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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
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American Idol Top 20: The Men
Posted February 27, 2008 | 05:16 AM (EST)
Read More: American Idol , David Archuleta , Paula Abdul , Randy Jackson , Reality TV,
Ryan Seacrest , Simon Cowell , Breaking Entertainment News
Got home late so took a while before I could watch the show and several friends already had
emailed or called about David Archuleta's performance. When they intro'd the guys, there was verylittle applause for anyone except for Danny Noriega and then by far the most for Archuleta. Theproducers will soon be looking to create a little tension to hide the fact that he may be a runawayfront-runner a la Carrie Underwood (who apparently had a massive vote lead the entire season).
Michael Johns -- I'm a big tennis fan so glad to hear he plays. But Seventies night got off to a
very slow start with the first five guys all being weak or unmemorable. And don't forget: going firstis a huge disadvantage because the audience climbs during the show so millions fewer are watchingyou perform which means millions fewer to draw on in the voting. Johns did no favor for himselfwith the classic Fleetwood Mac tune "Go Your Own Way." I was surprised the judges didn't pointout that it was in too high a key for him. He was really straining on the chorus and weak at the end.It didn't help that the sound was weird (did he keep the mike too far away?) and it sounded for awhile like he was in another room. The tepid crowd both when he was introduced at the top of theshow and after his song sure doesn't bode well either. Looks good in jeans, though, but that'snothing special this season.
Jason Castro -- he played the acoustic guitar again,
strumming along to Andy Gibbs' "I Just Want To Be
Your Everything." As I've said before and the judges
pointed out, his performance is engaging but hisvocals aren't terribly strong, especially on the chorus.But he made great use of the backup singers, which
made him sound a lot better. Simon criticized him for picking a schmaltzy song? Sunny andschmaltzy is where he lives. Paula told him to drop the guitar next week? She's crazy. The guitar iswhat makes him stand out. If he just depends on his vocals, he'll look a lot more vulnerable.
Luke Menard -- talked about his a capella group. Now was that so hard, Idol? Especially since we
learned what a basically non-commercial sort of venture it was. (A capella singing groups aren't
exactly a ticket to pop stardom.) He unwisely tackled Queen's "Killer Queen," an extremely difficult
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-to_b_88652.html [4/5/2009 7:41:41 PM]song to sing that's half in falsetto, at least. Technically, his vocals were ok, but as Simon said they
lacked the spark of originality that Freddie Mercury brought to it. Luke had a weak ending with a
weird gyrating body motion. And the exceprt at the end of the show made his performance sound
really odd, since the few lines we heard were out of context. Just a bad, bad choice of song.
Robbie Carrico -- a drag racer, which is fun. But he struck the wrong note in his pre-song
interview by saying to Simon: "Get used to it" about his being a rocker. It's a lot trickier taking on
Simon than people think. If Simon is being mean, they'll naturally sympathize. But usually Simon
is just critiquing (and accurately), so you can't win. There's a difference between standing up for
yourself and lashing out at Simon and most people just do the latter and seem arrogant by defying
Simon when most of the viewers think he's right. That said, Robbie did a fine version of
Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" which I thought was a big improvement. Solid vocals, but not individual
-- more of a good copy of the original. The only thing worse than being awful is being forgettable.
Danny Noriega -- all the teenage girls want to date David Archuleta but they want Danny for
their BFF. The only guy to get some serious noise from the crowd other than David. He did
"Superstar" by the Carpenters (perfect for his haircut) and frankly I thought it was very weak,especially on the low notes. To me, he struggled. But the judges were very friendly and Danny wasvery personable in a snappy way during the chatting section and was funny when Simon asked ifDanny now agreed with Simon that he was weak the previous show. "Ish" said Danny. NeitherRandy or Paula actually said much of anything about his performance, which shows they didn'tthink much either. But between their kid gloves and Simon's nod that it was better than the weeekbefore, he should be fine. But it ain't because of his vocals this week. I have no idea what Paula issaying when she talks about his wonderful vibrato. By the way, even if Danny isn't gay, I'm surehe's been teased by other kids at school for being "different." It's nice to see he's comfortable beinghimself and not uptight about who he is, which is all that matters.
David Hernandez -- finally, a good performance! And from a gymnast no less, which is just one
more reason to like him. Unlike the judges, I thought his vocals were really strong last week and I
thought he was just terrific tonight. He's really coming on strong in my book. Except for being a bittheatrical in his facial expressions when he began, I thought he nailed the Temptations classic"Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" and the judges began to catch up to my opinion of him. Gritty andconfident without overdoing the soul brother act. He looked good with the hoodie and worked up abig Idol finale that was very smart, even if he did waver a bit on the final note. (His only weak
moment.) Clearly he knows what it takes to win. Also managed to look sweetly modest and pleasedby the praise. This guy is seriously gunning for runner-up. (Come on, we know who the frontrunner is.)
Jason Yeager -- a vast improvement over last week's "Moon River," with Jason unbuttoning his
shirt, putting on a charm necklace and singing the Doobie Brothers tune "Without You." Not a
challenging song vocally, but after his near total disaster last week he was smart to choose
something relatively easy. Still very cruise ship-ready with his hand gestures and vocal riffs and a
very goofy ending where he struck his arms out to the side and bowed his head in a grand gesture a
la George Michael or someone that would have worked really well if he were in a stadium and just
delivered a tremendous vocal. The judges all criticized him and the crowd didn't seem too upset by
that. However, he did tear up a bit as the criticism mounted, which might counteract some ill-
chosen words like "We're all killer singers," which compliments everyone but still has him
unblushingly referring to himself as a killer singer with terrific range. The judges really do affect
voting and with all three being hard on him, Jason is very vulnerable. If his sensitivity and thegrandma vote and the fact that he was much better than last week can rescue him, it'll be a closecall.
Chikezie -- another very good performance, with Chikezie nailing Donny Hathaway's "I Believe To
My Soul." Actually, I thought he should have been a little more dressed up for such a classy song
but given the grief he got for his suit he was probably a little clothes shy this week. Very strong.
David Cook -- came out with an electric guitar and vamped through Free's "All Right Now." Ran
out of breath as he tried to prime the crowd, but playing an instrument can really hide a lot of
vocal flaws. Also had a strong ending. Randy annointed him the real rocker, thus dissing Robbie bycomparison and Paula praised him too. Simon said he was much improved but pointed out helacked charisma and urged him to hide the fact that he is smart -- ok, to be fair Simon said toutingthe fact that you love crosswords is not exactly a crowd pleaser. His attempt to talk back to Simon
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-to_b_88652.html [4/5/2009 7:41:41 PM]
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Accused Of...also fell flat. Ryan tried to say David meant no disrespect to Simon but of course that's exactly what
he meant when he delivered the old standby about having to win over the crowd at this stage, not
Simon. But being right doesn't do you any favors.
David Archuleta -- makes a terrible song choice of John Lennon's "Imagine." Why is it a terrible
song choice? Because while it SEEMS like a standard, it's actually very sappy and awful in almost
anyone's hands other than Lennon himself. Because of who he was, Lennon can sing the lyrics and
get away with it. Almost anyone else just sounds stupid or banal doing it. So the last thing I wanted
to hear was a 17 year old kid sing it. If it wasn't cringe-inducing, it would be a miracle. Well, cue a
miracle. And the producers knew it, giving him the star treatment. Just watch how they worked the
camera for his song as compared to everyone else. They gave him a dramatic black backdrop at the
beginning and moody lighting and the camera stayed on him (at most going to a medium shot)
virtually the entire song. For everyone else, they often went far away or focused on the band for
brief moments. For David, they stayed right on him, adding in slow fades from one angle to anotherand generally giving him the deluze buildup. And why not? He delivered an extremely mature,even soulful rendition that jumped right to the third verse, added in some minimal flourishes (butfar from Mariah Carey territory) and was generally faithful without being copycat. He also endedon a smooth, controlled note, rather than trying for a big finish. I even saw a little gospel singer-like fluttering of the hand during a medium shot when he began to dig deep. The obviouscomparison is Fantasia with "Summertime," where you felt the competition was over. The bestthing David could say was to joke, "Well, I've officially peaked too soon." (That's my line, not his.)In fact, as the judges gushed and basically annointed him the presumptive winner, David managedthe very tricky feat of listening to intense praise modestly and politely without seeming eitherpleased as punch for himself or falsely modest. The kicker was the video intro where we found outhe attended the season one finale (hey David, I was there too!) and bumped into a group from theTop 10 in the lobby of the hotel and somehow convinced them to stand around while he belted out"(And I Am Telling You) I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, wowing them all and compelling Kelly
Clarkson to ask him his name. In other words, he was annointed at the age of 11 by the very firstAmerican Idol and is destined to win it here. Simon pithily said he was the front runner and that
there were 19 miserable other contestants. Darn right. But they know a lot more than one personcan build a career out of each season, so David Hernandez and Chikezie and the women still have alot to fight for. Of course, he could stumble or suddenly reveal himself to be a heartless bastardinstead of a sweet kid with a great voice and oodles of charm, but I wouldn't hold my breath if Iwere the others.
Two more guys to go and -- again -- so many of them eventually will have to go that it's easier to
say who should be absolutely safe. I imagine David Hernandez, Chikezie, David Cook (maybe) anddefinitely David Archuleta are safe. All the others are vulnerable. The two weakest performances tome were Michael Johns and Danny Noriega. But Danny had a great post-song chat and the girlssquealed for him, so I think he's safe. And you can't overlook the judges piling on Jason Yeager. I'llgo for Michael Johns and Robbie Carrico getting the boot. Luke Menard's performance was worsebut Robbie Carrico's performance fades a little bit every time I try to think about it. Or rather, outof there. Meanwhile, Tiger Beat is preparing its first David Archuleta pull-out poster even as wespeak.
So which two guys do you think will go home on Thursday?
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
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SavetheUS See Profile I'm a Fan of SavetheUS permalink
Two words. David Archuleta. Not only did I tear up along with my friend...but we found ourselves
standing and clapping at the end of his performance. The words and song choice were so perfect forthis tumultous time in America. Why, I'm going to watch it one more time.
I have not heard such a performance in a looooong time, and I cannot wait to buy his album when it
comes out. His voice is magical......his delivery equally amazing.
It is almost unimaginable....that a young man of 17, can speak to so many of us through his voice....
and this is what truly makes him an idol.
You're it David. You're it.
Charity See Profile I'm a Fan of Charity permalink
i'm 60. i was around from the beatles get-go (saw them at the gator bowl on their first america tour). i'm
no pushover. but i will say this: while lennon's own rendition of "imagine" will always be the edgier,which was his intent, david archuleta's version (the camera work did help...) brought tears to my eyes.and that was unexpected on my part.
the kid was born to sing. i'm surprised simon hasn't asked him what he asked carrie underwood - why
hasn't a recording company snapped you up?
archuleta will now and forever be a successful singer. he doesn't need idol - and really, never
overestimate the power of the popular vote; clay aiken didn't win idol when he was obviously the more
talented - but at 17, it is arguably the right place for david to be at this time.
what makes it fun is to see how he takes on the different genres and which songs he chooses.
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-to_b_88652.html [4/5/2009 7:41:41 PM]
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who knows, there might be a genre he can't sing, though i have a phone book here that says different.
david, just start with the A's and work your way through to Z while i sit back and enjoy.....
good column, michael.
====================
mch755 See Profile I'm a Fan of mch755 permalink
oh, forgot to add who I thought should get the boot, definitely Jason Y (I felt really sorry for him after
getting hammered by the judges but his performance was painful to watch) and Luke M.
mch755 See Profile I'm a Fan of mch755 permalink
great recap of the guys. Yeah, this week was much better than last week. Some of the guys killed. Mypicks:1. David H- great choice of song, he had command of the song and stage and he was humble in takingthe praise from the judges, love that
2. Chikezie- much better this week, real strong, confident performance
3. David C- good choice of song for his rocker sensibilities, should be safe for the week, but no sureabout the back talk to Simon.
4. David A- pretty much blew me away with his interpretation of this song, I was shocked how good it
was, but I have the feeling he's done this song a thousand times already so it sounded so polished
Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink
Yes, despite a deeply unpopular war and theme shows devoted to the protest heavy Sixties and
Seventies, I don't think we saw even a single auditioner tackle even "Blowin' in the Wind." So Archuletagets points for being "political" even though Lennon's radical song has been denuded of danger bybeing so widely accepted.
spinstahbabe See Profile I'm a Fan of spinstahbabe permalink
I couldn't help wondering if Archuleta is an Obamaniac. The verse he chose is certainly apropos and it'sthe first "political" song anyone has chosen. Embarrassed to admit that a 17 year old kid's rendition of
the classic actually gave me chills. Go David!
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-to_b_88652.html [4/5/2009 7:41:41 PM]
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American Idol Top 20: The Men
Posted February 27, 2008 | 05:16 AM (EST)
Read More: American Idol , David Archuleta , Paula Abdul , Randy Jackson , Reality TV,
Ryan Seacrest , Simon Cowell , Breaking Entertainment News
Got home late so took a while before I could watch the show and several friends already had
emailed or called about David Archuleta's performance. When they intro'd the guys, there was verylittle applause for anyone except for Danny Noriega and then by far the most for Archuleta. Theproducers will soon be looking to create a little tension to hide the fact that he may be a runawayfront-runner a la Carrie Underwood (who apparently had a massive vote lead the entire season).
Michael Johns -- I'm a big tennis fan so glad to hear he plays. But Seventies night got off to a
very slow start with the first five guys all being weak or unmemorable. And don't forget: going firstis a huge disadvantage because the audience climbs during the show so millions fewer are watchingyou perform which means millions fewer to draw on in the voting. Johns did no favor for himselfwith the classic Fleetwood Mac tune "Go Your Own Way." I was surprised the judges didn't pointout that it was in too high a key for him. He was really straining on the chorus and weak at the end.It didn't help that the sound was weird (did he keep the mike too far away?) and it sounded for awhile like he was in another room. The tepid crowd both when he was introduced at the top of theshow and after his song sure doesn't bode well either. Looks good in jeans, though, but that'snothing special this season.
Jason Castro -- he played the acoustic guitar again,
strumming along to Andy Gibbs' "I Just Want To Be
Your Everything." As I've said before and the judges
pointed out, his performance is engaging but hisvocals aren't terribly strong, especially on the chorus.But he made great use of the backup singers, which
made him sound a lot better. Simon criticized him for picking a schmaltzy song? Sunny andschmaltzy is where he lives. Paula told him to drop the guitar next week? She's crazy. The guitar iswhat makes him stand out. If he just depends on his vocals, he'll look a lot more vulnerable.
Luke Menard -- talked about his a capella group. Now was that so hard, Idol? Especially since we
learned what a basically non-commercial sort of venture it was. (A capella singing groups aren't
exactly a ticket to pop stardom.) He unwisely tackled Queen's "Killer Queen," an extremely difficult
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-to_b_88652.html [4/5/2009 7:41:41 PM]song to sing that's half in falsetto, at least. Technically, his vocals were ok, but as Simon said they
lacked the spark of originality that Freddie Mercury brought to it. Luke had a weak ending with a
weird gyrating body motion. And the exceprt at the end of the show made his performance sound
really odd, since the few lines we heard were out of context. Just a bad, bad choice of song.
Robbie Carrico -- a drag racer, which is fun. But he struck the wrong note in his pre-song
interview by saying to Simon: "Get used to it" about his being a rocker. It's a lot trickier taking on
Simon than people think. If Simon is being mean, they'll naturally sympathize. But usually Simon
is just critiquing (and accurately), so you can't win. There's a difference between standing up for
yourself and lashing out at Simon and most people just do the latter and seem arrogant by defying
Simon when most of the viewers think he's right. That said, Robbie did a fine version of
Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" which I thought was a big improvement. Solid vocals, but not individual
-- more of a good copy of the original. The only thing worse than being awful is being forgettable.
Danny Noriega -- all the teenage girls want to date David Archuleta but they want Danny for
their BFF. The only guy to get some serious noise from the crowd other than David. He did
"Superstar" by the Carpenters (perfect for his haircut) and frankly I thought it was very weak,especially on the low notes. To me, he struggled. But the judges were very friendly and Danny wasvery personable in a snappy way during the chatting section and was funny when Simon asked ifDanny now agreed with Simon that he was weak the previous show. "Ish" said Danny. NeitherRandy or Paula actually said much of anything about his performance, which shows they didn'tthink much either. But between their kid gloves and Simon's nod that it was better than the weeekbefore, he should be fine. But it ain't because of his vocals this week. I have no idea what Paula issaying when she talks about his wonderful vibrato. By the way, even if Danny isn't gay, I'm surehe's been teased by other kids at school for being "different." It's nice to see he's comfortable beinghimself and not uptight about who he is, which is all that matters.
David Hernandez -- finally, a good performance! And from a gymnast no less, which is just one
more reason to like him. Unlike the judges, I thought his vocals were really strong last week and I
thought he was just terrific tonight. He's really coming on strong in my book. Except for being a bittheatrical in his facial expressions when he began, I thought he nailed the Temptations classic"Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" and the judges began to catch up to my opinion of him. Gritty andconfident without overdoing the soul brother act. He looked good with the hoodie and worked up abig Idol finale that was very smart, even if he did waver a bit on the final note. (His only weak
moment.) Clearly he knows what it takes to win. Also managed to look sweetly modest and pleasedby the praise. This guy is seriously gunning for runner-up. (Come on, we know who the frontrunner is.)
Jason Yeager -- a vast improvement over last week's "Moon River," with Jason unbuttoning his
shirt, putting on a charm necklace and singing the Doobie Brothers tune "Without You." Not a
challenging song vocally, but after his near total disaster last week he was smart to choose
something relatively easy. Still very cruise ship-ready with his hand gestures and vocal riffs and a
very goofy ending where he struck his arms out to the side and bowed his head in a grand gesture a
la George Michael or someone that would have worked really well if he were in a stadium and just
delivered a tremendous vocal. The judges all criticized him and the crowd didn't seem too upset by
that. However, he did tear up a bit as the criticism mounted, which might counteract some ill-
chosen words like "We're all killer singers," which compliments everyone but still has him
unblushingly referring to himself as a killer singer with terrific range. The judges really do affect
voting and with all three being hard on him, Jason is very vulnerable. If his sensitivity and thegrandma vote and the fact that he was much better than last week can rescue him, it'll be a closecall.
Chikezie -- another very good performance, with Chikezie nailing Donny Hathaway's "I Believe To
My Soul." Actually, I thought he should have been a little more dressed up for such a classy song
but given the grief he got for his suit he was probably a little clothes shy this week. Very strong.
David Cook -- came out with an electric guitar and vamped through Free's "All Right Now." Ran
out of breath as he tried to prime the crowd, but playing an instrument can really hide a lot of
vocal flaws. Also had a strong ending. Randy annointed him the real rocker, thus dissing Robbie bycomparison and Paula praised him too. Simon said he was much improved but pointed out helacked charisma and urged him to hide the fact that he is smart -- ok, to be fair Simon said toutingthe fact that you love crosswords is not exactly a crowd pleaser. His attempt to talk back to Simon
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
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Accused Of...also fell flat. Ryan tried to say David meant no disrespect to Simon but of course that's exactly what
he meant when he delivered the old standby about having to win over the crowd at this stage, not
Simon. But being right doesn't do you any favors.
David Archuleta -- makes a terrible song choice of John Lennon's "Imagine." Why is it a terrible
song choice? Because while it SEEMS like a standard, it's actually very sappy and awful in almost
anyone's hands other than Lennon himself. Because of who he was, Lennon can sing the lyrics and
get away with it. Almost anyone else just sounds stupid or banal doing it. So the last thing I wanted
to hear was a 17 year old kid sing it. If it wasn't cringe-inducing, it would be a miracle. Well, cue a
miracle. And the producers knew it, giving him the star treatment. Just watch how they worked the
camera for his song as compared to everyone else. They gave him a dramatic black backdrop at the
beginning and moody lighting and the camera stayed on him (at most going to a medium shot)
virtually the entire song. For everyone else, they often went far away or focused on the band for
brief moments. For David, they stayed right on him, adding in slow fades from one angle to anotherand generally giving him the deluze buildup. And why not? He delivered an extremely mature,even soulful rendition that jumped right to the third verse, added in some minimal flourishes (butfar from Mariah Carey territory) and was generally faithful without being copycat. He also endedon a smooth, controlled note, rather than trying for a big finish. I even saw a little gospel singer-like fluttering of the hand during a medium shot when he began to dig deep. The obviouscomparison is Fantasia with "Summertime," where you felt the competition was over. The bestthing David could say was to joke, "Well, I've officially peaked too soon." (That's my line, not his.)In fact, as the judges gushed and basically annointed him the presumptive winner, David managedthe very tricky feat of listening to intense praise modestly and politely without seeming eitherpleased as punch for himself or falsely modest. The kicker was the video intro where we found outhe attended the season one finale (hey David, I was there too!) and bumped into a group from theTop 10 in the lobby of the hotel and somehow convinced them to stand around while he belted out"(And I Am Telling You) I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, wowing them all and compelling Kelly
Clarkson to ask him his name. In other words, he was annointed at the age of 11 by the very firstAmerican Idol and is destined to win it here. Simon pithily said he was the front runner and that
there were 19 miserable other contestants. Darn right. But they know a lot more than one personcan build a career out of each season, so David Hernandez and Chikezie and the women still have alot to fight for. Of course, he could stumble or suddenly reveal himself to be a heartless bastardinstead of a sweet kid with a great voice and oodles of charm, but I wouldn't hold my breath if Iwere the others.
Two more guys to go and -- again -- so many of them eventually will have to go that it's easier to
say who should be absolutely safe. I imagine David Hernandez, Chikezie, David Cook (maybe) anddefinitely David Archuleta are safe. All the others are vulnerable. The two weakest performances tome were Michael Johns and Danny Noriega. But Danny had a great post-song chat and the girlssquealed for him, so I think he's safe. And you can't overlook the judges piling on Jason Yeager. I'llgo for Michael Johns and Robbie Carrico getting the boot. Luke Menard's performance was worsebut Robbie Carrico's performance fades a little bit every time I try to think about it. Or rather, outof there. Meanwhile, Tiger Beat is preparing its first David Archuleta pull-out poster even as wespeak.
So which two guys do you think will go home on Thursday?
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
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SavetheUS See Profile I'm a Fan of SavetheUS permalink
Two words. David Archuleta. Not only did I tear up along with my friend...but we found ourselves
standing and clapping at the end of his performance. The words and song choice were so perfect forthis tumultous time in America. Why, I'm going to watch it one more time.
I have not heard such a performance in a looooong time, and I cannot wait to buy his album when it
comes out. His voice is magical......his delivery equally amazing.
It is almost unimaginable....that a young man of 17, can speak to so many of us through his voice....
and this is what truly makes him an idol.
You're it David. You're it.
Charity See Profile I'm a Fan of Charity permalink
i'm 60. i was around from the beatles get-go (saw them at the gator bowl on their first america tour). i'm
no pushover. but i will say this: while lennon's own rendition of "imagine" will always be the edgier,which was his intent, david archuleta's version (the camera work did help...) brought tears to my eyes.and that was unexpected on my part.
the kid was born to sing. i'm surprised simon hasn't asked him what he asked carrie underwood - why
hasn't a recording company snapped you up?
archuleta will now and forever be a successful singer. he doesn't need idol - and really, never
overestimate the power of the popular vote; clay aiken didn't win idol when he was obviously the more
talented - but at 17, it is arguably the right place for david to be at this time.
what makes it fun is to see how he takes on the different genres and which songs he chooses.
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
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who knows, there might be a genre he can't sing, though i have a phone book here that says different.
david, just start with the A's and work your way through to Z while i sit back and enjoy.....
good column, michael.
====================
mch755 See Profile I'm a Fan of mch755 permalink
oh, forgot to add who I thought should get the boot, definitely Jason Y (I felt really sorry for him after
getting hammered by the judges but his performance was painful to watch) and Luke M.
mch755 See Profile I'm a Fan of mch755 permalink
great recap of the guys. Yeah, this week was much better than last week. Some of the guys killed. Mypicks:1. David H- great choice of song, he had command of the song and stage and he was humble in takingthe praise from the judges, love that
2. Chikezie- much better this week, real strong, confident performance
3. David C- good choice of song for his rocker sensibilities, should be safe for the week, but no sureabout the back talk to Simon.
4. David A- pretty much blew me away with his interpretation of this song, I was shocked how good it
was, but I have the feeling he's done this song a thousand times already so it sounded so polished
Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink
Yes, despite a deeply unpopular war and theme shows devoted to the protest heavy Sixties and
Seventies, I don't think we saw even a single auditioner tackle even "Blowin' in the Wind." So Archuletagets points for being "political" even though Lennon's radical song has been denuded of danger bybeing so widely accepted.
spinstahbabe See Profile I'm a Fan of spinstahbabe permalink
I couldn't help wondering if Archuleta is an Obamaniac. The verse he chose is certainly apropos and it'sthe first "political" song anyone has chosen. Embarrassed to admit that a 17 year old kid's rendition of
the classic actually gave me chills. Go David!
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Michael Giltz: American Idol Top 20: The Men
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-to_b_88652.html [4/5/2009 7:41:41 PM]