Justin  04/03/08

Gaspy is awful, as is every other singer remaining this season.

huzzah  04/03/08

Little Dave is perfect fr the "High School Musical" set. Since I am not a teen, preteen, or post-menopausal woman, I mostly find him irritating.

scarsandstories8  04/04/08

David Archuleta is definitely the best singer as well as performer, and he should therefore definitely win the show.
And for the record, huzzah, I hate HSM, and I am not a teen/tween girl, and I can admit to the fact that he's the best singer on the show.
Personally, the rest of the competition, for me, is trying to find out who's going to be the runner-up. haha.

scarsandstories8  04/04/08

by the way, peter, you can vote for yourself

charinator  04/04/08

DA is a little too chirpy, and comes across as way too artificial. David Artificial. Would make a great stage name, though.

LisaD  04/04/08

David may win AI but he isnt the best singer there. He is a pawn to be mani/pulated to what the producers want. He young so he can be molded where as most of the contestants are hard in their ways of doing things. I believe that it would benefi the others (like Michael Johns and David Cook) to lose and be able to creatively do their own thing instead of what the AI producers tell them to.

jjg10  04/04/08

David has a very good singing voice, but he isn't a good performer. He doesn't emote particularly well as he interprets lyrics so it comes across as technically very good, but without substance. American Idol is so much more than just being good technically... I can't imagine buying his album.

huzzah  04/04/08

Scars, you may not be a teen or tween, or even a post-menopausal woman. My point was that no one with a Y chromosome finds little David at all compelling. I'll agree he has a good voice and a lot of talent for a kid that age, but if you look at his choices of songs (my main guess about what type of music a contestant will do in his/her career) it's clear he'll only make the most saccharine music out there.

mch755  04/04/08

hmm.as for best voice on AI this year, no question to me, that Carly has the best voice of the bunch while David C has the most varied/interesting voice. I agree it would be best to place 2nd/3rd, you'll still get tons of press and have more creative control making your music. David A may win but I wouldn't buy his CD, but then an adult like myself is not his target audience, it would be tweens and soccer moms.

scarsandstories8  04/05/08

huzzah- well, I guess it's all just a matter of opinion. I agree with the judges that he could sing the phone book and that he'd do an excellent job. For me, that makes him the best singer. Possibly followed by Sayesha (sp?). I like everybody else but KL Cook, but I think those two are the best singers. I know very few guys who like JT, but he's one of the most successful singers out there right now.

And I can't stand the comparisons of DA and Clay Aiken... I don't see it at all.

huzzah  04/07/08

Scars, the comparisons come from both being good voices in completely sexually non-threatening packages, singing "adult contemporary" or "soft rock" songs. DA gets the teeny-bopper vote because he's a baby himself. It appeals to kids and older women. If you like him that much and don't fall into either of those categories, then you're the exception that proves the rule.

I decided DA wasn't for me in the least when, only two weeks after singing Lennon's "Imagine", he comes out with, "I'm not really familiar with The Beatles." Can you explain to me how, if you've been singing semi-professionally since 10 or 11 and consider yourself a musician, you can be unfamiliar with The Beatles? They're the freakin BEATLES for god's sake! I mean, it's like, "Elvis? Who's that?" or "The Rolling Stones? I think my daddy drinks that when he's not forcing me to sing in public..."

scarsandstories8  04/07/08

haha, I thought that was crazy, too. I'm a Beatles fan, and was shocked when he said that. AFTER having his best performance be Imagine. I went into it thinking he'd have a grand slam... and then they played the clip where he said he's not familiar with The Beatles. Who isn't fimiliar with the Beatles? And while we are on the topic, two beatles-themed weeks in a row, and NO Revolution.

Still don't see the DA/CA comparison... both good singers but if you are on AI I would hope so.

huzzah  04/08/08

The comparison is in that they both pretty much exclusively sing adult contemporary and soft rock songs. Neither has an edge to him, which is what I meant by "sexually non-threatening". You could leave your teenage daughter alone with either one of them for several hours and rest easy in the knowledge that she'll be every bit as virginal as when you left her there. Their personalities are cutesy and bland. At least with Clay you had a guy with a good voice who wanted to sing. While you might have that with David A, I can't help but get the feeling that he's the product of years of grooming for stardom by someone who for some reason omitted the Beatles from the kid's education...

huzzah  04/09/08

Nialle, I'd say the "best voice" claim is defensible, although you can tell Archuleta's voice has yet to fully mature. That's one for debate and it's largely dependent on personal taste. It's the "most successful" claim I have a problem with. If we've learned anything from the past 6 seasons, it's that more often than not the singer with the best voice doesn't win and that the winner has about a 50-50 shot of having the most successful recording career of his/her fellow finalists. Taylor's voice was clearly inferior to Katherine's and Elliot's; Chris has by far been the biggest success of the bunch.

I think Melinda's marketing problem was one of image, to be honest. The judges said she wasn't a backup singer anymore, but she LOOKS like a backup singer. I'm not trying to be mean, but she looked sort of like an Oompah-Loompah on stage. Regardless of her talent, which was immense, she needed some...well...sex appeal. The vast majority of successful female singers are really pretty physically attractive; those that aren't tend to exude a sort of edgy sultriness. You know, an aura that says,"I might not be a 10 in looks, but I'll knock your socks off after the show!"

It's the "sexually nonthreatening" aspect that I mentioned before regarding David and Clay.

Amber477  04/10/08

i would much rather buy carly smithson or brooke white's CD than david archuleta- or even david cook's. i like that kind of hard, gravelly edge to music- and david archuleta has about as much edge as a circle.

palais  04/18/08

I always use my ten year old daughter as a barometer of what teens like. Since she grows up in a house that is obsessed with pop culture, she tends to be ahead of the curve. She watched this week's Idol, and started to get misty eyed when David C. sang. David A. got a roll of the eyes and " Inspirational mid tempo pop song again? Why?" She doesn't get David A. I don't get David A. And I have already spent a small fortune this year on David C.'s songs, so if he put out an album, I'd snap it up.
I guess what I'm saying is- David A. has a great voice, but most successful? Maybe with the Disney set. But the Disney set grow up to listen to the David C.'s and Carly Smithson's of the world.

huzzah  04/19/08

Well said, palais.

palais  04/19/08

Thank you, huzzah.

GeekyMommy  04/27/08

Carly Smithson has, by far, the best voice in the competition. I can't get over that she was voted off... *sniff*

Little Daviekins is cute and all, but no one but his grandma is gonna pay a thing for any album he comes out with. At least not until after he has his mandatory addiction/dui/shoplifting/rehab and grows up. Please don't let him win!!!!