American Idol News

posted by Administrator on Jun 6

“American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta signed with 19 Recordings/Jive Records and is expected to cut his debut album later this year, the U.S. label said.

Archuleta, 17, is gearing up for the “American Idol” tour, which kicks off July 1 in Glendale, Ariz.

“Signing a record contract with 19 Recordings/Jive Records is truly a dream come true,” Archuleta said in a statement. “Being a fan of ‘American Idol’ since season one and admiring the alumni, I am honored and humbled to be a part of that group. I’m really excited to start working on everything.”

Simon Fuller, creator of the popular singing competition series and chief executive and founder of 19 Entertainment Label Group, added: “It was fascinating to watch David’s journey through ‘Idol.’ He is a genuine pop star, and is a gifted singer who instantly won over a huge audience when he first appeared on the show. Since then, he has dealt with the pressure and the high level of expectation with real fortitude; he’s given us some of the best performances of the season. Without question David Archuleta has a great future ahead of him.”

posted by Administrator on May 27

While Simon Cowell thought David Archuleta scored a “knockout” over David Cook after American Idol’s final seventh-season performance episode on Tuesday night, Archuleta still felt Cook was more worthy of the title.

“I think he deserved it so much. He just proved it week after week that he deserves to be the American Idol,” Archuleta told reporters during a Friday conference call. “My main priority wasn’t to win the competition. It was just to do my best, because you can suck and people can vote enough for you to win. That wouldn’t feel very good.”

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posted by Administrator on May 23

David Cook was fully expecting David Archuleta to be crowned American Idol’s seventh-season winner.

“I thought that [Archuleta] did amazing [Tuesday] night,” Cook told Access Hollywood following last night’s live Idol finale. “I had my mind made up that I was taking second. I had it in my head. ‘Alright, they’re going to say his name, I’m just going to make sure that I congratulate him properly.’”

However it was Cook who would be receiving the congratulations, as the 25-year-old Tulsa, OK resident became Idol’s seventh-season champ during last night’s live two-hour finale.

“When they said my name, I heard Archuleta, so I turned, then it processed as I was turning,” Cook told Access Hollywood about the moment when host Ryan Seacrest revealed him to be the seventh-season victor.

Cook defeated Archuleta, a 17-year-old from Murray, UT, after Seacrest said “97 and a half million” home viewer votes were cast immediately following Tuesday night’s live performance broadcast that saw both finalists each sing three songs. Cook bested Archuleta by a 56% to 44% home viewer voting margin, or roughly 12 million votes.

“I just told [Archuleta] that I loved him,” Cook told Access Hollywood. “I’ve definitely got big brother syndrome with him. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of what he was able to do — from start to finish. He was the front runner from the get go. So to be able to carry that torch all the way through, my hats off to him. I couldn’t have done it.”

While Cook and Archuleta were largely considered to be equals during the more recent weeks of the competition, judge Simon Cowell awarded all three rounds of Tuesday night’s performance episode to Archuleta and said the teenager scored a “knockout” over Cook.

“I honestly thought that he had been more consistent,” Cook told Access Hollywood about Archuleta. “For a 17-year-old kid, never mind, for a performer he’s amazing. And it was an honor just to share the stage with him. I kept catching myself almost crying tonight through out the whole process because it was just like, ‘What am I doing here?’ But you know, it was a trip, it was heavy.”

Cook found himself auditioning for Idol’s seventh season last summer in Omaha, initially attending the open casting call to instead support his brother.

“This is the last thing I could have anticipated when I was pushed into auditioning by brother Andrew,” Cook told Access Hollywood. “So to be here now, it’s such a trip.”

While his Idol experience may be in the books, the residual affect of winning the show has only just begun.

“I haven’t celebrated in four months,” Cook told Access Hollywood. “I’m gonna do all this fantastic press, and then I’m going to go hang out with my friends and family, and hopefully let it sink in.”

posted by Administrator on May 21

The Arch triumphed on “American Idol,” but this is still a democracy, after all.

David Archuleta brought his A-game on Tuesday’s final sing-off, earning the praise of Simon Cowell, who called it a “knockout” performance.

If it were up to Cowell, he’d hand the doe-eyed teen from Murray, Utah, the “Idol” title right now. Archuleta out-sang competitor David Cook and has been the one to beat since the beginning of the Fox show’s seventh season.

Cook, 25, of Blue Springs, Mo., delivered solid performances, rocking and emotional as usual — but didn’t measure up to his 17-year-old rival. Archuleta performed as if it was his last gig on earth, singing the right songs for his smooth voice, hitting the right notes and squeezing the right amount of emotion from each lyric.

And yet, America’s votes would decide. Results will be announced on Wednesday’s finale.

Each David performed three songs in the live telecast, which opened with Michael Buffer (”Let’s get ready to rumble!”) introducing the finalists, who came bounding out in boxing robes and gloves.

Three rounds later, Cowell made his traditional prediction:

“You came out here tonight to win,” Cowell said to Archuleta, “and what we have witnessed is a knockout.”

In the first round, Cook and Archuleta received stellar reviews; Cook for his rendition of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and Archuleta for the Elton John anthem “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” All the same, Cowell declared Archuleta the winner.

Cowell also handed the second round to Archuleta, whose performance of the inspirational ballad “In This Moment” impressed the judge more than Cook’s take on the power ballad “Dream Big.”

For the third and final round, Archuleta went back to the well: he closed the show with a repeat of his version of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which cemented him as a favorite earlier in the competition. Cook, who chose a song he hadn’t yet performed in Collective Soul’s “The World I Know,” didn’t stand a chance against that.

It pays to pick the right song on “Idol,” especially in the final number, and Cook might have sealed his loss with the stale ’90s tune that Cowell called “completely and utterly the wrong song choice.”

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt Cook to finish second. Several runners-up — unburdened by the pressure of winning the show — have had more commercial success than some “Idol” champs. The best example: Chris Daughtry, who placed fourth in season five, yet came out on top when his debut album out-sold winner Taylor Hicks’ post-”Idol” disc by a landslide.

Album flops aside, the goofy, homespun Hicks charmed viewers into rooting for him and proved the show is more than a singing competition: it’s a popularity contest, too.

And it’s easy to root for baby-faced Archuleta, whose father, Jeff, stirred up “Idol” drama this year with reports that he was too heavily involved in his son’s rehearsals. That controversy could make fans more sympathetic to the shy, sweet singer.

Archuleta and Cook exchanged compliments during the live telecast.

“This guy’s awesome,” Archuleta said about Cook, who called The Arch “consistently nice.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Cook said, “competition’s over and we’re just having fun.”

Source: AP News

posted by Administrator on May 14

For anybody with at least one functioning eardrum, David Archuleta’s victory on this season of American Idol has seemed inevitable, pretty much from the day his audition was televised back in January. And, since then, Idol’s producers have been perfectly happy to play up this obvious fact, with David frequently getting the much-coveted “pimp spot” (i.e., having the advantage of performing at show’s end, so fans do not forget that he exists before the voting opens), and judges withholding all negative criticism, even after the times he intentionally flubbed lyrics to trick viewers into believing that he’s a real boy.

But on last night’s episode, the surviving finalists sang three songs: one chosen by the judges, another by the contestants themselves, and one by the producers. And not only did David not get the pimp spot, he was forced to sing a Dan Fogelberg song so bad it almost made us think that Syesha had a chance of making the finale. Just kidding! God, could you imagine?

Even so, what happened? Obviously by now everyone’s heard about David’s crazy stage dad — our idol, Jeff Archuleta — being banished from rehearsals following last week’s incident. So are the producers exacting more revenge by trying to engineer a David Cook victory? It sure seems like it! Last night, Cook — performing in the pimp spot, no less! — sang a pitchy version of Diane Warren’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” prompting Simon Cowell to declare him the evening’s winner, even though he hit more wrong notes than the crappy Michael Bay movie for which the song was originally recorded. Meanwhile, Archuleta, who admirably attempted to make lemonade out of Fogelberg’s driveling “Longer,” was criticized not for his singing — which was flawless — but for the producers’ lame song choice, which was clearly a last-minute bid to torpedo his imminent (?) victory.

According to OK! magazine, Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe was seen “raising his fists over his head and dancing around in joy” after Cook sang, and when Randy Jackson’s review was less than a rave, Lythgoe was reportedly overheard asking, “What’s with Randy?” Additionally, TMZ claims that Jeff Archuleta was seen shooting Lythgoe dirty looks, but “seemed chummy” with Randy (they “bro’d out” during commercial breaks, apparently).

Are producers trying to set the stage for a win by Cook? (Yes.) Or just create a little suspense going into the finale? (We doubt it.) Do they even care who wins? They shouldn’t, since both contestants have already signed binding, lifetime contracts with Idol’s production company (and, really, it’s not like either is likely to have much of a postshow career anyway, given the crappy luck of other recent ex-finalists) — which is probably all the more reason to throw Archuleta under the bus over a tiny grudge.

posted by Administrator on Apr 23

“American Idol” hopeful David Archuleta is going to miss his high school prom in Murray, Utah, TMZ.com reports.

In an exclusive report Tuesday, the Web site and TV show said “American Idol” producers refused the youngest contestant’s request to break the rules to attend his prom.

Competitors remaining on the FOX TV talent show are not allowed to leave their Los Angeles compound, TMZ.com noted.

Competitor Brooke White missed her sister’s wedding earlier this month because of the show’s strict rules.

posted by Administrator on Apr 21

Naomi Judd knows about being a stage parent and thinks David Archuleta’s dad might be the worst.

The Can You Duet? judge said she first encountered the American Idol seventh-season finalist and his dad Jeff when the now 17-year-old David was a Star Search contestant in 2003 and she was serving as a judge on the show.

“I want to give a shout out to his dad. Leave [David] alone,” said Judd during NBC’s Today broadcast on Thursday morning. “His dad is like the worst stage dad… They had to put him in the security guard’s little box.”

Similar statements about Jeff’s demeanor when David was a Star Search contestant have been circulating since he became an Idol seventh-season finalist and have included rumors that Jeff was banned from the Star Search set for attempting to intimidate another contestant.

In addition, Jeff reportedly brought David to tears after yelling at him about his son’s arrangement of “We Can Work Out” during an Idol recording session.

However not everyone agrees with Judd’s assertion that Jeff is “the worst stage dad.”

“There’s no way I would feel comfortable being around this man if I felt he was a bad person to his kid,” singer Diane Gordan, David’s friend and mentor, told People. “Jeff is a very loving and supporting dad. It’s easy when you hear one person say something about someone, taking it and blowing it out of proportion, and then it just spirals out into a whole different story and keeps escalating.”