, it turned out that my birthday celebration wasn't over yet. I texted my dubbing supervisor and she and I, as well as several other dubbers, went out videoke-ing. Too bad we only had about an hour and a half to do our singing because the joint was going to close at 4 a.m. We managed to squeeze in a lot of songs in the amount of time we had and had a lot of alcohol as well. But because we (or rather, I) drank a little too quickly, I got hammered rather fast. Fortunately, though, I didn't look I was drunk (I wasn't slurring and I was still able to walk a straight line). Here's the "funny" thing -- after our videoke and drinking session, I went to (a) McDonald's (at the Shell station in Ortigas) to have breakfast (this was around past 5 in the morning) - I also distinctly remember calling my best friend as I was on the road (I don't exactly know what for, or what I was thinking, but, knowing me, it was probably nothing decent - hehe) - and, upon parking, my head was spinning so much that I could not help it -- I felt I was gonna hurl chunks! Thank Gawd I had a couple of plastic bags lying around in the car and within reach! Because I couldn't get up and get out of my car at that point. After throwing up, I felt drained and couldn't help myself that I decided I would take a nap. It turned out that nap would be a lot longer than I had anticipated, as I woke up almost 9:30 in the morning. Yikes. Man, I am so thankful that my Honda Civic is tinted. And even more grateful that no one tapped on my car's window and had my thrown outta there.
I did have breakfast afterwards. At McDonald's like I planned.
Happy birthday to me.
'Nuff said.

My New Ride...

I had contemplated about getting a new car for as long as I can remember. I've actually, currently, got myself a car - a 1989 Toyota Corolla XL - and i have no plans of getting rid of it, and so getting another car doesn't exactly cry "practical". But, Trinity (the name I gave my Corolla), as reliable as she's been over the years I've had 'er (10 years now?), is still an old car after all, and my daily trip from Pasig (home) to Novaliches (work : Dream-FM and Tv5) to Makati (dubbing at 20Plus), and the occasional hosting gigs on the weekends and/or weekdays (which can be anywhere from some place close by as Ortigas, to some place really far as Dasmarinas, Cavite), has been quite taxing on my Corolla, especially as of late. So I've always wanted a "pinch hitter" if you will for Trinity.
Searching through the local Car Finder had become pretty much a weekly habit for the past couple of years or so, since my intention of thinking about buying a car (a secondhand vehicle was what I was originally planning on getting) first cropped up. I buy a copy of said "magazine"(which comes out every week), in the hopes that I'll find myself a good-enough second-hand car that I could purchase. I actually wanted to buy a 1996 BMW 316i or 1989/1990 BMW 520, but, in the end, I realized that maintenance would really put a huge hole in my wallet. So then, I thought about getting a 1991 Mitsubishi Gallant GTI Super Saloon instead.
But about a couple of months ago, I saw a picture, in a techie magazine I buy every month, of the new 2009 Honda City. I've never been a huge of the old City models, but the new one was a total beauty! And it sparked my interest like no other car has, and revved up my desire again to buy a brand new car!










So, I did a little investigating and checked out the new City via Honda Philippines' website; checked out its specs, interior, price, etc. I was a little dismayed about the fact that the 1.5 E variant, the "fastest" of the City variants, only came in automatic (transmission), and I was never really a huge fan of AT vehicles (though I have driven cars and such that were "automatic trannies"). I'm more of a manual-transmission-kind-of-driver. So I decided to check out the 2009 Honda Civic (which, when it first came out, I SO wanted -- unfortunately, it was quite pricey), and my interest towards said car once again came to life. Plus, there was some good news : Honda was offering, only for this month of April, discounts of about 35 grand (on Civics, the Accord and CR-V)! Which made me curious even more. I (eventually) found out that the reason why Honda was offering discounts (specifically for the Civic) was because they were in the process of getting rid of or phasing out the current line (of Civics), as a new 2009 model (of the Civic, with very, very minor changes) was about to come out, and that they wouldn't release it to the public until they had gotten rid of every remaining vehicles of the current line. But, what the heck, right? 35 thousand is 35 thousand! And so, finally, last Saturday, I went to the Honda dealer in Libis, near Eastwood City, to test-drive a Civic, make inquiries, etc.
And, oh yeah -- the bank I've been going to for over ten years has also been bugging me to get a car loan from them and had assured me that I would get approved (which is the other reason why I was leaning towards buying a brand new car, as opposed to getting a secondhand vehicle).
Anyway, test-driving that baby (the Civic I mean) was, to quote a word often used in the movie "Dude, Where's My Car?", sweeet! Even though it was an AT that I drove, the '09 Civic still floored me with its smooth ride...! I also got to test-drive the new City, and that car was also great to drive! The 1.5 E variant was a five-speed automatic transmission car, with paddle-switches "within" the steering wheel (to shift gears) that gave you that "F1 feel" to it. But, of course, as terrific as it was to also drive the City, it was nothing compared to the Civic! Even before getting to test-drive the new City, I was already pretty much dead-set on getting the Civic. Even more so now after I got to drive the City.
The new Honda Jazz also looked terrific, by the way. I wanted to take it for a spin (as well as the Accord and CR-V), but, unfortunately, there was no longer any time left to do so.
After the whole test-driving thing was over and done with, I talked to Henry, the sales agent, made inquiries (about the monthly fee, down payment, etc), and paid a reservation fee of 5 thousand pesos, to get the "ball rolling". All I needed was to deal with Metrobank come Monday. Which proved to be a bit frustrating and quite a letdown. Like I mentioned above, they told and assured me that I would be approved for a car loan, hands down. Unfortunately, on the first round of procuring the car loan, I was encountering some red tape. Day two : it actually came to the point where I was on the verge of getting in-house financing through Honda instead. When I told them that, they scrambled to get my car loan approved!
So, after what seemed to be a torturous four days, I finally got my brand, spankin' new 2009 Honda Civic! I wanted a black one, but the remaining (it was, literally, the last car of the variant) 1.8 V (the "cheaper" one of the other variants, the 1.8 S and 2.0 SL) only came in bluish silver. But, what the heck -- I got a brand new car, babeee!!

'Nuff said.

Superman Will Return...But With A Different Cast And Direction...

I was just surfing the 'net and discovered that Warner Bros has confirmed that there will be no sequel to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Apparently, Singer's take on the Man of Steel didn't capture everyone's imaginations, as studio execs were disappointed by the movie's performance at the box-office; it earned somewhere around 215 million dollars, but it was still way short of even recuperating the money spent to make it which, reportedly, cost 300 million dollars! If it had done well at the box-office, then we would have seen a new Superman movie last December of '08 or some time this year.
Instead, Warner Bros will now be taking its cue from the recent Incredible Hulk (which I read also underperformed, raking in 'only' 112 or 115 million dollars; the movie cost $150 million to make), and the next Superman movie will be a "reboot" or "re-imagining" of the franchise, and will recast the role of the Last Son of Krypton with an actor who does not look anything like the late Christopher Reeve (awww, poor Brandon Routh). According to the studio, "Superman reboot" will serve to "(re-)introduce the character to a new generation".
I feel a little terrible about this bit of news, because I'm one of the few who actually did like Superman Returns. Although I do like the fact that Kate Bosworth will be replaced; I've always felt that she was miscast, that she didn't do the Lois Lane character justice. But, besides Routh not coming back, I also feel bad that Kevin Spacey will not be reprising his role as evil genius and Superman arch-enemy Lex Luthor; like Gene Hackman, Spacey was terrific as Luthor. Too bad.
Besides the perfect casting of Routh and Spacey, I loved how Bryan Singer remained faithful to the original 1978 Superman movie (starring Chris Reeve, Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder - it's probably the movie that everyone is mostly familiar with when it comes to the Man of Steel) -- and I don't just mean with the Routh casting, but also with the film's score, using the John Williams theme. Heck, even going as far as to having the whole Superman-flying-out-into-space-with-the-Earth-serving-as-background to extro the movie. You could also sense Singer's love for the Superman character and its mythology (e.g. cameos of the actors that played the original Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane, the scene that pays tribute to the cover of the comic book with Superman's first appearance), so it is such a shame that we won't get to see a continuation to the events or story set in motion by Singer in Superman Returns (maybe one that features a battle with Doomsday, resulting in a tragic and cliffhanger ending ala-X-Men 2, leading up to the next Superman movie).
Frankly, it's Warner Bros' fault for shelling out such a huge amount to make Superman Returns. Just imagine, if they had spent 150 million, then they would have made back their money and then some!
But here's the real kicker : after the success of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros says that the next Superman movie will also have a "darker tone" to it. I'm "iffy" about this plan. As much as I loved Christopher Nolan's dark treatment to Batman, not every super-hero movie should be grim/serious/gritty. It depends on the comic book character (that you're going to bring onto the big screen). Sure, make the movie more "adult", but not necessarily "dark" just because it worked on The Dark Knight. "Batman dark" is not Superman.
According to some reports, the studio says that the reason why Superman wasn't a "hit" was because the title character is too much of a boy scout, and is unrelatable to most people. Seriously, who can really relate to an alien from Krypton with superpowers? Hello! Superman is imaginary! I don't think that's the problem. It just takes a good story (which the movie had), care and respect to and love for the character(s) from the director (and Singer had that), and to not get carried away with the amount of money they'll spend to make the movie (which I'm sure Warner Bros has learned in regards to the Superman franchise); stick to a more "realistic" budget (with "realistic" being around 150 million dollars these days to make a special effects-laden movie like Superman).
Well, I certainly hope their plans for the next Superman movie works out.











And also...
Warner Bros will be following in the footsteps of rival company, Marvel Entertainment, and has shelved their plans to make Justice League of America for now. Thank God, because the idea of George Miller (known for the Mad Max movies) directing, didn't sit well with me. Instead, they will be concentrating on stand-alone movies of the DC comics characters (The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc) that they own (the rights to), and possibly even have a "web of continuity" with their next batch of super-hero movies that are in the works, ala-Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, which they hope to build or lead up to a Justice League of America movie (which is what Marvel started with said two films, and is supposedly doing with their next batch of movies, beginning with Captain America : The First Avenger, and so on, which will lead up to the much-anticipated Avengers movie).

'Nuff said.

Here We Go Again...

Yeesh! Didn't American Idol just end?! Has it already been a year?! It's already time once again for AI -- time for season 8! There's been one big change thus far for the show (well, the one that I know of anyway), and that's the addition of a fourth judge,Kara DioGuardi.
But it's been a little over a couple of weeks now since the new season began and, in all honesty, I'm not feeling any excitement about the new season. Yet? Maybe. I've just been pre-program-recording American Idol since the season opener via my computer's TV Capture software and, except for the season opener, have yet to watch (what is it now? Five or six more episodes of) AI '09. So far, the only contestant whose audition caught my attention is the pink-haired gal who sang (the band) Heart's "Barracuda", Emily Hughes (heck, I couldn't even remember her name, I had to check the 'net...just goes to show how unexcited I am about this season of AI at the moment).Then again, I still have several recorded episodes of 'Idol to watch. Maybe I'll see something or someone that will get me revved up for season 8.
And since there really isn't much for me to say about American Idol '09, why not just blog about last season's AI instead?

From the moment season 7 started, it looked to be like the clear-cut winner would be wonder boy David Archuleta, and it was far from anyone's mind that former bartender David Cook would even get as far as the top ten, let alone win the competition. Not a lot of people were paying much attention to him (well, I sure wasn't). That was until he did an incredible arrangement of the Lionel Richie song "Hello". Re-arranging (popular) songs to fit him or his style became his signature on the show. Although, there were a couple of songs that he didn't exactly re-arrange - Eleanor Rigby and Billie Jean - which caused a bit of controversy and put him in hot water. I don't know whether he was told to keep mum about it by the show's producers, but kept quiet he did. Until some people called him out on it (I'm guessing fans of Doxology and Chris Cornell, who were the ones that originally arranged the versions of the songs Cook performed that I mentioned above). But he did redeem himself, after the whole "song-arrangement-controversy", by surprising everyone again with his superb reworking of the Mariah Carey song "Always Be My Baby" (heck, when I heard that he was going to sing said song, I was shocked and wondered how he'd be able to pull that one off -- but pulled it off he did).
Anyway...
After Hello, David Cook had a string of pretty strong performances, almost week after week if memory serves me right, and then suddenly, he became the so-called dark horse of the competition. Finally, there was really no one left but the two Davids as being the most formidable and most likely to compete in the finals.
Between the two Davids, it was, without a doubt, Cook who was more talented. He can write his own songs, had the way better voice, and was more versatile; Archuleta, as good as he was, was limited to only being able to do mellow songs or ballads (I mean he tried with several upbeat songs that just failed - Stevie Wonder's "Uptight", there was "You're The Voice", and his awkward performance of the Chris Brown hit "With You").
During the finals, Cook started off on a great note, with a terrific song chosen by Clive Davis (I have to give props to Davis, who chose the perfect songs for both Bid David and Li'l David), U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". But I noticed something -- Cook's performances, albeit all good vocals, just wasn't finale-worthy. DC's pick for the new songwriter song category was just so-so, and his final performance (his personal choice of Collective Soul's "The World I Know") wasn't also up to par (it wasn't terrible, it just didn't bring the house down so to speak).

David Archuleta, on the other hand, was flawless! He sang with more emotion, more heart. And besides Clive Davis' choice of song for him - Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - Archuleta also managed to pick the right songs for both the second and third round of the finale. When it was announced that he was singing "Imagine" again, I actually thought that it would be his downfall, considering that we'd already heard it before, and I assumed that there really wouldn't be any surprises to the way he's going to sing it. But he proved me wrong, because he had a different arrangement to the song! Which, I feel, is what Cook should have done; I mean, if he wasn't going to perform something that he already sang early on in the competition, he should have picked a song that was in the same vein as, say, "Always Be My Baby" (or, heck, "Hello"), and gave it the ol' David Cook twist to it, and that is what his rendition of "The World I Know" was lacking.
So did David Cook do good enough to win 'Idol last season? Of course, everybody knows the answer to that question.



And, as for the results show...


















My memory is never really reliable to begin with -- I honestly don't remember much of the past six seasons' results shows (well, five actually, since I never got to watch season 1 of AI) that preceded the one the following morning of season 7's finale (May '08), but I also don't recall having as much fun or being very excited about watching the AI finale like I did with season 7. Except for a humdrum performance from George Michael and the horrendous "I-Am-Your-Brother" Renaldo Lapuz (I kept hoping that the AI producers wouldn't bring him back after his audition, but wishing for it not to happen turned out to be futile, as he did make an appearance in the finale! I was honestly not amused and was ashamed to be a Filipino right there and then as he did his bit; no offense to the guy, cuz I'm sure he's a nice fellow, but still, Argh...), everything turned out pretty good.
And since season 7 is like that of a distant memory, the only other two things I can recall about the finale was Michael Johns and Carly Smithson's smokin' duet of "The Letter" and, of course, the always smokin' hot Carrie Underwood (in my mind, she's my future wife - hehe)!
So what's happened since then? Well, both Davids seem to be on a good start with their recording careers, with Archuleta upping one over Cook with his first single "Crush". David Cook's first single, "Light On", isn't terrible, but it takes awhile before it grows on you, unlike Archuleta's "Crush", which has a good melody and was an instant hit. The question now would be whose album and/or career would outlast the other?
I gotta start watching my recorded AI season 8 episodes. I'm way behind.

'Nuff said.