Ol' Blue Idol

On his way to winning American Idol, David Cook got first-hand advice from stars including Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

But today the new champ said that it was a tip he picked up from the late, legendary crooner Frank Sinatra that was the key to his victory.

Throughout the season, David was praised for getting so much emotion into his performances, and today he revealed that he picked up the secret of connecting with a song from Ol' Blue Eyes.

"There was a short article that Debbie, our stage manager, hung up in the Red Room about midway through the season about Frank Sinatra and how he would go about the song process -- how how would go about recording a song," said David, 25, from Blue Springs, Mo..

"Before he would listen to the music, he would read the lyrics and try to tune into what the lyrics were saying; what the song was about. Then he would go into the music aspect of it and figure out the melodies and all that."

Cook, who beat David Archuleta to the title on Wednesday, came to be known for his knack of finding new qualities in his songs by changing their tempos and even re-working them into a different genre.

"So for me that was a really eye-opening article, because it made me think, 'ok, I just need to step back and before I even try to learn the song I need to read the lyrics and that really helped as far as trying to find the vibe.

"You know, with the Mariah Carey song, I loved it, but the lyrics had a little bit of longing in them, but it was packaged in kind of an upbeat pop song.

"So for me that was a very natural transition: just to slow it down a little bit and really try to get the music to fit more to the vibe of the lyrics.

"That was probably the biggest lesson I learned throughout the show."

Cook, who will be on the American Idol summer tour from July 1, said he is looking forward to co-writing a rock album and releasing it as soon as possible.

"I want to make a record makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I want to make a record that will stand up on its own long after I am gone," he said.