A Real Life Fairy Tale: The Transformation of David Cook
(New and updated)

“…you just have somebody who loves what he does, and wants to move forward into the future and make changes and play around with sounds and make new sounds that nobody ever heard before. I think you can be a bartender who writes crap on his hand and pretends to be a rock star as long as it takes to become one and has a weird melon-shaped head, and cries onstage when it gets to be too big -- you can be that guy and do your crosswords and still be something hopeful, and beautiful, and messy, and good.”

--Jacob, original Television Without Pity (TWoP) website.

I've been fascinated by David Cook’s transformation since I first began to notice he was changing--sometime around the sixth or seventh week into American Idol, just before he became the frontrunner with his rocked-out performance of Billie Jean. But I've also noticed—since around July of this year--that he's continued to transform since his win, and is more beautiful today than I ever thought possible. The changes have seemed to come from emotional and spiritual changes within himself, as much as (or more) than from external changes such as makeup, clothing, hairstyle, etc. (though those things have certainly helped). As his heart opened wide to his fans and to life, this was translated into great physical beauty.

With that said, let me take you on a photographic tour of David's journey since his audition. It's really difficult to believe he's still the same person he was then, and even more difficult to believe this all took place within a single year.

Let's go for a ride.
Auditioner #36214, Livin’ On A Prayer, Omaha, Nebraska, July 2007.
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Even as early as this, I could see his potential. He definitely needed some work though. But man, oh man, could this boy sing! In spite of his strange appearance, he was the only contestant who really interested me. Paula looked completely Cookified from the get-go. Simon, what the hell were you talking about with that "little bit worthy" stuff?

I had a strange reaction when I first saw him. He hadn't even opened his mouth yet to sing, and I vividly recall turning to my daughter and saying, "This guy you see? He's the one to watch, he's going to be the next winner." I have NO idea where that came from; it was just a very strong intuition. So in a way watching season 7 was like watching what I already knew unfold before me. Of course, every Tuesday and Wednesday I'd still be a nervous wreck, wringing my hands and feeling like I was going to puke, and I still voted like a madwoman, especially from "Innocent" onwards.
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Cook had some daunting obstacles to overcome if he were to ever to win the title of American Idol, and at the time, it seemed those obstacles might be insurmountable. Besides his emogeek appearance, he was facing three very formidable early favorites (Carly Smithson, Michael Johns and David Archuleta) who all seemed to have the goods and the pimpage to blow poor Cook out of the water. All three (and a few others) received more video time than Cook. To make matters worse, Simon didn't seem to like him much at first, and even said "no" to him going through to the next round in Hollywood after he performed "Everything I Do." He would not have made the Top 24 at all had either Paula or Randy also said no, and may well have been back tending bar and playing weekend gigs at Tulsa nightclubs--at least for the time being, since no one will ever convince me that talent like this wouldn't have eventually been discovered some other, more traditional, way.

Photo of David from Entertainment Tonight clip early in season 7.

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Awaiting the Verdict (did he make Top 24?), February 2008.
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In this picture, even with the unflattering hairstyle and clothing, you can see how exquisite his features are. The raw materials were always there.

Colton Berry's Elimination, Top 24 week, February 2008.
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No one would have given him a second glance here, and no one did. He looks average at best. This was the first of the many times David cried on the show (and he is here), but I didn't notice until I saw the screencaps months later, because at the time the cameras were too busy focusing on Danny Noriega's more obvious tears.

David’s Top 24 official photograph.
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Happy Together, Top 24 performance, February 2008.

David could certainly put on a good performance, but his look here needed improvement. He still looked like someone who spent about two minutes before coming onstage deciding what to wear and had no idea what to do with his extremely fine hair. His apparent disinterest in his physical appearance projected a lack of confidence, although onstage he was far from that, having had plenty of stage experience in the past, first as the lead singer of his own band, Axium, that he started in high school, and later, the lead guitarist and singer in a Tulsa rock band called Midwest Kings. But at this stage, no one outside his immediate circle (or even in it) would have called him a sex symbol. He was cute in a disheveled, geeky sort of way. But with this performance, David showed how original he could be. No one ever covered Happy Together before in a way that made it seem like it could be a hit today, but he managed to do just that.

He strutted, growled and belted, and moved across the stage like a pro, and at the end, waved the mic stand around like a baton. There was also the flirtatious little wink/half-smirk thing going on. Now what was THAT all about? Tacky clothing and comb-over be damned, I was hooked. I couldn't wait to see what he'd do next.

All Right Now, Top 20 performance, late February, 2008
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David the Sex God had made his appearance, strutting and gesturing flirtatiously with the audience, and growling "yeah" like an impatient lover. Simon told him he had no charisma, and also attacked the short pre-song video about David being a “word nerd” and loving crossword puzzles, saying such interests were “boring.” (Simon, you wouldn't know charisma if you tripped over it and it stood up and started to sing "God Save the Queen.")

After Simon’s attack, David’s attitude and comments (“it’s not YOU I’m trying to impress”) came off to many viewers as a bit smug—and he received a lot of criticism for that one unfortunate comment.
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There are two things about this incident that stood out to me right away. The first was that Simon, finding nothing to attack in David’s competent and sexy performance, decided instead to attack David’s character and interests. In the beginning of the season, David’s sensitivity seemed to bring out the bully in Simon, and indeed, when you watch the videos of David’s reaction closely, he looks as if he’s about to cry. I think he was actually deeply hurt by Simon’s attack, and covered his hurt with his “smartass” retort to Simon.

But David cared what the British bully thought, and later admitted Simon had “lit a fire under his ass,” which motivated him to work that much harder to impress this judge who just didn’t seem to “get” him. It paid off as early as the next week.

David had proven he could be smoking hot as well as a competent performer, but the emotional wall that kept him from really connecting with his audience on a deeper level had not yet been penetrated. That would happen the next week, with his show-stopping cover of Lionel Richie's '80's ballad "Hello."

Hello, Top 16 performance, March 4, 2008.
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My first reaction on hearing he would be performing this song was "WTF"? I mean, this was one of the sappiest love ballads to come out of the '80's. I couldn't imagine anyone--not even David Cook--making it rock. It was going to be a train wreck! But I couldn't have been more wrong. This was the week David's emotional wall began to crumble (in interviews, David talked about how his vocal coach had showed him how he could connect more with the audience if he did this), and "Hello" was the performance that made millions of women fall head over heels in love (not just in lust, as the previous week). I was no exception. I remember the exact moment my mild-flirting-with-a-crush-but-not-quite-there-yet condition exploded into all-out hardcore obsession. He was sensual and smoldering and damn, if I didn't feel as if I'd just been made hot monkey love to--but at the same time a softness and vulnerability was beginning to come through, and that was what touched so many hearts that night and began to make people (and TPTB) really begin to take him seriously as a potential star.

The best moments during Hello were the famous half-smile (which he had also used in Happy Together and All Right Now; his signature move of closing his eyes softly and letting his sensual lips graze along the mic as he ended the song, while dropping his head slightly and stepping back and to his right; but the sexiest moment of all (to me) was the almost angry way he sang “…or is someone loving you…?” His lips curled like a jealous lover, and his gaze was firey and intense. It all seemed so natural that you knew David must have known what it’s like to love someone so deeply and passionately that you simply can’t stand the idea of them being with anyone else. You could swear he’s experienced that kind of jealousy firsthand. David Cook really could be an actor. He doesn’t just sing the songs, he feels them with his entire being.

Hello performance, March 4, 2008.
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Later, during the comments, David’s laughter bubbled as naturally from him as his tears when Simon made a joke about running into Lionel Richie in the grocery store.
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Hello reaction (after Simon’s comment, “That was a very brave thing you just did, and I loved it.”).
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David, in this beautiful picture, was quite emotional. Simon, who didn’t seem to like him much at first, had done a 180 and would be a fan from now on.

I have another theory about why this performance was so special. Apparently, David had broken down about something backstage before he was slated to go on, and had told the producers he couldn’t perform that night. Instead, he and Michael Johns switched places, and Michael went first, giving David a chance to pull himself together. But he was still emotional enough that whatever he was feeling came through the performance. I have noticed that David’s very best performances are always when he’s at his most emotional, and this was no exception.

Eleanor Rigby, Top 12 reaction, March 11, 2008
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David’s next performance was Eleanor Rigby, a Beatles song that David changed up and made his own. Here, David's as energized and gleeful as a little boy on Christmas morning. I've never seen such an exuberant reaction from any adult man, and it was beautiful. He jumped up and down, punched his fists in the air, hollered "whoohoo!" and his eyes sparkled with pure joy. He was hyperventilating during the rave reviews from the judges. The performance itself was amazing and electric and could have provided all the power for the city of Los Angeles for a year. At one point, with his arms outstretched, he looked like he was flying. For the first time, David was told (by Simon) that he could "actually win this entire show."
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Billie Jean, Top 10 performance, late March, 2008.
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The emotional wall was almost completely down, and David showed just how much heart he could put into a performance. This was the performance that made TPTB really begin to take him seriously as someone who could potentially win, and he began to be pimped, replacing early favorites such as Carly Smithson and Michael Johns. In keeping with that, he received a makeover, and came back the next week with the haircut that would totally change his look and make people realize how good looking this kid really was. It was around this time I first began to notice a change was taking place.

Billie Jean, two pictures of David’s reaction.
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As The Powers That Be began to wake up to the fact that David had now supplanted 17-year-old crooner David Archuleta as their frontrunner, he received a makeover, which included a shorter, more flattering hairstyle colloquially known as “The Haircut Heard Round the World.” This contributed to David’s physical transformation, but his deeper transformation would be far more than just the result of stylists, better clothing, and other Hollywood tricks.

Before and After. (Pictures from Eleanor Rigby and Little Sparrow).

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Idol Gives Back solo in group performance of Shout to the Lord, Top 8 week, April 7 (?), 2008.
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This performance gave me goosebumps. It was the first time David was given the spotlight. He was right in the center of the group, had the longest solo, and I can't even describe the effect his voice had on me. The performance itself might have been schmaltzy and over the top, and might even have offended some who think a Christian song like this has no place in the American Idol competition. But looking back now, I see this particular performance as a foreshadowing of David's win 6 weeks later, down to the confetti at the end, the semi-formal attire (David looked fantastic in his pristine white suit), the idols surrounding him, and the credits starting to roll on the final chorus and Syesha's final (short) solo.

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Innocent reaction, Top 8.
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Innocent was the only performance of the season 7 that put Cook in danger of elimination. It was a cover of a song by his favorite rock group, a Canadian band called Our Lady Peace, and the song was chosen by David as his “inspirational” song for Idol Gives Back week, but for some reason, it fell flat, possibly because it meant so much to him personally that he was unable to be objective about how well this obscure song might go over to an Idol audience. The most memorable moment came when, at the very end of the song, he held out his hand, on which he had written, “Give Back.” But unfortunately, this clever move didn’t save his performance from lukewarm reviews by the judges. Many fans feared David may be eliminated, and since fans of Michael Johns also tended to also be David Cook fans, voters neglected to vote for Michael in order to “save” David from elimination. As a result, Johns received the fewest votes (and was subsequently eliminated) and David wasn’t even in the Bottom Three.

Always Be My Baby, Top 7 performance and reaction, April 15, 2008.
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In midseason, whatever was left of David's emotional wall came crashing down for good, and this was arguably one of his best performances, and some say, his best performance. It was an emotional week for him, as his BFF Michael Johns had been eliminated (and may have been unintentionally sacrificed to save Cook from elimination after his less than stellar performance of Innocent.) In addition, David's very sick older brother Adam (who has brain cancer) was in the audience, and David himself had suffered a health scare a few days earlier when his blood pressure suddenly spiked and he had to be rushed to the hospital. With the final breaking down of David’s wall on this night came a flood of tears, which both made his female fans fall even harder, and at the same time all but shattered David's unfortunate early reputation as "smug and arrogant." What floored me was the way he said "yeah" when Ryan made the observation "You have tears." No shame or self-consciousness about crying onstage, he just totally owned it.
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David's fan-base started growing exponentially, and many of his most rabid and devoted fans could be found among the "cougar" demographic of women between ages 30 and 55, who for some reason were really taken with Cook. Perhaps it was his sensitivity and maturity that did it for them; he somehow seemed far older than just 25—and far older even than he had seemed just a few weeks earlier.
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Midseason comparison of Happy Together and Always Be My Baby.
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Having arrived now at season 7's midpoint, it's interesting to compare how he's changed so far. The outfits are similar, but the transformation is well under way. David looks softer, older, more professional, much more confident, and a lot less smug. These magnificent and drastic changes took place in less than two months.

Music of the Night, Top 6, late April, 2008.
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David proved that he could do far more than just rock--in this straight cover of the Andrew Lloyd Weber song (to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t change up the original arrangement), he proved that could put his entire soul into a performance and use his acting background as well. This performance proved once and for all he was definitely a performer to be reckoned with, and had the potential to become a star. The depth of feeling he put into this performance gave me chills. Not only that, but his look was almost regal, very classy and urbane with his understated and tasteful attire. He suddenly seemed much older.

I'm Alive, Top 5, Neil Diamond week, May 6, 2008.
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David burns with the white hot heat of a thousand blazing suns almost all the time now, but on this night he seemed a little sad and out of sorts. His singing and execution was flawless and lovely, and of course so was he, but he wasn't able to convince me he was feeling very alive that particular night. It’s been speculated this was the week he found out his brother Adam, ill with brain cancer, had suffered a relapse. His brother's illness is the primary heartbreak in his life, and also the impetus for his compassion toward others and charitable works toward those ill with cancer and other serious illnesses. Here, David's eyes looked glassy and red rimmed, as if he might have been crying before going onstage.

Dare You To Move, Top 3, May 13, 2008.
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David's look here is reminiscent of his look in Hello, but he looks so much older and more professional now, less like a college student on open mic night. He also is beginning to take on that inner glow we've become so familiar with, as emotional and spiritual changes were taking place. He was back in his element for this cover of the Switchfoot song and his two other performances that night.
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David attends his Homecoming, Blue Springs/Kansas City, MO, May 9, 2008
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Here David looks much as he does now. This was the day he stepped out of the Idol bubble and was faced for the first time with the reality of how famous he'd become.

When he was confronted with the huge crowd in Kansas City for the first time, waving banners and homemade signs, he spluttered, “What are you guys doing here?” Several times during the events, David was overwhelmed to the point of tears, as he is in this picture taken with his brother Andrew, who appears to be equally soggy.
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David also couldn’t hold back his tears during a radio interview where he talked about all the support he was receiving.
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David got to live every little (and big) boy's dream come true--not only was he getting plenty of attention from the press and an outpouring of love from his many hometown fans, he got to appear on the local weather forecast (and give the local weather report), visit his old school and reunite with his 5th grade music teacher, who he credits for providing the spark that turned him toward music. Finally, for David, a huge baseball fan, the opportunity to toss the first pitch for the Kansas City Royals baseball team--and get his own Royals uniform must have been pretty heady.
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Happily, during those three days David was able to relax at home and reunite with his family, whom he hadn't seen in months. This must have been a great comfort to him, and he came back to Idol re-energized and ready to tackle the final stretch of the competition.
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David makes the Finale, May 14, 2008.
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With a sea change of emotional changes taking place, David seems to be tearing up a lot, and he is in this picture taken right after the announcement that he made the Top 2. He must have been under enormous stress, but his happiness is evident. He’s confident (without a shred of his earlier perceived “arrogance”), and radiant, but nowhere near as much he would be in another month or two.

The really interesting thing is that even with all the stress he's under, he still remembers to think of his fellow idols. It was Cook who initiated the hand-holding with Archie and Syesha in the moment before Ryan made the announcement. He always seemed to me to be the idol who brought everyone else together as friends, and indeed this group of kids seemed especially close. There was none of the backstabbing and b****iness going on you'd normally see among people of this age group, especially those all vying for a title that could only be awarded to one person.

For someone so young, David is also remarkable in his compassion for those sick with cancer, and here you can see the orange bracelet he wears for one of his biggest fans, a little 7 year old girl named Lindsey Rose, who suffers from leukemia.

David initiates the handholding with Archie and Syesha just before Ryan announces the two finalists.
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The World I Know, finale performance, May 20, 2008.
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Something life-changing happened during this last competitive performance of the season (I'll never be sure exactly what), as David prepared to "step to the edge" of fame, leaving behind everything he knew before, and knowing his life would never be the same again (even if he hadn't won the next night). Whatever was happening to him emotionally caused him to break down like this. His performance and reaction temporarily unglued me.
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The tears behind his voice, the way he hit several falsettos, the delicate control of his vocals, overlaying such deep and intense emotion that he couldn't hide--all this made my heart feel like it would burst, but when he dissolved into tears before the judges even made any comments, I was utterly slayed. Verklempt. The only other piece of music I can recall having the same effect on me was listening to Barber's Adagio With Strings at 3 o'clock one morning when I was suffering mild postpartum depression. (Six months later, David would do it again with his gut-wrenching performance of Permanent, an exquisite piano ballad he wrote for his brother Adam.)
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And the winner of American Idol 2008 is David...
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…COOK!

After three and a half nail-biting, crazy-making, exhilarating, surreal months, David's won the title of American Idol and is ready to become the major star he is now quickly becoming. He described this moment and his emotional reaction as the exhale, the letting-go of all the stress he'd been under since the day he auditioned in Omaha, and he's the happiest here I'd ever seen him (but not as happy as he'd be later).
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Already a mess because of his heartbreaking performance of TWIK the night before, and sleep deprived due to staying up all night voting and then obsessively checking DialIdol and Zabasearch (I remember DI's map turning almost completely red and thought that was the second most beautiful thing I ever saw), I could not stop crying when he was announced the winner. I had so much invested in this moment, from the time I first saw his audition way back in January. I'd never wanted anyone I didn't know to win anything more than I wanted David Cook to win this cheesy show, and he did it. A rocker won Idol, baby! Cook overcame all the obstacles, all the naysayers, all the negativity, all the legions of squeeing teenage Archubots, and had actually won this thing. I remember screaming so loud the neighbors were probably ready to call the cops, then leaping around the room like a crazy person, laughing and crying at the same time, punching my fists in the air shouting "YES! YES!" and not giving a whit that both my kids thought I'd gone bonkers. When Cook cried, I bawled. When he sang his coronation song, the tears still shimmered proudly on his face, and the way he drew Archie and the other idols into his winning moment--and the way they seemed to bask in his presence--was heart-wrenchingly beautiful. I pinched myself but this was no dream. I trembled and shook for two hours. I walked around in euphoric disbelief for a month. I felt like I'd won the lottery.

I also think Simon was critical of TWIK on the previous night because he was afraid Archie was going to win, and had come to regard Cook as his favorite (he even admitted he wanted him to win on Larry King Live. While I agree his comments were hurtful to David (especially being as sensitive as he is), I think Simon was scared for him that night because of Archie's flawless performances, and was trying to spur more people to vote for Cook. I don't know if that explains the little wink he gave David at the end of his critique, but it does explain the look of sheer ecstasy on Simon's face the next night after Cook's win--and also his apology for having been "disrespectful." I have never seen Simon look so happy, and in a later interview he even admitted that he "became emotional" after Cook won. SIMON emotional? I thought I'd see pigs fly first. How odd that in the beginning Simon hadn't even wanted him in the Top 24, and now he wanted him to win.

In these photos, David includes Archie in his winning moment; David gives Paula one of his bear hugs after the cameras go off; David’s bodyguards are a wee bit concerned about their charge’s overflowing emotions.
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...now take a moment to breathe...this was only the beginning...

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David on The View, June 2008.

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David on Larry King Live, June 2008.
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Post-win, David looks a little tired and worn out. He's been on an endless circuit of talk shows and performances, and is settling into newfound fame. It's a little hard on him, and he looks pale and tired as hell, but is still beautiful, polite, soft-spoken and very professional in front of the cameras.

Glendale, AZ AI Tour performance, July 1, 2008.
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On the first stop of the tour, David is ecstatically happy, and can now perform without having to worry about being judged. He's also happy to be back with his Idol "family." He has taken on his healthy, radiant glow that has become his trademark. Somehow, in a way I can't explain, he seems so much more than he had been while on the show. Whatever had happened to his psyche during and after The World I Know came to fruition after he won, and its effects were beginning to show. In this photo, he looks almost like he's in a trance, and I do think he gets so into his music he really does go into a kind of trance--but never loses that important emotional connection with the audience.

David's smile in his photos during the tour is so genuine and natural, and his eyes sparkle with so much gratitude to the millions of fans who put him in the exalted place he now dwells in, that you'd never guess he probably wasn't feeling rested at all, having to share quarters with five other guys on a cramped, smelly tour bus and perform to an audience of thousands almost every night. In all my life, I have never seen anyone so effusively grateful to his fans. Throughout the tour, he would stand on stage, arms and hands open, body relaxed, and just soak in the applause and love from the audience, usually smiling broadly like he is here, sometimes laughing and joking, still other times overwhelmed to the point of tears when his heart became too full, but always projecting the love back to the fans, who would in turn project it back to him, in a sort of endless, oscillating metaphysical perpetual motion machine.

David at Blue Springs Mural Unveiling, August 2008.
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This is one of the most beautiful photos I've seen of David. He was extremely emotional as he realized just how much love was pouring out to him from his hometown, and is overwhelmed by it, and by the mural created for him from that love. David was in tears during much of that event (what a surprise!) but I'm in awe (and a little envious) of this man who is completely unafraid to show his vulnerable side.

The second photo is from the same event. David is overwhelmed and in tears.

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Fan Photo (taken by Davida), Dallas, TX, August 2008.
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David looks totally into whatever the person he's conversing with here is saying. He really seems to listen, and care about his fans more than any other celebrity I've ever seen. He's so humble and grateful to the fans who put him in the exalted place where he now dwells. Looking at this picture, I can feel his soul. I can almost smell his breath, and it smells like toothpaste!

Fan photos. Soaking in the love in Newark, NJ and elsewhere.
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One lucky fan receives one of David’s bear hugs.

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Manipulation I made of a fan photo of David in Tulsa, OK, September 1, 2008
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This certainly wasn’t the first time David broke down weeping during a tour show, but the picture is especially poignant not only because it was taken of him at the last show of the Idols tour, but also because of the way he's posed. My first thought was he looks like a sculpture or subject of a classic painting. His arms—oh, those perfect arms--are so beautiful and gracefully arced over his head and face, like a dancer's. My second thought was that perhaps David, being such an emotional person and having found himself unable to hold back his tears of joy and gratitude onstage, has actually made this part of his performance. This is not acting, though. Everything he shows is what he really feels.
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How rock star is that to be able to be that open and vulnerable, and take something so deep and close to the heart and turn it into theater, into art? At the same time it's not manipulative in the slightest, he's just sharing himself with us--all of himself. He also banters, laughs and jokes with his fans too (without ever being mean spirited or crude about it), and it seems so natural you'd think he was born doing it. He makes you feel like you're his friend, and you temporarily forget that you're just one of tens of millions of friends. For that moment, you are the only one.

David may be a self-admitted cryer, but that’s not all he does! He’s also silly, goofy and has a great sense of humor about himself, even making jokes about the fact he’s a cryer. David actually laughs far more than he cries (and sometimes does both at the same time), and both laughter and tears bubble out of him as spontaneously as summer rain. He holds back nothing! This is the infamous Sharpie Moment:

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I have no words for this picture. He actually seems to glow from inside. Is this impossibly good looking and joyous man really the Tulsa bartender with the goofy faux hawk who showed up in Omaha in the summer of 2007? Just for fun, go back and look at his "Happy Together" photo. These pictures were taken only six months apart. Good grief, how is that possible?

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But Cookie ain’t done with us yet.

Audition backdrop for 2009 auditions. Now he's on it instead of in front of it. He’s really come full circle.
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I don't think David could have transformed from an (not so) ugly duckling into a swan with such lightning speed were it not for the fact that he's totally unguarded and allows himself to be vulnerable in front of total strangers. As he says himself, he "wears his heart on his sleeve." He lives by that slogan. He feels the love of his fans and soaks that in without allowing it to turn him superior or arrogant. Instead he is molded and shaped by it, and radiates that love back to his fans, to his family, his friends, to everyone he meets. Is this weakness? Hell no! Only the most courageous of people can do it. It's the best kind of strength.

“It’s therapy for me to wear my heart on my sleeve.”
--David Cook

…and David’s magnificent transformation has continued since the tour. So much has happened since then, particularly during November and December, that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with everything. David’s fame has exploded, and now he has fans who never saw him on American Idol, and possibly even some who never even knew he was a contestant on that show. Everything I dreamed of for him back when I saw his audition (I knew from the beginning he would win) has happened—and I do believe that when enough people (including David himself) want something badly enough, and believe in it enough, the universe sets events into motion that make that thing come true. (Not that David’s incredible talent and versatility didn’t have something to do with it). We loved him and believed in him and those things—along with David’s talent--turned him into the major star that the producers of American Idol thought he would never be. How wrong they were. He’s had more success faster than even Kelly Clarkson—the most successful Idol winner to date—did at first.
Because David is now so famous, and so much is happening all the time, I can only show you a tiny selection of pictures of him since the tour. I’ve tried to include those that illustrate how much more beautiful he is still becoming. He’s a work of art in progress. Most of it comes from within him, because he overflows with an abundance of love and joy that transforms him from the inside out.

Two pictures from Entertainment Tonight photo shoot, October 2008. He glows, but it's more than makeup and lighting.
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So just for fun, let’s take a short trip in the wayback machine. Contrast the two pictures I just showed you with the two below. If David hadn’t won American Idol, he could have always gotten a job with UPS! (I hear it pays better than bartending.)
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David at Colton’s elimination, February 2008. No sparkle in the eyes, pasty skin tone, no glow, flat, greasy hair. He looks like the guy who works behind the shoe rental booth at the bowling alley. Yawn.
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Is this really the same guy? I mean, really?
Okay, then. Back to the future…

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Let’s continue our journey here.

Photo of David in the studio recording his album, Rolling Stone article.

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David being interviewed on MTV, during recording of hit song Light On.
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His expression in this photo is adorable. How can a 25 year old man be a sex god and have the innocent charm of an eight year old boy at the same time? I don’t know…but David Cook manages to do it and make it seem convincing. It might explain why so many women feel both sexually attracted to him and protective of him at the same time. The combination of sexiness and innocence is both irresistible and utterly explosive.

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David Cook at the David Wright gala in New York City, November 2008.

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Publicity photos, Fall 2008.
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The Album Cover, David Cook. Released November 18, 2008.

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David performing Happy Christmas at Rockefeller Center, New York, December 2008. You couldn’t really tell he had a cold, but he does look a little cold!
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David at the Columbus, Ohio Jingle Ball, December 17, 2008.
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This was David's first public performance of Permanent, the gut-wrenching and overwhelmingly emotional ballad he wrote about his brother Adam--a song that launched a thousand ships due to all the tears shed (including his own). David, always full of surprises, changed the arrangement a little, and when he was getting dangerously close to tears during the performance, the band (composed of former members of the Tulsa band the Midwest Kings, who David had played with prior to Idol) picked up on David’s fragile emotional condition, came in and rocked out at just the right moment, giving David a chance to take a swig of water, a few deep breaths, and pull himself back together before launching into the final chorus and glory notes. The performance out-TWIK’d TWIK in its raw, powerful, unbridled emotion, and left millions of fans speechless, teary-eyed, and emotionally drained.

In these pictures you can clearly see the tension in David’s arms and upper body in his struggle to contain the strong emotions he was feeling during this performance. His eyes were glassy with tears during the entire performance, but he somehow managed to keep them from spilling.

Photo manipulation I made of David performing Permanent in Columbus, Ohio.
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There is one last picture before this journey comes to an end (but only for now).
This picture is so searingly beautiful it seems like a culmination of everything David Cook has become this year.
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David Cook’s journey has already become Idol legend. To me, he has proven that the impossible is really possible, that dreams can come true, that there are still truly good people in the world. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to see David’s journey from its humble beginning. I am in awe of this man. He's my idol, my inspiration, my hero. I’m a fan for life.

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It's all happening now…

Way back in January--about a million years ago--I spied a cute guy in a faux hawk and Blake Lewis sweater vest singing on my TV.

I said "He's the one to watch, he's the next winner."

That intuition didn't keep me from voting 'til my fingers bled and puking every Tuesday afternoon.

They said he could never win.

I have always doubted my own intuition.

And then this goofy emogeek from Tulsa won American Idol.

And kept growing more beautiful.

And more beautiful.

Inside and out.

And now he's a star

The "bright, shining star" Paula predicted.

He has two singles out (both very popular), an album in a few weeks that's going to go platinum and possibly win a Grammy, and every dream I ever had for him way back, way back early this year, is coming true.

This is what I visualized, and now it's all happening.

Don't pinch me 'cause I don't want to wake up from this beautiful dream.

To be continued…