Well “Hello” David Cook and Welcome To American Idol Season 7 Top 12.

March 8, 2008 by Masterclass Lady 14 Comments


American IdolI have to admit that David Cook was not on my artistic radar when American Idol Top 24 premiered three weeks ago. It was initially difficult to sort through these 24 singers and the only singer that seemed to be creating any “buzz” was 17-year-old vocal prodigy, David Archuleta.

However, this week, David Cook cemented his place in the Top 12 by performing an outstanding rock-inspired version of Lionel Richie’s, “Hello”.  After his memorable performance, the accolades came pouring in, first from judge Simon Cowell who stated that “Lionel Richie would be very pleased with his performance”.

And pleased he was as Lionel Richie made a special shout-out to David via American Idol host Ryan Seacrest saying that he was so impressed with David Cook’s performance that he is immediately re-releasing David’s version as a single.

Additionally, Entertainment Tonight donated valuable airtime to Lionel Richie’s endorsement of David Cook, generating more buzz and excitement for this extremely talented musician.

I believe this has set some kind of precedent on American Idol; I cannot recall any Idol performer from past seasons inspiring this enormous level of accolade and acknowledgement from the music establishment this early in the season. If so,  I am sure I will hear about it.

In fairness to young David Archuleta, I believe that John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, was extremely moved and inspired by his equally outstanding performance  of John Lennon’s “Imagine” a couple of weeks ago. This young man is extremely accomplished and, given his young age, exhibits a mature level of focus and determination in his approach to his music.

So, we have two emerging stars and equally noteworthy front-runners in this very interesting, very diverse American Idol competition this year.

However, David Cook is a fighter and he is the one to watch over the next 11 weeks. I think this artist is capable of many more jaw-dropping performances over the course of this competition.

In case you missed it, here is David Cook’s performance.

American Idol, Entertainment, Masterclass Lady, Music, Rosanne Simunovic, Vocal Masterclass Articles
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About Masterclass Lady

Rosanne (Giallonardo) Simunovic began her musical career in Timmins, Ontario. She studied piano with Anne Pizzale and later, at an advanced level, with Soeur Anita Vaugeois (Sister Cecile of Les Soeurs De L’Assomption in Timmins). Her vocal and accompaniment skills were nurtured by her aunt, the late Dorothea Mascioli. When Rosanne graduated from O’Gorman High School, she moved on to the University of Toronto where she continued her piano and vocal studies while attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was hired as a piano accompanist for several musical companies, most notably, the National Ballet Of Canada. She presently holds an A.R.C.T. Teacher’s Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Rosanne has studied choral conducting with numerous well known Canadian Conductors, including Wayne Riddell of Montreal, Quebec and the internationally renowned Dr. Elmer Iseler. She has been a founding member of numerous community-based arts organizations: the Timmins Arts Council, later known as Arts & Culture Timmins, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, and, the Timmins Youth Singers…as well as the TYS Alumnus choir, the Timmins Concert Singers. In 1987, she was also selected to be the conductor of the Timmins Board Of Education Choir, comprised of talented students from Grades 5 to 8. In 1988, she was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Ontario Choral Federation (now known as Choirs Ontario), where she served as Chair of the Festivals Committee for six consecutive seasons. In 1996, in honour of the Ontario Choral Federation’s 25th Anniversary, Rosanne was selected as one of 25 recipients of the OCF’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the choral art. The ceremony was presided by Lieutenant Governor, Hal Jackman. In November 1997, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Rotary Club Of Timmins to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Award for her years of dedication to the artistic development of young musical talent in Timmins. In August of 2002, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Board Of Directors of Choirs Ontario to serve as Conductor of both the Provincial Junior and Teen Choir Camps, now renamed in honour of the Camp Benefactors, Don and Lillian Wright. In November 2002, Rosanne was the one of the recipients of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, honouring her work in the development of the arts in Timmins. Under Rosanne Simunovic’s direction, the Timmins Youth Singers and the Timmins Concert Singers have been featured in numerous choral festivals and performing opportunities outside of Timmins. In 1985, they were selected to partici
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14 Responses to “Well “Hello” David Cook and Welcome To American Idol Season 7 Top 12.”

  1. kelsey41 March 9, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    I think I was the only person in America who couldn’t wait for the song to end. At this point, I’m starting to question what’s wrong with me!

    I feel badly for David Archuleta in a way. I’m sick of all the hype about him, but that’s not his fault, you know? He’s not doing anything differently than anyone else is – the judges just happen to be heaping the praise on him, and the media decided to pick it up.

    Like

  2. Sherry March 9, 2008 at 7:40 pm

    I absolutely loved David Cook’s version of “Hello”, and I agree, I think he’s capable of many more great performances. I hope he goes far in this competition.

    Like

  3. StoneRose March 10, 2008 at 12:42 am

    As a big fan of A-I, I have to say I love what you’ve done here. Really enjoy recapping events through you.
    And I also have to say that, like you, I wasn’t even looking at David Cook. But his performance Tuesday night proved that he’s in this thing for real. He’s turned into my favorite A-I this season; I expect to see him go far!

    Like

  4. StoneRose March 10, 2008 at 12:47 am

    By the way, would you mind my linking to your site from my blog?

    Like

  5. masterclasslady March 10, 2008 at 2:40 am

    StoneRose- absolutely and I will reciprocate. Just give nme a “heads up” when you have added my link and thanks again

    Like

  6. StoneRose March 10, 2008 at 5:07 pm

    Thank you! I hope I can bring you a couple more visitors! 🙂
    “Heads up”!

    Like

  7. merrynpippin March 10, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    masterclasslady,
    love your recaps each year. will you be doing analysis of each performance as you did for other years? if this is already happening, can u tell me how to find them? this format is new to me and i’m not very good at navigating around yet. thanks.

    Like

  8. masterclasslady March 10, 2008 at 10:01 pm

    Hi merrynpippin:

    Yes, indeed, I will be “masterclassing” the Top 12 each week and look forward the Lennon-McCartney night tomorrow. The Vocal Masterclass articles should be online late in the day on Thursday.

    Thank you for dropping by and hope you enjoy the articles this year.

    Bye for now.

    Like

  9. gieni March 11, 2008 at 4:06 am

    Roseanne, I think the reason the industry’s well-publicized interest in David Cook’s “Hello” seems so unprecedented is that Idol has evolved to where the contestants are not only not required to wait months after the competition ends before releasing commercial music, but full versions of their competition songs are being made available for purchase on iTunes during the show.

    As far back as AI2, guest artists and judges were raving over some contestants’ versions of songs and chomping at the bit to have them recorded. Neil Sedaka would gladly have had Clay’s version of his “Solitaire” made into a single when he heard it, and Simon commented at least once to Ruben that he “could have a hit record with that” version of a song. I think similar comments were made to Fantasia (and maybe Jennifer Hudson) during AI3, Bo Bice during AI4, at least 1 contestant (Chris Daughtry?) in AI5, and 1 (Blake, I think) in AI6.

    The Idol powers that be are just more likely now to strike while the iron is hot than they were back in the early seasons.

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  10. masterclasslady March 11, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    Gieni – you are probably correct. It seems that American Idol wants to create new stars “on the fly”. Thus, all the hype surrounding Josiah Leming, then David Archuleta and now David Cook.

    Tonight’s Top 12 showcase should be very revealing. Let’s see how they all do on the great big new and improved stage. Best of luck to all of them!

    Like

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