Last week, the singing reality show ended its eight season. And with the finale, David Cook said goodbye to his American Idol title. The singer says, “I feel like I was on the finale two months ago, so now to be handing over that whole reigning American Idol bit, it’s exciting for me. But it’s also the end of a little chapter in the book, so it’s a little bittersweet.” Yes, Adam won, he made an album and is currently doing a national tour — but his beloved brother Adam died. Career success plus family loss is definitely bittersweet.

David Cook further shares of his American Idol year, “I’ve never worked so hard, but I’ve also never had so much fun. To go overseas and play for the troops in the USO, and to play at Carnegie Hall for Hillary Clinton. To do everything; to come home and play for 18,000 people at the Sprint Center was just ridiculous.” The busy singer says, “We’re on the road for a while. I think our last scheduled date that we have as of right now is October … But we’re always writing, and I’m always trying to do other things, so it’ll be a busy year, hopefully.”

Yes guys, Adam Cook is no more. And just one day after losing his older brother to brain cancer, David Cook delivered a touching address when he was grand marshal of the 12th annual Race for Hope 5K run in Washington, D.C. He said before the crowd: “I actually lost my brother yesterday to a brain tumor, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now… I lost one today, but I gained 9,000, and I will be here every year that they will have me.” The co-chair of the charity race, Jeff Klodin told People magazine,

“David Cook is beyond the most courageous young person I have ever known. What he did this morning when he was dealing with the most raw emotion was incredible.”

Mr. Kolodin continued, “No one knew his brother had died, [and David spent the rest of the day] hugging survivors, signing autographs for them, taking pictures.” The American Idol champion had canceled a pair of concerts in March to go home and spend time with Adam. He also wrote “A DailyAntheM” in honor of his brother for his debut album. Adam Cook was a married father of 7-year-old twins. Our condolences to David Cook and his family.

Yup, the American Idol champ calls himself a “goof” — but one who wants to write serious music. And David Cook says its music he thinks he’d be writing anyway even without having won American Idol. Now that’s a serious musical goof! Anyway, David Cook also said being on America’s most popular show didn’t really influence his musical style, it just helped him reach a bigger audience. He shared,

“I feel like the record we have out is the record we would have put out with or without Idol. I’m a goof. I want to be the guy that cracks jokes but writes music with substance and a serious undertone.”

And we want you to be that guy David!! ^_^ This is one American Idol champ who is pretty smart (he reads a lot and plays word games) and oh-so funny! For sure he can be successful in other areas aside from music. You rock David Cook! We’ll always be behind you!

One of the things that imprinted the hunky singer on my mind was his amazing rock arrangements of several nonrock songs. Remember David Cook’s version of Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby”? Superb! But the song that pushed him to the forefront of American Idol season 7 was version of Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello”. When asked by Weekender, “Did you think you’d be in this spot in your career?”, David Cook replied:

I always hoped for it. I’ve always been a hope for the best, expect the worst kind of person. I also knew, early on, that in this industry, not everyone makes it.

As for his thoughts that being able to play an instrument on American Idol helped him stand out, David Cook shares: “[It] Absolutely [helped me]. I’m not going to blow anyone’s mind by saying that I wasn’t the best singer last season. On pure vocal talent, you could look at Carly (Smithson) or Syesha (Mercado). What worked for me was showing other aspects of musicality — being able to play guitar and come up with my own arrangements. Without that, maybe I’m not even on the show.”

Bet you didn’t know that! :p So what’s a “word nerd”? It’s someone addicted to crossword puzzles. Apparently David Cook is one and spent much of his downtime during the American Idol competition doing crosswords. So, does he still get a chance to do them while on tour? David Cook shares, “A little bit, but it’s been relegated to some online puzzles, like Yahoo crosswords. But I’ve really gotten into Sudoku recently, which I don’t understand at all.”

The singer further explains, “[You see] I hated numbers when I was in school. Math and I just didn’t see eye to eye. But I’m hooked on Sudoku now. It’s just a different kind of “nerd-dom.” But you shouldn’t do Sudoku if you’re easily frustrated. I’m a bit neurotic about it. If I mess up one thing, the puzzle’s done — especially on a crossword. I’m not one of these people that can write over a wrong word or erase over it. If I find out it’s wrong, I’m done. There’s a slew of unfinished puzzles around my house.” LOL! David Cook is one perfectionist prick! ;-P

You tend to (superstitiously) write the initials AC of your brothers Adam and Andrew everywhere, as on your guitars. What is it about that?
David Cook: “AC is also written on my shoes and tattooed on my arm. I began writing it into my sports gear years ago as I first heard that Adam had a brain tumor. It’s something to show my love for my brothers. That’s how I have them with me everywhere.”

What is the weirdest thing that has been written about you in the media?
David Cook: “That I was dead! I was, just in case, taken to the hospital because of high blood pressure during AI. My blood pressure just went high because of all the excitement in the competition.”

You were not supposed to participate Idol yourself but you went to the auditions just to support your brother. If everything goes “that randomly” in the future, where will you be in ten years?
David Cook: “I don’t know. I would just like to be happy and maybe have a family. Before that, I just want to make better and better albums.”

You have talked about winning Grammy and Oscar awards. Are you still aiming at those?
David Cook: “Absolutely. Too bad we were late for this year’s Grammys. I would have wanted to be nominated. Well, maybe next year. I still would like to do acting, even if I’m a musician at the first place. But if the right thing comes along, I’ll grab the chance.”