After the American Idol performance finale Tuesday night, EW.com got a chance to speak briefly with David Cook and David Archuleta about song choice, being in it to win it, and what each thought of his competitor's performances. First up, like on the show, David Cook.
EW.COM: How did you go about choosing your second and third songs?
DAVID COOK: With the songwriters' competition [song], I listened to the first 30 seconds of each song, and ''Dream Big'' was the one that grabbed me the quickest, so I figured if that's the case, I should probably follow my instinct and just do something with it. And I was actually happy with the way it turned out. My third song [Collective Soul's ''The World I Know''] — I've wanted to do that song all season, and I just never really got comfortable with the arrangement until a few weeks ago. And I almost did it last week. You know, it was a song that means a lot to me. It's just an amazing song, so to be able to do it on the show, win, lose, or draw, it was more fun than I could possibly put into words.
When you started the show, was winning the number one thought in your mind?
[Laughs] No. When I got on the show, I figured [I'd last] a week or two, just because I saw what everybody was coming with. There's just a ton of talent this season. So I consider it an amazing honor, and I feel like I'm here on everybody's else's behalf.
And what about tonight? Did you think you were going to win tonight?
Well, I think you go into tonight kinda seeing the forest for the trees, but winning's never been what's driven me about this competition. For me it's just been getting to do something I love for a large audience, which is a trip.
How do you think Archuleta did tonight?
Oh, the kid did amazing. He's such an immense talent, so to be able to share the stage with him tonight was a huge thrill for me.
NEXT PAGE: Archuleta sizes up Cook's performance, and explains why he did ''Imagine'' again
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