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Post by mljbray on Jul 9, 2008 10:14:04 GMT -5
Skechers signed David to a global deal!! SKECHERS Signs Idol Winner David Cook to Global Deal Footwear Company Brings American Idol Winner on Board for Endorsement Agreement
Last update: 8:35 a.m. EDT July 9, 2008 MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., Jul 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SKECHERS USA, Inc., a global leader in the lifestyle footwear industry, today announced that it has signed recent American Idol winner and rising star David Cook to a global endorsement agreement. This deal marks the first male celebrity to make SKECHERS' roster since 2002, when actor Robert Downey Jr. was the face of the global brand, and the second American Idol winner, with Carrie Underwood being the first in 2005. With exclusive worldwide rights to advertise footwear using Cook's image through December 2009, SKECHERS will feature the 25-year-old singer in various SKECHERS' styles through a campaign that will reflect his personality, interests and appeal. Launching in Fall '08, the campaign coincides with the "PopTarts American Idols Live! Tour 2008," and the debut of David's first post-Idol album on 19 Recordings/RCA Records. The SKECHERS Cook campaign will include print, outdoor and in-store. "I have always viewed SKECHERS as a cool company, so I am excited to be a part of their campaign," said Cook, who proved his enduring popularity by breaking an all-time Billboard chart record with 11 songs debuting on the Hot 100 in a single week after winning American Idol. "They've had some sensational singers like Carrie Underwood and Christina Aguilera as they were starting out and it will be great to be a part of the SKECHERS roster." "We are thrilled that David will be representing SKECHERS in our marketing campaigns around the world," stated Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. "As a dynamic performer with a friendly, approachable personality, he's a perfect fit for the SKECHERS brand and an exciting next step for our tradition of successful partnerships with emerging music stars." Greenberg continued, "The crossing-over of fashion and music is beneficial to both industries, and benefits the stars and the brands associated with them. For this reason, we have invested in such phenomenal stars as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Ashlee Simpson, and now, David Cook." Along with celebrated songstresses Spears, Aguilera, Underwood and Simpson, and male stars like Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, former Lakers player Rick Fox and Downey Jr. have all appeared in SKECHERS marketing campaigns. Mr. Cook did not plan to try out when he went to support his brother at the Omaha, Nebraska auditions for season seven of American Idol. Despite his intentions, he was convinced to sing, and was selected to continue to the Hollywood round. The guitar-playing rock singer overcame the odds to beat out over 100,000 contestants before advancing to the top 24. David received the necessary votes to stick around week after week, until he eventually won the title of "American Idol" at the finale in Los Angeles on May 21, 2008. The global endorsement agreement was signed with 19 Merchandising Limited on behalf of Mr. Cook. www.markethingych.com/news/story/skechers-signs-idol-winner-david/story.aspx?guid={A6707E6B-16AC-4C79-9372-86520C9C7407}&dist=hppr #happy036#
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Post by 2ton on Jul 9, 2008 21:08:15 GMT -5
Wooo, and the money starts rolling in!!!!
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Post by mljbray on Aug 11, 2008 10:05:47 GMT -5
blogcritics.org/archives/2008/08/08/213443.phpCan David Cook Become American Idol's First Rock Star? Written by Sherry Lipp Published August 08, 2008 Season 7 American Idol winner David Cook is teaming up with Grammy winning producer Rob Cavallo for his debut album with 19 Recordings/RCA Records. The album is scheduled for release this November. Cavallo is best known for producing Green Day's smash hit American Idiot. Cavallo has also produced albums for Kid Rock, Goo Goo Dolls, My Chemical Romance, and Eric Clapton. He is also working on an upcoming release from The Dave Mathews Band.
Idol has produced one rock star in season five contestant Chris Daughtry, who finished in fourth place on the show. Daughtry's debut album has gone five times platinum and is still producing chart topping singles. Cook, however, will be the first winner to go the rocker route. What remains to be seen is if Cook can combine the stigma of reality TV contestant (Cook recently took home a Teen Choice award for Best Male Reality TV Star) with legitimate rock musician.
At this point Cook has a lot going for him. While on Idol Cook was able to play his guitar during competition, which added to his image as genuine musician. Season seven is the first year Idol contestants were allowed to use instruments in their performances. Cook also has an arsenal of five independent rock albums he recorded prior to appearing on Idol. It's a background that shows Cook was serious about making music long before American Idol came into his life. It could go a long way toward proving to the non-Idol viewing, music buying public that he is not just a manufactured "flavor of the month."
Currently Cook is taking full advantage of all the benefits that being an American Idol winner offers. The massive exposure has attracted a few other high profile collaborators in addition to Cavallo. Cook has had songwriting sessions with Our Lady Peace lead singer Rainn Maida and Collective Soul's Ed Roland. Cook himself has remained very involved in the songwriting process and hopes to make an album that is true to his rock style.
Having a successful producer like Cavallo could be the key to his success. Cook told Entertainment Weekly.com that Cavallo is "a great producer with the kind of sound that I want."
Of course being an American Idol winner does involve some compromise. And for David Cook that compromise is his first single "Time Of My Life." "Time Of My Life" was the winning song in the American Idol songwriting contest and would have been released as a single if it had been David Archuleta who won. Basically the song was not meant for David Cook, it was meant for the Idol winner, whoever that turned out to be.
The song itself is not great, but not all that bad either. It has been decent hit for Cook, debuting at #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and is currently having a lot of success on the adult contemporary charts. Cook, who must sing the song every night of the Idol tour, has done enough with the song that it shows off his strong vocals. Nonetheless, it still does not quite fit in with the grunge/modern rock sound Cook is going for. So should the successful single go on his debut album or not?
It looks like it might not make the cut. Cook told EW.com that he is not resisting the song but his "goal is to make a cohesive record, and I don't want any song to stick out like a sore thumb. But in every meeting that I've had with 19 [Management] and RCA [Records], they've been very supportive of what I want to do with my record."
On the one hand a successful single can help drive album sales, but on the other hand a song that is not a representation of the artist's style could compromise their image in the long run.
While it remains to be seen whether David Cook will become a bona fide rock star, he is giving it his best shot. With his massive Idol popularity, a few chart hits already under his belt, and the backing of a major producer like Rob Cavallo, the future looks pretty bright for Cook. #happy036#
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Post by 2ton on Aug 11, 2008 12:33:09 GMT -5
Isn't that the song that they often play during the Olympic broadcasts? I wonder if the songwriter gets the monies for every play!!!!!!!!!
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Post by mljbray on Aug 13, 2008 14:44:16 GMT -5
www.telegram.com/article/20080811/NEWS/808110383/1102Monday, August 11, 2008 Multi-talented Idols on tour cook up a winner of a show
REVIEW
By Nancy Sheehan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF nsheehan@telegram.com American Idol David Cook stole the show at the DCU Center Saturday. (T&G Staff/MARK C. IDE)
WORCESTER— Ten Idols performed at the DCU Center Saturday night, but in the end it was really a one-man show.
David Cook, who took the top spot in the seventh, and most recent, season of American Idol (the Fox TV music-and-money-making juggernaut) left no doubt that voters got it right when they made the Missouri-born rocker their No. 1 choice. His five-song set likely would have been deemed brilliant even by acerbic Idol judge Simon Cowell.
Hold off on the testy e-mails all you diehard fans of other idols. There were other bright spots, notably David Archuleta, Cook’s 17-year-old runner up, who came in a solid second on the DCU’s audience shriek-o-meter. Archuleta’s four-song set, including “Angels” and “Stand By Me,” was delivered with the panache of a performer twice his age. His voice was incandescent, soulful and strong. Although it’s still a new thing, singing on a big stage in front of thousands of people seems natural. He is obviously born to it.
Six-place finisher Carly Smithson, the newly slimmed-down Irish rocker chick, proved to be a local favorite, as did dreadlocked heartthrob Jason Castro, whose soft, melodic acoustical interlude was a welcome break from the sometimes strained attempts at big-voiced virtuosity by other contestants.
Cook still managed to be the standout, however, even among this year’s field of ultra-talented teens and twentysomethings, generally regarded as the strongest block of contestants ever assembled for the show.
To thunderous applause and the ear-blasting screams of a sold-out audience of mostly women, Cook began his set with his moving, rock-infused version of Lionel Richie’s “Hello,” the breakthrough song that established Cook as a contender on the TV show. “The Time of My Life,” the winning entry in a national Idol songwriting contest, followed. Cook’s vocal strength made his cover of Aerosmith’s expansive “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” an easy undertaking. (So why did he bother? We were left wondering.)
A pause followed, because Cook really doesn’t want to miss a thing at this, the most excellent time of his life. “I don’t want to do this next song because then the show moves on and I just want to let all this sink in,” he said of the wailing, waving sea of adulation all around him. It was refreshing to see a talented young rock star who seems genuinely gracious and not full of himself — at least not yet.
But the show must go on, and after a fabulous “My Hero,” Cook walked off the stage only to be called back for an encore. His fans made it resoundingly clear they were not letting him go, so out he came with his signature take on Chris Cornell’s version of “Billie Jean,” the song he sang the week contestants were asked to pick a song from the year they were born, (which in Cook’s case was 1982).
It was amazing. Some people wow you with their sheer vocal power, others with their quiet expressiveness. Cook manages to combine both aspects into an edgy, arena-rattling sound. He then adds an undertone of plaintive tenderness that just grabs you and pulls you through a song.
Except for Cook’s five tunes and Archuleta’s four-song set, each finalist was given three songs to sing, making the show a series of mini concerts. Group numbers were limited to two, one just before intermission and one after Cook’s last song. The singers appeared in reverse order, with Chikezie Eze, who placed 10th, doing his thing first. He was followed by Ramiele Malubay, Michael Johns, Kristy Lee Cook, Smithson, Brooke White, Castro and Syesha Mercado, with the two Davids rounding out the bill.
It will be interesting to see on the annual Idols live tour who has what it takes to become a real star and who will be relegated to fleeting phenom status. Eze and Maluaby seem most at risk for the latter designation. Eze’s set was pleasant but forgettable. Poor, adorable Ramiele seems to be losing steam compared with her TV competition days, whereas most of the other singers have gotten better with the tour experience.
The handsome Australian-born Johns managed to channel Freddie Mercury for “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions,” which is quite a feat.
Cook seems to have what it takes to be a country star, her stated aim. Brooke White was engagingly elegant, apparently feeling no need to flaunt her beauty as aggressively as Cook.
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Post by mljbray on Aug 15, 2008 7:59:58 GMT -5
www.eonline.com/uberblog/the_awful_truth/b23711_ex-idol_guys_cook_fan.htmlEx-Idol Guy's a Cook Fan Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 10:40 AM PDT by Ted Casablanca
FOX At the Tropic Thunder red carpet, ex-American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe didn’t seem all too sad to wave buh-bye to the Fox cash cow—much happier to promote his competish So You Think You Can Dance? instead.
Still, we’ve got a sweet tooth for singers, and all we wanted was some Idol dish. So, Nige-babe, will you pick up your phone and vote now that you don’t work for the show? “If there’s somebody on it that’s good,” said N.L. “Just like the rest of America, if they’re not good, I won’t vote for them.” d**n, far too democratic there, dude. Let’s try again:
You’ve overestimated the U.S.—how else do ya explain Sanjaya’s sixth-place existence on the show? Reasoned Lith: “I have voted when I was the executive producer.” Oh, really? So which David didya favor this last season? “Cook,” he stated, without a moment’s hesitation. This guy’s got sense—sorry Archuleta fans, the tiny teen’s always been way too saccharine for our taste.
So, Mr. Reality Show, what else ya got in the works, anything ya wanna let us in on? “I may,” Nigey slyly sassed with a laugh. “I’m not saying anything until it’s fully developed and out there. Reality shows are so easily stolen.” Righto, Lythgoe, some are. But anyone out there wanna take credit for reality wrecks The Littlest Groom or Kid Nation?
Thought not.
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Post by mljbray on Sept 5, 2008 9:09:45 GMT -5
Excerpt from www.ohio.com/entertainment/27841584.html?page=1&c=y'American Idol' stars still surprise viewers Quartet answers queries and we learn things we didn't know. Tour plays Cleveland tonight By Leslie Gray Streeter Cox News Service Published on Thursday, Sep 04, 2008 WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.: So many interesting things you can find out in five minutes' worth of conversation! I'm not saying that a bite-size bit of interaction with David Cook, Ramiele Malubay, Jason Castro and Brooke White allowed me some deep glimpse into their souls or anything. (Their American Idols Live! tour stops tonight at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center.) But I did find out some stuff that never came across in the several months we spent with them on TV. To wit: Ramiele, who thinks she came off shy on camera, is hysterical. Mellowed-out, interview-averse Jason is pretty eloquent and, as he puts it, ''a deep thinker.'' Emotional Brooke is a lot more serious than you might think. And David Cook's kind of hot. We knew this. But in person, it's more about his confidence and ability to answer a question than his eyes and his beard.
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Post by silentone on Sept 5, 2008 9:54:14 GMT -5
David Cook's kind of hot. We knew this. But in person, it's more about his confidence and ability to answer a question than his eyes and his beard. [/b] [/quote] Yes he is!!!!
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