There are a lot of things I admire about David Cook. Allow me to be a bit presumptous and call him David.

I was drawn to David during the auditions week that was shown on American Idol. I thought, among other things, that his voice had a really nice gritty quality that appealed to me. I lament that I had not known about him before, unlike some of my friends who had been lucky enough to be in Tulsa, the Blank Slate and so forth, to know or hear David before this crazy show took over his life. But I digress.

I followed his journey; I was interested in seeing him as a performer, though I do admit I was rooting for David Archuleta at first. In fact, you can say that I'm a .....convert? Well not quite convert, as I still adore Archie (that hence shall be referred to as lil' bro) but obviously, I have since been much more invested in DCook. David very quickly became my favorite male contestant, and I was voting for him along with my friends in the the US of A. (It helps when you know exactly what time to vote, even if you're all the way across the globe,)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Along with his voice, I quickly became enraptured by his personality (and yes, charisma, Simon/Nigel.) that simply seemed to shine through my television screen. And then came the youtube-ing all the other bits, Behind The Scenes, interviews and videos and all his previous works (Axium/MWK).

After that, I was certifiably Cookified.

It started off as just some guy singing. But it's become so much more than that. My verbal ramblings have actually been met with people of like mindedness, my family within this community. His music, his and Neal's lyrical geniuses.... words to a song so beautifully written that they actually made me just stop, close my eyes and take a deep shuddering breath as the words enveloped me. Melodies that can stand on their own without needing the backbone of dodgy studio addtions. (And I haven't even heard the new album yet, which I just know is going to blow me to Siberia and back!) A personality and humor that seems to transcend distances and mediums to make you feel included.

So really, I ask you, how can I NOT be a fan?