David Cook Signs to RCA Records – “Time Of My Life” Best Single Debut Since Season 2

Additionally, Cook currently has 17 tracks on the Top 100 Digital Songs Chart, the most ever by any artist.

Is that correct? I didn’t see any of his older tracks for sale on I-Tunes, or did I just not look in the right place?

I think it covered the few days (right before being pulled after the finale). I wish they would one day release the total sales of all the tracks.

How can that be current? All of his older tracks are no longer on sale, or or they?

The songs were still on sale until the day of or the day after the finale. The sales week includes those numbers. There’s more talk about this subject in the sales thread.

Well I would like to know about his previous music now that he’s signed. I want more than d/l’s I want hard copies. Yeah, I’m old and I want to read album liners. Woohoo DC holds a record with 17 in the top 100 XD

Woohoo, Cookie!!!! Woohoo!!!

The older tracks were on sale last week, weren’t they?

Good for him… AND RCA.

Go Cookie, go! That’s awesome.

Best.press.release.ever. YOU GO COOKIE!

If the song got 1 million streams in 1 day I wonder how many it got for the week. Woah. Lots of magic rainbows love!

Wow, I’m so happy for him! I just hope the record goes in the direction he envisions. I would hate for his creative process to be stifled or taken away. It’s a major part of what defines him as the artist we have seen and heard. As happy as I am for him there’s a tiny part of me that worries this vast amount of sucess may change him, I’ll try and be optimistic that it won’t. For some reason when I think of all of this happening to him I think of the line in Daughtry’s song “be careful what you wish for ’cause you just may get it all, and then some”

Yay, congrats to Cookie! Those numbers are mind-boggling – one million streams in one day? on top of the most debuts on the Billboard chart ever, the #1 digital song for the week and a likely top 5 placement on Hot 100? The future’s shining bright for DC!

mar_4DC, I’m a little concerned too since they will really have to push to get an album out in fall. Hopefully they can work with some of his already-written material, he had a whole album’s worth of songs ready to release (and I’m sure more in various stages of completion) before he got caught up in Idol.

gingerly, good luck finding hard copies – an Analog Heart was on eBay a few weeks back and ended up going for $760

Congrats to Cook.

I guess this is why Archie’s record deal hasn’t been announced yet, officially. Because they were waiting for Cook’s camp to make their official announcment.

Can’t wait to hear the “official” word on Archie’s record deal too!!!

Reminder:

All news articles go in the Daily Headlines thread. Please keep the post on topic! Thank you.

Congrats to Cookie! So glad to hear the plan to get the record out so quickly. Hopefully things will stay on schedule…Such great news for him.

I almost jumped out of my chair when Trina posted this in the previous thread. LOL It’s almost like seeing him being crowned all over again! I couldn’t be happier! I can’t help but agree with the concerns expressed here about the timeline of the CD release. The top 10 are put under a real strain with the tour and plus when you combine those that are under time constraints trying to get their CD’s out ASAP, it’s a lot of pressure on them. I am truly excited about this!

I am beyond ecstatic. This is a wonderful day to be a DC fan, isn’t it? Between the RCA news and the Billboard record-breaking, I’m just beaming right now.

DC, way to make me smile like a fool at my computer screen for an hour straight! LOL.

Now that Cook has announced his record deal, can anyone else besides Archie announce a deal? Can they even be talking to record companies at this point, if they have the time to do so? Or are they under AI’s control till the end of the tour? I remember discussions on this in the past, but I forget how it works exactly. Anyone?

Wow- that’s pretty impressive! Congrats, David!

Congrats to Cookie! :clap_tb:

mocha, 19 has first rights on the rest until the end of the tour. They can talk to other labels, but they can’t sign anything until they are released from 19. I wouldn’t expect any official announcements from anyone not signed to 19 until after the tour.

Awwww, that’s our boo.

I guess Jason is now my boo-boo.

(is 19E a good thing? I didn’t think so).

PJ,
I’m not getting it… so unless 19e signs as their management, they cannot sign with a label, until after the tour? So, what about David Archuleta, is 19e his management or have they not decided yet? Because I thought his Jive deal was pretty “done”, and has been for a while now.

MrsCastro, I’d expect an Archie announcement very soon.

They don’t have to sign with 19 for management to get a BMG deal (see Hicks, Taylor). However,it’s my understanding that none of the top 12 can sign with any label outside of the Sony/BMG family until after the tour when they are released from their 19 contracts.

Since Jive is within the Sony/BMG family, Archie should have no problem.

Yay! Congrats to David!

The timeline seems rushed, but most of the winners and runners-up have released their CDs before Christmas, which is still technically “the Fall.” I guess we’ll see how quickly he gets into the studio, but I don’t expect to see it before the week of Thanksgiving.

Taylor did not get signed to 19 management, but he did get signed to 19 records. I don’t think 2 people have been signed to a management since season 2. Rumor has it that Clay got out of his contract in part because of conflict of interest with their promotion of Ruben. They typically sign a management deal with whoever they think is going to sell the most, hence Daughtry over Taylor and (I expect) Cook over Archuleta.

This is just a rumor but I read Archie will be signing with William Morris and not 19 (whatever letter management is.) I’ll guess that Cook will be going with 19. All the winners are with 19 except Kelly Clarkson and Taylor.

S5 both Pickler and Daughtry were signed with 19 while Taylor and Kat went with other management. At the time people thought they were better off as 19 is infamous for huge commissions.

I think this is the first winner’s single I have actually bought since season 2. Let me see: Kelly- no, Ruben – yes, Fantasia – no, Carrie – no, Taylor – no, Jordin – no, Cook – yes.

Just in case anyone wants to print it out as a keepsake, heh! here is the link to the press release.

HOORAY David! And thank you for making the Magic Rainbow song so palatable…nomnomnom…oh sorry. ANYWAY this is all great news and I hope he’s happy. David, take a minute just to breathe and think of everything you wanted…and what you got instead…. :clap_tb: You probably get tired of that, don’t you? Sorry, seemed so apropo. Ancillary. Plethora. Love you, David Cook!

Hoo yeah. watch out world, because David Cook is about to OWN you.

Time of My Life
written by Regie Hamm

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve been waiting for my dreams to turn into something I could believe in
And looking for that magic rainbow on the horizon
I couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see it until I let go gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m coming alive body and soul and feelinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ my world start to turn

And Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll taste every moment and live it out loud
I know this is the time, this is the time
To be more than a name or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time this is the time of my life
Time of my life

Holding onto things that vanished into the air left me in pieces
But now Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m rising from the ashes finding my wings
And all that I needed was there all along
Within my reach as close as the beat of my heart

And Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll taste every moment and live it out loud
I know this is the time, this is the time
To be more than a name or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time this is the time of my life
Time of my life

And Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m out on the edge of forever ready to run
Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m keeping my feet on the ground
My arms open wide my face to the sun

And Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll taste every moment and live it out loud
I know this is the time, this is the time
To be more than a name or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time this is the time of my life
Time of my life

More than a name or a face in the crowd
This is the time this is the time of my life.
This is the time of my life

I don’t care if it’s kinda cheesy. I like it.

Archie has apparently signed with Jive Records, according to Richard, a guy he used to perform with before Idol.

I think this is the first winnerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s single I have actually bought since season 2. Let me see: Kelly- no, Ruben – yes, Fantasia – no, Carrie – no, Taylor – no, Jordin – no, Cook – yes.

Allison, same here….except I bought Clay’s single. (small voice) I also bought Diana’s runner-up single (/small)

Ahhh, so many congratulations to David, from the signing to having 17 (!) tracks on the Top 100.

My only qualm — oh no, fall? That is really fast. Hopefully he’ll be able to have at least a decent amount of his own creative input into his album and won’t need to rush the process too much. Personally, I would rather wait and get a solid album than get a mediocre one very quickly (which really isn’t under my control to begin with, especially considering he won the entire thing), but I’ll have faith in him to give us something good regardless of when his album is due.

Hasn’t the majority of the winners put our their debut albums by fall?

Really? Okay, I won’t complain anymore. lol

Yeah, all except for Kelly (because the first season didn’t debut in January), all releases have been in November or December of the same year they won.

I am beyond pleased for David Cook. His career is going to be phenomenal. Go Cookie, Go!
C is for Cookie, that’s good enough for me! (showing some Cookie Monster Sesame Street love for DC!)

Allison, same hereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.except I bought Clayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s single. (small voice) I also bought Dianaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s runner-up single (/small)

No need to say that in a small voice, Holly. I just answered re the winners, For the runners’ up who had a actual single – I bought: Clay -yes, Diana – no, Bo – yes, Kat – no. Actually I think the biggest Idol single since season 2 would have to refer to Clay’s numbers, not Ruben’s. Now Cook is on RCA with Clay. This will be interesting re where the promo dollars go. My guess is to Cook, since he’s the hot property now.

I really don’t like the lyrics of this song, but the melody is catchy. I wonder if the lyrics are striking a chord with graduates. It’s a great song for this time of year.

BTW, I heard it for the first time this afternoon on my Top 40 station. That was a thrill. I can’t imagine what a thrill it must be for Cook.

Yeah, Gwen – November or December, which could still be considered “fall”. I’m like cheese, I don’t expect to see the album before the week of Thanksgiving. In fact, I’m betting he gets that coveted Tuesday before Thanksgiving release date, to take advantage of Black Friday sales.

Congrats, Cookie!! I am so excited! What a fantastic day for him and for the fans!!

I wonder if the lyrics are striking a chord with graduates. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a great song for this time of year.

That’s funny…I just graduated last friday, and the song went through my head the entire ceremony…my first thought after hearing him sing it was that it would be a great graduation song.

Congrats, David Cook!!!! I love you!!!! LOL.

A pre- Thanksgiving release would be optimum.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not getting ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ so unless 19e signs as their management, they cannot sign with a label, until after the tour? So, what about David Archuleta, is 19e his management or have they not decided yet? Because I thought his Jive deal was pretty à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“doneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , and has been for a while now.

Jive, RCA and 19 are ALL part of Sony BMG.

It

Yay for Cookie! :biggrin_wp:

19alphabet is how we collectively refer to them because there are quite a few arms to 19. 19E is the overall Entertainment entity. 19R is the recording arm and all of them sign to it if they are picked up by any of the Sony/BMG labels. They end up working for 2 labels who both have equal say in the choice of songs, the final track list and the promotional budget. You can read the contracts and provisions at SEC Filing-CKX Inc There is a ton of information there if you have the patience. It covers both the British and the American Idol shows. This was a report to the FTC in preparation for the sale of CKX (the owner of AI at the time) shares. Some of the AI contract stipulations between the idols and 19 have changed but most of it has not.

19M is the management company that the idols in the early seasons all had to sign with. Since S4 or S5 the idols could choose different management.

Clay and Kelly had to sue 19 to get out of their contracts with 19M and succeeded because they could prove conflict of interest. 19Management made decisions for them that benefited 19alphabet but was not in the best interests of the artist. There were endorsement deals, appearances and offers that 19M turned down without consulting the artists. Part of the suit was that 19M was holding back their careers in favor of what was good for the show.

the time of my life debuts no. 3 in hot 100, right? i expect the single to be no. 1

pros of getting an album out fast:

– strike while the iron is etc.

– come out before albums by your fellow contestants do (Taylor blew this one) so you alone hog the stage for a while

– insure you’re the real deal, not a TV screen wonder

cons of getting an album out fast:

– Diane Warren

– Jesse McCartney

– trying to record while you’re on the road, which means a schizo summer

– completely, totally blowing it with a poor or mediocre record that gets everyone wondering why you won the whole thing

I hope, and believe, it won’t be the latter. And I also hope Cookie tosses in a few great covers, instead of believing it all has to be entirely new material. He’s a terrific interpreter of strong songs, and some of those won’t be his own.

Thanks for the details on who can sign a contract now and when the others can sign them. So if 19E wants one of the other Top 12 then they can sign them before the end of the tour, right? Seems like they might be interested in one or two others, it’s a crapshoot who, though, several possibilities.

I believe that 19 has 90 days from the finale to decide whether they want to pick them up or not.

So happy for Cookie. Looks like he’ll debut 3rd on the Billboard Hot 100.

A couple of thoughts…

1) I know he’s sold more than Carrie and Taylor the first week out. However, both debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, while Cookie will have to settle for third. Is it that Leona and whoever will be #1 (never heard of him) just had the better luck of selling more units. I know airplay has something to do with it…however IIRC, Carrie (and Cookie) had minimal airplay while Taylor had next to none.

2) Found this one out at Wikipedia…Cookie will be the second David Cook to chart in the top 5 of the Hot 100.

Britisher David Albert Cook scored a top 5 song in March 1974.

However, this David Cook dropped his last name years earlier. He is still big in his native England, and his top 5 song is still played on American oldies stations today. In fact, the song was remade in 1989 by a soap opera idol…and that made it all the way to number 1.

The song…”Rock On.”

The artist formerly known as David Cook…David Essex.

congrats to cookie

all the best to him and the rest of this seasons contestants

I can’t get thumbsnap to work again today, so will try another way.
this is the companion picture to the Lucky Charms box.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/merrynpippin/rainbow.jpg

all kinds of awesome.
taste that rainbow cookie, u deserve it!

the time of my life debuts no. 3 in hot 100, right?

Here are the positions on the Hot 100:

Season 7 Idols
3 David Cook “The Time of My Life”
15 David Cook “Dream Big”
22 David Cook “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m”
29 David Cook “The World I Know”
36 David Archuleta “Imagine”
42 David Cook “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
47 David Cook “Billie Jean”
60 David Archuleta “In This Moment”
67 David Cook “Always Be My Baby”
73 David Cook “Hello”
77 David Cook “The Music of the Night”
94 David Cook “Eleanor Rigby”
99 David Cook “I’m Alive”

*David Archuleta “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” will appear somewhere between number 50 and number 60 (it sold between Billie Jean” and “In this Moment”, but was not included in the list I saw)

Other Idols
5 Jordin Sparks “No Air” (5)
19 Carrie Underwood “Last Name” (37)
45 Daughtry “Feels Like Tonight” (36)

Idol Related
18 One Republic “Apologize” (32)

Bubbling Under
1 David Cook “Little Sparrow”
2 Jordin Sparks “One Step at a Time
3 David Cook “Hungry Like the Wolf”
4 David Cook “Innocent”
14 David Cook “Day Tripper”
15 David Archuleta “Longer”
18 David Cook “All Right Now”
19 David Archuleta “Think of Me”
24 David Archuleta “Angels”
25 David Cook “Happy Together”

needed to add a word to the Skittles pack
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f293/merrynpippin/rainbow-1.jpg

BTW Debut Positions for Coronation Songs:

Season 1: Kelly Clarkson: 1
Season 2: Ruben Studdard: 2; Clay Aiken: 1 *
Season 3: Fantasia: 1; Diana Degarmo: 14
Season 4: Carrie Underwood: 1; Bo Bice: 1
Season 5: Taylor Hicks: 1; Katharine McPhee: 12
Season 6: Jordin Sparks: 15; Blake Lewis: 18
Season 7: David Cook: 3
* Debuted the same week

*David Archuleta à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Let the Sun Go Down on Meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  will appear somewhere between number 50 and number 60 (it sold between Billie Jeanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In this Momentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , but was not included in the list I saw)

Found it at another site. It’s 58 on the chart (too late to edit)

Congrats Cook!! You are the best ever! Now by the looks of the picture on this thread, I think they should let the guy get some much needed sleep for gods sake. Bloodshot eyes but still beautiful.
Love you David Cook!

I think that Cookie has found the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. A much deserved pot of gold!!!!!!!!!

I wish many years of success for you DC!!! I can’t wait to buy that album!!!

I believe that Blake and Jordin released in the same week as well.
Since Katharine’s SOTR and Blake’s YGLABN weren’t actually their “coronation” songs but songs performed on the show, shouldn’t little David be included in the list of debut positions at #36 for Imagine (as that is his highest ranking song)?

So great for Cookie!

In the bottom of the press release it says “David Cook is a remarkable talent and is a worthy winner of American Idol,” says Simon Fuller, creator of the popular TV series and chief executive and founder of 19 Entertainment Label Group “he has an astonishing voice, and is capable of truly memorable performances as he showed throughout the season. He’s mature, well grounded and knows what he wants. It’s this quiet determination that sets him apart from other singers; I honestly believe that David has the potential to go on to become one of the most successful Idols of all time”.

Press releases usually have mgt. types saying really glowing things, but I love that it says the part about him being mature, etc.. with a quiet determination that sets him apart (from other singers). They seem to have the same opinion of DC that us fans do. Go Cookie!

I still can’t get over the insane number of downloads for the week! :shock_tb:

I suppose actual records instead of downloads for the singles are a thing of the past and that makes me sad. I’m older than most(I should say all) of you and don’t care for MP3 players. I have Clay’s and Taylor’s on records and still play them ocasionaly. Taylor didn’t put his coronation song on his album and I wonder if Cook will, if not I’ll have to buy the download. I hope the good news and reviews for Cook keep coming as I really like this guy.

I’ll bet this moment is tasting pretty good right now.

I believe that Blake and Jordin released in the same week as well.

That’s true. I forgot about that. I just wanted to highlight that only one of Ruben or Clay could have gotten the number 1 debut that week since that was the only year in the first 5 seasons where the Idol did not debut at number 1 and there were extenuating circumstances.

Since Katharineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s SOTR and Blakeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s YGLABN werenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t actually their à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“coronationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  songs but songs performed on the show, shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t little David be included in the list of debut positions at #36 for Imagine (as that is his highest ranking song)?

No.

It’s not at all representative and would provide a completely flawed picture. Here are my reasons.

1. Both SOTR and YGLABN were studio versions. They are full length and properly produced. Many people balk at paying full price for a shortened song that was ripped from a TV show. Especially given AI’s notoriously poor sound technicians.

2. SOTR is counted for Katharine because it was a double A side with “My Destiny” but outsold “My Destiny” by quite a bit. Effectively, it was retrofitted into being her coronation song. When BB created the Hot 100 that week, it combined the sales of the Commercial Single with SOTR downloads following a long held policy on Double A sides. As a result, “My Destiny” charted much lower than it would have if it had been combined with the Commercial Single numbers. Most people considered SOTR as her coronation single as she never did sing that crap “My Destiny” again.

3. “Imagine” had been sold on iTunes for the last 13 weeks. You can’t really compare a song that has been out for 13 weeks to a song that was just released. Most people interested in that version would have picked it up a couple of months ago. YGLABN and SOTR were released to iTunes on the week they debuted. An argument can be made not to include YGLABN if it was based just on this reason because it was available on another site.

4. The record label has clearly stated that Archie will not have a single released until mid-summer. This means that absolutely NO effort was made in getting any airplay for this song. This is not true of the other coronation songs. Granted, little effort is ever made, but in this case, there was NONE. Airplay contributes to more than 50% of the Hot 100.

If one were to group “Imagine” in with the others, it would make him look like a miserable failure compared to the others. Even Diana debuted higher than him. I would argue that any person who is fair minded on the subject would not include it in the rankings because it paints a very false picture.

Competition is over. Archie doesn’t need to be ground into dust.

I’m not really sure where to say this, but it’s about David Cook, so I guess this is just as good a thread as any….

Did anyone just see him on Best Day Ever?? It was amusing. I think he’s rehearsing for that Oscar

Airplay contributes to more than 50% of the Hot 100.

Comparing chart positions across the seasons is extremely misleading. This is the formula now, but it has changed from year to year. Singles bought used to count for a lot more, which is why songs like This is the Night went to #1 w/o significant radio play.

Comparing chart positions across the seasons is extremely misleading. This is the formula now, but it has changed from year to year. Singles bought used to count for a lot more, which is why songs like This is the Night went to #1 w/o significant radio play.

It really is impossible to ever compare across seasons. Every season pretty much needs a star beside it.

Sales did use to count for twice as much as airplay, but then the singles market was virtually wiped out so selling any CD single was very impressive indeed. Remember, in Season 4, selling 100K of downloads was enough to get you certified Gold. People could top the Hot Singles Chart with only a few hundred of single CDs moved.

So, it was still pretty big thing that you could get people to buy a two song CD single which cost almost half of what a 12 song CD would cost.

Sales of downloads have exploded. It goes up by something like 45% every year. They are also dirt cheap and easy to buy compared to CD singles. You often see the top downloads exceeding 200K

This season also gets a benefit because viewers have been trained to shop at iTunes over the last 3 months. Last year, the singles were not well advertised and suddenly just appeared there. AND they had to compete with themselves because there were mini-albums put out that were cheaper than buying each track individually. Plus, the download market has improved significantly.

The music market is just changing so quickly.

So, no true comparisons are possible. You are right. Those that don’t like comparisons can just ignore those posts, but other people are interested so I post them. People should just take them with a grain of salt.

Here are the * for each season
Season 1: First season. People not used to buying coronation singles.
Season 2: Ruben and Clay released on the same day
Season 3: Single was VERY expensive because it contained 3 songs.
Season 4: Both contestants recorded the same coronation song.
Season 5: Download market had started to become significant enough that it challenged Idol coronation sales numbers.
Season 1-5: Suffered a two-four week lag between finale and the release of the single. Less “We WON!” euphoria buying.
Season 6: Coronation songs not well advertised and people were not used to looking on iTunes. EPs instead of Commercial singles offered.
Season 7: Calculation for Hot 100 chart had been modified to put sales and airplay on a more equal footing.

That was quick. Good for DC on his single doing well.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not really sure where to say this, but ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s about David Cook, so I guess this is just as good a thread as anyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

I’m having a super wacked-out time keeping these threads on topic today.

I’d like to keep the threads as on topic as possible.

This thread is about David Cook getting signed, and anything associated with that.

Newsworthy items like “so and so was just on x TV show” belong in the Headlines thread.

I suppose actual records instead of downloads for the singles are a thing of the past and that makes me sad. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m older than most(I should say all) of you and donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t care for MP3 players.

JoJo, let’s just say it is a tie as we represent the Baby Boomers. :biggrin_wp:

Kirsten, you do an excellent job explaining the difference and how we really cannot compare. But I do have one question. If Clay was part of this year’s Idols and had his big hits, would he actually come out ahead of everyone? I am trying not to get too confused. I have mentioned I cannot download and I do not have a MP3 player.

Or did you answer the question here:

Even Diana debuted higher than him. I would argue that any person who is fair minded on the subject would not include it in the rankings because it paints a very false picture.

If Clay was part of this yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Idols and had his big hits, would he actually come out ahead of everyone? I am trying not to get too confused.

Clay’s numbers would have been good enough for him to get the the number one slot on the Hot 100. You needed about 320K to get number one this week based mainly on sales (Clay sold 393K).

But, not to take anything away from Clay, Season 2 was a special beast. Due to the controversy of changed numbers, suspicion of fixing, the first real appearance of “the bus” and the excitement of Season 2 (building on Season 1), fans really had something to prove. Would Clay and Ruben have moved that many units if those elements weren’t there? On the other hand, is that the same atmosphere TPTB tried to create this year?

And don’t forget, positions on the Hot 100 are highly relative. If somebody happens to release in a relatively quiet week, they might get Number 1 without much effort. If you have bad luck, you release in a week when the biggest song of the year releases. Lollipop has massive airplay and just got another remix released. Cookie would have been number two without that new remix. If Cookie had had one more day, he probably would have been number one.

So, there is no taking away from Cookie’s massive achievements. There is much happy dancing going on at RCA. The Press Release was rightly saved until the numbers were released.

I only posted the Hot 100 positions because they were mentioned in the press release and that started these other debates. Sorry MJ.

Given this record-breaking chart debut by our fair Cookie, I’m curious: Does anyone have an idea how much the promotional budget for his album will be?

his promotional budget? At this point, the sky’s the limit!

But, after hair, bronzer and accessories he might have to pay it back. :eek_wp:

Actually, this is an answer to a ‘duh’ question cause why would a fan want to cybermanage his promotional budget? Can he get fries with that?

So David is now with the same label as FOO FIGHTERS, Kasabian, Kings of Leon, and Daughtry…. He must be a very happy man right now!

I think the fall is very soon, but if he can use some of the material he already had before Idol, it’s less of a stretch.

SO looking forward to a great new record from him!!!!

and the same label with my all TIME FAV BAND OF THE WORLD lol DMB
i actually was drawn to cookie cuz he has “that sound”

all the best cookie!!

ooh just went to rca’s site and cookie is there right under DMB!!

I didn’t know David Essex was formerly known as David Cook. I believe I have his song “Rock On” somewhere on my computer.