We ask KC experts to straighten out the debate over David Cook’s hair.
By JAMES A. FUSSELL
The Kansas City Star

Oh, the price of fame. While David’s vocal talent is undeniable, KC stylists suggest a few highlights for his hair and a polished, long and lean wardrobe.

You know you’ve become famous when America starts arguing over your hair.
That’s what has happened to David Cook, the Blue Springs rocker whose powerful voice and edgy perormances have earned him a spot in the finals of “American Idol.”

So, yeah, he can sing. No argument there.

But his hair? That’s a different story. It’s all the rage on the Internet.

Depending on what blog you read, David Cook’s hair is chunky, choppy, too combed over, not combed enough, gelled down, spiked up, dirty, distracting and gross — OR — cool, hot, smokin’, slammin’, perfect, trendy, original, slick and sexy.

To be fair, his hair has changed from his first appearance in the show’s top 24. Thanks to “Idol” stylists it has gone from a limp and shaggy cockadoodle-do that looks as if it was hacked with a weed whacker to the more trimmed and tousled “Hey, I-just-rolled-out-of-the-rack-and-combed-it-with-a-pitchfork” look.

No matter. His brownish bed head still makes for an interesting debate.

Dynamic ’do or laughable locks? What’s a hometown newspaper to believe?

We asked the experts.

“I definitely think his hair rocks, and he rocks right along with it,” said Maranel Schmitz, a hairdresser at Salon Bliss in Overland Park. “It’s actually trendy right now to have a little bit of a bed head. I know my male clients want more of an edgy and messy look, something they don’t have to have super neat.”

That’s not to say she couldn’t improve on it if he landed in her chair.

“I’d give him a little more flair with his colors,” she said. “I’d put some tipping on the ends with a brighter and lighter color on the heavier comb-over side. It would give him a little bit more flair that would go with his rocker personality. That way when he gets to moving and really gets into his music you’d see the movement and definition in his hair.”

LaDonna Bright, a hairstylist at the Supercuts in the Midtown Marketplace, also complimented Cook’s look.

“I think it’s courageous and different,” she said. “His hair is what makes him stand out. I like the spikes and the bed head look, ’cause that’s what guys are going with now.”

In fact, clients are starting to ask for the look by name.

Cook’s name.

“Two of them came in and said, ‘I want that David Cook look with the spikes and the little taper in the back,’ ” she said.

What would she do to improve it?

Not much. Maybe add a few highlights.

More than anything, Bright thinks the 25-year-old’s hairstyle helps hide a receding hairline.

“A lot of young men are losing their hair,” she said. “You’ve still got to look edgy.”

And Cook’s hair, she said, pulls that off.

Angella Hilt, general manager for Mario Tricoci in Leawood, couldn’t disagree more.

“I think it’s a hot mess,” she said. “I don’t like anything about it. It just doesn’t look fresh, the color is very dull, the cut is out of shape and it’s just so … yesterday.”

Don’t get her wrong. Hilt is a big Cook fan who thinks he’s talented enough to win. She just worries his hair may be holding him back.

“He needs to get his hair up on the same page as his music,” she said.

How?

She’d add some color and gloss so his hair wasn’t so dull, and — most of all — trim it up so it didn’t look so misshapen and derivative.

“That’s a Keith Urban look,” Hilt said. “Get your own look. I’m not down with that.”

So there you go, David. A little free styling advice from one Star to another.

Don’t say we never did anything for you.

http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/616268.html