Lovecookies: "I don't feel any nerves or stress about this at all - just pure, unadulterated bliss... that something GREAT is about to happen!! This "frustrating, unnerving and amazing year" has been all for this... and everything else that is to come.
Bring it on."

Totally agree. There's nothing to worry about. Davember is going to be the beginning of something amazing that will last a long, long time. Let's try to focus on the positive!

--

Well, I guess the electronics dept at Walmart is going to see me lurking around a lot next month. lol *Can I help you with anything today? Maybe a new TV? No, thanks, just looking...at DAVID COOK!*

--
~The World I Know is a better place because of David Cook~

i hate to say this but I AM REALLY CRUSHING ON KYLE majorly majorly bad, he may be close to passing my obsessive love for BB ** gasp**

he has such a gorgeous smile. i may have a heart attack from the hotness if i see them live.

cookie and kyle *sigh*

Coldplay may have the reputation in the music industry, but it does seem like many of you have mentioned that Chris Martin almost always sucks in his live TV performances. Yet Coldplay still sells CD's, sells concert tickets, and gets radio airplay (I'm sick of hearing their new song, lol). Not all TV viewers are really going to give a crap if a performer isn't pitch perfect, as long as there's something about the song they like that makes them seek it out on iTunes or buy the album.

just love the frontman of this band !!!!

--
julia

Why thank you so much for changing the subject here yaminacookie! And I agree with you. I think I am really liking Kyle too.

I was not even really nervous until some people started mentioning that high note that appeared to not go off so well! Thanks to that I even had to go back to listen to the video again and really I am not sure what to think, but that it is just a 40 second video with David practically speaking over the music! I can't judge too much by that. Maybe it was a pre-practiced thing, and not even the one we will hear in the sound check? But you know what I simply do not care otherwise anymore! I do not like to criticize people normally, especially David. No one is perfect, everyone has their ups and downs, and I believe they he will definitely deliver some awesome music tomorrow night. Seriously, would anyone hear be brave enough to sing that song LIVE?! I give him some major kudos for singing such a hard song. We heard him in that other making of video of Light On and he blew me away with those high notes. So he most certainly can be on his A-Game.

Fri, 10/31/2008 - 15:28 — annie702

"Amen, Sharon. Yes they may be hot but they are also professional musicians."

Yes, and odds are they were chosen to be in this band more for the latter, not the former.

--

Minstrel, I agree with you 100% about this:

"bottom line for me, and i think for them, too? It's important, there's no getting around it. But it's not brain surgery. No one is going to die at the end of the night, no matter what happens. And DC's entire future life, as a musician and as a human being, does not hinge on 10 minutes of SNL, or whatever it turns out to be. (This, i think, is the benefit of having lived through situations that ARE life-and-death, as DC has: you gain some perspective. you learn the difference between important and life-and-death.)"

In fact I was saying the same thing in a PM last night.

However, about this:

"He can do this, and he can lead the other 4, who (needless to say) don't have the experience in high-pressure situations that he does."

I have to point out that AI is not the only kind of experience. Both Neal and Andy have tons of experience performing with Midwest Kings, Kyle also has some, and in particular, Joey has experience playing and touring with The Calling. None of them are new to this. They're all professionals and I'm sure they'll all approach it as such.
--

ohhhhhh... so much nervous energy in here.....

well... you can look at that in several ways.

either all our agida (i stole that word from incipit) is gonna carry across the unseen world as negative mojo and make things worse.

or all our agida is gonna carry across the unseen world and constitute taking away a piece of the guys' own agida so we can carry it around FOR them, lol. (which i'm sure we'd willingly do, because we love them, but ... not sure if it works that way....)

or we can just say "screw you, agida" and channel some of that energy into visualizing a molten hot lava bomb of a night at SNL and all other live performances, or sending out positive vibes, or actively praying, if you roll that way.

number 3 worked pretty well for a lot of us during AI; i'd suggest we give that a shot today and tomorrow as well. Just picture it. See it. See it going GREAT. See them forgetting that it's freakin SNL and just looking at what is, in actuality, a fairly small room full of people who want to hear what DC's got to say. They KNOW how to do this. So picture them doing it well.

Look .... DC's done hard things before. He'd be an idiot if he weren't nervous, but ... he's strong. He can do this, and he can lead the other 4, who (needless to say) don't have the experience in high-pressure situations that he does. And we should probably table the walmart angst until we've actually HEARD the thing properly....

bottom line for me, and i think for them, too? It's important, there's no getting around it. But it's not brain surgery. No one is going to die at the end of the night, no matter what happens. And DC's entire future life, as a musician and as a human being, does not hinge on 10 minutes of SNL, or whatever it turns out to be. (This, i think, is the benefit of having lived through situations that ARE life-and-death, as DC has: you gain some perspective. you learn the difference between important and life-and-death.)

he knows the difference. i think we do too, right? so, uhhh, everybody? let's just breathe. remember: visualize/vibes/praying. all will be well. this too shall pass.

minstrel-guru checking out now....

PS -- another good thing to do with your nervous energy, that WILL have a life-and-death impact? run over to SU2C and donate in David's honor..... http://www.davidcookofficial.com/content/dc-pb-and-su2c

--
I laugh at myself while the tears roll down....

QTTaquito- I think you're absolutely right!

the video is also on tube: o(∩_∩)o...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbOLLGSy6WQ

--
"Sing like nobody's listening,
Live like it's Heaven on Earth,
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching."

I am very relieved. I had hesitated to mention the "shine on" segment of the clip, because I didn't want it to seem that I was criticizing David. I heard that "offness" on "shine on," and was worried, primarily because, since it IS recorded, why would they release a recording with obviously flat notes, unless that was the best they could do? BUT, after reading all the posts, I re-listened more carefully another 10x (I know, such a hard task, watching David that many times), and I now concur that it sounds like it could be studio "tweaking" distortion. You can hear the tones "sliding" up and down in several other places (after he sings "so alooone" just before the last chorus segment, listen for "look inside" and "when I'm gone"), although "shine on" was the most noticeable because it was the most pronounced. I think you could draw the analogy that it is similar to when you are trying to fine-tune a radio station, going back and forth until you get it exactly on frequency. I agree that it was just a very poor selection of an audio clip by Walmart.

So, I am really ready now to just enjoy the experience with David. Light On is his first single. We know that David and Cavallo are smart guys. When they selected it, they knew he would be expected to perform it live, and I'm sure he's been preparing for a live version since the song was released. They are going to just blow people away Saturday! Can't wait.

--
~ Chicago loves DC ~

For your consideration: The recorded version of "Light On" has several examples of David's voice on multiple tracks, overlapping itself..."stepping on' the last notes of the phrase before. Not only is this impossible live, obviously..but there still is the same amount of time to fit two phrases, except in the live version, there's no space for a breath between them.

Adjustments will have to be made, so that enough air remains to finish out the line with power. If I can know this, then it's pretty elementary that David and Rob Cavallo knew it long before...knew when they were tracking the song that a live performance couldn't be a carbon copy. I'm going to assume that they know what they're doing - certainly better than I could.

I got out of the "Worry About David" business on May 21st. It wasn't nearly as much fun as enjoying his performances and supporting his career have turned out to be. If I feel a relapse coming on, I just look at any random video from the many high stakes performances on Idol...to remind me of what he can do...and why I picked the tag line at the end of this message in the first place.

Incipit9
--
"Expect the Unexpected." tm WTF!Cook

Fri, 10/31/2008 - 05:39 — lovecookies wrote

I don't feel any nerves or stress about this at all - just pure, unadulterated bliss... that something GREAT is about to happen!! This "frustrating, unnerving and amazing year" has been all for this... and everything else that is to come.
Bring it on.

I have to agree, because I remember what nerves and stress felt like, the night of the Bus Throwing....and the great 'Hell to the No'. The agida never calmed down till the bookies confirmed what Dialidol was reporting, which would have been about 4AM EST.

There's none of that here, just anticipation and celebration! As David says, this is where hard work meets opportunity....add talent and charisma (I'm looking at you, Simon) and a kick butt Band...just Dang!!

Is it Saturday yet??

Incipit9

--
"Expect the Unexpected." tm WTF!Cook

Thank you so much for posting this! I've been so excited about this and it is always nice to get a little sneak peek!
--
WN #738 *** Almost As Much Word Nerd

As has already been said... Need I remind everyone how much Coldplay... well... sucked on SNL last week? Or so a bunch of you all said, lol. I didn't actually see it myself. I'm not going to fret about David's voice unless I have reason to. Just wait and see how he does on SNL before rushing to judgment.

I do think much of the Cook fanbase takes after their boy, and is prone to angst or pessimism at times . I'm not saying that people don't have the right to have those feelings at all, but I'm just trying to maintain an optimistic outlook myself (and believe me, that's not my natural inclination!).

The way I psych myself into not being nervous for David on SNL is this: Coldplay (who is a huge act and quite well known)) sucked so badly on SNL that any imperfections (and we know there wouldn't bee too many) in David Cook's performance would be hardly noticeable (based on his remarkable ability to still sing well under duress). Like all of you guys I'll support David no matter what happens on SNL..

--
ANALYTICS - Arctan(x)

OMG, I returned to this thread after a day and it's 3 pages long! I think you guys are nuts! (take that with my smile and lighthearted attitude - I don't REALLY think you're nuts. But I do figuratively).

I think he sounds great in the clip. It's rock. He really "rocked" it up. Like he does with TOML live. Except that LO is rock to begin with, and it's going to be even harder rock live.

I have absolutely no fear or angst thad David will do nothing less than a stellar job on both Soundcheck and SNL. The man has never been anything less than 100% prepared. And to compare these performances with AI performances is silly... for AI he had a few days to prepare (including arrange) cover songs and then not only go on stage, but go before the judges.

Plus, his voice is much better now, and he's had ample vocal coaching since AI began and beyond.

Finally, as I present my closing arguments (I hope my opening statements didn't offend LOL!), let's look at Coldplay. Time and time again on TV Chris Martin's wonderful voice (I love him) does NOT hold up all that well, especially when he does a TV appearance while on tour (like SNL). He constantly blows his voice out on tour. On the Today show last June his voice was kind of shot, and Coldplay's tour hadn't even begun! Yet everyone loves him and he was not judged (except to say that his exaggerated movements that work great on arena stages are a bit too much for TV).

David, on the other hand, is a master at TV performance and small stages. He nailed camera blocking week 3 on the AI live shows.

I have complete faith in our boy.