Well, here we are, Archuleta fans!
It’s a Monday night and the anticipation of tomorrow night’s performances is finally starting to create that annoying feeling in my gut. You know exactly what I’m talking about - that feeling where you have a sudden loss of appetite, your hands start to become sweaty, and you begin to shake from the anxiety.
This happened to me all the time in Season 5. I was an Elliott Yamin fan, and I had every reason to be nervous on Tuesday nights because it was never ever a foregone conclusion that Elliott would be safe. Now it’s Season 7, I’m a David Archuleta fan, and he’s considered by many (including Simon Cowell) to be the eventual winner. So, I should feel completely confident that David will have a powerhouse performance tomorrow night (which I predict he will)……….and yet I still feel those same damn butterflies rumbling in my stomach. I can’t stand it…and yet, it’s what makes American Idol so ridiculously addictive.
Why, oh why do I get myself into this show so much?
What Pavlovian techniques are those AI producers using upon the American public to keep their eyes riveted to the screen??
Why do some contestants repel me so completely while other contestants manage to melt my cynical nature and make me become a certifiably rabid voting maniac every Tuesday night???
All I can really say is that this is one of the most exciting season’s of AI I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing, and David Archuleta is one of the most engaging, real, and talented individuals to ever grace the AI stage.
“Why do you say this?” you ask.
Well, for one thing, the kid has a great ear, he knows what’s best for his voice, and he has keen musical instincts. He takes a song, sings the general melody of it, and then he begins improvising, throwing in melismas and arpeggios which make perfect musical sense. Listen to the end of his “Shop Around” performance. He took the last word “around” to his mid-high range and then, on the syllable “woah”, his vocal range descended using perfectly in-tune notes that were based on the blues scale. He claims that he doesn’t like jazz very much, but it’s clear that the jazz sound plays an important part in David’s note selection when he ad-libs.
Another aspect of David that makes me latch onto him is that he’s singing for the love of performing, and he wants to entertain and touch the audience on an emotional level with each of his performances……………………he’s doing this for the right reasons, folks!!!!
I love this show, and I love watching contestants like David Archuleta grow and mature in the spotlight, sharing their talents for the nation to enjoy.
A pox on those butterflies rumbling in my stomach!!!
Get ready to vote tomorrow, Archuleta fans!! VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. To be honest I feel just like you. I’m kind of a new fan of American Idol but for the most part of the last 7 years I have been following singing competitions very similar to AI but in the Hispanic TV. There was this TV show in Spain called Operacion Triunfo (Very similar to the Show The One on ABC) that was an amazing hit before AI hit the waves in US. The first season of that show was a huge hit and introduced a very shy and humble singer who later became my favorite artist of all time. His name is David Bisbal and he is one of the most gifted, sucessful, humble, beloved and respected singers in Latin America today. I tell this story because for the first time in 6 years I have that same feeling of watching a future superstar in the making. David Archuleta alone made me a fan of AI. I love his voice and the way he uses it to touch people’s lives. What I like most about him is that singing is his passion and it seems like the only way he can express himself. I know he doesn’t sing because he wants to be famous or be a a millionaire, he sings because music is his life and he has a gift he wants to share with the world. The fact that this young talented man is so humble and nice just makes it more incredible. I really hope David can continue to touch people’s lives with his voice. Me, like you, I’m doom to have the same butterflies in my stomach that don’t let me eat or breath rigth from tueday to wednesday.
Are you related to Ben Archuleta from Salt Lake City? Just wondering because he was my grandmother’s (Mary Archuleta/Abeyta) brother.
Anna Graves………huh???????