American Idol sets alight the digital download

America’s favorite show American Idol has finished and the outcome has been decided, and we knew David was going to win it – we just weren’t sure which one. In the end it was by a considerable margin, with 12 million votes, or 56 percent of the vote, and David Cook came out the clear winner of American Idol season 2008. The season finale was watched by 32 million viewers.

And to think that David Cook wasn’t even going to try out for Idol. It was his brother and an American Idol producer who talked him into going through with the audition. He grew up outside Kansas City, MO, and works as a barman, playing gigs around Tulsa, Okla. He has the experience of a small-show rock performer, and over the course of the series showed his versatility and style with a number of excellent renditions of well known rock/pop songs from artists as diverse as Michael Jackson (“Billie jean”), Collective Soul (“The World I Know”) and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”.

Already, David Cook’s marketability is on display and he is moving product. His first release-proper “The Night of My Life” debuted on the Billboard Top 100 at number 3 and number 1 on the digital download list. A couple of the songs he has sung throughout the show also show up in the Hot Digital Tracks chart, including his version of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and “Dream Big”. It is a truly great thing to see that even songs that have not even been officially recorded or released can show up on the national charts.

Downloads went mad after the finale. Undercover.com reports that 1.5 million digital sales were generated following the finale of American Idol. And that wasn’t just for the American Idol stable of performers. David Cook sold 942,000 downloads, with second place getter David Archuletta selling 323,000 downloads. Guests on the final show also benefited from the exposure, with George Michael selling 83,000 tracks last week. Carrie Underwood sold 64,000 units, while ZZ Top's 'Sharp Dressed Man' was downloaded 14,000 times. Collective Soul's 'The World I Know' had a 1000% increase, selling 23,000 sales. OneRepublic's 'Apologize' sold 40,000 units. It did 6000 the previous week.

And what of the vanquished? Coming runner up in American idol is hardly a sentence to anonymity and a quick resumption of one’s former life. Seventeen year-old piano balladeer David Archuleta had a number of excellent performances in the final few shows of the series. Many tipped him as the eventual winner. The judges certainly thought he had the goods. But the voting public preferred the more confident Cook. Archuleta will join his top 12 colleagues for the 54 date tour across the nation through the summer. A seasoned performer will emerge, and it is a sure thing that we haven’t heard the end of David Archuleta.

The American Idol Live concert tour kicks off on July 1 in Glendale, AZ. Tickets are available from www.concert-ticketdeals.com

Don’t miss the excitement of the 2008 American Idol series as it comes to a city near you. Tickets are still available to most shows. M. Paul is a music fan and runs the ticket selling service www.concert-ticketdeals.com