Ah. The much talked-about topic, American Idol Season 7. Now it's my turn to jump on the bandwagon! :D

I've been watching AI since the very beginning. I even watched all the auditions! Which, needless to say, are extremely boring. Somehow, this year, I got much more interested in American Idol. I just had a good feeling about this year's contestants, you know?
And I was right. The minute I saw one of the AI advertisements, I just knew I had to watch out for this guy. This guy was none other than David Archuleta. :DD *insert dreamy look*

Seriously! When I saw a snippet of his audition as part of the advertisement, I made sure I watched his audition. From then on, I kept watching out for him to see how well he would perform, and I rooted and hoped for him to get into the top 24, and from there I instantly became a David A fan.

I can't wait for their performances tomorrow (Singapore time, at least). Not only to see my David perform, but to see what Cook's gonna do, of course. They've both got tons and tons of pressure on them to do well tomorrow, so I'm really worried for my David.

You know, being a David A fan isn't very easy. You have to put up with the crap Cook's fans give you :P Haha. Just kidding lah. So Serious for what? And of course, how sad you feel when you ask someone who they're rooting for and the answer isn't who you hope it is. But then again, I'm sure all fans feel that way for their favourite contestants. I'm really not being biased but David Archuleta, in my opinion, is the most adorable Idol contestant ever. I'm just saying it in a matter-of-fact manner because he really is very cute and I really haven't thought of any other Idol finalists who were as adorable. I mean, even Isis agrees with me! :D Hey, she has his picture in her phone despite being a David Cook fan! Heheheh.

I was full of high hopes for this year's AI, you know. Because I found that many of them were extremely talented. But the Idol producers crushed my dreams of having one of the best AI Top 4 finalists ever when they eliminated Michael Johns, whose voice and performances I loved.

But I ended up hating this year's system even more than previous years. Because we ALL KNOW that the producers meddle non-stop with the outcome of results shows. Need more proof?
Firstly, look at Michael. There is no possible way that Michael could have gotten less votes than Carly and Syesha. I mean, come on, he's never been in the bottom three before! If the producers already had the top two finalists in mind, then why don't they just do away with the stupid voting system? It just wastes people's money and time and effort because "hey, it's not like my vote really counts and makes a difference anyway because the producers already know who they want, right?"

Secondly, last week, EVERYONE knew the producers wanted a David vs David finale. But HELLO, they didn't have to make it so darn obvious! Take a look at something I found on this site: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/05/american_idol_so_long_syesha.html

(Oh, btw, don't mind the biasness you hear in any of the articles I quoted. I didn't write it, obviously, and the aim of this post is to point out how much I hate the producers. Well, hate's a strong word, but, yeah.)
Last night on American Idol — even though David Cook's performances of crappy Aerosmith and Collective Soul songs were marked by his typical ear-bending pitchiness, and even though Vulture favorite David Archuleta made an ill-informed, semi-hilarious attempt to win over fans of urban radio — Syesha Mercado still was not able to overcome the tragic fact that her name is not David, thereby rendering her ineligible to compete in next week's all-David season finale, which was preordained and carved on stone tablets several billion years ago. So, obviously, she's going home tonight.

Haha. Funny. I do admit it was slightly nerve-wrecking and funny to see my favourite contestant sing With You.
Anyway, see? They made her sing a crappy song, and even Paula told her she was going home. Whatever was coming out of the judges' mouths was obviously scripted. And we'd even caught a glimpse of this earlier on in the season. Remember, when Jason had only sung one song but Paula commented on two of them? Gee, I wonder why.

Thirdly, it's obvious that the producers want a David Cook victory. What with all that drama being circulated about my father-in-law, Jeff Archuleta, and all. Hahahahaha. Sorry. Well, anyway, the producers obviously don't want David A to win, because of his creepy dad, aka my creepy father-in-law. And here comes yet another excerpt from the same website!

(Like I said, ignore the biasness, etc.)
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 (a pimp spot's good, in case you don't know), 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.

Seriously! No offence to all Cook's fans, but two out of three of his songs last week were pitchy, but still Simon proceeded to declare him the night's winner. Whereas my David had sung two out of three of his songs flawlessly, but was still criticized. And when David remade "Think of Me" into a more modern version, Simon said that it was forgettable. I don't exactly think taking a huge risk on a really well-known song makes his performance equal to that of others which had been labelled as forgettable as well (I shan't name names). But whatever, Think of Me was in the past, right?

Oh, and FURTHERMORE, last week, we all know that Syesha and David A were criticized for their producers' song song choice. Which I find is really stupid, because the judges were pretending as if they didn't know that the producers had picked their songs for them, and I hope you could all see through them as well as I did.

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?"

Sigh. So what exactly is my point, you ask? I guess what I'm trying to say is that the producers suck and they pretty much control the entire thing anyway, so why don't they just stop trying to hide it since it's so darn obvious already? Like I said, I had had such high hopes for this year's AI, but the producers had to go ruin it all. I had been hoping that Carly, Michael, and the two Davids would make up the top four. But obviously this dream faded a long time ago, when Michael was sent packing.

So. I guess it really doesn't matter who wins the title this Thursday (or rather, Wednesday), because we, the public, will never really know who the real winner was, thanks to Nigel and gang. Maybe they shouldn't even bother to count how many votes each contestant got; it's not like it matters. Bottom line is, producers overwrite all other decisions, and I doubt they'll let the Americans decide who wins.

But honestly, and speaking from a normal, non-pissed, point of view, nicer, point of view, I wouldn't mind either victory. Haha I kind of wish there could be two winners instead of one. That way, there wouldn't be all this comparison post-Idol. For eg, people say that David Cook would be better off getting second because AI doesn't have much credit in the rock and roll world, so he should get second place like how Chris Daughtry got fourth and look where that got him. Yeah, that kind of thing. I know I'm wishing for the impossible, though.

But back to the two Davids. Even though I don't mind either guy winning, I still wonder why people call Cook so original, because almost all of his "original" performances are simply copies of covers done by less-known groups, thus fooling the judges into thinking that he's original. Which is really, really, really annoying, because Cook is simply taking credit for other people's work. I'll give him credit, though, for his version of Always Be My Baby. That was nice. :D
I guess I've disliked Cook from the beginning because he was arrogant and smug. (ever since he told Simon that he didn't have to win Simon over with his charisma; he had to win America over.) But Cook is getting better at being humble (either that, or he's better at hiding it now, heh), so I'll give him that.

Haha. I'm not trying to list out all Cook's bad points, but I'm not saying that David A is flawless, either; in fact, far from it lah. I know David has that breathing problem which is quite obvious at times when he sings, and apparently his nostrils flare (kindly pointed out by Isis. I didn't notice this one), and he's forgotten his lyrics on more than one occasion. See? I may be a fan, but I'm not blinded by my love. XD I just don't think Cook's vocal skills are superior to his, you see. Nothing personal, dudes. It's not like I have a bone to pick with Cook's hair or any of his personal habits, or like I'm simply attacking him because I feel like it. To be fair, I think that Cook's a way better performer but Archuleta's a way better singer. Besides, their niche areas are complete opposites. One's a rocker, the other's a slow-ballad kind of guy, so naturally, they'll have strengths in different areas. The only fact I hate is that people keep calling David Cook original, that's all.

I don't understand the mean spirited attacks on DA. He's only seventeen and people are attacking him as though he's wronged you before in some way or another. I quote someone on the net, "If every 17 year-old that has not yet had a girlfriend is gay, the number of senior proms and the future birth rate are about to drop drastically."

But I wish him all the best with that nagging problem called his dad. Of course, parents matter, and we all love them to bits and pieces, but sometimes they need to back down a little. Seriously, I wish he would just leave him alone, because not only is he getting in the way of his son's happiness, it's also generating unnecessary, unwanted, bad attention for his son from Cook's fans and countless other critics. I mean, like, can't you just leave my David alone to be happy? ): He's only seventeen and he has to deal with all this crap from his psycho dad already. I may only be yet another ardent fan of David's (or am I? XD), but I'm pretty sure he'll be completely alright if he doesn't win AI. They're both obviously going to get contracts anyway, so I guess all there is for him to do is to enjoy the ride while it lasts. His latest interview included him mentioning how honoured he feels to be in the top two with Cook, whom he looked up to since the top 24. He also said that he "would not mind at all coming second to this guy (Cook)." Heh. I quoted. He's obviously happy with how far he's managed to come, so I really just wish his dad would back off and let his son be happy. :DDD

Read this comment (s) I saw on the net!

(Yes, yes, ignore the biasness, gosh.)
"I am so tired of hearing about David Cook and his supposed originality. I liked his performance, but he is not unique, original or bold. Ever since "Hello" was a hit, he does the same thing week after week. He takes a pure pop song and looks for a rock arrangement of that song (sometimes giving credit to the arranger and sometimes not). The arrangements he picks are less well known so it makes him look as if he is original and interesting. But he is doing the same as all of the other contestants - covering an arrangement put together by another person or group. His version of "Hello" was Incubus' version, "Day Tripper" was a Whitesnake arrangement, "Eleanor Rigby" was the Doxology version, and "Billie Jean" was the Chris Cornell arrangement. The judges should know this and it is ridiculous that they continue to portray him as original and innovative. He is a good performer, but far from original."

But this one's the best! Look at this comment.

"I think that all the contestants are very talented. It takes a lot of courage to do what they do every week. I am almost certain that none of the people who give their opinions on the site know nothing about what it takes to get up in front of millions of people every week and do what they do. Some will get there quicker than others but they will all cut record deals that will make their dreams come true. Apparently all we have to look foward to is putting them all down. Have your favorite but also have respect for what they are doing."

This one rocks. The blue one up there.

I think I'm going to be quite sad when Idol ends. D: Because there'll definitely be less of David on the TV. )))): Sob. I wish I could skip school on Thursday to hear the results in the morning, but I don't think it's be worth it lah, right? I shall see if my prediction comes true.

p.s: Yes, I know I need to change my blogskin. Sob. Stupid photobucket.
pps: I hope I didn't miss anything out.
ppps: Go on, start bashing me or sending me hate mail, all you people. Funny, though, how one simple TV show can make people say things they wouldn't say in normal circumstances. Or make people hate each other. It's. Just. A. Show, and everyone's entitled to their own opinion, after all.