David Archuleta

Alright, so I didn't plan on creating any blog postings yet on American Idol until we reached the top 12, which is when I'll start my review of each singer's performances like I did last year. However, there is one singer that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to comment on because this individual is blowing the rest of the competition out of the water thus far. His name is David Archuleta and he is only 17 years old (like Jordin Sparks was last year). He has an incredible voice and has such amazing control for a person as young as he. I believe that at this point in the competition, he is the front runner, as he has been the most consistent and best singer thus far. I am sure he'll have an off-week once in a great while, but seeing the fan support he has so far in this, I'd be shocked if he didn't make it to the final. I know we have a long ways to go in this year's competition and lots can change, but at this point, I am finding it very difficult for anyone else to pass him up as the favorite. Even Simon thinks so.

David has been a singer for awhile. In fact, he competed in CBS's revival of "Star Search" back in 2002-2003 where he was crowed the junior singing champion. During David's audition interview, he revealed that he even experienced vocal paralysis that had given him some difficulty singing and even speaking. But it appears he is doing quite fine now. Randy Jackson, one of the judges of American Idol has commented on how mature he seems for someone of his age. And it's really true because he seems to take every ounce of criticism (even though there hasn't really been a lot of criticism of him yet) with a grain of salt. His smile is infectious, he's very vibrant, and he seems like he's enjoying his Idol experience very well. It seems like in previous years once the top 24 begins, there have been a couple people that really stand out and you could make a case that either one of them could wind up as the Idol winners. And I know we've heard many different things about this season's contestants being "the best ever," but I must say that only one individual stands out for me so far, and that's David. I guess you could say I am a fan.

The first time we saw David this season during his audition, he sang John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change." He did a good job with it and even had Randy singing background vocals. I think the judges were quite impressed with David, especially considering he was 16 at that time. Simon even commented how great of a song choice it was for him. Here's David's rendition of "Waiting on the World to Change":



Seeing the high praise Daivd received from the judges, he picked up his golden ticket and made his way to Hollywood. He sang a couple of different times - including a song written and performed by Bryan Adams called "Heaven." The judges were thoroughly impressed with Randy even saying it was the best vocal performance of Hollywood Week thus far. How could you disagree with that - especially considering how well David sung it. Check out the song "Heaven" sung by Mr. Archuleta:



By the way, the very first song that David sang during his first audition at Hollywood week was Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." With Paula commenting "you are awesome," and Simon saying "it was incredible," it appeared that David didn't have anything stopping him from joining the American Idol top 24. And just as a note, due to "Crazy" not being officially cleared by one of the members that make up the group Gnarls Barkley, David's rendition of the song could not be aired. Rather tragic, especially considering the reaction he got from Simon after singing the song. And it appeared that David was playing the keyboard and singing the song, too! Such a shame... But whatever the case, David moves on to the Idol top 24.

So the top 12 boys were the first to perform during the week of February 18 and David was #6 of the night. The judges were once again quite impressed with his rendition of a 1960's classic "Shop Around" by The Miracles. It was a much more upbeat song that David took on; a pretty big challenge considering the previous songs tended to be more softer, slower, and the ballad-type. Nevertheless, he continued to wow the judges and had the crowd up on their feet. Listen to David sing "Shop Around":



David made it through to the top 20 with flying colors (in my opinion). Next up were the 70's classics this week and David took on John Lennon's legendary song "Imagine." It was a huge risk for David but one that paid off extremely well. It's a performance that had many people talking and it really helped gain some attention for himself. Paula was inspired to tears (which I pretty much predicted she would) and Randy saying it was one of the best performances he's ever heard on the show. Simon paved the way for David to reach the finale by saying he's the one to beat (which I certainly don't disagree with). Listen to the preformance that had many people talking this week:



So there you have it, we haven't even reached the top 12 yet and I'm already talking about one of the contestants. Like I said, I didn't plan on it yet, but he's such a good singer that I couldn't pass up this opporunity. But you certainly can't disagree that he's the clear cut favorite to this year's competition. He has the voice, the looks, his youth, and fan support that can keep him going for a very long time. Season seven is David's to win; so when the month of May comes around and you see him on the stage of the Kodak theater singing the final song of the American Idol competition; don't say I didn't warn you.