Hello

This page contains general information about the song "Hello". For information on a particular performance of this song, click on a performance link in the table below.

[back to top] Performances & Results

# Season Episode / Theme Slot Contestant Approval Rating σ Result
1
1980s
6/8
Cook DavidDavid Cook
90
 
16 2Safe
2
Motown
5/11
Langone StefanoStefano Langone
29
 
17 4Bottom Group
3
Motown
6/8
Duru AdannaAdanna Duru
53
 
21 5Wild Card
4
Open
10/12
Diaz BrandonBrandon Diaz
21
 
21 7Eliminated

[back to top] Summary

Lionel Richie's 1984 ballad was a #1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, but Richie might not have recognized his song at first when it debuted on American Idol:  AI7's David Cook put an usual post-grunge, power-ballad spin on it.

We've listed Incubus as a secondary artist for the song because the popular alt-rockers play it frequently in concert, and we'll occasionally hear a live version on the radio.  Cook's arrangement is somewhat similar (there are only so many ways to rock-out "Hello", after all), but it's different enough that this is definitely not another I Walk The Line situation.

What We Thought

Once a song has been done in a very unusual arrangement on Idol, it's hard for a future contestant to go back to the original.  Fortunately for Richie, he had so many cookie-cutter ballad hits in the 80's that it will be a very long time before the supply is exhausted.  We are not necessarily happy about that.

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