Newsweek compared David Cook's stage presence to that of presidential hopeful Barack Obama. After sneaking to the front of the pack on Season 7's American Idol, Cook got better week after week. Yes, 17-year-old David Archuleta was cute, but the 25-year-old bartender/musician proved American Idol was a singing competition after all.

The Missouri native, who sang and played guitar in two bands before Idol, didn't intend to audition for the hit talent show. 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." Making it all the way to the finale, the Midwestern rocker beat the boy wonder for the American Idol title.

David Cook: Five Fun Facts:

"I found out that I could sing when I was really little," David Cook revealed on American Idol. "I was singing in the bathroom and I remember my mom coming in and saying, 'David, you actually have a decent voice.'" His mom, Beth Foraker, alerted Cook's elementary school music instructor Fredalyn Gentry, who gave Cook his first solo.

Calling himself a "jeans and T-shirt guy", David Cook has a practical approach to fashion. "You buy the Hanes 3-pack of T-shirts and that's three days of not having to do laundry," he told PEOPLE.

The "AC" on David Cook's guitar stands for his brothers, Adam (who is battling brain cancer) and Andrew. They "are my inspirations," Cook told PEOPLE. "So out of superstition, I put their initials on anything. It's a comfort, like packing your pillow on the road."

When David Cook went back home while on Idol, he got one surprise gift: Fans raised $29,000 for the American Cancer Society in honor of his ailing brother Adam. "You have no idea how much this means to me," Cook told the crowd. "I owe you the world."

David Cook is "an expert television watcher," he said on American Idol. "I'm also fantastic at sleeping and eating…They're not talents so much as skills."

David Cook is "an expert television watcher," he said on American Idol. "I'm also fantastic at sleeping and eating…They're not talents so much as skills."


I'm fantastic at those things as well!

Anyone know anything else about his audition? How did the producer know to have him sing?

me too, im awesome! i'd have to say my best talent/skill is sleeping