The "American Idol" winner should be a champion for the people--and David Cook [ tickets ] is exactly that. The afternoon before the tour's opening night in Glendale, AZ, Cook walked through the media area acknowledging each reporter. Later that evening, fans sitting side stage got a special treat when Cook stood in the wings watching fellow contestant Brooke White and encouraging ticket holders to cheer her on.

"The goal is just to try to create some energy," said Cook, who tried out for the reality-television talent competition on a whim when he accompanied his brother Andrew to auditions. "I think, watching everybody else's set, I've definitely got my work cut out for me. Everybody's bringing it. It's cool. If I can keep up with everybody else, I'll be just fine."

Cook, who began his five-song set with a rock cover of Lionel Richie's "Hello," spoke with LiveDaily about his forthcoming album, his love of Our Lady Peace and how it felt to win the competition.

I understand you're working on a new album and you had the chance to work with Collective Soul's Ed Roland. How was it?

Aww, man, I am a big fan. Obviously, I did "The World I Know" on the show. He always seems to write just really solid, hooky music. I got more nervous about meeting guys like him than I did anybody else through the show and stuff. The bands I get into, you always worry about, "Are they going to be nice?" Ed was so cool. We're talking about going golfing when we swing through Atlanta on the tour. He's a stand-up guy. I was really, really happy with the way everything turned out. Yeah, cool guy.

Who else have you worked with on the album?

I've written with a few people. I got a chance to write with Raine Maida [lead singer] of Our Lady Peace. That was just crazy. He was so nice. I got to write with Zac Maloy of The Nixons, which was cool. Let's see, who else? I got to write with Jason Wade of Lifehouse. I guess I’m lucky. Everyone I've written with has been so nice and really cool. It's been very fruitful. I'm really excited about where the record's headed.

You did Our Lady Peace's "Innocent" on the show. How did you discover the band? They're biggest in border towns and you're from Missouri.

There was a dude that I went to high school with. He was a year or two older than me. At that point, I was really trying to get into some new music. He said, "Well here. Listen to this record." It was Our Lady Peace's "Clumsy." "You can borrow this, da da da." It took me six months to get it back to him. I just loved the record. Then, once college hit and "Gravity" came out, I re-immersed myself in it. I went back and started listening to "Spiritual Machines" and "Happiness ... is Not a Fish That You Can Catch." The ambient stuff on those records is so solid. You just get lost in it. You see the charitable stuff that Raine does and that solidified it for me. I remember watching very recently his video treatment for "Yellow Brick Road," that song he did on his solo record. It was amazing. He goes out and plays acoustic on the streets all day to try to raise $30,000 to build a school in Africa. It's easy for somebody of his stature to kind of rest on his laurels a little bit. The fact that he is so active--I respect him more than I could ever put into words.

For the tour, are you able to choose which songs you sing?

Yeah, yeah. Mainly I'm doing stuff from the show. I'm going to be doing the single, "Time of My Life." And then I have one song that I didn't do on the show, that I'm very, very excited about. It's high energy. I'm hoping to get the crowd into it a little bit and it means something to me.

Do you think you had an advantage over past contestants because you were allowed to play instruments?

I think it helped, yeah, for me personally. I knew going in I wasn't going to be the strongest singer this season. But I knew I could hold my own in my genre. But the instrumentation helped a lot I think. I don't want to say it was a golden goose for me or anything. At the end of the day, I think it was the perfect storm, just a lot of things falling into place for me.

You looked so shocked when you won "American Idol."

I am. I'm still shocked. It's like, "What?" The best way I can explain that moment was it was just an out-of-body experience. I felt like I was watching it. I try to think about it sometimes. I still haven't really processed it. It still seems so foreign to me. I don't feel like I changed. It's like when you have a birthday. Somebody says, "Do you feel older?" It's like, "No." I don't feel like anything's changed just yet.

Wait until 20,000 people start screaming for you tonight. I thought that was really touching when you brought your brother on stage when you won.

He's the reason I'm here. I feel like I'm here on his ticket. Any opportunity that I accrue to showcase the people who put me where I'm at, I'm all for it. So the fact that I was able to do that, that meant a lot to me.

Did it mean a lot to him?

I think so. When I made it through the first round, we were interviewed by a local news affiliate. They asked my brother how he was feeling. He said, "It's great. I don't have to do any of the work. I can just enjoy the fruits of his labor." I tried to help out where I could. I got the chance to have him come out for his 21st birthday, which was a few weeks ago. Spend a little money on him. Pamper him. It was nice to be able to say I'm in that position in my life where I can do something like that.

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