I went to the same high school as him and when he won, he came back and did a private concert for us. It was incredible. He did Van Halen's Hot For Teacher and he absolutely killed it!
Okay, so looking at the comments, I'm apparently in a minority, but I loved this cover. After all these years, the two AI performances from David that have stuck with me are "Billie Jean" and "Eleanor Rigby." I prefer listening to the studio version of ER for the audio, but performance-wise, I love David's energy here and how stoked he seems. He's a cutie. :) And OMG, watching this now in 2015, he looks like a baby in the opening clip here! He was only one year older than I am now! He's continued to get more polished as he's gotten older and I love his versatility with his voice. He can pretty much do anything with it.
+Brianna Huber I am a huge Beatles fan and I like this cover way better than the original. I actually think David is one of the most underrated winners from American Idol
Proud to be a Fan !! Today David Cook was mentioned for this 'stand out performance" in Yahoo article celebrating 50 years of The Beatles!! (Feb 9, 2014)
I really love this cover. I don't understand why people have so much hate for this cover. It's not like the original but it's the aim of a "cover", that we make our personal edition of the song, no?
He took a song that was not meant to be sung with super high energy added a crap load of energy and just destroyed it I don't see how you can get that and the point of making a cover is not just to make the song your own but to make it as good or better than the original he made it his own but he made it s***
BEATLES PURISTS: GET OVER YOURSELVES. HONESTLY. I love The Beatles too, but give him some credit for being creative, different, and making the song his own. Lord KNOWS we don't have contestants like him at Idol any longer!
I'd just like to say that this is a 90 sec live performance of a (then) amatuer musician forced to sing a Beatles cover with only a few days to prepare. All AI7 performances were extremely constrained by circumstances - and so they are amazing in that context!
I never tire of watching David do this song. I love the version, his passion for the song and music. He's an amazing human being that I've been lucky to meet several times. Meeting him made me a bigger fan bc he's a truly wonderful person ;)
That was terrific! If anything David Cook rocked it out and made it sound more contemporary. And as for the effects of making a great performance with cool arrengements, I think this is great, talented and risky to do.
So fun and interesting the way he changes the song completely from sort of plaintive, melancholy to something accusing. He points at the audience, brings everyone, all the lonely people in. Love it. This dude is an artist.
@RunEd51 If I like something already and someone I KNOW is talented likes it too, for instance, Paul McCartney said he likes this version. That tells me my opinion can't be completely misplaced. Copying a song perfectly does nothing to prove one is talented, it is taking a song and making it great for YOU that is the mark of true talent, and whether one likes the version or not, it proves that he is talented at least as a songwriter/arranger, not mention has amazing pipes, imho...
Not a fan of The Beatles so I had never heard this song prior to David Cook singing this on Idol and I fell in LOVE with this song/version....and its been 4 years now (WOW) and this song still pops into my head from time to time.
I'm really surprised at the amount of people who don't like this version. I think it's incredible. Best modern spin I've ever seen put on this old classic.
OMG that note David hits at the end is amazing! His performance was so exciting to watch...he's so hot! And I love his exuberance at the end and the judges great comments too! I couldn't wait to watch David week after week when he was on Idol & was SO glad he won! He so deserved it. His 2 CDs he has put out since Idol are both awesome too! That voice, that voice!
How are you people hating on this!? It's one of my all time favorite idol performances. Hell, his version of ER is one of my favorite songs in general... I just don't understand NOT liking it...
I have loved the Beatles, especially this song, and other than everyone's cover sounds like they are singing "Father McKenzie wearing his socks" when it is "darning his socks". I loved David's version, he wasn't supposed to make it sound exactly like the Beatles, he was to make it his own and I still love it.
Zoe Gurrieri Darning is something my grandmother would have done years ago. Personally I would rather get new socks. It's another song that people have problems with some of the words. "Blinded by the light" has a line that sounds like "dressed up like a douche" when it's actually "deuce". I couldn't believe there were so many mispronounced words in songs, but I've been guilty of many of them myself.
Quite a few singers were my favorite ones that won this show and David Cook's my top favorite male winner of this show, I wasn't so sure about him in the beginning but when he did song's like Happy Together, Hello, and this Beatles classic, he started to grow on me, now I'm an even bigger fan of David Cook from there and I was glad he won that season on American Idol! That was a great season with a lot of incredible talent!
Hey, David Cook fans! His new album is available for pre-order, along with great album packages and insider sneak peeks at pledgemusic.com/davidcook . Check it out!
I came back here to erase the memory of watching Dalton deliver that horrendous performance! But its too horrendous, I cant erase it on my memory.. LMAO
When I first watched this live on Idol, it gave me goosebumps and a shiver down my spine. I think the chorus was magical and even now it's still incredible. Love this, Love David
This performance is a perfect example of how telling the reaction of a singer to forgetting the words is for a performance. At one point he sings the lyric "wearing his socks." The lyric is not wearing his socks; it is "darning his socks." But no one notices and it gets great reviews.
@evilcupcake72 have you lost your mind? that was brilliant! He has an incredible voice, and despite me being a Beatles fan, i honestly think this was better than the original. His voice owns. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that performance.
This is a 90 second live performance of a song that HAD to be chosen from the Beatles catalog and HAD to be prepped in a week or so. Amazing how fast people forget the constraints that are always part of a live Idol performance. Probably Cook's first solo performance for a live crowd this size, never mind the millions on TV ( this was the first week in this theater Season 7). Nice work, David, as usual.
you wont believe it! i listened to a singer raping the song in 2013 idols and all i could listen in my head was this version by david cook and today, even after so many years i remember this and have come back to listen to this!!!!
I grew up listening to The Beatles, my uncle had a band and he still is a huuuuuuge Beatles fan so I made him listen to the studio version of this cover and he approved!! This is a cover, like a gazillion covers out there. So what it's the point in coming here to troll and hate everyone and everything? Use your energy to support your fave artist instead, get a life!! Peace!! =)
@TDSUSERS I understand where you're coming from. However, Aftter losing my wife and being extremely lonely I get his take on the song. By him singing it that way he conveys the pain that I feel inside. Sometimes I am so lonely that I want to shout. This version is not for everyone, but it works for me. It allows me to release my emotional pain.
This is how David interpreted it. There's nothing wrong with it just because it's different from the original. I love this song (both this version AND the original) :)
i really enjoyed it... i don't see why everyone would compare his performance to the beatles, its not meant to be exactly the way they did it, its a cover. its his own interpretation of the song and i think that it worked well for him
![Billie Jean - David Cook [HQ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-xrctnywpcU/mqdefault.jpg)
I went to the same high school as him and when he won, he came back and did a private concert for us. It was incredible. He did Van Halen's Hot For Teacher and he absolutely killed it!
That sounds awesome
He seems humble
Ooo man that is so awesome. Ha, Hot for teacher, love it.
Okay, so looking at the comments, I'm apparently in a minority, but I loved this cover. After all these years, the two AI performances from David that have stuck with me are "Billie Jean" and "Eleanor Rigby." I prefer listening to the studio version of ER for the audio, but performance-wise, I love David's energy here and how stoked he seems. He's a cutie. :) And OMG, watching this now in 2015, he looks like a baby in the opening clip here! He was only one year older than I am now! He's continued to get more polished as he's gotten older and I love his versatility with his voice. He can pretty much do anything with it.
Agree
+Brianna Huber I am a huge Beatles fan and I like this cover way better than the original. I actually think David is one of the most underrated winners from American Idol
+Andie Bunker ..Beatles fan???...You are being satiric..Eleanor Rigby is a psych pop masterpiece. This cover is reactionary.
+Andie Bunker You are so right. He is so much better than Carrie Underwood (American Idol's golden girl).
Brianna Huber I loved it too. He was so awesome on idol.
Proud to be a Fan !! Today David Cook was mentioned for this 'stand out performance" in Yahoo article celebrating 50 years of The Beatles!! (Feb 9, 2014)
Miss idol when it used to be like this...
me too.
I really love this cover.
I don't understand why people have so much hate for this cover. It's not like the original but it's the aim of a "cover", that we make our personal edition of the song, no?
Person Laure I guess the hate comes from the fact that he's a huge douche
He took a song that was not meant to be sung with super high energy added a crap load of energy and just destroyed it I don't see how you can get that and the point of making a cover is not just to make the song your own but to make it as good or better than the original he made it his own but he made it s***
BEATLES PURISTS: GET OVER YOURSELVES. HONESTLY. I love The Beatles too, but give him some credit for being creative, different, and making the song his own. Lord KNOWS we don't have contestants like him at Idol any longer!
This is what Idol should be! Make it your own song. Great job Mr Cook
I knew David cook was going to win with this performance! It was great.
I'd just like to say that this is a 90 sec live performance of a (then) amatuer musician forced to sing a Beatles cover with only a few days to prepare. All AI7 performances were extremely constrained by circumstances - and so they are amazing in that context!
This was my second favorite performance by him that season. My favorite was “Always Be my Baby”! He deserved to win!!
How right was Simon!!! He won because David is talented!!! And he has improved over time in music and style!! My favorite male idol!
This is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was the night David Cook effectively won the contest. He charged out in front and never looked back. One of my top 3 Idol performances ever.
Thats the night I yelled at my TV he's the one!!
I never tire of watching David do this song. I love the version, his passion for the song and music. He's an amazing human being that I've been lucky to meet several times. Meeting him made me a bigger fan bc he's a truly wonderful person ;)
I love his version. David is such a cool and yet confident guy.
Personally, I love this version. I agree with Randy, the chorus rocked.
One of my favorite contestants ever! Also I miss these judges.
I miss that day, the moment
This is an awesome song, love David's rendition of it, gives it new life
One of the last great performances on American Idol. An instant hit
Gives me chills. Loved it.
That was terrific! If anything David Cook rocked it out and made it sound more contemporary. And as for the effects of making a great performance with cool arrengements, I think this is great, talented and risky to do.
So fun and interesting the way he changes the song completely from sort of plaintive, melancholy to something accusing. He points at the audience, brings everyone, all the lonely people in. Love it. This dude is an artist.
@RunEd51 If I like something already and someone I KNOW is talented likes it too, for instance, Paul McCartney said he likes this version. That tells me my opinion can't be completely misplaced. Copying a song perfectly does nothing to prove one is talented, it is taking a song and making it great for YOU that is the mark of true talent, and whether one likes the version or not, it proves that he is talented at least as a songwriter/arranger, not mention has amazing pipes, imho...
I'm a huge Beatles fan, (thus my screen name) and this is an awesome cover. David Cook has a great voice.
Hate to break away from the arguments - but it was fun to see Monty and Neal in the pre-song clip.
One of my all time favorite performances from ALL seasons, performed by one of my favorite Idol performers, well done David Cook!
Not a fan of The Beatles so I had never heard this song prior to David Cook singing this on Idol and I fell in LOVE with this song/version....and its been 4 years now (WOW) and this song still pops into my head from time to time.
One of the alltime greatest Idol performances!
I'm really surprised at the amount of people who don't like this version. I think it's incredible. Best modern spin I've ever seen put on this old classic.
OMG that note David hits at the end is amazing! His performance was so exciting to watch...he's so hot! And I love his exuberance at the end and the judges great comments too! I couldn't wait to watch David week after week when he was on Idol & was SO glad he won! He so deserved it.
His 2 CDs he has put out since Idol are both awesome too! That voice, that voice!
Forever a David Cook fan, best Idol season! Can't wait for his second album this summer.
he was all time favorite idol
How are you people hating on this!? It's one of my all time favorite idol performances. Hell, his version of ER is one of my favorite songs in general... I just don't understand NOT liking it...
I have loved the Beatles, especially this song, and other than everyone's cover sounds like they are singing "Father McKenzie wearing his socks" when it is "darning his socks". I loved David's version, he wasn't supposed to make it sound exactly like the Beatles, he was to make it his own and I still love it.
survivrs I heard "wearing" too.
Zoe Gurrieri Darning is something my grandmother would have done years ago. Personally I would rather get new socks. It's another song that people have problems with some of the words. "Blinded by the light" has a line that sounds like "dressed up like a douche" when it's actually "deuce". I couldn't believe there were so many mispronounced words in songs, but I've been guilty of many of them myself.
I didn’t know much about the Beatles but after listening to this I got why they were so popular. Thanks David
Quite a few singers were my favorite ones that won this show and David Cook's my top favorite male winner of this show, I wasn't so sure about him in the beginning but when he did song's like Happy Together, Hello, and this Beatles classic, he started to grow on me, now I'm an even bigger fan of David Cook from there and I was glad he won that season on American Idol! That was a great season with a lot of incredible talent!
Hey, David Cook fans! His new album is available for pre-order, along with great album packages and insider sneak peeks at pledgemusic.com/davidcook . Check it out!
3 years ago today and it still amazes me. Absolutely awesome!!!
favorite version
Oh no its retarded.
This is just absolutely fantastic
David Cook - Now that's how you 'cover" a Beatle's song !
I like what he did with this song:)
This performance was what got me into the Beatles.
I came back here to erase the memory of watching Dalton deliver that horrendous performance!
But its too horrendous, I cant erase it on my memory.. LMAO
+Sejuani lol exactly what im doin
Abdel hakeem LMAO, glad im not the only one
same :)
Seriously I heard Dalton's version and I was thinking "Why does this sound like David's version" lol! Totally love David's version better
LOL. me too. i must recover my ear after listening dalton's version..
This is still my favorite performance ever on idol
i
I like it. Saw it live. No one replaces the Beatles but it was a great version.
You are terrible for breaking that guitar
You would hate jeff jerret
It was already broken by the airline he flew on.
When I first watched this live on Idol, it gave me goosebumps and a shiver down my spine. I think the chorus was magical and even now it's still incredible. Love this, Love David
Holy fuck. Everybody but Paul makes this sound terrible.
Yeah
This performance is a perfect example of how telling the reaction of a singer to forgetting the words is for a performance. At one point he sings the lyric "wearing his socks." The lyric is not wearing his socks; it is "darning his socks." But no one notices and it gets great reviews.
I do a better cover on my dusty old piano. Lol. Nice try but that was just insulting.
It's 5 years now, where's the cover?
I quit watching american idol after this season. David Cook is the ultimate idol for me.
Excellent performance!!!!
David Cook has been the best winner coming out of American Idol... He was and still is an idol... I love him
Absolutely awesome version and performance!!
Still coming back to this one - I think he did an awesome job!!! :) and I think his reaction after is priceless!
..I'm still coming back in 2020 ;)
He is so awesome!
David Cook is the Truth saw him on concert 2 times.
@evilcupcake72
have you lost your mind? that was brilliant! He has an incredible voice, and despite me being a Beatles fan, i honestly think this was better than the original. His voice owns. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that performance.
@redhead3600 Not sure you get the idea of this show
This is a 90 second live performance of a song that HAD to be chosen from the Beatles catalog and HAD to be prepped in a week or so. Amazing how fast people forget the constraints that are always part of a live Idol performance. Probably Cook's first solo performance for a live crowd this size, never mind the millions on TV ( this was the first week in this theater Season 7). Nice work, David, as usual.
Over three years later and people are still debating about this performance. Unbelievable.
This was the cover that finally made me pay attention to David Cook. No looking back! :)
you wont believe it! i listened to a singer raping the song in 2013 idols and all i could listen in my head was this version by david cook and today, even after so many years i remember this and have come back to listen to this!!!!
love it, love David Cook :)
I miss season 7 it was the best!
What's with all the hate? This is a great cover. Well done, Cook.
We are season 10 now and I am still amazed by David's performances, he is a rare gem and a breath of fresh air! He doesn't do covers he does betters!
My fav version of this song
David Cook paid gr8 tribute to the Beatles... love it!
Wow.. I like the original song, but this is also very good!
2011 and I still love this so so so so much!
I listen to this like once a week still
LOVED this. I'm not sure I've ever heard a one-man Eleanor Rigby, let alone an awesome one!
I think this was one of the best performances ever done on American Idol, ever.
he definitely did it justice!
I grew up listening to The Beatles, my uncle had a band and he still is a huuuuuuge Beatles fan so I made him listen to the studio version of this cover and he approved!! This is a cover, like a gazillion covers out there. So what it's the point in coming here to troll and hate everyone and everything? Use your energy to support your fave artist instead, get a life!! Peace!! =)
wow i just love how he take an old song and turned into a awesome modern rock song that was freaken awesome
I LOVE David's version of this song!! Woohoo!!
@TDSUSERS I understand where you're coming from. However, Aftter losing my wife and being extremely lonely I get his take on the song. By him singing it that way he conveys the pain that I feel inside. Sometimes I am so lonely that I want to shout.
This version is not for everyone, but it works for me. It allows me to release my emotional pain.
He just rocked the whole world that time. EXCELLENT!
this version is awesome
David Cook is my favorite American Idol.
awesome, loved it
I love the Beatles and in my opinion this version was awesome!
This is my favorite performance David did during that season of Idol!
this is awsome. i love it!!!!
This is how David interpreted it. There's nothing wrong with it just because it's different from the original. I love this song (both this version AND the original) :)
Fantastic, great, THE AMERICAN IDOL!!!! Love, love, love David Cook.
i love the beatles!!! but....this is GREAT!!!!
I used to be like obsessed with david cook lol i still love this performance and i looovee the studio version
I'm a Beattle fan, and i love this version!!
i really enjoyed it...
i don't see why everyone would compare his performance to the beatles, its not meant to be exactly the way they did it, its a cover. its his own interpretation of the song and i think that it worked well for him
He did a fantastic job with this cover (my opinion). Just love this man's voice. His performances are very professional and this WAS brilliant.
@Rhys854 It was for a photoshoot. They wanted a pick of him smashing it. I actually think that picture is out there somewhere. Try to google it.
GREAT STYLE!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS feel!
He did an awesome job:)
Cook did a mighty fine job on this song :)
I really want to know what Ryan was saying to Simon at the beginning of the video! Lol!
Yes, because your album is soooo amazing.