David Cook, absent from American Idol final, congratulates Lee DeWyze

David Cook was the only American Idol winner not to take the stage and perform at tonight’s finale, and it turns out it was because he had a previous commitment to a charity concert event elsewhere, but he did take the time to congratulate winner Lee DeWyze via his official Twitter account. As he put it, “Congrats to Lee Dewyze! So sorry I could be there to see all my fellow idols. I’m there in spirit!” He then went on to explain that he actually meant “couldn’t” instead of “could” and blamed his iPhone’s predictive spelling for the typo. In any case, David Cook was missing from a performing group of seven with included former winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, and last year’s winner Kris Allen. Allen and Underwood also each performed their current singles.

So where exactly was David Cook tonight? Here’s the scoop.