Cook leads ‘Idol’ cast to arena

When David Cook found out he had passed his initial audition for “American Idol” and would advance to have a chance to compete on the hit television series, he felt something besides happiness and anticipation.

Cook felt uncomfortable about the situation.

The reason was he didn’t plan to audition in the first place. Cook came to the audition in Omaha, Neb., to provide moral support for his brother, Andrew, who was trying out for the show. Cook only auditioned after he was prodded into doing so by his brother and his mother (who also came to the audition).

“We were in the same audition group in the first round, and I was the only one out of the group that made it,” Cook said in a recent phone interview. “So yeah, it was a little awkward. I made it a point, as soon as I got out of the arena, I said to him if you don’t want me to do this, I won’t. And his response, this kind of speaks to his character, he said ‘If you don’t do it, I’ll kick your ass.’”

With an incentive like that, Cook, 25, had little choice but to stay in the running. And what a run it became, as he eventually made the show, and in May, won the “American Idol” competition by beating out fellow finalist David Archuleta. Cook, Archuelta, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Chikezie, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Ramiele Malubay and Syesha Mercado are performing on the “The American Idol Live 2008 Tour,” which hits the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre Twp. Monday, Sept. 8.

The fact is, Cook said he never saw himself as “Idol” material. He had recently moved from his longtime home base of Blue Springs, Mo. (near Kansas City) to Tulsa, Okla., to play guitar in the Midwest Kings, a band that had a regional touring base.

He had already released a debut CD, “Analog Heart,” and was working on his second album when he auditioned for “Idol.”

Cook wasn’t sold on the idea that his rock-pop sound would be a good fit for “American Idol.”

“I didn’t really know I was what the show was looking for,” Cook said. “I had watched in the past and never seen a rocker win the show. And to me, it was kind of like, if somebody like Bo (Bice) or somebody like Chris (Daughtry) can’t come on here and win it, what shot do I have?”

Quite a few people didn’t think Cook would come out on top, either. He was initially seen as a dark horse in the field of 24, and when the competition finally boiled down to Cook and the 17-year-old Archuleta, he was still considered by many — including “Idol’s” famously outspoken judge, Simon Cowell — to be the underdog.

Even Cook began to buy into that line of thinking. After arriving that morning to prepare for the Wednesday evening finale, Cook was told the vote was 56 percent to 44 percent. He figured that meant only one thing.

“I was like OK, ‘Archie’s got it’,” Cook said. “I didn’t really think much about it the rest of the day. I kind of went through the motions of getting ready for Wednesday night’s finale. I was just stoked to be playing with ZZ Top.”

Cook will perform five songs Monday and is pleased with the material the performers and the organizers of the show selected.

“Everybody seems really happy with their set, and we’re all able to not only do songs from the show but also throw in some stuff that we weren’t able to get on the show, but stuff that we enjoy performing,” Cook said. “Like I’m doing ‘My Hero’ by the Foo Fighters, and that’s one of my favorite songs, just high energy. So it’s cool. I think we’re all getting to show a little bit more of ourselves to everybody.”

“American Idol Live 2008 Tour” w/ David Cook, David Archuelta, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Chikezie, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Ramiele Malubay, Syesha Mercado. Mon. Sept. 8, 7 p.m. Wachovia Arena, Highland Park Blvd., Wilkes-Barre Twp. $39.50, $54.50, $68.50. Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 570.693.4100.

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