Recording Glitch Delays 'American Idol' Denouement

I really think both of them deserved to win however , David Cook is a Rock Star not a Pop Star and this was American Pop Idol

same thing happened last year. why don't you know that.

I cannot understand how David Anculetta did not win the Idols this year. He has a very good voice and is very musical and always sings in tune. This is supposed to be a talent contest not a popularity contest. The judges should make it clear to the public that it is a talent show not a popularity contest. It should be won purely on talent and not because the guy is a wonderful person and is dealing with problems in his life. It is so unfair that David Anchuletta didn't win. He deserved to by far. David Cook, while a very nice person did not have a strong voice, and sang out of tune regularly. And I'm very surprised that Simon Cowell indorsed him before the final saying he should win because he started off as a barman. How can Simon be a judge of a talent show if he bases his choice for most talented on past hardship. It is so unfair!!

I have a question and I hope people below will answer it. Here's what happened at our house. Ryan said, "The winner by 12 million votes of American Idol 2008 is David Cook". Then DC tilts his head back and my DVR freezes and ask me if I want to delete the program I just watched.

Of course I said no because I like to save it. But it made it EXACTLY up to the point where he uttered his last name and maybe 1/2 second more and then that was the end. But it was still upsetting because I want to feel like I saw the ending. Luckly I remembered losing the finale with Jordin Sparks. So I made a second recording in another room on my computer in lower quality.

Most people are saying it cut off between David and Cook, but mine didn't. I kind of get the feeling people get emotional and remember it that way. Either that or my DVR delayed 1/2 second and let me have it by sheer luck. So what happened to other people?? Did they also get the last name? I'd like to know. I was on Comcast on the east coast. Oh and very funny write up by the way. LOL. It's pretty much the way it would happen with two Davids.

One clarification. I recorded it the other room and it was an old style recorder, so it kept running and recorded the entire show which was nice. But the DVR with the big TV in the main room we watch Idol only made it as far as "David Cook" with last name included. Did other people get the last name, or am I the only lucky one? I mean people who had it cut off around that time.

This happened last year, so i knew it was coming again this year- On Dvr and I'm sure Tivo - you can sc hedule your shows to record 5,10, 15 minutes over - Thats what i do for almost all my shows. Everyone should try it!

We have DirecTV. Their "Tivo" permits you to set shows to start early and finish late. Ours was set to finish 15 minutes late, so we were not troubled by the problem you have written about.

Just one more reason to watch shows live.

Great and very gracious story. One of the best stories on the finale that I have read. Especially since you didn't pick on either of the David's! It was an awesome finale loved seeing so many different artists sing. While I am a huge David Archuleta fan I have come to love David Cook as well. Ever since he sang "Always Be My Baby" in Mariah Carey week he gave me chills every time I heard him sing. I wish only the best for both these young men in their future musical careers!

I recorded it on DVR... the seconds ticked closer and closer and I was very nervous. Just as Ryan Seacrest said David.... Cook. my recording stopped. So not all DVR's missed the name call. But it was very very close.

My TiVo has a feature to extend a particular season pass recording by 1 or 5 minutes. With Idol, having been burned ealier in the season, I wised up and set it to extend recording by 1 minute (early) and 5 minutes late. I was able to catch the whole thing that way.

sam wrote:

i am LIVID at Fox for pulling this bullshit. this is for ALL networks..STICK TO THE TIMEFRAME!!!!!!

I was a little annoyed about that too because I set my DVR to it, but I was home and when I saw time was running out, I set it to record the next show so I didn't miss anything. I can only imagine how many people recorded it and missed the best part of the show.

I had to work until 12am Wednesday night and recorded American Idol on my DVR. I was VERY VERY VERY upset to be up at 2 am watching the show to find out the show ran over and was cut off right before Ryan announced the winner. When you have TWO hours for the results show it would sure be nice to allow enough time so the show doesn't go over! Not everyone is lucky enough to watch it live!!!!

Laura wrote:

This happened last year, so i knew it was coming again this year- On Dvr and I'm sure Tivo - you can sc hedule your shows to record 5,10, 15 minutes over - Thats what i do for almost all my shows. Everyone should try it!

I'll have to look into that. I got my DVR about 2 months ago and am the only one who uses it (there are 4 of us)but I never read the manual in full. As long as I knew how to record I was ok with that and if anything else came up, I'd read it at that time. Luckily I was home and when I saw time was running out, I immediatly set it up to record the next show. Thanks for that info.

WGAS about this 4 month karaoke snoozefest.

Julie A wrote:

Great and very gracious story. One of the best stories on the finale that I have read. Especially since you didn't pick on either of the David's! It was an awesome finale loved seeing so many different artists sing. While I am a huge David Archuleta fan I have come to love David Cook as well. Ever since he sang "Always Be My Baby" in Mariah Carey week he gave me chills every time I heard him sing. I wish only the best for both these young men in their future musical careers!

You wonder why networks give us the amateur night blather; people like you! Awesome? You have got to be kidding.

@Laura above - About your idea to let the DVR record 10 minutes past schedule. I know it works and people should try it, BUT it won't work for me. Even though I've tried on every idol show this year to record 5 extra mins, it won't do it. It's some kind of comcast glitch. I tried recoding an extra 1/2 hour for the finale, but it didn't help. I wish I had tried recording the program that follows idol. Maybe that would have done the trick. Oh well, next year.. At least I'm glad I recorded it in another room even though it's not as clear.

Where can we see the full announcement that was trashed by recording on my dvr??

Scientists at the MIT music study lab reported today that David Cook had an "Unfair" accoustical sound advantage over runner up David Archuletta. Cooks enormous , melon shaped skull, reonated sound waves to a higher frequency, and came across the airwaves in a more clear and precise form. Archuletta, on the other hand , posessed, as scientist Rupert Wendall Hornsworthy III put it, "A more squash or Gourd shaped head" that muffled the higher octave resonance factors, thus making the tranformation to television audio much more "sedate" and less likely to generate votes. Cook has vowed "never to let those guys autopsy my head"

I absolutely HATE how all networks run their shows a minute or two over the hour throughout the year so that you miss the first minute of another show on a different channel. It's like these smug network executives figure that if you miss the first minute of the next hour's show, you won't want to watch it and will watch what they have on their network instead.
Well, the way to get around it is to use a bit torrent program to download the program you wanted to watch (commercial free) the next day. Screw them!!!