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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > May > 25
Sunday, May 25, 2008
5/25: David Cook/David Archuleta post-show press conference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s now Sunday morning and I just noticed I missed an email note from Thursday evening that there would be a phone press conference with David Cook land then David Archuleta ast Friday morning. Wish I had known that! I would have been there!
They sent me the transcript Friday night, which I just caught. Here are some highlights from the press conference I missed. Cook was pretty bland at times, though Archuleta couldn’t be duller.
First up: Cook:
On Simon thinking early on he was cocky: “I didn’t have any expectations as to what the show was going to do for me or what I was going to do for the show. I just went into as an opportunity to expose myself musically to a large audience. So my confidence level really never wavered and maybe that’s what got misinterpreted as cocky or arrogant. I think as the season went on maybe he saw the work that I was putting in not just on my own stuff, but really just to try to make it a positive working environment for everybody.”
His performance background:: “I started in bands when I was 15 years old in Kansas City and was fortunate enough to get to play in and around Kansas City quite a bit and got to travel around the Midwest on occasion. The move to Tulsa, I’d graduated college and the opportunity to continue music presented itself in Tulsa, so I went. I played acoustic gigs a couple of times a month. I played full band gigs a couple of times a month and I just kind of hoofed it around the Midwest for about 10 years.”
On the 12 million vote victory. “You know, I think that number is actually really misleading. Obviously within the bubble of Idol, it’s hard to kind of get a vibe on what’s going on. I thought Archie was probably a little bit ahead of me if I’m being honest. I think as far as the finale goes, there’s a lot of conspiracy theories out there. I attribute the finale vote discrepancy just to my fans just being awesome. I don’t really know how else to explain it. You know, my hats off to Archie for the whole scenario. I mean, he handled himself with a lot of grace. More importantly, he’s just an amazing human being, so I was just honored to share the stage with him.”
He was very vague about what type of record he’d come out with, just it will be rock: I’m going to try to recreate that energy within this record. I want this record to have some twists and turns. I want people to feel like they got taken on a trip from beginning to end. I got my work cut out for me. It should be a lot of fun.”
Would he have been better off not winning, like Daughtry?” “I think going into this was an idea that you don’t want to win I think is a huge slap in the face to the 103,000 people that auditioned this season that really wanted to win, so I definitely went into this to try to win it. As far as having more success by not being a winner, I think that’s something that’ll get played out hopefully in the next couple of years. I think Daughtry’s success is amazing. So for me like right now I’m not trying to be Daughtry. You know, I’m just trying to put out a solid record. Even if it doesn’t do well commercially, as long as I can say that I put out a record that I’m proud of, that’s the goal right now and hopefully if I can do that, then success will follow.”
On auditioning when he didn’t initially want to “[David’s brother Andrew] really wanted me to audition with him and I was just hesitant, not for any negative stigma associated with the show, but I didn’t really see this as my path for whatever reason. To stand in line at 5:30 in the morning in Omaha and the sun hasn’t come up. The producer comes by with a camera and interviews my brother and then turns to me and I’m like, ‘I’m not auditioning,’ and he goes, “Well you are now.” Life has a weird way of working itself out sometimes.”
On how he changed over the course of the competition “Well, this show’s been great for my diet. I’ve lost probably 10 - 15 pounds through the season. There was definitely a progression for me on this show. Early on - I’m talking like the third or fourth week in - Debra Byrd, our vocal coach, really hit home with me on a particular lesson. I think going into this, I put up a wall, kind of a protective barrier between me and the audience just to kind of protect myself, a little bit of a defense mechanism. She kind of forced me to break that down and I think it helped in the performances. Everybody talks about how towards the end I started crying a lot. Well, you know there was just a lot of intensity into the last few weeks as far as just what was at stake and all the work that had been put into it. I said in a lot of interviews yesterday the crying after I won was like an exhale. “
Why is he single? [A TV Guide reader question]: “I have no idea. That’s all I can say.”
Now onto what little I could cull from the Archuleta transcipt that wasn’t packed with boring cliches. He likes to prattle on a bit and gosh darn it, he’s kinda dorky, too. Favorite self-description: “I’m pretty much an airhead.”
Blah blah about Cook “The fact that Cook won, I think he deserved it so much. He just proved it week after week that he deserved to be the American Idol even early in the competition. He’s such a great guy too. My main priority wasn’t to win the competition, but it was just to do my best because you can suck and people can vote, but not for you to win and that wouldn’t feel very good. I think we both gave it all.”
On his dad “I hadn’t really heard much of it until later on. I tried to stay away from the press and my dad also. He understood that I didn’t like to hear anything going on in the news about me good or bad, just because I didn’t want it to distract me or let it go to my head or anything like that. I just wanted to stay myself and how I was at the beginning of the competition before all this happened. I wanted to keep who I was, the normal teenage David. In interviews and stuff it started coming up and it was just kind of strange because there were really weird things. I heard one thing was like he refused to give me water or something like that. That’s the weirdest thing. I mean, I’m 17 and if I want water I’m pretty sure I would just go get it anyway. Another thing was like he made me cry during one of the recording studios or something like that. I can’t remember really. Just weird things like that. I’m old enough to have enough control over myself. Then the next thing is he’s a great guy. There isn’t really anything he’s done that’s bad like the things that have been spoken about him. You know, my whole family has been such a great support and they’re the ones who’ve kept me grounded and allowed me to be who I am today. No one understands what I’m here for more than they do. They get what I love about music and how it’s changed my life. They’ve witnessed what it’s done for me and so they understand what I want to do while I’m here.”
What he’d like to record “Well I’d love to do the pop thing just because I’m still a teenager. On the show I was getting a little mature with my songs even though I love to do that stuff. I still want to be able to relate to the kids my age. I like the pop music, but I still want to have meaning in my music. So I’d still like to do some fun stuff along with songs that have more meaning in them. John Mayer and … are examples I use as people who have done the more pop side of music, but their music is so - I call it - real. It’s real music where it has meaning and depth to it still. They’re respected as real musicians and artists.”
On the differences between “Star Search” and “Idol”: “When I was little I didn’t even think I deserved to be on Star Search. I didn’t think I was good enough and I was confused that I kept going on. I was such an airhead. Well, I’m still pretty much an airhead. I was just like I don’t get why I’m still here. The people are going against are better than me and stuff. It just helped me to really keep focused I guess, because I understand that it takes a lot of work to do these kinds of things and to be able to show what you can do in that small amount of time. This show, fortunately, allowed more time and it lasted longer. I don’t know. I don’t know where I’m going with this.”
How he used to hate getting his picture taken “I hated pictures at the beginning of this. I’d always like run away from cameras even just with friends and stuff. I’d always be the one hiding behind a bush or something. It’s because I hate looking at myself. I still don’t really like looking at pictures of myself. I’ve never watched myself on the show. I would just do something else when the show was on and maybe like my family was watching it or something. I can’t stand hearing my voice. I’m okay with just talking to the cameras and stuff as long as I don’t have to hear it afterwards unless maybe I can learn something from it.”
