David Cook Shatters Chart Record
New American Idol Rocks the Billboard Singles Chart with 11 Debuts
May 29, 2008
David Cook became American Idol last week and took control of the charts this week. His debut single crashes into the top ten, and a quick scan of the top 50 hits listed on Billboard’s Hot 100 reveals that Cook appears another six times with debut songs.
Cook lands at number 3 with his first original American Idol hit “The Time Of My Life” but also places “Dream Big” at 15, his U2 cover “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” at 22, “The World I Know” originally performed by Collective Soul at 28, “I Don't Want To Miss A Thing,” the Aerosmith cover he performed on the show’s final at 42 and his Michael Jackson Cover of “Billie Jean” at 47.
Billboard also reports that Cook places another five songs in the lower regions of the chart making a grand total of 11 new entries in one chart week.
Runner up David Archuleta, doesn’t break any records but still manages to place three new songs on this week’s tally – a career milestone for any recording artist. Archuleta’s top placing comes in at 36 with his touching cover of John Lennon's "Imagine", one of the most moving moments in the show’s seven year history.
David Cook Beats Hannah Montana
The new American Idol, David Cook, shatters the previous record of new entries held by Miley Cyrus, performing as Hannah Montana, who placed six new titles in the charts back in 2006. Cook also places the most new songs on the tally in one week since the week ending April 11, 1964. That record goes to the Beatles who placed an astonishing 14 new songs on the Hot 100 44 years ago, more than any other artist before or since.
The massive amount of debuts this week by the American Idol finalists comes as the show raps and iTunes, the exclusive distributor of the American Idol tracks, releases their sales data to the song charting company. In an agreement with the show’s producers, the online music store withheld any data concerning the number of downloads sold in order not to influence voting.
While Cook’s success comes at the heels of his massive American Idol win, the true test of this talent will come later this fall when Cook releases his debut album of original material.
Regardless whether he has anymore chart success, debuting 11 new titles on the Billboard Hot 100 in one week marks a strong debut from this budding new musical force.
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