Saturday, December 20, 2008

the battle of the davids


Okay, before you say my article is soooo ancient, hear me out. Free channel lang po ang can afford ko and in this part of the world, sa Dubai One ko lang inaabangan ang American Idol. And I guess they (Dubai One) wouldn’t wanna pay what I could only imagine as an enormous broadcasting fee just to have it aired real time kaya, inumpisahan lang nilang i-air yong Season 7 a few weeks after it’s run ni Fox. Kaya ngayon ko pa lang napanood ang finale ng Season 7 which they aired last night.

But even if that episode’s tape was already museum-bound, at kahit alam kong si David Cook ang nanalo by some millions of votes, I still enjoyed watching it. Thoroughly.

To those who love AI and haven’t seen it, I’d say you’ve missed one hell of a finale. To me, this is the best finale ever. Pareho kasing magaling yong dalawang David. In fact, dapat hindi na pinatagal itong season 7 coz right from the start, outstanding talaga itong dalawang ito. They could’ve went straight to the finale kasi wala naman talagang competition from among the other 22 semi-finalists (aside from the Australian John Michaels na medyo nagustuhan ko rin ang singing style). And that includes Ramiel who is now trying her luck in the Philippine local entertainment scene.

But going back, since parehong dalawang guys ang contestants, ginawa nila itong parang boxing match kumpleto with a ring announcer with Cook in the red corner while Archuleta was in blue. They then sang 3 songs alternately.

In Round 1, nauna si Cook with his version of U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Archuleta’s first was Elton John’s Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me. I love both of these songs but I’d say mas favourite ko ang U2 kesa kay Elton. But song choice aside, who sang better? Archuleta for me. Simon Cowell agreed and gave Round 1 to the 17-year old.

Round 2 is where they sang two compositions from AI fans. Cook chose a rock pice which suited his voice and style perfectly. Archuleta chose another ballad that goes something like ‘you can’t take this moment away from me’. Hindi ko masyadong gusto yong song na parang One Moment in Time ni Whitney ang dating sa akin. May pagka-jologs ng konti. Masyado nga raw self-centered sabi ni Cowell. Pero kahit pa anong sabihin, it’s not about the song but about the singing. And I thought Archuleta sang better again. Simon thought so too and gave Round 2 to the innocent-looking boy again.

Round 3 and it’s their song choice now. I was delighted that Cook chose one of my super-fave from Collective Soul, The World I know. I was going 'yeahhhh'. Maning-mani talaga sa kanya. But Archuleta delivered the final blow with his angelic version of John Lennon’s Imagine. Simon gave Round 3 again to Archie and said he won by a knock-out. At kung hindi ko talaga alam na si Cook ang nanalo, I would totally agree with that knock-out verdict.

Iba ang clarity, pitch, volume at total quality ng boses ni little boy. But we all know by now that Cook is turning out songs that rock the Billboard charts. Both of them naman actually are doing great. Ang sa akin lang, kung hindi dinadaan sa popular vote ang winner, it would be very very difficult to separate these two. Parehong magaling. Parehong idol material. Sana ganito rin ang calibre ng season 8.
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(you can listen to the four songs from these two at the e-snips widget somewhere in the right panel of this blog. listen to them and, without prejudice, tell me whose singing you liked best.)
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