David Cook's BiographyIn what has been called the biggest upset in American Idol history, 25 year old David Cook - an ex-bartender - easily beat 17 year old David Archuleta during the May 21st American Idol finale and won more than 56% of the vote.
This is amazing by the fact that more than 90 million votes were cast for the finale of the show.
As reported by the June 12, 2008 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine - Simon Fuller whose 19 Entertainment will guide Cook's post-Idol career "I don't want to tempt fate, but I think David's name will enter the list of great talents discovered by Idol". Simon Fuller is the show's creator.
Who is David Cook? According to an interview at www.americanidol.com David is from Tulsa, Oklahoma "by way of Kansas City, Missouri". Daivd auditioned in Omaha, Nebraska.
When David was asked how he felt when he made the American Idol top 24 he said "when I first found out I made the top 24…hmmmm…. “it was vindicating”. He also said “you see all these people put in all this work into trying to get to this point.”
David noted “for the people that make it is a huge accomplishment. The days of living in ambiguity are soon far behind us ya know? It’s cool”.
When did David find out he could sing? He said "I found out that I could sing when I was really little. I was singing in the bathroom and I remember my mom coming in and saying David you actually have a decent voice”.
David reported his mom the "being the mom she is, took the lead and told his music teach Mrs. Gentry that he could sing. Mrs. Gentry then put David in the Christmas Pageant and made him sing a solo".
David said "yeah…So thank you Mrs. Gentry". He also noted "I am an excellent television watcher and also am fantastic at sleeping and eating. Past that. Theren’t are talents as much as skills". David "studied graphic design in college".
Why did David want to be the next American Idol? “I want to be the next American Idol because it is an opportunity to do what I want to do for a living”. He said “since I was about 13 or 14 the idea of being a musician has seemed like like top tier. It’s what I wanted to do”.
David said, in the interview "when I got out of college I had a decision to make on whether to get the job and make the money and get the family and do all that jazz or really earnestly put the effort into trying to be a musician".
Luckily for his fans Davind, after graduating "from The University of Central Missouri – Home of the Fighting Mules" actually "decided to move down to Tulsa and join a band down there for a little while. And really kind of immersed myself in being a musican and trying to make it work".
David had paid his dues which got him to American Idol but he said in his interview "if I don’t win American I’ve got fantastic friends, fantastic family to go home to. It’s a win/win at this point, this is cake".
Of course David has his own favorites. He said in the interview "my favorite performer – is probably Rain Mada from - Our Lady Peace – I saw him at a show called Rockfest in KC in maybe 2002 and he came out and I remember specifically the entire performance he didn’t make eye contact with one member of the audience. But it was the most engaging performance I’ve seen. I became enamored with his band. Yeah, I have always been a huge fan of that guy".
When asked how he compared to past American Idol performers David said “I would like to think that I am maybe a conglomate of two. A mix of Bo Bice and Chris Daughtry. But who knows? People may think I’m just like Fantasia. I have no idea. I have none.”
As far as his personal style David reported "I’m pretty much an open book and I’m kinda weird. So I don’t really know that people would be very surprised about anything about me. I’m pretty much - What you see is what you get."
David's family "helped me pursue my dream. Really in a number of avenues. Immersing yourself into being a musician the money’s not always there. So financially my parents, my extended family and my friends have all been fantastic".
The help David received from his family (besides him mom helping him to get that first solo) "starts from my dad who bought me my first Stratocaster when he I was 12 or 13. And extended to him (his father) buying his Les Paul guitar for his 21st birthday".
He also said the help continued with his "mom paying for gas to get him to gigs. Pretty much across the board my folks have certainly sacrificed as well as pretty much everyone in my circle".
When asked his most interesting job David said "the most interesting job I ever had – and I have Mrs. Hayes to thank for this - I was a mascot for Old Country Buffet in Independence, Missouri – I was a bee for about six months. I quit not long after I got beat up at a baseball tournament".
He also reported "the weirdest thing I ever ate – I was at a church camp in Ohio – every day they would do sermons that had themes. Along with these sermons they had games. And they would have games to play. You could win cash if you won the games. I got entered into a contest where I had to chug a 20 ounce soda with a live minnow in it. I was in it (the contest) with 3 or 4 other guys and I won, but I had to swallow a live minnow".
David said "the most embarrassing thing I have ever done on stage - I was in a high school production of West Side Story - as America will soon find out – I don’t dance and somewhere there is a VHS copy of that floating around that will make its way which is quite nerve wracking I must say."
David Cook was a spectacular contestant often bringing the audience to tears with his voice and performances.
