"American Idol" Extra - Interviews with the Idols, Part Two"

Leslie Gray Streeter @lesliestreeter

Thursday

Aug 21, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 21, 2014 at 9:27 PM

DAVID COOK

Question: How are you taking to touring? Answer: I love it. I get to travel the country, see places I've never seen with some of my best friends? It's great. We had a day off in Ft. Lauderdale, and I got lost a little bit. Most of the time, we get into a town at 4 or 5 in the morning, grab some sleep and go to the (venue).

Q: So you don't get to usually see much of the town. A: St. Louis looks a lot like DC, looks a lot like Charlotte, looks a lot like New York.

Q: How much choice did you get in your choice of song for the tour? A: The tour producers were pretty open to discussion, and everybody had a say. We're all concerned with the flow of our individual sets, and they're more concerned about the overall show.

Q: I must say that "Time of My Life" is one of the better "Idol" singles, that seems so much less of a departure from your style than with other winners. A: It's interesting. I got a chance to meet (songwriter) Reggie Hamm, who was really down to earth. First and foremost, it's a great song. It did really well after the finale, and whoever picked the music for the Olympics played it again and it's gotten a second life. I'm really happy with it. Just as importantly, I got a chance to tweak the arrangement a little bit. In the end, a great song is a great song. I got lucky.

Q: As a "rocker" who was a little older and more established as a performer than some of the other contestants, you, like Chris Daughtry, got labeled by some people as a sell-out (He nods, rolls his eyes). It's not me saying it. It's that some people don't appreciate, as a lot of musicians have told me, how different the business is. They say you have to use what you've got. A: There are some people still stuck in the Dark Ages. The thing that's both scary and exciting is that there's no formula anymore. "American Idol," as successful as it is...look at the track record. Some of the winners have become amazingly successful, and some have had to take a different track with their careers. It's just a starting point.

Q: Interesting point. I guess it's what you do with it. A: Yesterday was my first day off since the tour started. You do the work, and live up to the expectations I set for myself, and (not worry about) what everybody else wanted me to be.

Q: Having fun? A: More than should be allowed. I'm getting to meet musicians — I got to write with Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace, my favorite band ever, and he's treating me like a peer. I get to write music with this man. It's weird. And Archie and I drove up to do the "Teen Choice Awards," and I was sitting with my leg propped up on the other leg, and Adam Sandler comes by and hits me on the bottom of the foot. Crazy.

Q: Where do you go from here? A: After a year of singing other people's songs, I want to go back to original music. I'm ready for it. I see myself being happy doing whatever I'm doing, having a family and doing what every generic boy from the Midwest wants to do.

Q: You impress me as sort of a perfectionist. A: (Smiles) Absolutely. I have seen enough of the (seventh season of "American Idol") to know that for my own sanity, I shouldn't watch it. I'd be like "Why did I let them do my hair like that? Why did I sing that?" I know that nobody's perfect. But I'd be interested in doing something perfect and saying "See?"

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