And the next ” American Idol” is David. But David who? Not everyone agrees on which David will win Wednesday night.
The winner: David Archuleta. There’s no question David Cook is a far more original and versatile performer than his young opponent, but as Randy has told “Archie” so often, “Dude, you can sing the phone book.” Add to that Archie’s devoted legion of prepubescent and postmenopausal fans. And then there’s this year’s coronation song, which is bound to be more syrupy than a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s. No one serves up syrup sweeter than Archuleta. We can already imagine his dad saying, “Pour it on.” - Daniel Bubbeo
The winner: David Cook. “Idol” missed its shot with Chris Daughtry two years ago. Sure, 19 Entertainment still makes money off him, but it would have been so much sweeter if the “American Idol,” not the fourth-place finisher, had been the biggest-selling artist in 2007. Cook’s potential CD sales could even overtake Daughtry’s. He’s über-talented and can sing “Phantom of the Opera” with as much ease as Phantom Planet. The stylists have exposed his raw sexuality and - surprise! - he’s also a nice guy. The perfect “Idol” package. Make no mistake, it’ll be Cook singing the assuredly icky “coronation” song Wednesday night. - Ronnie Gill
David Archuleta is a nice, seventeen year old kid with an overbearing father. He has a good singing voice with which, it could be argued, he adds too many runs and vocal gymnastics then need be. He is innocent, naïve, modest to a fault and, as a result of these things, lacks a distinct personality. He is a blank slate, which may actually be a reason for his season long success on American Idol. With no clearly defined persona, David Archuleta can be anything for anyone who watches American Idol. Perhaps you, teenage girls, see him as the perfect boy – talented, cute and pliable. Perhaps you, grandmothers, see him as the boy you wish your grandkids were. Perhaps you, 30 year old hipster, see him as a talented and un-ironic foil to your typical likes. David Archuleta, blessed with a distinctive voice and cursed/blessed with a father who systematically constructed him a path to stardom, is one night of voting away from winning American Idol. These are the reasons why he will emerge triumphant on Wednesday night:
Inevitability
You don’t always need reasoned, logical explanations for things: it just seems right that David Archuleta will win American Idol. It may not be just in your mind, but the sweet air of inevitability is clearly in Archuleta’s corner. For the entire American Idol season, Archuleta has acted and been judged like the golden boy destined to win. It’s felt like this since the Top 12 began, and that feeling has not gone away.
Voting Fanatics
Stories have floated along on the internet tubes for the last couple months regarding David Archuleta’s fans. How the rabid fanatics have had “voting parties” where they text or call in as many times as humanly possible within the voting window. It’s possible that Archuleta has less fans that the voting results might dictate, simply because his fans vote more than any other group of fans. If this is the case, then expect their efforts to peak on the night it matters most next week.
The Judges
If you keep saying something over and over and over and over again, eventually people start to believe it. The American Idol judges anointed Archie the prohibitive favorite early in the season and their enthusiasm continued throughout. Although Simon has taken his foot off the Archuleta praise pedal oh-so slightly, Randy and Paula still blindly sing David’s praises. If I have to hear Randy say “he could sing the phone book” one more time I will puke in my soup. Nonetheless, the judges have conditioned the audience to like all of David’s performances whether they were actually good or not.
He’s Cuter than David Cook
If you don’t think a significant portion of the voting audience doesn’t just vote for who they think is the cutest, you are kidding yourself.
Just thought I’d post a random image from his hometown visit. Say “HI!”
Listen to David Archuleta’s Top 03 studio version of “Longer” in the audio player.
Watch and listen to David Archuleta singing “And So It Goes,” “With You,” and “Longer” performed during The Top 03 Performances (Choices Week).
Proceed to the downloads on the forum.
View the episodic stills and screen captures in the gallery.
Many of you want to hear David singing the National Anthem that he performed when he went back to Utah at the Utah Jazz Game…well here it is:
