David Cook conducted a satellite interview for the press today. The reports are beginning to be posted across the internet. Here’s a list of the usual suspects: MTV, USAToday, Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Tonight.
He talks about what really went down with Analog Heart, his progression though the weeks of the competition, and breaking down that wall between he and the audience. Containing a mixture of his writing and other songwriters, he hopes to make a solid record that “makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.”
Here are some highlights:
- About Analog Heart, “Analog Heart got released independently in May 2006. I spent a good year playing and promoting that record as much as I could. A lot of people, thank God, bought the record. About midway through the season, I had to have the record pulled, obviously, for fairness issues on the show. And I got it pulled offline. But somebody, I have no idea who, reposted it on Amazon, so while that was going on, I was kind of at a loss. I talked to Amazon about getting it pulled, and there was a bunch of mass confusion about it. I’m extremely appreciative at how well it did. But I was kind of a pawn in that whole game.”
- About his progression on the show, “This show has been great for my diet. I’ve lost probably 10 to 15 pounds. There was definitely a progression for me on this show. Early on, I’m talking third, fourth week in, Ken Leverne, our vocal coach, really hit home with me on a particular lesson: I put up a wall, kind of a protective barrier between me and the audience. It was a little bit of a defense mechanism to try to protect myself. He had to force me to break that down.” Toward the end, I started crying a lot. There was a lot of intensity — as far as what was at stake and all the effort that had been put into it. The crying after I won was like an exhale. This whole experience has been about eight months, including the auditions. And I felt like that whole time I was holding my breath. And to be able to just breathe and enjoy the moment was amazing.
More after the JUMP…
- About Simon calling him smug, “You know, I didn’t really change much of anything, as strange as it is. You know, I went into this with kind of a different perspective from everybody else. I didn’t have any expectations as to what the show was going to do for me or what I was going to do for the show. And so my confidence level really never wavered, and maybe that’s what seemed cocky or arrogant. But I think as the season went on, I think maybe he saw the work I was putting in — not just on my own stuff, but really just to make it a positive working environment for everybody.”
- About the theme weeks, “Actually, there was a short article that Debbie our stage manager hung up … midway through the season. It talked about Frank Sinatra and how he would go about the song process, about recording a song. And before he listens to the music, he would read the lyrics and basically try to tune into what the lyrics were saying and what the song was about, and then he would go into the music aspect of it and figure out the melodies and all that. And so for me, that was really an eye-opening article, because it made me think I just really need to step back, and before I even try to learn this song, I just really need to read the lyrics.”
- About his versatility on the Idol stage, “I don’t see myself putting out a record of standards or anything like that. For now, I’ll probably end up putting out a rock record because I feel that’s the kind of music that I enjoy playing. But that was the exciting thing about the show — I loved knowing there were things I could do that people would never expect I could do. I’m going to try to recreate that energy within this record. I want people to feel they got taken on a trip from beginning to end. I’ve got my work cut out for me, but it should be fun.”
- About learning all those songs for the finale, “They made it very, very easy for us with everything going on. It’s just a matter of trying to focus in on each song at a time and not really worrying…Yes, some of them were on the teleprompter for us. But at the end of the day, you can get the words, but it’s about the performance.”
- About those 12 million votes, “I think that number is actually really misleading. Obviously, within the bubble of “Idol,” it’s hard to get a vibe on what’s going on. I thought Archie was probably a little bit ahead of me, if I’m being honest. … I attribute the finale vote discrepancy to my fans just being awesome. I don’t really know how else to explain it. My hat’s off to Archie for the whole scenario. I think he handled himself with a lot of grace. And, more importantly, he’s just an amazing human being. I was just honored to share the stage with him.”
- How does it feel to have the Top 4 songs on iTunes? “Well, you know, it doesn’t feel bad. I can’t believe the level of support that has come out of me doing this crazy TV show. All I can do is try to embrace it and make all the effort people are putting into supporting me worthwhile.”
- Did he want to win? And what about those comparisons to Daughtry, “Did it cross my mind at any point during the competition? I mean, sure — but only as an objective point. I think to go into this with the idea that you don’t want to win is a huge slap in the face to the 103,000 people who auditioned this season that really wanted to win. … As far as having more success by not being a winner, I think that’s something that’ll get played out hopefully in the next couple of years. I think Daughtry’s success is amazing. And so for me, right now, I’m not trying to be Daughtry. I’m just trying to put out a solid record. Even if it doesn’t do well commercially, at least I can say I put out a record that I’m proud of. That’s the goal right now. Hopefully, if I can do that, the success would follow.”
- What will his debut album be like? “I think it’s going to be a mixture of my writing and hopefully writing with some other people. 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.”
- The release date? “Well, the ideal release date is as soon as possible, if you’re asking me. You know, these things take time. And 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.”
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OK - we’ll wait for that album.
He’s very articulate, isn’t he? All that and size 13 boots too
Great guy and a great friend, it seems, to the others on the show.
Are we sure he doesn’t behead kittens or *something*?
LOL. He’s a PR flacks dream. You won’t catch cookie speaking out of turn. He’s exhausted, and he still says exactly the right thing.
I agree with MJ! The PR people have to be celebrating that this is their winner. He’s so intelligent, well-spoken, laidback and just cool. He’s going to be a breeze when it comes to getting out there and promoting his album.
If the music won’t convince you to buy the album, Cookie will talk you into doing it, I’m sure. LOL.
I think he’s going to give the best interviews for music magazines. I can’t wait till his face is on RS or Blender.
DC is just so articulate. What a word nerd! I love it. His intelligence just makes him all the more attractive.
He does a great interview. There is something different in the air with him as the winner this year. Yes other winners - and contestants - have done really well……..but I just have a feeling about David Cook. I’m betting he becomes a superstar! And, he really seems to be a good guy. Funny, articulate, caring, genuine - he is a great AI winner.
I see a Rolling Stone cover in his future. My Lord, won’t it be beautiful?
Sorry, I’ll take my fangirly self out of here. :)
He’s really a gem. AI should be very proud to have someone so smart and well spoken respresenting.
Things like that make the carpal tunnel I got from voting all worth it.
Wow. He’s super-grounded about his music career. That’s great. Something tells me that if he’s successful, he’ll be more pleasantly surprised about it than anyone and genuinely grateful.
Whoa!
Hell he is polished isn’t he. They, AI peeps, must be wetting themselves with delight. He comes over as so damn grounded, mature and humble. He has charisma to burn and appeals to all ages. I think we have a superstar well on the way to being made.
Shame! I was sad to see him getting thinner. I missed his big belly. :(
I really, really enjoy reading and listening to his interviews. There is little more charming than an intellectual, funny man who can sing.
*peeks in* LARRY KING LIVE in 35 minutes! SQEEEE! Sorry that was a bit fangirly. *bans self*
This isn’t part of his exit interviews but I just came across this Simon Fuller interview. Didn’t I say before it’s premature to expect he’ll sell millions?
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/811658/American-Idol-ratings-winner-audiences-falling/
Well, I guess it’s nice the big man has faith in him? LOL
just when i think i cant love him more…. i can.
31 years old and fangirly as all get the hell out. yep.
larry king, hurry up, omgarsh!!!
This is just unbelieveably true. He’s the total package.
Even the kids like him. Remember the little blonde boy at him homecoming?
Admittedly I have not been on the Idol ball this year (with it being my last semester of school and all), but why did he have to pull Analog Heart “out of fairness”? He’s hardly the first contestant to have a pre-Idol album available for purchase. Or was it the fact that the album was available via mass distribution that presented the issue?
Anyway, the more I read about him, the more I like him. It’s funny, there were so many contestants I disliked or was “meh” about at the beginning of the season — including Cook, Brooke White, and Syesha — and by the last few weeks, I ended up really liking them (or at least in the case of Syesha, heh, thinking that while full of herself, she seems like a nice girl). Watching the finale for the first time in two years without really disliking one of the finalists was certainly an interesting experience :) I’m not “invested” in Cook’s success but I can totally see why so many people are.
I believe it was the album’s sales rank being posted that was considered unfair. They went to great lengths (but obviously not enough) to keep the Itunes rankings a secret so as not to influence the voting public.
guys! I heard “The Time of My Life” on Radio Disney today. Yaayy!
Mr. Cook is really expanding my vocabulary with these interviews. What an articulate man. Now I must grab a dictionary :)
All the idols were on Larry King. I missed the first few minutes but Larry asked about Adam and David responded. They also did a shout out to Luke Menard.
There were a few questions on LKL that were funny-
who is most likely to get in trouble-MJ
biggest flirt-MJ
most laid back-Jason
most intelligent-cookie
those are the only ones i remembered. it was larry asking the question and they all shouted their answers. there were a few more with michael johns winning hands down……i think it was who was the funniest
Brooke White and her husband got cutest couple. But I think it meant cutest AI contestant couple (and just as a cute idea, not for real). And I think that would have been Brooke and Jason.
Love seeing David Cook interviews. He is amazing.
LK thoughts:
Larry King was soooo “awesome”…that word musta been used 25 times, btw! I have been so anti DA this season but man, what a little sweetheart he is. Brooke is a great one to interview too.
The Freedom acapella was just icing!!
Anyone know what David C’s degree is in???
are we going to have a larry king post? i have things to say, but will wait to post them there.
I know cooktard
i didn’t know where to post about LKL but it is kind of an exit interview?
Just a couple of comments. I’m from Missouri, by the way, although I’ve lived in Texas for years. Cookie reflects good ole common sense values of Midwesterners. I’m not surprised at all that he comes across as articulate and humble. The same thing has been written about Brad Pitt, who’s also a Missourian. I’m confident that he’ll always be grounded and success will never ruin him!
The other thing I want to mention is about Syesha. That poor girl was brought up in the most horrible circumstances imaginable. Drug addict dad, and both parents arrested over and over. I also read the family was homeless at times, and slept in a car in the bitter cold. She earned a spot as a low income minority in a high school for the performing arts. Yet she was dissed over and over as being too “full of herself” and self centered. My gosh! She should be applauded for being focused, and not going the way of her parents! I admire her so much. The other top contestants all seem to have had very comfortable, even privileged upbringings, with the advantages of music lessons and other options Syesha had to earn on her own talents. Her talents have provided a self esteem she couldn’t have obtained any other way, and she deserves a lot of slack if she’s IN to herself. It’s her survival mechanism.
There. I feel better. : )
Fun to watch them all together. They seem to really get along and I think David A. is going to have a major leap of personal growth with this lot on tour this summer.
Larry King sure can ask some dopey questions but I guess that’s Larry. Pretty funny when Archie starts to comment, then stops and the gang busted out laughing.
I’ve submitted a question for Jason for the Monday night LKL show. I’ve asked about Columbian music and his interest in other musical instruments. I bet that kid could pick up anything and learn to play it, if he wanted to.
Dunno ’bout you but I’m so weary of the tedious same questions. I want to hear more about each contestant’s interest in music and where might their fancy lead.
MJ, I guess you might want to move this to the LKL thread once it’s up. I just couldn’t wait to comment!
thesheriff,
David C said in one interview that he studied graphic design in college.
Most of them mentioned a song they were going to perform on tour.. I missed carly’s, did anyone else catch it?
What I did catch:
Cook - the single
Archie - Angels
Syesha - the Alicia Keyes song
Jason - “I’m definitely going to break out that uke”
Brooke - Let it be
Kristy Lee - God Bless the USA
Ramiele - I want you back, Jackson 5
Chikeze - “A full on 3 minute harmonica solo.. I Believe in My Soul.”
He’s expanding mine, too. Now when I feel too lazy to pick up a book for the sake of widening my vocabulary, all I have to do is listen to a couple of his interviews. :)
He initially started as a theatre major but switched to graphic design. I’m surprised he wasn’t an English major… ;)
1. Finally glad to know his boot size. I was very curious. :)
2. As an English teacher, I get a high whenever I hear him talk. It’s not just the vocabulary, it’s the lack of words like “like” and the way he turns a phrase that just make him perfect. I think I’m going to use his interviews in future lesson plans.
3. I really hope that they let him write a lot for his record. His lyrics in Analog Heart are refreshing; the lack of unnecessary repetition and his way of making positive and negative images parallel is anything but cliche.
I am very sympathetic to Syesha’s horrible upbringing, and I’m still unsure as to whether I like or dislike her (it’s weird, I know). And I suppose it’s entirely possible that Syesha’s very off-putting “I can have it all, and I will have it all” attitude is simply her coping mechanism. And if that kind of attitude got her through her childhood and saved her from traveling down a similar path as her father’s, than more power to her. But the whole “perhaps I had a wicked childhood” routine has to stop becoming an excuse or a justification eventually. I don’t know — despite the fact that she often rubs me the wrong way, I feel hesitant to criticize her attitude because she’s not really hurting anyone else (meaning she’s not using her “I’m so awesome” attitude to be rude or to put down other people). She seems a little arrogant but hey, whatever. But at the same time, I just feel weird about using her childhood to explain everything away. Mixed feelings and all that.
Besides, the “I’m so talented and now I will read you a list of people who suck” act seems to be the standard attitude copped by the second-place finisher for two years running, not the third ;-)
Re: Cookie’s public speaking and vocabulary. *UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT* (and this isn’t directed at anyone here personally), but…I don’t find him particularly eloquent, nor do I find his vocabulary particularly impressive. To me, he demonstrates exactly the grasp and command of the English language that I would expect from a twenty-five-year-old. No more, no less. He is articulate in that he doesn’t ramble, make nonsense statements, or say things like “gracious” when he really means “grateful,” but he’s hardly a poet or even a talented wordsmith. Granted, I’m just coming off of three years of a course of study that places an extreme and necessary emphasis on proper spelling, grammar, and syntax, so maybe I’m spoiled in that most of my time is spent around people who know to speak and write elegantly (as opposed to all you poor English teachers who have to deal with the OMGLOL generation — my heart does go out!). But I guess it’s less of a commentary on him or us and more of a commentary on how my generation’s grasp of, and respect for, its native language has fallen so far that all one need do is demonstrate a modicum of proficiency to be considered a master of the subject.
Margaux- I believe Carly said she would be performing Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”
Kat, I agree with you. I guess I feel he’s much more articulate than the average celebrity, and that’s VERY refreshing to me. I also think there’s something in the way he speaks, besides his actual word choice, that makes him come off as very articulate. Maybe it’s the fact that he appears pretty calm and grounded at all times, or that he doesn’t stumble or have to think too long before he comes up with an answer. Whatever the combination is, the whole David Cook “speaking package” is extremely appealing… and attractive!
Oh yes, not denying that. He’s very pleasant to listen to, unlike many former contestants. Taylor, God knows I adore him, can barely form a coherent sentence. I think with Cook, it’s probably a combination of him being a fairly intelligent man plus being comfortable on the interview “hot seat” — because feeling weird in that situation can make even the smartest person seem like an incoherent dolt. :)
PS — I’m watching Chelsea Handler; she’s interviewing Guarini, and she confessed that she was rooting for Archuleta because Cook just “didn’t do it for her.” She also said that if she had to hear one more Daughtry song, she was going to stab herself in the eye.
Kat: I agree with you that Cook’s any more eloquent than most college graduates, however he does quite well at thinking on his feat and speaking in complete sentences on no sleep whatsoever. I went to as much school as I did, in part, so that I could assemble my thoughts and carry on intelligent conversations, and sometimes it actually works. There’s no way could I sound that good on TV.
Not only did Cook do high school musicals, he did Forensics, which is a public speaking competition, including everything from poetry reading to extemporaneous speaking (for the kids who know in 10th grade they are going to law school). I did it one year, it was quite interesting and some of the sharper kids in my school participated.
I’m sure no one will read this- but thanks to the answer re: David’s education! I just got back this am…. I think David is rather smooth when he speaks. Someone mentioned that he doesn’t use the word “like” and I think you could put “um” in there too. What contestant on AI would say things like David did ie.. “trite” and “chagrin” come to mind. He speaks in concise, compact sentences. I believe it’s rare for an Idol contestant, for sure, and for some college educated adults especially in the public eye. Just love it!
When David Cook sang “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and he walked to the mini stage where the judges were, there was a shot of him from the back facing the crowd and he raised his arm…at that instant I seriously got shivers and one thought ran through my mind “He’s going to be a Superstar!”
Everything about him screams star. It’s not just his voice and how he arranges his song–it’s how he performs those songs. He sure knows what to do to the camera.