'American Idols Live Tour' at Nassau Coliseum
BY DANIEL BUBBEO
August 3, 2008


'American Idol' winner David Cook sings during his appearance on the NBC "Today" television program, in New York's Rockefeller Center. (AP Photo / May 29, 2008)

David Cook had " American Idol" fans at "Hello." When the 25-year-old from Blue Springs, Mo., put a rock spin on the Lionel Richie ballad in the "Idol" semifinals, it was the start of a love affair that led to his victory on the show in May. Tonight and tomorrow, fans can say hello to Cook as he and the rest of the top 10 come to the Nassau Coliseum for the "American Idols Live" tour.

Cook recently chatted by phone from Rochester, N.Y., about the tour, his album due in November and Simon Cowell.

What's been the best part of being on the "Idols Live" tour?

The cool thing is that we're all doing our own set, although I get two more songs than everyone else. So everybody's got their own vibe and they've got their own songs. And not worrying about being judged or voted on has really helped us all open up a lot. It's made us all stronger performers.

How did being on "American Idol" help you to become a better performer?

The one thing about doing "Idol" is that it showed me that it doesn't really matter what the size of the crowd is, you have to make it as intimate for the back of the room as well as for the front row. If you can get into that vibe, then you're giving everyone the same show.

Have you started work yet on your album?

It's been hard with the tour, but Rob Cavallo, who produced Green Day's "American Idiot," is producing, and we've been having a lot of correspondence. We've got about 20 songs that we're tracking.

Will any of the songs from your previous CD make it onto this one?

I've lucked out in that I have a breadth of material to work from. We're in the tracking process right now, and we're working with one that looks like it's going to fit.

Do you feel that Simon was sometimes too harsh with his criticism?

Simon says what he does, but he always means it to be constructive. Simon is just being Simon. He's honest. I stood up for my ideas whenever I felt like I needed to. The one thing I did take away from it is that I got a tougher skin. Part of Simon's job is to prepare us for the media saying some unflattering things about us. I'm confident with who I am and I know what I'm about.

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/music...0,3125065.story

GREAT ARTICLE - POSITIVE VIBE!!!!!

Yep

does anyone else get the impression that david never viewed the show as a competition, but rather as a learning experience?

Look at me using the word VIBE - I have definitely been hanging around DC too long (virtually) It's fun.

Yeah, I kind of get that impression too. That's a good thing though.

The more we see and hear - yeah - I agree.

Awesome article...Well written!!!

this article was short but sweet. thanks for sharing! Loved the part about his answer on Simon most. This just indicates how grounded and mature he really is. Idol hit the jackpot with this guy.

Positive tone, mostly rehashed info; sounds like a cattle call of reporters that he spoke to all at once since most of the details have shown up in other recent interviews.

The best part about this one????



Wonder which song he's referring to?

There's been some speculation that it may be a re-tooled version of "Makeover" from his Analog Heart album, renamed as "Not Me."

off the chain-- hmm that was the first thing i thought too. maybe "silver" or "makeover"???

Yea Annie, I agree. I think that DC always thought of the Idol as an experience, not a competition AGAINST anyone else. But to show your stuff. Because it really doesn't mean anyone is better than anyone else, just that they are gonna be marketable and successful.

I wish more people had the same mindset as DC. You can only compete against yourself anyway.

Did you also see that it look slike there could be one previously written song that appears on his new CD?

Can't wait for the tour to come to NYC baby whooo hooo!!! 2 more days ahhh 48 hours!!! Thank the lord it's finally hereeeeee

the reason i don't believe "not me" is makeover is that david wrote all the songs on analog heart..."not me" credits only doctor as the writer.

"not me" was a recent addition to ascap...it was added sometime after david was added as a performer to abmb (believe me, i searched his name as both performer and writter when the abmb was posted), while tiemann had several songs registered already with mwk. sooo...it may be an old song that was just registered, or a new song...dunno.

as for at least one previously written song possibly being on the album...no clue which one, nor from which of his material it is (ah v. otaf v. other random songs). dunno. but loooovvveeee to speculate!

I could see Makeover making it on there and eventually being a single, though maybe not the first one.

Silver would seem too blatant a reference to American Idol. It's not, of course, but it would SEEM that way.

What about the fan who went to a meet & greet who he told he is hoping "Straight Ahead" will make it onto the new album? So wouldn't it be that?

"I'm confident with who I am and I know what I'm about." To come out of the Idol experience and to be able to say this instead of being totally overwhelmed, just shows how prepared he is for this musically and professionally. I do think he was more prepared for this than any other Idol contestant ever.

Absolutely, I think the only person David viewed himself as being in competition with was himself - trying to get better each week, it's always been about progression for David.

Me too, Annette... my hubby told me the other day that VIBE is my new favorite word... it didnt' really register with me where I picked up ... DC, of course!

One of the first things I noticed at the beginning of the Idol season was the confidence that David exuded week after week which Simon took as cockiness or smugness. David knew when he gave a good performance and when it wasn't up to his par. When David said he wanted to see a progression I understood completely. He wasn't a contestant that needed the judges to tell him he was good to validate him as a musician. Because he didn't see Idol as his career path, it seemed to me that he was more about getting exposure to a wider audience than he was about winning the competition. I think that is what makes him the most original and most memorable Idol contestant ever. He used the resources given to him on Idol (arrangers, musicians, vocal coaches) to hone his skills as a performer and give us a concert each week.

P.S. I am also using the word "vibe" in casual conversation and I'm sure "trite" will soon follow. I also found myself using "ipso facto" recently. While I considered myself a word nerd long before Idol and have always been fascinated by words and their meaning, ipso facto isn't one that is easy to slip into a sentence but I did so without even thinking. David = teacher.

So funny! I now say "for sure" all of the time. Have also used the word "anthemic" and "residually" as in "I watch that TV channel residually." I have never used these words or phrases before!
Jessica

That is exactly what I have noticed!!!!!! Thank you for putting that in to words for me.
David had also said he was happy to be playing to the Idol audience of 6 or 7 thousand people., especially right after one of Simon's rants.

Absolutely. He never performed with an "air" of competition. EVER. He just went out there and did his thing. I LOVE that.

VERY Positive VIBE!!! I too have been using Vibe alot lately. Hmm, wonder why? LOL!

I agree

I think that statement sums up so much of what we all admire about him. He is so grounded. He knows who he is and what he wants and, as he said, what he's about. Did you all see him on Jimmy Kimmel and Jay Leno? Who else could go on those shows and just be so comfortable and handle himself so well at this point in their career and at that age? I am so impressed with him on every level. I am more than twice his age and I sure don't have it together nearly as well as he does. I read a posting of an interview with Andrew today and I have to say it looks like the Cook family has another phenomenon on his way. Little brother Andy seems just as awesome as David, and that's quite a mouthful to say. Haven't heard him sing, though, so I'll reserve my opinion on that for now. But the groundedness, the maturity, the integrity, the compassion, the sense of humor - all there in spades! This could be a bad thing! I don't know if I can survive TWO obsessions!




I love everything about him! The man is as close to flawless as any of us get.

hehehe--I like Your Vibe! Me too! I find myself using Vibe quite a bit now! BUT...this article Does Have a Good VIBE!!!! LOL! thanks for it!