'Idol': The Cook/Cornell flap

Above: Chris Cornell, who should expect a windfall from David Cook's tribute to his "Billie Jean" cover.

Before Blue Springs King, David Cook, performed his cover of Chris Cornell's cover of "Billie Jean"  on "Idol" Tuesday night, I clearly heard Ryan Seacrest mention Cornell's name as he introduced the song. Apparently, a lot of people didn't hear that. At Entertainment Weekly, Cornell praised Cook's performance but also said that his Web site was getting slammed by fans who were miffed that Cook didn't give Cornell enough credit.

Even those who heard Seacrest mention Cornell think there is something disingenuous about Cook's doing other performers' versions/covers, like some d-bag at MTV.com who wrote: "There's something fishy about 'American Idol' contender David Cook."

Then: "Seeing as 'Idol' contestants are judged not only for their vocal performances but on their arrangements as well, it seems Cook has been coasting off others' visions. Does this mean Cook has had an unfair advantage over the rest of the 'Idol' crop?"

Let's see: He picks great covers and re-creates them. His biggest "advantage": He has the voice to pull them off, convincingly. He could have failed spectacularly on Wednesday and pretty much killed his chances of winning. But he didn't; he nailed it. (He also altered Cornell's arrangement a little.)

If the arrangements were as important or detrimental as the vocals, Kristy Lee Cook would have been dishonorably discharged for what she did to "Eight Days a Week." Michael Johns replicated note-for-note his Queen cover; does that make him less "fishy" than David Cook? And nobody cared when the cherub-faced teen wonder-boy, Little D, copied Eva Cassidy's cover of "Imagine."

I think everybody's looking through the wrong end of the telescope on this one. The guy who stands to win the most here is Cornell; now tens of millions of people who'd never heard it know about his version. "Billie Jean" is now by far the most popular song in his iTunes catalog.

Comments

[Scott B.]

I clearly remember mention of Cornell at some point when the song was introduced. I've already erased it off my DVR or else I'd go back and confirm it. But, there's no doubt it was mentioned. It's a stupid criticism -- the contestants often times just sing the songs straight, sometimes make minor tweaks (good or bad), or on rare occassions actually do something bold with the song. This appears to be one of those "minor tweaks" of Cornell's version. Non issue.

[Vandelay]

Cook is certainly not the first contestant to "cover a cover", so to speak. I remember being irritated at Katharine McPhee for appropriating Eva Cassidy's unique rendition of "Over the Rainbow" without giving her credit. Chris Daughtry used Live's version of "I Walk The Line" without giving credit. So I appreciate that David Cook has been open and honest about crediting Cornell's version, and crediting Whitesnake's version of "Day Tripper" the week beforehand.

And as Tim says, you still have to possess the vocal talent to pull it off. And Cook did an awesome job with "Billie Jean". In my view he even "outshined" (a pun for you Soundgarden fans) Cornell's version.

[KC Punk]

I had to reverse the recording several times to understand what Squeakcrest was saying when he introduced it as C. Corrnell's version, but he did state it. And yes, I don't recall all the complaints a few years ago when Daughtry consistently ripped off other people's covers than acted like it was his own arrangement. It is funny how the judges act like it is such an original when it's purely a copy of a copy.

[Tim Finn]

... well, you know the judges hadn't even heard of 311 when that Blake dude did one of their songs last year. I didn't get the impression that they thought he invented the arrangement. The band and music director would be pretty heavily involved with that anyway.

[Ben]

The other contestant David did something similar with Imagine. It was arranged by another artist, I can't remember her name, but no credit was given.

[Tim Finn]

David A. did Eva Cassidy's version of "Imagine."

[Charley.]

I find it pretty hypocritical that people are slamming David for singing a cover of a cover when this show is all about singing other people's songs.

Aside from A.I. how many bands do you know that are famous for doing covers and nothing else?

I read the MTV article too. I've never heard of Doxology or whatever they're called and I'm not trying to disrespect them, but a band from St. Louis called Lojic used to perform "Eleanor Rigby" and a band called Godhead has recorded two different versions of it... this was around 2000. I don't think David ripped them off. A couple of local KC bands will play this song as well.

And yeah Brandon from Incubus did "Hello," but when I saw them do it it was more of a jam by the band and then Brandon sung a couple of verses and then went back into the song they were singing.

I say lighten up and enjoy the show. David is an amazing talent and I hope he goes a long way.

[Charley.]

I find it pretty hypocritical that people are slamming David for singing a cover of a cover when this show is all about singing other people's songs.

Aside from A.I. how many bands do you know that are famous for doing covers and nothing else?

I read the MTV article too. I've never heard of Doxology or whatever they're called and I'm not trying to disrespect them, but a band from St. Louis called Lojic used to perform "Eleanor Rigby" and a band called Godhead has recorded two different versions of it... this was around 2000. I don't think David ripped them off. A couple of local KC bands will play this song as well.

And yeah Brandon from Incubus did "Hello," but when I saw them do it it was more of a jam by the band and then Brandon sung a couple of verses and then went back into the song they were singing.

I say lighten up and enjoy the show. David is an amazing talent and I hope he goes a long way.

[Bobbifaces]

People can say what they what about this Cornell/Cook issue. The thing is that both of them have awesome voices that sends goosebumps up your spine! I personally liked Cooks version better; it may sound very similar, but it was gut wrenching and left you wanting more. I'm so glad to see that there's a young, fresh, voice that carries the way Cornell's does. Think about it guys, Cornell's not going to be around forever, we need someone who can still rock with that sexy, powerful kind of voice. Cook is it!