Citation :Crazy for Cook: Kansas City salutes its 'American Idol' finalist
By LISA GUTIERREZ and TIMOTHY FINN
The Kansas City Star
American Idol finalist David Cook threw out a ceremonial first pitch before Friday's baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.
JOHN SLEEZER |
American Idol finalist David Cook threw out a ceremonial first pitch before Friday's baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.
David Cook stopped by Jack FM 105.1 this morning for a radio interview before his midday concert downtown. David Cook's midday concert brought a crowd to the Power & Light District. "American Idol" finalist David Cook performed today in the Power & Light District. At his homecoming appearance in Blue Springs on Friday, David Cook hugged his K-5 music teacher, Fredalyn Gentry. Blue Springs made much hoopla over Cook when he sang Friday at his alma mater, Blue Springs South High School. About 10,000 people turned out to hear him. Thousands of cheering fans showed their support as “American Idol” finalist David Cook sang “Livin’ on a Prayer” Friday at lunchtime in the Power & Light District.
The boy next door came home Friday to screams of We love you, David!! and a hero’s pomp — fireworks, a marching band, Chiefs cheerleaders and local paparazzi, politicians and police escorts.
Friday belonged to Blue Springs native and “American Idol” finalist David Cook. He is one of three contestants left standing until next week, when the top-rated TV show eliminates someone from contention.
“This is the coolest day of my life,” he told his fans at the day’s outset.
In the morning, the shaggy-haired, 25-year-old rocker drew a lunchtime crowd of thousands to the Power & Light District. The force that hit him bowed his back: An ocean of people, signs and an ecstatic roar — the kind you hear at rallies for Super Bowl champs. This city hasn’t had a major-league title since 1985, but for now, it seems that David Cook will do.
By late afternoon, when Cook stood on a stage on the football field of Blue Springs South High School, his alma mater, he looked stunned. He looked at the crowd of about 10,000, leaned into the microphone and laughed.
“Um, I’ve been thinking about this all day,” he told his hometown. “Blue Springs, you guys are fantastic. I don’t know what to say.”
Before he could sit down, a girlie squeal rang out from the stands.
“We love you, David!”
“I love you, too,” he shouted back.
It’s all on film
Cook is one of three finalists this season, the show’s seventh. All three — Cook, David Archuleta and Syesha Mercado — went to their respective hometowns Friday for similar rallies. Footage of the visits will be aired during the “Idol” shows on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, the contestant who receives the fewest phone-in and text-messaged votes will be eliminated, losing the privilege to compete in the season finale May 20 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.
If Cook doesn’t make it, it’s not from lack of trying on the part of his local fans. Blue Springs South students, who swarmed the stands of their football stadium after school let out, said they’ve been voting for him by “the millions.”
“He’s original,” said junior Michael Jones, 17. “He’s more surprising than anyone else. He makes songs his own.”
Eight-year-old Payton Whitaker of Blue Springs came to the rally with his grandmother, Jann Howard of Lake Lotawana. Payton wore his Guitar Legend T-shirt from Old Navy for the occasion.
Payton, who likes rock music, pronounced Cook a “good singer,” but said he hasn’t voted for him because “Mom and Dad won’t let me.”
Sharon Schuette, 64, who has voted for Cook twice, predicted a finale featuring the two Davids.
“It’s going to be tough, but I’d like to have our hometown boy. It’s nice to have Blue Springs represented,” she said. “When I hear ‘Blue Springs,’ it brings chills up my back.”
Blue Springs can claim him as one of theirs, but all of Kansas City shared the pride on Friday.
A downtown show
Downtown, the crowd filled the covered pavilion of the Power & Light District, people standing on stairs and walkways and the roofs of nearby buildings. There was no characterizing Cook’s fan base — tots, middle-schoolers, teens, tweens, young adults, middle-age folks and grandparents.
Friends and family appeared with Cook, and he acknowledged some of them, including younger brother Andrew, who strained to hold back the tears.
“Don’t start crying,” his older brother warned, “or I will.”
Nobody cried, though. Mostly there was a lot of celebrating and cheering and sign-waving. And a little music, too. Cook performed two songs, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. The first: Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” his audition tune, then “Always Be My Baby,” his contribution to the show’s Mariah Carey Week.
After his second number he made his way through the crowd. Along the way he signed everything stuck in front of him, including some of the $10 David Cook T-shirts sold before and after his performance. It took him 20 minutes to get to the stretch limo waiting for him.
The adoration was no less intense at the high school, a rally jet-fueled by teen spirit. Girls with painted faces pressed up against the fence between the field and stands, holding signs that read, “David Cook Rocks My Socks Off,” and, “David Cook U Had Us At Hello.”
“Is it the darnedest thing you ever saw?” marveled one man, one of the gaggle of school board members, City Hall employees, coattail relatives and other VIPs standing on the field.
When the free tickets to the rally became available to the public on Tuesday, not even two hours passed before they were all snapped up. Though some enterprising folks turned around and tried to sell them — unsuccessfully, by and large.
The crowd was full of people buzzing about their connections to Cook.
“He played on my father’s baseball team.”
“He’s my neighbor.”
“His mother is my best friend.”
Twenty-two-year-old Pamela Todd of Blue Springs goes to school now with Cook’s brother at the University of Central Missouri. She, too, tried out for “American Idol.” She made it all the way to sing for some of the show’s producers. She described the David Cook magic: Could it be that Midwestern thing?
“I think he has a factor of likability,” she said. “He’s like the kid next door.”
Make that the kid next door with a lot of new plaques to hang on his wall. Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross, there with five City Council members, gave him the key to the city — the first, he said, he’s ever given anyone.
“I don’t know if it opens anything,” the mayor said, “but it opened the hearts of your fans in Blue Springs.”
(Earlier in the day, Cook also received proclamations from Kansas City and the state of Missouri. “No pressure, but we really hope you win,” Wayne Cauthen, Kansas City’s city manager, told him.)
After a bit of theater for the “American Idol” cameras rolling — an “urgent message” from “Idol” judge Simon Cowell announcing that Cook will sing Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” next week — Cook led the crowd in reciting the Blue Springs South school song.
And then, he sang. Three songs, including the two he sang downtown.
He stayed at the school about an hour before being whisked away by limo to Kauffman Stadium, where he threw out the first pitch and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” During an interview with broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre, Cook said he was floored by the reception.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Cook said. “It’s such a trip.”
source:
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/613893.html
--Message edité par félix le 2008-05-10 21:41:58--