Jeremy Bradley- David Hernandez. Season 7 joining us now. Hey, David.

David Hernandez- How you doing?

JB- Good. How are you?

DH- Fantastic. I got my Starbucks.

JB- You just got your Starbucks and you also just got your car hit.

DH- I did. I got my car hit by an elderly lady. I don't think she was paying attention. I don't even know if she could see, to be honest, but she was driving, and she opened her door into mine. I'm annoyed about that, but I have Starbucks, so that makes me a little bit happy.

JB- So you are a coffee person?

DH- I'm a huge coffee person if it's Starbucks. I don't really like black coffee. I'll handle it with some creamer in it; that's all I have to drink. But I'm a huge fan of caramel macchiattos and those mixed coffee drinks.

JB- Do you believe that I've never had a sip of coffee in my life?

DH- Yeah, I don't believe that.

JB- Isn't that crazy? Seriously.

DH- You haven't lived, if you haven't had Starbucks.

JB- I mean, I enjoy the vodka.

DH- Vodka's good, too. Kahlua and coffee's also great.

JB- What were you drinking yesterday at karaoke?

DH- Oh.. (laughing) I don't remember. (laughing)

JB- That's a good thing.

DH- I was drinking water with lemon.

JB- Oh? I get messed up on that, too. Mineral water.

DH- I'm high on life.

JB- You know, Kool-Aid does the same thing to me. Two glasses of cherry Kool-Aid. I'm done.

DH- (laughing) That's fantastic.

JB- So I understand that you just finished up some shows with other Idols we've spoken with. Vonzell, Constantine. Tell me about that. How did you get involved with that? What were you doing? What's going on?

DH- Well, I got the offer to perform from Michael Orland who asked me to do an intimate show, because Constantine and Vonzell were already there, and he wanted to bring me in, because he thought I'd be a good addition. So I came in, we rehearsed for a day, then we started the show. It was cool. I opened the show and I got to sing one of my original songs, and then change up some other cover songs that I had done on the show. That was pretty cool, and Constantine and Vonzell were very welcoming and supportive, and we did some duets. The house was pretty much packed every night.

JB- It's pretty much safe to say that American Idol has had an impact on your music career, or else you probably wouldn't be getting these music opportunities with fellow former Idols, and just as it has for Vonzell and Constantine. So let's talk about the Idol experience, though. First, why did you audition for the show?

DH- I auditioned for the show because I knew that it was a great stepping stone for my career. I felt like - I'm giving the politically correct answer here- I felt like.. .

JB- No, we don't do that here.

DH- (laughing) I'd never watched show before I auditioned. I had been signed to a record label for two years. I had a complete album done, and then I was dropped because of finances with the label, etc. When the auditions came around I was, like, "I think this would be a great opportunity to be seen by the world." It throws you in front of, like, 35 million people weekly, so I did that. Then my mom and people were encouraging me to do it, so I just did it, and thank God I got as far as I did. Because you're right, I wouldn't be able to do these shows in different cities and I wouldn't be able to sign on to the 15-city tour that I'm doing in November or go to Europe in a week. I mean, it's just like, it's fantastic. My life has changed so much and I'm so grateful for it, because I don't have to work in a pizza bistro anymore or a regular nine-to-five job.

JB- Or a Starbucks.

DH- Or a Starbucks. Yeah, not that any of those jobs are bad, but I like writing my own music. I'm a singer. I'd rather be doing what I love.

JB- I didn't realize you were Taylor Hicksed by a label.

DH- (laughing) Well, it wasn't actually the Taylor Hicks situation. I mean, I don't know exactly what his situation was, but to be honest it was an independent label, and the label did not have a whole lot of money. So when we got distribution from Universal, we were ready to roll, and then all of a sudden Universal stopped supporting the label, and, in turn, every project underneath the label was nixed.

JB- So not Hicksed.

JB- What were you expecting to happen on the show? Were you expecting to have the success that Taylor Hicks has, or were you…

DH- I was expecting to win. I went into it with the idea I could win, or else I would never have done it.

JB- So what was going through your mind, though, when you were waiting in line to audition? Did you know what song you were going to sing for the judges, for instance.

DH- Yeah, I did. Actually, the song they aired wasn't even the song. The song that they aired was the third song that I sang for them, because the first two songs didn't get cleared. I sang "A Change is Gonna Come," and "I Believe I Can Fly", and then I did "Ain't too Proud to Beg."

JB- So what did they say after your first two?

DH- They loved it, but they just couldn't clear the songs.

JB- Did they say the same thing after every song?

DH- Yeah, they were, like, "Yeah, we really liked that. You have a great voice." Then they just kept having me sing. They had me sing three songs, so I'm assuming that's why. I mean, I found out that they couldn't get the first two songs cleared, but anyway. Yeah, they couldn't get enough of me. I was in!