Right now is a great time to be a guest on
Saturday Night Live. The sketch comedy series is currently receiving some of the best ratings of its lengthy career, in part thanks to the election season and Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impersonation.
Saturday Night Live is appointment viewing, a water cooler show for this election season. There will be two more new proper
Saturday Night Live episodes before the election. This Saturday,
Mad Men's Jon Hamm hosts with musical guest Coldplay. The week after, on November 1, three days before the general election, Ben Affleck hosts. The musical guest? None other that
American Idol winner
David Cook. He will, for the first time, perform songs from his new album.
David Cook has been hard at work on his debut album (well, major label debut) since the summer-long
American Idol tour ended. The album drops on November 18. The first single, “Light On,” is already available for download on iTunes. Typically, a gig on
Saturday Night Live isn't a real big deal for an artist's career. Usually, the bands or artists are already known quantities. In the last few years,
Saturday Night Live has brought on more new artists, introducing them to American audiences (for instance, just this season, Duffy and Adele have performed). But, even then,
Saturday Night Live hasn't been generating the types of ratings it will in the next two pre-election episodes.
American Idol singers are generally not well-regarded with the kind of hip crowd that
Saturday Night Live attracts. David Cook, then, will have his reputation on the line. If he's able to show up on
Saturday Night Live in a week and a half and rock the proverbial socks off of the crowd, his album sales will show a noticeable bounce. Of this, I am sure. However, if he performs the type of bland commercial rock that audiences are used to from
American Idol alumni, album sales will once again disappoint for an
American Idol winner. I'm rooting for David Cook. He's written or co-written almost every song on his debut album. He proved himself a talented arranger during the
American Idol season, and I hope this translates to his original music. Go get 'em, Cooksie.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: RealityTV Magazine, Rolling Stone
(Image Courtesy of FOX)