American Idol (Season 7) David Vs David: Who Is It Gonna Be?
Written by C Das (contact - e-mail) -- May 16th, 2008 | Recommend ThisSeason seven of American Idol started with lots of buzz and now we are almost ready crown our next Idol. But before we gear up for next week’s finale, let’s see who is buzzing more in the online world. Starting on March 9th, after the selection of the final twelve contestants, we see that a steady growth in search activity for David Cook during the nine week period with two spikes in between. Looking closely at the data for those two weeks, I found that a lot of the search followed his performance of “Billie Jean” on March 25th and “You Will Always be My Baby” on April 15th. On the other hand the search trend is pretty uneven for David Archuleta. The data is consistent with the fact that David C. started as a dark horse but eventually proved himself to be a strong contender, which might have continuously increased interest in him. Whereas, David A. started as the one to beat from early in the season, and continued to maintain his stature with some minor faux pas here and there. This might explain the initial interest in him, which eventually could have declined because of the predictably of his performance onstage, and even the occasional buzz surrounding his father was not enough to stir things up.
Now that we have seen David C. emerging as a favorite among the online community, it would be interesting to see if this is true among all age groups. Since David C is eight years older than David A, does that mean his fans are also adults? The data shows this is indeed the case, where we see David A.’s fans are mostly young, below 24 and David C.’s fans are mostly above 24.
Now, does the recent lead for David C. in online searches imply that he is going to be a sure winner? Not necessarily. A quick look at past years’ search trends will support this view. We see that the search trend for Blake Lewis lies above the trend for Jordin Sparks for almost the entire period with significant increase in later periods, but we all know how it ended. Interestingly, overall the search trends lie much below this year, which is not surprising; given that last season was one of the worst so far.
Conversely, this season both contestants are undoubtedly talented, thus the verdict can go either way. Although personally, neither of were my pick (Michael Johns was my favorite), I feel that David Archuleta is going to win. Having said that, I have no doubt that post-AI, David C will be successful; however, I am not so sure about David A. Even if he wins, since he is just 17, a lot depends on how he evolves as an artist.
But whatever the outcome will be, if our previous seasons have taught us anything, it is that winning the title does not mean much. We all know where season 5 contestant Chris Daughtry is today, but does anyone know where the season 5 Idol is?
PS. Stay tuned for a post-AI blog.
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May 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Okay,
Number 1, first and foremost, the AI HAS to have STAR power. Poor Ruben, season 2. We were all still in the learning curve. He has a great voice but does not have STAR POWER. His rival contender runner-up Clay Aiken however does. Same goes for What’s His Name, premature gray, big ass. No staying power. No glam. No beauty/handsome that sticks. Hate to say it, but physical beauty HAS to come with the package, as well as stage presence and photo hotness. Check out Kelly and Carrie. Now they’ve got STAR POWER on all counts. Okay. Moving on to THIS season. My vote goes to David Cook. Why? Because he’s older. Disappointed? Sorry. David A. will definitely draw in the seniors and the infants, but lose on the middle people. Baby Boomers, and their kids are THE force in the world right now. Let’s face it, they are where the action is, n’est pas? Ok, the grandkids are in love with Miley Cyrus, and they will prove a formidable force as they come into full bloom, but right now, David Cook ticks the tock of every rocker that’s ever lived. Hang on, David A. There is a place in the sun for YOU! You are so cute and huggable. But I wanna sleep with David C. Can you tell I”m a girl? ‘Nuff said.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I would like David A to win, because he have the best vocal so far, and that what the show is all about; out standing singer. David A ! you got it going for you from day one you are a star every time.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:25 am
well hello to all the judges
you will be doing a tuff job by nominating yhe best for the AIdol
I am confident that David A is the and has been the best outstanding contestant and he deverse all the title and I declare he is amd going to be the WINNER.
thks
Rgdrs
Genevieve
May 24th, 2008 at 3:53 am
I had to address Debbie’s comment about Ruben above, implying that he has not been successful since winning AI and is not a star. While Ruben has not gone on to be the cross-over, pop star some of the AI winners have become, Ruben is a bona fide success in the R&B genre. Check the R&B charts whenever he releases an album/single; his music is usually at the top. The same is true of Fantasia. Amongst R&B listeners, these two former AI Winners are VERY successful in the R&B genre, have had several big hits and are “stars” in the R&B world. I suppose their more segmented appeal is due to the solidly R&B material they’ve chosen to sing and the producers they’ve chosen to work with and the strengths and weaknesses of their individual talents. I often hear people characterize Ruben and sometimes Fantasia as “the not so successful winners of Idol” and it bugs me because anyone who listens to real R&B and/or is familiar with the R&B charts know that Ruben and Fantasia have been highly successful within the genre they’ve chosen; however, they have in fact, not achieve the crossover, pop success across the masses some of the other AI winners have achieved.
May 24th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
If you want to hear the truth about why “Archie” was so heavily promoted by Simon….here it is: Simon has a deal with DISNEY for a new American Idol “attraction” @ Disney World. “Archie” was suppose to win because Simon/DISNEY felt that he could attract the pre-teens/younger teens in order to garner more dollars; hence the heavy over the top praises Archie was receiving by Simon (in particular) and Randy; Paula isn’t involved in the financial loop. Well, you can imagine the shock Simon received (ahead of time) upon learning David Cook received more votes; Oh come-on do you REALLY believe that one of the major producers wouldn’t know the outcome ahead of time? Yeah, right! That is WHY Simon “apologized” to David Cook. Also, that is why Archie is being so heavily promoted (right along side of David Cook). Simon MUST live up to his contractual agreement with DISNEY! Time will prove that I’m right here folks. Go visit the AI site and see DISNEY’s big plans for yourself!