DaveFroehlich's Blog

Well, whaddaya know about that-- David Cook from Blue Springs Missouri is the next American Idol. 

I was in the media center in the plaza outside the Nokia Theater when the results were announced.  We had a live hit coming up right after the show, and usually a few minutes before a live hit, I'm trying to focus on what I'm going to say, and adjusting my earpiece to make sure I can here in case the producer at the station tries to talk to me.  Tonight I wasn't thinking about any of it.  I was craning my neck trying to see a monitor that was almost out of view, and I actually turned down the volume on my earpiece because it was a few seconds behind the audio being pumped into the plaza.  I just had a feeling we'd hear David Cook's name called... turns out that's exactly what happened.

Unfortunately we couldn't get David to us before Fox 4 News at 10 went off the air, but when David did come out, he came right over and we talked again about the journey that's taken him from a cattle line outside the Qwest Center in Omaha to audition last August to the singing title offered by the most watched show in the nation.  And like I've said so many times before, when you talk to him for even a few seconds you really can tell he's the same guy he was before this whole thing got started.

We also got to speak with David Archuleta for the first time.  I realize this blog will mostly be read by David Cook fans, and I count myself in that camp, too... but I have to say, Archuleta in person also makes a great first impression.  Seems like a really good guy, and you really do get the sense both Davids will go on to have big careers. 

Also, a tip of the cap to Andrew Cook.  Anyone who cares enough about this stuff to read the blog knows David only auditioned for Idol in the first place because Andrew was trying out and wanted some support.  As it turned out, Andrew was the one supporting David for the past nine months, and he did a great job of it.  So happy for his brother and his family at every turn.  To David, Andrew, and the entire family... congratulations.  I'm so happy for you.  You deserve it, and I hope you have fun with it.

As for us... we'll get an hour or so of sleep, and then get back up for the morning show to wrap this thing up.  Then, we pack up and head back to the Metro.  My next mission: I promised the kids I'd bring 'em something when I got home... Looks like I'll be doing a little shopping at the Phoenix airport.

Dave

 

We're about to feed tape for the five and six o'clock news back home.  You can see us at 5, 5:30 and 6.  After the 6 hit, it's off to the red carpet where we hope to talk with some of the VIPs as the head into the Nokia Theater for the finale.

There was a certain energy outside the theater yesterday before the performances, but I have to say, it's nothing like today.  The champ will be crowned tonight, and there's more of everything here today: more celebrities, more security, more red carpet... heck, I even bumped into the USC marching band on the way to the bathroom a few minutes ago.

Other random notes before I go:

--Had to turn down tickets to the show again... this is getting embarassing.

--Spilled some coffee on my shirt as soon as I got to the media center this morning.  If you're watching the news tonight, see if you can spot it (I sincerely hope you can't).

--We'll cover the finale for Fox 4 at 9 and 10, then we'll be right back up here for the morning show that starts at (yikes!) 3AM our time... It's going to be a long night.  Once, when I was in college, I slammed about 9 Mountain Dews in less than 3 hours trying to stay up to study for a Latin final.  I got a pretty rough case of the shakes, and I think I fell over a few times... I hope I don't need quite that much caffine tonight, and I hope for both Davids' sake their evening at the American Idol finale goes waaaaaaaaay better for them than any of my Latin finals did for me.

Dave

Where to begin as we try to recap the Tuesday's American Idol finale performances?

First off, I thought both Davids turned in very strong performances... it's going to be hard to pick a winner.  Now, the judges clearly sided with David Archuleta, but will that translate to the votes on Wednesday night?  We were hanging around the Nokia Theater in the hours after the show, and some many we talked to, including some connected to Idol, say the really believe it's still anyone's ballgame.

We were leaving the Nokia Theater plaza tonight and headed back to the media center to start logging tape when we got a call on our cell phone... the Idol producers said David Cook and David Archuleta wanted to speak with their hometown TV stations; very good news for us and Salt Lake City, since media access with the final two has been very limited this week.

The Idols were going through rehearsals for tomorrow's final show, so we had to wait.  Salt Lake City got to talk with David Archuleta first because he's still a minor and as such always has to get off work early.  When we finally got a chance to speak with David Cook, it was clear he was very pleased with Tuesday's performance, no matter what the judges have to say.

We also talked again with David's brother Andrew right after Tuesday night's show, and before the show I was able to chat off camera with David and Andrew's father for the first time.  I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I probably will... still I've got to say this anyway.  I've never had anything but a great experience any time we've gotten a chance to speak with David or any member of his family.  They've always been gracious, very easy to deal with, and very fun to talk to.  That makes it so easy to pull for him and enjoy his ride through the show... here's hoping that ride ends with the American Idol title on Wednesday night.

Dave

It's about 1:30 as I write this, but I'm still not quite adjusted to the time change, so it feels much later as everyone here in the Fox media tent waits for the 'Battle of the Davids' to get underway.  We're just putting the finishing touches on our reports for the 5 and 6 o'clock news... in a few minutes we'll start trying to figure out a plan for 9 and 10.  Fox is very good about trying to bring special guests to the spots where the reporters are doing their live reports, so tune in because you never know who you might see.

Okay, now I'm going to say something that may make some people back home angry, or possibly cause them to think I'm crazy (most people who know me already think I'm a little goofy, so that's not much of a stretch I suppose).  Since we've set up in the tent Monday afternoon, we've turned down tickets to tonight's finale not once, but twice.  The good people at Fox have been walking by and asking the different affiliates if they'd like some tickets to the show, and we've had to tell them no, thanks both times.

Like I said, I feel pretty stupid saying no... but those nine and ten newscasts come up pretty quick, and if we were unprepared because we were hanging out in the Nokia Theater, we'd probably have some 'splaining to do to the bosses when we got back home.  So, we'll be checking out the show here in the garage, er, media center.  It's not so bad, really.  They've got the show projected on a wall, coffee, water, and I think I even saw a big container of Twizzlers.  Mmmmm, Twizzlers...

Dave

Greetings from the City of Angels!  Eight-thirty at night never felt so late... but that's just because we're dealing with that two hour time change.
As I write this, I'm sitting at Fox 4's little section of the media tent, which is located in a parking garage just down the block from the Nokia Theater where the 'Battle of the Davids' will take place tomorrow night.  TV stations from all over the country have sent crews here, and several of the crews are still hard at work writing their stories and looking at video.  The folks heading this thing up at Fox are beyond organized; there's no doubt they've got covering American Idol down to a science.
The stars are out as well (it is LA after all).  If you were watching Fox 4 a little earlier tonight, you may have seen us talking with former American Idol champ Ruben Studdard.  Very nice guy.  I asked him about the pressure the Davids will be facing as they take the stage tomorrow night, and he said he didn't think they'd feel any pressure at all.  Studdard said once you're comfortable singing in front of people, it really doesn't matter how big the stage is, and you forget there are 25 million plus watching around the world.  He may be right; on the other hand maybe he was just especially good at handling the pressure, and that's what allowed him to claim his American Idol title in the first place!
I also got a chance to talk to the reporter from the Fox station in Tulsa.  We know how Blue Springs and the rest of the Metro feels about David Cook... but most of Cook's fans know he was living in Tulsa at the time of his American Idol audition, and Tulsa is plenty excited about him, too.  The Tulsa reporter told me about a local bar David talked about on Idol.  She said the bar's owner had been planning to change its name, but he decided not to after David referenced it on the show... now that's some powerful influence.
Okay, time to say good night.  This little corner of LA will be even busier tomorrow as the Davids take the stage, and we need our energy.
Dave

Anyone else get a bit nervous when Ryan Seacrest took those extra few seconds to announce David Cook would be the one to join David Archuleta in the American Idol final?  I felt pretty sure Cook would be in there... but those guys at Idol are very good at building the drama...

Still, we got the outcome everyone in the Metro wanted, and now we've got the David vs. David final.  As I said on the news tonight after the show, I'll be out in LA covering the American Idol final from Monday through Thursday.  I can't wait; I've been fortunate enough to get to cover the show (and more specifically David Cook) ever since the first auditions for the Idol producers back at the Qwest Center in Omaha last August... and it's very cool to get a chance to be there when the show wraps up next week.  Of course, in addition to our reports on Fox 4, we hope to have a bunch of blog entries and pictures on the website here for you guys to check out.

Dave

Got the big vote tonight... hopefully all the David Cook fans still on a high from last Friday's visit burned up the phone lines.  If you watched the show, you know Paula and Simon have already more or less reserved David's spot in the final... in a few hours we'll find out if voters across the country saw it the same way.

We were talking with David's stepsister at the watch party last night, and she talked about what a tough job it was for David and the other two contestants to have to learn the arrangements for three different songs this week; especially since it was a short work week for them because of the hometown visit.   

No problems Wednesday night after all, as David sails on to American Idol's final three and secures his trip back home to the Metro.  It's a Friday stuffed full of events all over the area, from the Fox 4 studios to the Power and Light District to Blue Springs to The K... if you're an American Idol/David Cook fan, prepare to have a really good time.  If you're not... it may just be a good idea to lay low for the next 48 hours or so.

Personally, I'm looking forward to Friday.  I'm getting to get to cover David all day for Fox 4.  I think it's going to be really fun, because these past few months I've met so many of David's family, friends and teachers, and I know they're all very excited about getting their chance to welcome him back home.  I'm also very interested to see David's reaction.  Put yourself in his shoes; your hometown rolls out the red carpet to tell you how proud they are of you.  It's a moment very few of us will ever get to experience, but I imagine he'll think the whole thing is pretty cool.

Dave

First, my apologies for keeping this brief, but it's late and I'm tired.

We were back at an American Idol watch party again tonight... first time I've actually gone to a watch party in weeks, and it was a good one.  Close to 200 people, new David Cook t-shirts for sale, and an excited crowd.  Still, I don't think there was any question most people were already looking ahead to David's trip home of Friday.  His performances were good; no reason to think he won't move on to the final three.  But there's that nagging thought; what if for some reason he didn't get the votes?

Honestly, I don't think David's got anything to worry about; I expect him to be here on Friday.  That said, Wednesday night can't get here soon enough, just so we can know for sure.  What do you think?

Dave

A previous Final Four was a pretty big deal around here about a month ago (apologies to any Mizzou fans who might be reading this).  Now David Cook has made it into American Idol's Final Four, and people in the Metro are getting excited.  Real excited.

We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, because there's still another cut before we get to the final three, but of course, since some of the details of David's trip back to Blue Springs on May 9th have been announced, a lot of folks are already looking ahead-- I know we are at Fox 4, if only for planning purposes.  We'll talk a lot more about the trip in the days to come, for now I'm just thinking about how packed Blue Spring South's football stadium is going to be that afternoon when David shows up to sing a few songs.

I know I've gotten some comments on the blog asking where you can find those David Cook t-shirts many people around the Metro have been wearing.  If you want one of those shirts, two places you can check are the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce or Free Style Graphics in Lee's Summit.

You've also probably heard a lot about David's older brother Adam, and Adam's battle with cancer.  We've been hearing from people who are trying to raise money either to help with Adam Cook's medical costs, or to help get him back to Hollywood for the American Idol finale; that info can be found here on myfoxkc.com.  Many others say David and Adam's story has just motivated them to raise money for the fight against cancer.  Here's the link to one Metro area salon that has joined in that fight...

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=6362160&fr_id=11
100&pg=personal&JServSessionIdr007=y2mnx0t6u1.app316aa> Dave

I'm familiar with quite a few Neil Diamond songs.  I'm sure many people are; that's what happens when you've sold 120 million records.  But I'd never heard the two songs David Cook performed last night.  Maybe that made it easier for me to just enjoy them as his own stuff... either way, I thought he did great last night... clearly the best of the remaining five.  Hopefully the votes reflect that tonight.

Once again yesterday, we dropped in on Susan Cooper, the theater teacher at Blue Springs South High School.  She went home sick yesterday, but actually agreed to head back up to school to let us take a look at some fo David's high school theater performances, so thanks again, Susan.  We appreciate it.  She even let us take the VHS tapes of the shows so we could use them in our story.  Turns out that was a lot more of an ordeal that it should have been... there aren't too many VCRs around these days, even at a TV station!

Susan talked about how the musical theater David did in high school helps him as an overall performer today and is one of the factors that give him an edge on American Idol.  You can take a look at two of the songs he did from "Singing in the Rain" and "West Side Story" here on our website.

Yesterday, we also heard official conformation for the first time that David will be coming back to Blue Springs at the end of next week to visit.  I'm pretty sure a parade is also scheduled, so I'll end with a question for all of you: do you plan to be out there and check out the parade in person? 

Dave

David Cook has really got what it takes; the moment during last night's American Idol when he's standing next to Andrew Lloyd Webber at the piano.  Webber's telling David how 'sen-sool' the song he was going to perform is, and that David needed to practice by singing it to him like Webber was 'a 17 year old in the chorus line.'  Uh... okay.  I'd find that advice a little hard to process, probably because of an immaturity that still hasn't left me, even in my early 30s.

But clearly, that's not David's problem.  He practiced hard, and I thought turned in an awesome performance of Webber's 'Music of the Night.'  Going into the show, the judges said Webber's music would be some of the toughest the Idols would take on... and I tend to think they were right. In fact, in my completely unqualified opinion, I thought the songs really showed some of them up, but I won't name names... okay, I will, you talked me into it-- Jason Castro.  Jason Castro got shown up.  What can I say; he's an Aggie, so I've been looking for a reason to pick on him.

Back to David, I thought he nailed his song (maybe it helped that the audience was filled with 17 year-old chorus line-esque girls).  People I talk to in the Metro who are pulling for Cook don't even seem to get all that nervous when he performs anymore.  They've seen him come through so many times now they know no matter the song style, he's going to be able to pull it off... I would tend to agree.

Yesterday, we talked to Matt McLaughlin, one of David's original bandmates when they formed the band Axium back in high school.  Matt told us some cool stories about their high school days, played his guitar for us, and let us listen to the first CD Axium made.  Matt's also got one of the more impressive basements I've ever seen: old mismatching Lazy Boy chairs, plenty of sports, beer and cheerleader decor on the wall, even a stuffed deer head wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigarette.  Total man cave-- well played, sir.

Finally, another nod to my KISS obsession.  Last week, we saw Michael Johns hamming it up with Gene Simmons on the Tonight Show after getting voted off.  Then last night, the cameras find Paul Stanley in the audience.  Stanley performed in a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera' in Toronto several years ago, so I'm sure he really got a kick out of David's performance as well.

Dave

...And it's the Cook everyone in the Metro is pulling for.  David Cook pulls off another great performance, and gets to advance after what he called a very 'emotional' week.  A standing ovation from Randy and more high praise from Simon... doesn't get much better than that, huh?

I haven't been to any of the Metro area watch parties in a few weeks, and I'm really starting to miss them.  To that end, here's a shout out:  Angela Hart is huge David Cook fan, good friends with David's mother, and a driving force behind a home-based weekly watch party that's gotten so big they're now holding it at a hotel.  Angela always does a great job of calling me and letting me know what's going on, and I appreciate it.  

She's also done a great job with those David Cook t-shirts you may have seen.  There's a second shirt out now, and the other day she told me they've sold 12 hundred of the first shirt!  Very impressive.

Okay, just a personal note to end things, if I may.  I was under the impression Michael Johns has had a run of bad luck recently, what with being voted off the show and all... but as a diehard KISS fan since the age of 3, I've gotta say I'm pretty jealous of him now!

http://community.tvguide.com/thread/American-Idol/D
iscussion-Topics/Michael-Johns-Meets/800037619

Dave

Bill Self had a much better Thursday than Michael Johns.  Now, to be fair, KU's basketball coach had a better Thursday than almost everybody... heck, his whole week's been pretty awesome.  A national title on Monday with the Jayhawks, and then Thursday the announcement that Self would remain in Lawrence for the forseeable future, and would get a very nice raise in the process.

Thursday, as this week's American Idol results were announced and the field was trimmed to seven hopefuls, I was once again on the KU campus.  We were sent there early in the afternoon because we'd heard that there was something brewing with Self, who had been speaking with his alma mater, Oklahoma State, about their head coaching job.  When the announcement came that Self was staying put, we went around campus and talked to a few students about the news.  They were happy to keep their coach... and turns out they weren't all that surprised; they expected Self to stay.

I hadn't thought too much about it, but if I'd been asked, I sure would have expected Michael Johns to stay in Hollywood for a while longer, too.  He's never been in the bottom three, and now he's been sent home.  I was glad to hear David Cook moved on to the next round with ease... a very good sign in a week where the judges weren't crazy about his performance.

Every week at the station, we hear about more David Cook watch parties around the Metro.  The number of parties keeps growing as he continues his run through the show, with people getting together in bars, houses... even some of David's old schools.  Imagine if all those parties combined for one big watch party... I don't know what venue would be big enough to host it (assuming KC's arenas and stadiums weren't available)... but it would be something to see. 

Dave

Here's a request for all of you who were in front of your TVs watching David Cook/American Idol last night... what happened?

I ask because Tuesday night found me huddled in a live van outside the student union at the University of Kansas.  We were there to cover the big welcome home the basketball team got for cutting down the nets in San Antonio and winning the national championship.  BTW, it really is April... we can turn the heat up just a little bit, can't we?

Anyway, I was in the van working on my story for nine o'clock when I realized I wasn't going to be able to see Idol.  I quickly called home to see if a last minute dvr could happen.  No answer. 

Later, I heard Simon and Randy didn't like the performance as much as they had in recent weeks.  Can't remember the last time Randy wasn't excited about what David did.  Since I'm still not clear about what went on last night... please help me out.  How did you think David did, and who did you think really stood out on last night's show?

Dave