Lee DeWyze's reign as "American Idol" champ may have gotten off to a less-than-stellar start with the #12 debut of his coronation single on Billboard's Digital Songs chart. [article id="1640537"]DeWyze's "Beautiful Day"[/article] sold around 100,000 copies, nearly 25 percent less than last year's champ, Kris Allen, did with his post-"Idol" single, "No Boundaries."

But DeWyze isn't ready to turn in his crown just yet -- far from it, in fact.

"You can't complain about that, regardless of what it is," DeWyze told MTV News. "But this is the first season that we did a cover song for the finale, and that's obviously different from past seasons, whatever part that has to do with it. ... There [were] things presented, and, you know, that was the right song for the moment, I felt. And I'm glad I did it."

While DeWyze's version of the U2 tune hasn't exactly lit the charts on fire, a #12 debut is nothing to sneeze at. And according to Nielsen SoundScan, four of his other "Idol" covers -- "Hallelujah," "The Boxer," "Everybody Hurts" and "Simple Man" -- charted in the top 200. His duet with runner-up Crystal Bowersox on "Falling Slowly" also made the charts.

So it's a solid, if slightly underwhelming, beginning for the new champ, one that he hopes to build on with the release of his [article id="1640630"]post-"Idol" album[/article], which is already shaping up to be a far different affair than anything his fans got to hear on the show. Because, honestly, DeWyze is getting a little tired of playing covers ... he's ready to make his own music.

"I'm definitely going to have things on the album that you probably haven't heard from me on the show," he said. "It's my time to be who I am now, and express that through an album. And it's going to be awesome, it's going to be fun and I'm really looking forward to it. This is what I've always wanted to do."

Are you excited for Lee's debut album? Tell us in the comments!

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' [article id="1486475"]"American Idol" page[/article], where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.