David Cook is a 25 year old singer from Houston, Texas who grew up in Missouri. He's been performing on stage with bands for years, and is therefore very comfortable in front of crowds. In the Hollywood rounds, Cook showed off his guitar playing in addition to his great voice.
Cook actually didn't intend to audition for American Idol. When he went to the Omaha cattle call, he was there in support his brother Andrew, who didn't make the cut. But producers persuaded Cook to tryout, and he blew the judges away with his rendition of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer."
David Cook says that the toughest obstacle in his life was "Being confident enough in myself to chase this whole music thing." However, he draws inspiration from his brothers and is armed with his lucky charm, his left arm tattoo.
He says that his proudest moment so far was "graduating from college" and that he doesn't think he has much of an edge in American Idol, just that he strives to always be himself. However, if he doesn't make it in the competition, he says, "I'll probably go back home and milk the starving musician racket a little while longer."
David's goals in life, he says, "revolve around being happy. It's all about the journey." He admits that he does have other talents, saying, "I am an expert television watcher. I can also sleep and eat like nobody's business." In fact, this self-confessed "weird" guy says that if he couldn't sing, he would probably have "The ability to fly or culinary skills."
After winning American Idol, Cook immediately started working on his debut album. "I think it's going to be a mixture of my writing and hopefully writing with some other people," he said. "But the bottom line is, I just want to come out of the gate with a solid record. If I can do that, I'll be happy."
He went on to say, "As for the type of the record, you know, it will probably be a rock record, but I think that is a pretty vague generalization. I just want to make a record that is going to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up."
Week 1: "Happy Together"
Week 2: "All Right Now"
Week 3: "Hello"
Week 4: "Eleanor Rigby"
Week 5: "Day Tripper"
Week 6: "Billie Jean"
Week 7: "Little Sparrow"
Week 8: "Innocent"
Week 9: "Always Be My Baby"
Week 10: "The Music of the Night"
Week 11: "I'm Alive" and "All I Really Need Is You"
Week 12: "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Baba O'Riley"
Week 13: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "Dare You to Move" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
Read More:
American Idol: Ranking the Seven Winners Record Deals, Hit Singles and a Hot Date: Catching up with David Cook The Story of David Cook's Brother Is David Cook Dating a So You Think You Can Dance Star? Ten Best Performances of the Season Ten Worst Performances of the Season (Photo courtesy of FOX)