‘American Idol’ worship

By Doug Carder and Kurt Kloeblen, Staff Writers

American Idol singer David Cook of Blue Springs, Mo., was all smiles prior to taking the field at Kaufman Stadium on Friday night. (Photo by Gene Morris)

Roger Burgoon curbed his UPS route, and Gayle Marzolf and Amy Bramble sneaked away from their shop Friday.

After “American Idol” finalist David Cook belted out his own version of Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer,” these Louisburg fans said living for the moment made skipping work and trekking to the Kansas City Power & Light District all worthwhile.

“I loved it,” said Marzolf, co-owner of Once Upon A Time. “I think David was a little overwhelmed that so many people came to see him, but he sounded great.”

Cook played two songs for the several thousand fans who piled into the Power & Light District courtyard before continuing his tour of the metro area — culminating with his rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch at the Royals’ game. The Blue Springs, Mo., native’s whirlwind homecoming will be featured tonight on “American Idol.”

Burgoon took his 10-year-old grandson, Brenden Clary, to the performance.

“We both watch “American Idol,” and we want David to win,” Burgoon said. “I’ve been wanting to spend a day one-on-one with Brenden, and after I dropped him off at school Friday, I thought, ‘Man let’s just go. We can’t pass this up.’ He was very surprised.”

After taking Brenden home to put on warmer clothes, the pair arrived about 45 minutes before Cook’s scheduled performance.

“I’m glad we got there when we did. The mob was unbelievable,” Burgoon said. “It was a great location. The courtyard has an awesome sound system and a jumbo screen over the stage. It’s like Sandstone, only on a smaller scale.”

Brenden was one of several Louisburg students who scuttled their school work to watch their American idol perform.

Brooklyn Besse and Katie Mulich jumped up and down while hugging their moms.

“He’s the best thing in Kansas,” Katie said.

“He deserves to win,” added Brooklyn.

The girls played hooky from Louisburg High School, venturing downtown with their mothers to see Cook.

“He was even better live,” Katie said.

“It’s really neat to see someone from our area,” Brooklyn said.

Fans decorated signs and T-shirts with different pictures and phrases. “American Idol” producers directed cameramen to shoot the signs and urged fans to hold their signs up high.

Marzolf and Once Upon A Time employee Cynthia Knop posed to have their picture taken as they soaked in the moment. Hundreds of fans held up miniature cameras and camera phones, trying to capture digital mementos of Cook.

“The atmosphere was wonderful. I’ll never forget it,” Marzolf said. “There were people everywhere, even out in the street. I don’t know if they blocked off Grand Avenue, but I’m sure traffic wasn’t moving.”

Becca Stack and Nathan Todd, Columbia, Mo., wore personalized David Cook T-shirts. Stack’s shirt had a large photo of Cook on the front and said, “There’s only room for one David,” on the back, alluding to another contestant, David Archuleta.

They drove to Kansas City specifically to see Cook.

“He was amazing,” Stack said. “He was so good live.”

Todd joked Stack’s devotion to Cook is “almost stalkerish,” but added he is a fan as well.

“It’s nice to see people that can actually sing,” Todd said.

Cindy Worth, Blue Springs, said she remembers Cook from high school. She was a senior at Blue Springs South when Cook was a freshman, and they were in choir together.

As a member of the Worth family that owns area Harley Davidson dealerships, she said she hopes to arrange a motorcycle ride to benefit Cook’s brother, Aaron, who has brain cancer.

But at this moment, Worth was busy snapping photos with her pink camera and remembering the kid she grew up with.

“He didn’t look the same back then,” she said.

After his performance, Cook waded through throngs of fans to his waiting limo.

“He walked right past us,” Burgoon said. “He was so close you could have reached out and touched him. Brenden was so excited.”

Burgoon predicts Cook will be a big star, even if he doesn’t win “American Idol.”

“He has an amazing voice, but he also arranges his own music, plays the guitar — he’s not just a singer.”

After the show, Burgoon bought a $10 David Cook T-shirt for Brenden, with the proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society. The pair walked around the corner to eat at Famous Dave’s barbecue restaurant.

Burgoon looked over his brisket sandwich at Brenden munching on his cheeseburger.

“Was it worth getting out of school?” Burgoon asked.

Brenden grinned. “Oh, yeah.”