David Cook On His ‘Idol’ Win: ‘I Had It In My Mind I Was Taking Second’

On Wednesday night, David Cook, a bartender from Kansas, was crowned the “American Idol,” but the night before, Simon Cowell had David Archuleta pegged for the crown. And apparently, it wasn’t just Cowell who thought “Archie” would take home the prize – Cook told Access Hollywood late last night, he thought he’d be runner-up as well.

“I thought that Archie did amazing last night,” Cook told Access following his win. “I had my mind made up that I was taking second. I had it in my head. ‘Alright, they’re going to say his name, I’m just going to make sure that I congratulate him properly.’”

Cook said he didn’t even realize he was the winner until after he began to congratulate his 17-year-old competitor.

“When they said my name, I heard Archuleta, so I turned, then it processed as I was turning,” Cook revealed.

One reason Cook thought Archuleta was going to take home the top prize was due to the teenager’s solid performances all season long.

“I honestly thought that he had been more consistent,” Cook said. “For a 17-year-old kid, never mind, for a performer he’s amazing. And it was an honor just to share the stage with him. I kept catching myself almost crying tonight through out the whole process ‘cause it was just like, ‘What am I doing here?’ But you know, it was a trip, it was heavy.”

As an audience of millions saw, Archuleta kept his composure as he heard Cook’s named called. But perhaps one reason he remained so cool as the moment sunk in, was because of the words the elder man shared with him.

“I just told him that I loved him,” Cook shared. “I’ve definitely got big brother syndrome with him. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of what he was able to do — from start to finish. He was the front runner from the get go. So to be able to carry that torch all the way through, my hats off to him. I couldn’t have done it.”

As for Cook’s “Idol” moment, the spiky-haired rocker said he was thrilled to be able to share it with his family including his mother and the brother, whose fault it was he auditioned. As previously revealed on the show, David Cook only auditioned when producers came up to him with a camera as he sat in the audition area to support his brother, Andrew.

“You know, this is the last thing I could have anticipated when I was pushed into auditioning by brother Andrew, and so to be here now it’s such a trip,” he said.

Cook will have to put off celebrating his win for a little while though. He said he has a number of engagements following picking up his new title: the “American Idol.”

“I haven’t celebrated in four months,” Cook laughed. “I’m gonna do all this fantastic press, and then I’m going to go hang out with my friends and family, and hopefully let it sink in.”