It wasn’t even a week ago that David Cook won American Idol Season 7 and he’s already in the news for his “latest” hook-up. She is Kimberly Caldwell, the rocker chic from American Idol Season 2 that finished in seventh place. From The Pop Crunch Show,

“David Cook is dating American Idol Season 2 alum Kimberly Caldwell.

The former bartender, who defeated seventeen year old fan favorite David Archuleta at the American Idol 7 Season Finale last Wednesday, has confirmed reports that he and Kimberly enjoyed a dinner date over the weekend.

“We’ll probably hang out again. So we’ll see,” David said on Live with Regis & Kelly on Tuesday morning.”

David Cook made an impression on the show that will not soon be forgotten, being one of the most sincere and geniunely nice contestants the show has ever seen combined with that powerhouse voice. Kimberly Caldwell you might sort of, maybe, kind of remember but I don’t see her sticking around in the news for too long. My prediction is this. David will just be adjusting to life in Hollywood and it will be too much of a strain on their relationship until he has gotten used to it. Once he has, he’ll have plenty of other women at his feet and David himself won’t even remember who she is.

On last night’s American Idol, four contestants stood up and make one thing clear: David Archuleta hasn’t won anything yet!

While everyone’s favorite, 17-year old, former Star Search winner did a solid job with the Phil Collins’ song “Another Day in Paradise,” he wasn’t on the receiving end of the evening’s strongest praise from judges. That went to the following four hopefuls:

1. David Cook: His version of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” was met with raves from Randy Jackson, who said the single could be a hit today. Simon Cowell echoed those sentiments, with: “David, that was a very brave thing to do, and I loved it.”

2. David Hernandez decided to play directly into those gay rumors by singing Celine Dione’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” Gotta admire him for that. While not as beloved as Cook, Hernandez did hear the only words from Simon that anyone could ask for: “You’ve 100 percent secured a place in the finals.”

3. Michael Johns sounded like the original singer of “Don’t You Forget About Me.” We agreed right away with what Randy said that it was a “good song choice,” while even Paula Abdul made sense with: “I’m so glad you are the type of artist who is defining who you are.”

4. Jason Castro: Hallelujah! This dreadlocked star calmly performed a stellar version of the song “Hallelujah.” Simon summed it up thusly: “I thought it was absolutely brilliant what you just did… You are getting better and better and better. I’m very happy.”

Who was your favorite performer of the night?

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Can anyone stop the David Archuleta express?

Seven other American Idol male semifinalists will attempt to do so tonight. Here’s a photo montage of the entire octet:

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We’ve expressed some frustration that American Idol hasn’t yet given us more to work with by way of controversies, but we’re happy to say that today brings some solid progress in that department. For starters, we have official confirmation via AP report that dark horse contestant David Hernandez once made a living giving dark horsey rides:

first floated by VoteFortheWorst.com, it turns out Hernandez did indeed work at a Phoenix gentlemen-only pole-dancing venue called Dick’s Cabaret, “appearing fully nude and performing lap dances for the club’s ‘mostly male’ clientele.” We hope, in its mature seventh season, that Idol can overlook such past transgressions, even if it requires sitting David Archuleta down for a delicate explanation of why Hernandez’s middle-aged, moustachioed cheering section wave dollar bills in the air after his every Idol performance.

And because one controversy is hardly enough, we also offer the above MySpace video of contestant Danny Noriega’s delivering some Christmastime good tidings. God bless us, every one!

• KissNation
• Strip Club: ‘Idol’ Once Danced Here [ABC News/AP]

Though “American Idol” claims to have a pretty thorough screening process, contestants with less than savory backgrounds keep getting through. Which wouldn’t be a problem if “Idol’s” producers said they didn’t care one way or the other – but they’ve kicked singers out for unsavory things in the past. A few years ago singer Frenchie Davis was eliminated from the competition after topless photos of her surfaced on the internet. However last year contestant was allowed to stay when her racy photos popped up. Now it’s been revealed that 24-year-old contestant David Hernandez used to work as a stripper in a gay strip club for over three years – and it’s been confirmed by the club’s owner.

“American Idol” contestant David Hernandez once entertained audiences by removing his clothes instead of singing tunes, a manager at a male strip club in Phoenix told The Associated Press.

The 24-year-old finalist from Glendale, Ariz., once worked as a stripper at Dick’s Cabaret, appearing fully nude and performing lap dances for the club’s “mostly male” clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan said Monday.

“He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here,” Bryan said. According to Bryan, Hernandez steadily worked at the club for three years until September 30, 2007. “He never renewed his licensing with the state, so he hasn’t been on my roster since then,” Bryan said.

[From the Huffington Post]

“American Idol” producers could get a lot of bad press if they kick Hernandez out. If they’d had a clear-cut policy on this kind of issue, that’d be one thing. But since they’ve kicked one person out and let another stay, it could look like bias if they made Hernandez leave the competition. I wonder if the producers would consider working as a stripper better or worse than posing nude. They’ve also kicked people out for having criminal backgrounds – but have let some people stay as long as they revealed whatever negatives were in their past. I honestly wish they’d be a little more lenient. If a criminal has paid their debt to society, they have a right and responsibility to get a job. Why shouldn’t they try out for American Idol? What an inspirational story that would be - “Ex con turns his/her life around.” Same thing with someone who was a stripper. Talk about following your dreams. Hopefully Hernandez will be judged based on his talent and not his past.