Sure he's got the great voice, the musical smarts and daring, the cute grin, the word-nerd appeal to fellow crossword-puzzle freaks.

But David Cook had a stealth weapon, as he rose above the pack to be a co-finalist for this year's "American Idol" crown.No, it's not that strange scarf Cook often wears trailing from his back pocket like a talisman.

His special mojo: theater training.

The 25-year-old Cook may be known as a hard rocker. But he took enough acting classes, and co-starred in enough student shows, to also qualify as a true Theater Geek.

His teachers from Blues Springs, Mo., have spilled the beans on how much the adolescent David loved to belt out those Broadway show tunes.

Click READ MORE for the full story

Hey guys! Remember, tickets for the Idol Tour goes on sale today, so be sure to get your tickets!

Added some HQ behind the scene stills to the gallery.


BEHIND THE SCENES OF IDOL

Also added 3 new photos of David with fans after idol.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF IDOL

We have a new layout! Yeah, I know, it's soon but I couldn't help myself. Let us know what you think! And finally, some new gallery additions! I know, it took me a little longer to get these than I thought, but here they are!

24 HQ images of last night's elimination.
29 HQ images of David out shopping for idol.
1 Scan from TVGuide. (thanks to valerie!)
1 Scan from Ok! magazine. (thanks to valerie!)


TOP 3 TO TOP 2

SHOPPING CANDIDS

SCANS!

LOS ANGELES — When Ryan Seacrest announced the names of American Idol's two finalists Wednesday, each thought he was going to hear another's name.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought he was going to say David Cook," says David Archuleta, 17, named the first finalist as Cook and Syesha Mercado awaited their verdict.

SURVEY: Which David should win?
BLOG: All things 'Idol'

During an interview shortly after the show, Archuleta said: "I just feel like shock. Am I really in the top two of American Idol?"

Cook, 25, says he thought he would be going home. "I thought my ticket was punched. I honestly did," he says. "Syesha is an amazing performer, and she really hit her stride in the last two, three, four weeks."


Click READ MORE for the full story

David Cook only decided to audition alongside his younger brother at the last minute, but now the 25-year-old is among the last four singers in the season seven competition. Having sung everything from Michael Jackson’s ‘‘Billie Jean’’ to Free’s ‘‘All Right Now,’’ the Missouri native sat down for an exclusive interview, revealing how he chooses his songs, how former contestant Michael Johns’ departure was a wake up call, and how ‘‘Idol’’ fans’ interest in him has been ‘‘awe inspiring’’ and how the whole experience has been ‘‘vindicating.’’

Click READ MORE to read the Q&A.

Hey guys, I uploaded 9 quality stills of David outside after last night's performance (5/13).


WITH FANS HERE

Also, I want to thank Valerie and Amy for making GENEROUS contributions to the site and anyone and everyone who has emailed me or sent me tips on where to find all of this great David material! I really appreciate the support. If you wish to send anything in, my email is thecasualty@gmail.com. I have been getting a lot of mail lately and I'm trying to reply to it all without forgetting, but if you don't hear back from me on something, feel free to shoot me another message to my email or even send me a private message on the forum.

DAVID COOK IS IN THE FINALS.
(i even wrote a song about it.)

NEWS: Dial Idol Predictions are in! Also, David recorded "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" as this weeks single. You can download it from ITunes tomorrow, I believe! Awesome Word Nerds send a massive amount of flowers to David!

AI.com posted the new ford music video and here it is for download.
HEAVEN MUSIC VIDEO

As you can see, I'm going crazy adding stuff. Anyway, added 5 new HQ bts pictures HERE!


Added the HQ stills from last night!

HERE in the gallery.
AmericanIdol.com updated their homecoming album with the top 3's visit to their hometown. Tons of David pictures added.

HOMECOMING HERE & ROYALS GAME
HQs of the TOP 5 at a Dodgers game put up.

DODGERS GALLERY HERE
For now, thanks to Jess! I added screencaps of the Top 7 performance night and will be updating various screencaps from different nights for awhile. I also finally added HQs of the top 16 performance.
TOP 7 PERFORMANCE NIGHT CAPS, TOP 16 HQS, TOP 7 FORD COMMERCIAL, ELIMINATION 7 TO 6 & TOP 6 PERFORM
SITE
Thanks everyone soooo much! The site has already had 1090108 hits and 3667 unique visitors. That's awesome, thanks so much guys!

Hey guys, sorry I didn't update yesterday! Work and I'm still spending free time trying to cap / clip all of the American Idol episodes. If anyone is willing to help out in that area, please let me know! For now, I've put up some HQ images to replace the MQ ones from David's hometown visit this weekend in Kanas City. I'm still trying to get my hands on ALL of them, but for now, here's 10!

And thanks to a tip from Jess in the David-Fan.net Forums I've added some more HQ images of David behind the scenes of American Idol.


KANSAS CITY PERFORMANCE HQS & BEHIND THE SCENES HQS

Thanks to a tip from Jen! Here are some more images from behind the scenes of one of the ford car commercials!

FORD COMMERCIAL GALLERY

Also, some new HQs of David with 2 of this season's mentors, Dolly Parton and Mariah Carey.

WITH MENTORS

GALLERY
I put some pictures in the gallery of David throwing out the first pitch yesterday. MQ, but they were all I could find so far. I'm looking for any HQ pics of the event, so hopefully I'll get those. I appreciate everyone's emails, but please do not emal me demanding I post HQ pics. I will post everything I find and share everything I can. I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO EVERY HQ site out there, but I'm trying to get my hands on what I can. I've shelled out money, I've traded and I've asked various people for the favors, so please be patient. Either way, these pictures rock, check them out. EDIT Four HQs added :)


HERE in the gallery.

I added 5 new HQs from his performance yesterday.

HERE in the gallery.

Posted by Laura with 2 Comments