“American Idol” has experienced a death in the family, as the 37-year-old brother of the show’s 2008 winner David Cook died of brain cancer on Saturday, media outlets reported.

Adam Cook had suffered from brain cancer for years, and when David Cook competed on “American Idol” last year, Adam was there to cheer him on.

Singer David Archuleta, who was last year’s runner-up to David Cook, said to People magazine that he was saddened by the death and that his “heart really goes out” to Adam Cook’s loved ones. “Idol” judge Simon Cowell told People that he met Adam Cook a few times at the show, and he called him “an incredible guy.”

David Cook announced his brother’s death on Sunday at a brain cancer fundraiser in Washington, D.C.  On his debut album last year, the artist released a song dedicated to his brother called “A Daily AntheM.”

Some celebrity rivalries just never die, and that seems to be true of David Cook and David Archuleta. The battle of the Davids has morphed from the two singers’ friendly rivalry on the reality show “American Idol” to their careers as budding recording artists.
    
David Cook, the 25-year-old winner of “Idol” 2008, will release his debut album on Nov. 18, one week after runner-up David Archuleta, 17, releases his first album on Nov. 11. Cook won ”Idol” but Archuleta had many loyal fans, and it will be interesting to see whose album climbs the highest on record charts.
    
In the meantime, Cook is releasing a single, “Light On,” from his upcoming album on the America Online pop culture site PopEater.com on Tuesday, said Roger Widynowski, spokesman for 19 Entertainment, Cook’s record company. 
    
The lyrics for the song include the lines: “Try to leave a light on when I’m gone/Something I rely on to get home” and “When the wires cross in my brain/You’ll start my heart again.” 

The song was co-written by Chris Cornell, 44, former lead singer for the bands Soundgarden and Audioslave.  “Light On” will play on airwaves on Wednesday, Widynowski said.
    
While the two Davids are heading into a battle this November — and both have attracted legions of fans – career’s after “Idol” have been a mixed bag of success for contestants over the years.
    
Blake Lewis, last year’s runner-up, was dropped by Arista Records, and last week the beat box singer announced to fans his tour had been cut short. But “Idol,” which is gearing up for its eighth season, has also had a few breakout stars — including Grammy-winning country star Carrie Underwood and pop singer Kelly Clarkson.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis) 

They did great things for “American Idol” by thrilling fans in one of the closest contests on that TV talent show in years, but can David Cook and David Archuleta turn the tide for “Idol” at the Emmy awards this year?

“Idol” might be the most watched show on U.S. television but it has struggled to get some love from Emmy voters over the last six years. The show with a huge fan base has won only one of the U.S. television industry’s top honors –  for technical direction for the 2007 charity special “Idol Gives Back.” But it has lost out for five years to “Amazing Race” in the contest for the top honor in its genre, best competitive reality show.

“Idol” got five Emmy nominations on Thursday for its most recent season that ended in May, including one for host Ryan Seacrest but nothing for judges Simon, Randy and Paula – there doesn’t appear to be a category for best put-downs!

After what was considered a better show in terms of talent this year, a record 97.5  million votes cast in the May finale, an average 28 million viewers per episode in 2008, and a sell-out Idol national tour now underway, can the show now get some respect from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences? 

Watch this space when the Emmys awards are handed out on September 21.

 ”American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta, 17, might be the latest tween hearthrob.  But sorry girls, he’s nowhere near ready to date.

    “I just don’t want to deal with that (girlfriend) drama right now,” a giggly, embarrassed Archuleta told reporters on Friday.
    “I just want to be able focus on music. When I feel like I’ve met a girl who has a great personality, and who is someone I can connect with, and who has good standards for themselves and who has respect for themselves, and who cares for others as well…It’s just something I will definitely want to focus on later in life when I’m ready. But I just feel like I’m so young,” he said.
    Archuleta reassured his millions of disappointed young fans that he was okay about losing the title to rocker David Cook.      “I want them to know I am feeling great. David Cook deserves to be the American Idol and he is such a great guy too. My priority was not to win the competition but to do my best.”
    “We both gave it our all (on Tuesday) and we both feel really great about it. I don’t think I could have done anything better,” the former “chosen one” said.
    The shy teen also tried to put to rest stories regarding his father. Archuleta said he had been shielded from the media during the show and found the stories about being bullied or made to cry by his father “weird.”
    “I heard one thing that he refused to give me water. That is the weirdest thing. I am 17. If I want water, I am pretty sure I will just go get it.”
    “He (my father) is a great guy. There isn’t anything that he has done that is bad… my whole family has been a great support. They are the ones that have kept me grounded,” Archuleta said.
   

Well, well, well… here we are. An “American Idol” has been chosen yet again, and those of us who have been following the show moment-by-moment are in what can only be described as a post-”Idol” hangover.

That’s especially true for those of us in the media who hung around for hours backstage at L.A.’s Nokia theater last night waiting to interview the “Idol” himself, David Cook. Once he did finally appear, Cook talked to reporters about Simon’s apology, how it felt to win, and what kind of a record he wants to make.

Here’s what he said:

Q: What did you think of Simon Cowell’s apology?

A: I didn’t really know that the apology was warranted. I thought what he said was an opinion and nothing more. At no point did I feel disrespected. But yeah, I’m appreciative of the fact that he decided to apologize. An apology from Simon is a pretty rare gem.

Q: What went through your mind in the moment you found out you had won?

A: That my music teacher made me sing in a Christmas pageant in second grade, and now I’m here. And so the ride’s been pretty nuts. You couldn’t write this. Maybe you guys can, but I can’t.

Q: Did you think you were going to win?

A: I didn’t. The respect I have for David Archuleta is very much past a competitor thing. He has more talent at his age than I know what to do with at 25, so to be able to share the stage with him was an honor for me. I kinda went into Tuesday just to have fun, and the fact that I walk out of here as the next “American Idol” is not a testament to me so much as it’s a testament to the other 23 contestants we had this season and to everybody behind the scenes.

Q: What was your favorite performance of the season?

A: Of mine? The last one. I have been holding my breath for four months, so tonight was just about exhaling and enjoying what this show is and what it isn’t.

Q: What kind of a record do you want to make?

A: A good one. That’s the kind of record I want to make.

Q: What are your expectations of being the “American Idol?”

A: I actually walked into this with no expectations, and I’m walking out of it with no expectations. I think this show is a springboard, but it’s still a crap shoot. I could easily walk out of this arena and be just a regular Joe tomorrow. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Q: How important was it to share this experience with your brother, who you auditioned for “American Idol” with?

A: For me it just made the whole experience full circle. In August, I stood in line in Omaha, Nebraska at 5:30 in the morning and it was raining, with no intention of auditioning. And now I’m here and I got to share that moment with the same two people I stood in line with seven or eight months ago. So it was a nice bookend.

For the full story, click here.

After all these months, is it really going to come down to “the Chosen One” after all?

David Archuleta, the teenage crooner whose satiny voice and babyfaced looks have stolen the hearts of teenage girls, was all but crowned the winner of this season’s “American Idol” by judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson on Tuesday night. Playing on a boxing theme the show took on to highlight the showdown between two guys named David, Cowell called Archuleta’s performance “a knockout” of his older rival, rocker David Cook.

But was it really that cut and dry? After four months of performances by scores of wannabe pop stars, dozens of dramatic contestant ousters and hundreds of millions of votes from “Idol” viewers, will it all come down to the 17-year-old who was dubbed the one to beat way back when there were 24 contestants?

It seems, after Tuesday night’s show, that the answer is yes. While the judges praised both Cook’s and Archuleta’s three performances each, they clearly favored Archuleta. It’s almost too bad, given that going into the finale, the outcome appeared far less certain than in recent seasons. Last year, for instance, Jordin Sparks’ victory over Blake Lewis was virtually set in stone before either one of them sang a note.

Cook, however, has been a serious contender this season, delivering solid rock performances week after week that recalled Season 5 contestant and current music sensation Chris Daughtry. Also, like Archuleta, Cook never landed among the show’s bottom three vote-getters all season.

Still, the quality of Archuleta’s singing and his appeal among the show’s teenage viewers is undeniable. And, having been raised watching “Idol,” his song choices were almost always impeccable.

At least Cook seemed to take the competition in stride, proclaiming on Tuesday night that the “competition’s over, we’re just having fun.” Translation: I know I’m going to be set up with a record deal whether I win this thing or not.

So get ready. There are less than 24 hours to go before we find out whether David Archuleta really is, in fact, “the Chosen One,” or whether fate will instead side with a scrappy Missouri bartender who shares his name.

Not many “American Idol” viewers expected to see Syesha Mercado make it past this week. Let’s face it, a face-off between the two Davids, Archuleta and Cook, has been considered a foregone conclusion for weeks now.

But notwithstanding the near certainty of a David showdown, it was still a shock to see Paula Abdul administer Mercado’s death sentence on Tuesday night’s episode.

The perennial “good cop” judge, who at least tells the contestant that they “look beautiful”when she doesn’t have anything nice to say about a performance, told Mercado at the end of her third performance of the night that she was probably not going to make it to the show’s finale next week.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be good enough to get into the finals of “American Idol,” Abdul said of Mercado’s rendition of Gia Farrell’s “Hit Me Up” from the movie “Happy Feet.”

Abdul tried to atone for her comment afterwards, adding: “I love you, though.”

Mercado’s second performance of the night, a cabaret-inspired version of “Fever,” was also uniformly panned by the judges, with Simon Cowell saying she missed her chance to prove that she can be a contemporary recording artist and would probably regret choosing that song tomorrow.

Oh well, hopefully Syesha will be taking comfort in the fact that Paula loves her while she packs her bags tonight.

Truth be told, the night wasn’t stellar for the Davids, either. Cowell said Dan Fogelberg’s “Longer,” which the show’s producers chose for David Archuleta to sing, was “something you would choose for like a 90-year-old,” while the 17-year-old’s performance of Chris Brown’s “With You” was “a little bit like a chihuahua trying to be a tiger.”

David Cook, meanwhile, got lukewarm reviews from Randy Jackson on all three of his performances. Cowell and Abdul were kinder, with Cowell declaring at the end of the show that “David Cook wins the night.”

That may be true, but the season’s biggest battle is still to come. Davids, it’s time to step it up.

Another new week for “American Idol;” another new controversy for the No. 1 rated U.S. TV talent contest. And again, the uproar centers on David Archuleta’s dad, Jeff.

Numerous media reports over the weekend said Jeff Archuleta has been told by the show’s producers that he can no longer help David prepare and has been banned from backstage. Fox, the network that airs “Idol,” has declined to comment on those reports.

Media stories speculated that Jeff Archuleta was admonished for insisting his son change the lyrics to “Stand by Me,” which David sang on the May 6 episode. The problem is, when he changed the song to add a verse from Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls,” it cost the show’s producers more money because they must pay for music rights when contestants sing songs. In effect, the producers had to pay for two songs, “Stand by Me” and “Beautiful Girls,” when David sang only one.

Various reports say that Jeff Archuleta had been told David could not use the verse from “Beautiful Girls,” but he told his son to go ahead, anyway. None of those reports could be confirmed. 

Still, Jeff has been in hot water before for apparently choosing David’s songs, and there was some speculation that Jeff drove his son so hard, he made David cry. Last month in Us Weekly magazine, Jeff Archuleta said accusations he was an overbearing “stage dad” were simply wrong. “There was absolutely no truth in any of the stories about me yelling at David, making him cry, or withholding water from him. That was crazy!,” Jeff Archuleta told the magazine.

The media reports about Jeff Archuleta, in some cases, have been brutal.

Celebrity web site TMZ.com has said that the father of “American Idol” contestant David Archuleta has screamed at his son and brought him to tears in rehearsals while driving him to perform ever better on the top-rated TV talent show.

“Idol” judge Simon Cowell seemed to question Archuleta’s choice of a Beatles song, “We Can Work It Out,” that the 17-year-old messed up on the show back in March, implying that it might have been Jeff who chose the song for his son.

But Jeff Archuleta finally spoke out to hush his critics on Wednesday in an interview with celebrity magazine Us, calling accusations that he was an overbearing, hyper-competitve “stage dad” simply crazy.

“I’m definitely involved with my son, and I encourage him, but I think that’s a lot different from forcing and threatening and all that stuff. There was absolutely no truth in any of the stories about me yelling at David, making him cry, or withholding water from him. That was crazy!” Jeff Archuleta told the magazine.

Jeff also called his son “a reluctant singer,” saying that when David was young, the boy could not understand why anyone wanted to hear him sing. Then Jeff added, “I think (David) was blessed with a musical ear that was far beyond his years.”

And on that last quote, Jeff is probably right. The young singer has been a clear frontrunner in the race to crown the next “American Idol” this season.

The full interview can be read at Usmagazine.com.

It must have been conceived as some sort of cruel joke.

For seven seasons now, the judges of “American Idol” have repeatedly told contestants to steer clear of singing songs by Mariah Carey, ostensibly because the singing competition’s up-and-coming star wannabes could never hope to measure up to one of the great voices of pop music.

So, let’s just say it was a little strange to find Carey as the guest judge on Tuesday night’s show. Because you know what that means: the contestants were allowed to perform an old Mariah song, a new Mariah song, or any other Mariah song of their choosing.

As judge Simon Cowell predicted at the beginning of the show, the night indeed turned out to be lackluster one for the girls because of the unavoidable comparisons between them and the great Carey herself. That didn’t stop Cowell from delivering his usual barbs, however.

“It was a bit like ordering a hamburger and only getting the bun,” Cowell told Brooke White after her performance of “Hero.” “In other words the vital ingredient, the bit in the middle, was missing.”

Ouch.

The other girls — Syesha Mercado, Kristy Lee Cook, and Carly Smithson — emerged without being compared to fast food, but they didn’t get any overwhelming love from the judges.

The remaining three boys, however, put the judges in a festive mood. A leather pants-clad David Archuleta’s performance of “When You Believe” was declared the evening’s benchmark by Cowell, and David Cook’s rock take on “Always Be My Baby” received a standing ovation from judge Randy Jackson.

Later, Jackson likened Jason Castro’s take on “I Don’t Wanna Cry” to “a weird beach luau,” but Paula Abdul said it was a luau that she would “love to be at.” Cowell agreed with Abdul, saying that “the guys completely won the night.”