Classmate comes home to a hero’s welcome thanks to American Idol

By Brian McCauley, bmccauley@miconews.com

American Idol finalist and Blue Springs, Mo., native David Cook salutes the crowd Friday at a Kansas City Royals game in which he threw out the first pitch and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Cook took his hometown by storm, putting on a mini concert at his high school in front of more than 10,000 screaming fans. (Gene Morris / Gmorris@miconews.com)

You would have thought the president was in my hometown of Blue Springs, Mo., on Friday. Actually, even the president probably wouldn’t have caused the excitement that my former classmate David Cook did.

Three months ago, I wrote about how shocked I was to see David, who I graduated with in 2001 from Blue Springs South High School, auditioning for American Idol. At that time, he was heading to California to compete against the mob of contestants vying to be one of the show’s top 24.

Now, David remains on the show as one of the top three Idol hopefuls, and many Web sites and entertainment shows have him pegged as the winner. The show, which has closely controlled the contestants’ schedules, allowed each of the final three to visit their hometowns over the recent weekend. And when David arrived, Blue Springs was ready.

After kicking off his whirlwind day with a brief concert in front of a crowd of screaming fans in the Kansas City Power and Light District, David was escorted to his hometown for a parade to our high school.

I watched in awe as Fox 4 News broadcast the event live from their helicopter. David, with an Idol camera right in his face, was waving from the back seat of a convertible like some sort of royalty as he was paraded through a crowd of fans, many wearing “Vote for David Cook” T-shirts.

His escort included about a dozen police officers and other security officials, who kept the screaming fans at a distance. When he finally reached the school’s football field, David was greeted by more than 10,000 people, all chanting his name.

I can only imagine what it must have felt like for him. Less than a year ago, David was bartending in Oklahoma and trying to jump start his music career, which has always included playing in bars and other smaller venues.

All it took was one American Idol audition to change his life and put Blue Springs on the map. He was awarded the key to the city by Mayor Carson Ross, and David highlighted the event by playing a few songs for the crowd. Afterwards, he was chauffeured to the Kansas City Royals game, where he threw out the first pitch and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

For me, it’s hard to think of David as a superstar. He just seems like the same person that used to draw cartoon books with me freshman year. The same person who sat next to me in keyboard class and cracked me up. The same person who entertained his classmates with his music during assemblies and talent shows. The same person who pitched on the high school baseball team and performed in school plays. And the same person who had a wide variety of friends, from the sports crowd, to the drama enthusiasts, to even the newspaper students like myself.

But from the moment that I started seeing David’s picture appear on the cover of tabloid newspapers in the checkout line of grocery stores, I’ve known that a superstar is exactly what he’s becoming.

At this point, it doesn’t matter whether David wins or loses. He’s already established a strong fan following, and his unique interpretations of classic songs on the show surely have captured the attention of a number of record producers.

I wish David all the luck in the world and encourage everyone to continue to vote for the local Midwest boy. Now, all I have to do is convince him to perform at Roots Festival in Paola sometime in the future.