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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > November > 23
Sunday, November 23, 2008
11/24: Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry win 2008 AMA awards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a good night for the “Idol” brethren.
At the American Music Awards, Jordin Sparks won Adult Contemporary artist of the year (beating Daughtry) and Carrie Underwood took home best country album. And Daughtry was named best pop/rock group. Congrats all!
During Jordin Sparks’ presenting portion, she said, “I’ll stick to the script this time. I promise!” At the MTV Music Awards, she made a bit of a stir when the host mocked the Jonas Brothers promise rings and she defended them. David Archuleta looked really short presenting next to Shailene Woodley, star of ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”
What’s with that eye patch, Rihanna? And earlier, that godawful dress? Great performances by Ne-Yo, Sarah McLachlan (with Pink!) and Christina Aguilera.
Karen Crandall Durden takes a shot of David Cook at the CD release party at Hard Rock Cafe in New York City last week.
-My friend Karen Crandall Durden, who came to the “Idol” concert in August with me, missed David Cook by minutes when he stopped by the Michael Johns post-concert party. But she made up for it in New York last week. She gave me her rundown of her trip to see (no, not stalk!) David. Here’s her take on the trip with photos:
As a David Cook fan who just barely missed meeting him in Atlanta at the AI Tour, I trekked up to New York City to support David for the release of his new album. Did I mention that I got to meet him this time?!? Monday’s mission was to see David perform on Good Morning America. By the time I got to the ABC studio at 5am, there was already a line about 20 people deep and the line only continued to grow leading up to the 7am hour. Luckily, with my reservation in hand, I didn’t have a problem getting in. Before the show, David & band rehearsed while we were still outside the studio.
After the rehearsal, he waved to me (!) and actually came up to the window to see some folks next to me that knew his mom, Beth, who was also in the studio.
It wasn’t until sometime after 8am that David & band actually came into the studio - everyone was going crazy when they arrived. After playing little bits of ‘Mr. Sensitive’ and ‘Heroes’ during the commercial break lead-ins and singing with Stephen Colbert, it was time to turn the ‘Light On.’ ‘Light On’ was awesome live and seeing the band perform made me even more excited to score a wristband for the following night’s album release concert.
ABOVE: Karen caught David looking at her camera.
After the show, David taped a promo for the ABC station in Kansas City and he & the band signed autographs and took pictures with the crowd. One touching moment was when he was presented framed letters from the fundraising effort ‘Cook Fans Conquering Cancer’. Mostly over the summer months during the AI ‘tewer’, fans raised almost $30,000 in honor of David for the American Cancer Society. He got pretty choked up. I got pretty close to him but he was being pulled in a lot of different directions so wasn’t able to get in the Atlanta shout-out then.
On Monday evening, I caught about 2 hours of shut-eye before heading out to Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Oh, the things people do for David Cook! If you were one of the first few hundred people that bought the album when the store opened at 8am that morning, you got a wristband to attend a private concert at the Hard Rock Café that evening by David & band. I thought that if I showed up at 1:15 am that I’d be one of the first in line. Yeah, right! When I arrived with about 5 layers on and wrapped in a hotel blanket, I was probably 50th in line.
Even though we were out on the sidewalk for about 7 hours, it was a blast! Fans had speakers and were playing the album all night. I didn’t feel so bad when even the northerners were complaining about how cold it was. Around 7am, someone from RCA, aka ‘Donut Dude’, showed up with boxes and boxes of donuts that David sent to us. So sweet! After we gorged ourselves on the donuts, some fans started passing them out to surprised New Yorkers on their way to work who thought all of us were crazy for camping out on the sidewalks. Shortly after the store opened, I got my CD and wristband!
The concert that night was amazing! I was left pretty speechless, actually - these guys sound like they’ve been playing together for years. David was a total pro on stage but also was extremely gracious and thankful. They played a number of songs off the album - my fave is ‘Lie.’ They also did a cover of ‘Little Lies’ by Fleetwood Mac to switch things up a bit in the encore. Afterwards, David signed CDs for every single person at the concert. He must have been exhausted but was a trooper.
ABOVE: Karen admires her signed CD.
When I finally met him, I was afraid I would just freeze up but he was so friendly. So here’s finally the ATL shout-out…I told him that all of his fans in Atlanta loved him and about how I narrowly missed meeting him at Michael Johns’ after-party during the tour and he was like ‘awww.’ I also told him that we’d all see him at the Q100 concert on December 15 (are you reading this Q? I desperately need a ticket!). Then I kept repeating ‘we love you’ over and over - I finally had to move on and almost left my CD at the table I was so happy. I got to shake his hand!! We are definitely in for a treat when he comes to ATL on December 15. After a few sleep-deprived and cold days in NYC, it was totally worth it to be able to see David perform on the day his album dropped - it was something I’ll never forget!
