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.