Regie Hamm Wins Idol Songwriting Competition
Posted on May 22, 2008
Regie Hamm, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, won the American Idol Songwriting Competition with his entry, "The Time of My Life." Country Weekly reports that Hamm entered the Competition at the encouragement of his wife Yolanda. The magazine says she is a fan of the show. Hamm wrote his song in just two days. "The song is about living in the moment and embracing your blessings, and letting go of bitterness and past pain," Regie told Country Weekly.
The song was performed by American Idol winner David Cook. MSNBC wasn't fond of the song.
As for the song itself, it adds credence to the argument that "Idol" viewed Cook as a way to make amends for Chris Daughtry's early ouster in season five. Which is to say that it sounds like a candy-coated version of Daughtry's "Home" crossed with Avril Lavigne's "I'm With You," its 6/8 time signature giving it an arm-waving sway as one last gift to the annoying pit girls in front of the stage.They also note that because of how late the show ran not all American Idol fans may have heard the song. That seems a little unlikely since fans of the show would have been record or watching until the very end. UPI reports that "The Time of My Life" sung by David Cook is already available on iTunes.com. You can also see David Cook performing the song on the American Idol website.Then again, Daughtry never had to sing about a magic rainbow. Cook barely flinched, which seems about right for a guy who may have chuckled at the cheese that "Idol" served up twice weekly but who always embraced it with "what the hey!" enthusiasm. Sure, the lyrics to the single that introduces him to the world is a jumble of mixed metaphors (one of which, running along a river's edge and failing to fly, is a little more literally earthbound than the typical coronation song), but Cook certainly knew what he was getting himself into, and he was ready for it.
As coronation songs go, "Time Of My Life" is a middling entry. Cook would have actually been better served by his Tuesday selection, "Dream Big." Emily Shackelton's original is a moderately sparky (if generic) country-pop number that has the unprecedented advantage of not being mind-numbingly dumb, but the word "stars" in the chorus seems to have inspired Cook to rearrange it as a Switchfoot knockoff. Making it sound like the quietly Christian band not only fit the singer, it suited the second verse's veiled religious references, though Cook was smart enough to edit out the part with the line "I loosed the reins, then let them go." One "Jesus Take The Wheel," it seems, is plenty.