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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > May > 23
Friday, May 23, 2008
‘Idol’ winner Cook borrows Collective Soul hit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While David Cook reigned supreme on the seventh season of “American Idol” Wednesday night, Atlanta’s Collective Soul could take a tiny sliver of credit.
Cook picked one of the band’s early hits, “The World I Know,” to close out his set Tuesday night, a song he loved but had never sung in public.
Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul praised Cook as usual, but Simon Cowell thought it wasn’t the right song choice.
“He did great,” Collective Soul guitarist Dean Roland told Buzz before the results Wednesday. “He definitely put his own spin to it. I found that interesting.”
And since “Idol” condenses three- or four-minute songs in half, Roland noticed how Cook “had to cram in a lot. That song has a slow crescendo buildup and he had to get there fast.”
Roland, who is already buds with former Buckhead resident and “Idol” finalist Michael Johns, said he sees Cook going a long way in the business: “He’s got the talent, the personality and the demeanor.”
Related links: Photos and video from the finale; American Idol Buzz
FANS REMEMBER B.J.
Mike Farrell revels in his role as a human rights activist. And a few of the adoring fans who came to see him at his book signing/talk Wednesday at the Decatur Public Library indulged him.
They asked him his views on gun control (doesn’t mind people owning guns, wishes they didn’t have to), the death penalty (against it, big time, for moral reasons) and the presidential race (first for John Edwards, now for Barack Obama).
But most questions were about his time as B.J. Hunnicut on the classic show “MAS*H.” Now 69 and aging gracefully, he accepted the queries with grace, humor and warmth.
“The reality is the show wasn’t just about a war,” Farrell said. “It was about human beings being put in situations they’d rather not be in, but as a result of necessity, they were required to solve the problems at hand. People who have never been in war or a uniform understand that.”
He spun anecdotes about what an acting challenge it was to play Hunnicut finding out his own daughter didn’t recognize him and how the character almost cheated on his wife in a moment of weakness. As an actor, he appreciated that the “MAS*H” producers respected and welcomed his feedback.
“It became more than a television show,” he noted, “not only to people who watched it but within the industry. We’d get calls from actors and movie stars who thanked us for doing a show about something. That’s very heady stuff.”
Related links: Q&A with the actor-activist
WYNTER OFF THE AIR
Shelley Wynter likes to go against the tide, a moderate/conservative black talk-show host in a sea of liberals on WAOK-AM (1380). But he’s been let go from the station without explanation.
“I love WAOK and have nothing bad to say,” he told Buzz. “But this gives me plenty of new opportunities.”
Rob Redding, a former WAOK host who operates Redding News Review, intimated on his Web site that Wynter’s critical remarks against Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) may have contributed to his downfall.
Wynter also had accepted consulting payments from a Republican opponent of Scott’s.
A Scott spokeswoman declined to comment except to say the politician had never placed any pressure on the station to fire Wynter.
Rick Caffey, the station general manager, didn’t return a call by deadline.
Wynter said his marketing firm did provide services to Deborah Honeycutt, who is running against Scott. But he said he openly disclosed that info to the station and while he has been tough on Scott and other black leaders such as Rep. John Lewis, he’s never even had Honeycutt on his show.
RANDOM BITS
• Former WXIA meteorologist Flip Spiceland wanted to ease into life in the public relations world by taking on a low-key job at a place called the Facility Group in Smyrna. But within a week, a federal grand jury was going after the company for fraud.
Spiceland realized he was out of his element and the two sides parted ways. A believer in technical schools, he has quickly found a new job repping North Metro Technical College.
Spiceland’s former colleague and anchor Clarence Reynolds also has jumped over to PR, as the director of communications for nonprofit group AID Atlanta.
• Holly Firfer, formerly a CNN anchor and now host of WXIA’s “Atlanta & Company,” recently shot a small role on Lifetime’s “Army Wives” in Charleston, S.C., that wasn’t exactly outside her comfort zone. She played a news reporter.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Joan Collins is 75. Comedian Drew Carey is 50. Singer Maxwell is 35. Singer Jewel is 34.
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