"Idol:" Pretty, pretty, creepy

Right on the money again Joanne, I shut if off after the first 2 minutes then came back for David for 2 minutes and shut it off. That was really, really creepy in the hotel from season 1.

My 6 year old wanted to take a bath after he concluded Jason Castro's hair looked like asparagus?!?!?!?!

I didn't think anyone watched this anymore... It got old to me after about season 3...

I'm absolutely disgusted by the Imagine performance. I think he should be ashamed for leaving out the more important messages of the first two verses. What a total cop out. Lennon is rolling in his grave at this abomination.
The fact is David is a mormon and Lennon was against religion and patriotism - two things mormons blindly embrace. As someone who strongly believes in the first verses of the song I think it was kick in the face to those of us who know religion and patriotism are just a powerful means of brainwashing. He lost my votes and my respect.

Yeah, Vin, nobody watches it anymore...it got the same ratings as the Oscars...If it got "old" to you, why are you bothering to comment about it?

And Ben, how funny that you managed to watch just four minutes, and yet see specifically what the author is writing about.

You both watch it, every minute, every show...You're just ashamed of yourself for some reason, and it's pitiful. Admit it, enjoy it, stop acting so holier-than-thou...

I LOVE JASON CASTRO!!! WOOHOO!!!!! VOTE FOR TALENT!!!!

Yup Paula is a whacko! But David Archuleta is phenominal!

It's true, it's a shame that IDOL has turned to for the rich, wealthy or somehow known singers. It should really do what it had originally set out to do and that is make nobody into somebody. Instead of somebody into somebody more famous.

OK, Vin, if Idol is so "over", why are you trolling here?

Ben, not sure what was creepy about David's performance in the lobby. It moved me. David A. is a natural, but he's no trained seal. That was an artistic interpretation of a classic song. It will be a hit single.

And Robert Hirschi, I guess only people who are "against religion" have your respect. That sounds bigoted to me. As a follower of Christ who does not consider himself "religious", I love all the words of that beautiful John Lennon song.

I really don't think that the kid meant to offend anyone by picking the verse that he did. Randy asked him why he didn't sing the first verse and he answered that the third is his favorite - and I think it has a phenominal message. Everyone needs to stop being greedy and take care of everyone. The message of earthly brotherhood - what is wrong with that?

NRW;

Ironically, I only watched those 4 minutes. That's the truth.

Joanne has a gift that can sum up in 2 paragraphs, 120 minutes of agony. It's called editing.

The first minute of Go your own way was so bad I couldn't believe it. I screamed at the TV. and the David A. video was incredibly creepy.

Here's the bottom line, Paula and Randy have lost the talent touch. And they keep pushing their favorites, for better or worse.

And yes it's still the most popular show on TV.

Never watched it before Season 5, and season 5 was spectacular. And last year I thought Sanjaya saved the show from being abysmal. Now this year for the males is just as bad.

Woah that guy's a little high strung...

I thought David's performance was incredible. Probably the best that I have ever heard on American Idol in all the years that my wife and I have watched. I didn't think the Hotel rendition was creepy at all. It was an 11 year old boy trying to impress some idol finalists who he looked up to. What's so creepy about that? He also sang it well and impressed Kelly Clarkson for his young age; give him some credit. Creepy?? In what way. Maybe Paula's dangling his head from her rear view mirror statement was creepy, but if you really watched the show, you understand that she was just at a loss for words after a song that moved her incredibly.

Why is everybody thinking there is a hidden agenda in everything everybody does? He liked verse 3 best so he sang verse 3. He only had time for one verse so he picked his favorite. I'm sure if he had time to sing the whole song; he would have sang the whole song. What if he had only sang verse 2? You'd probably criticize him for not singing verse 1. In other words, you cannot be happy and just want to criticize him no matter what he does. Of course, he really doesn't need "your" respect so your criticism is just your opinion and will not affect anything in the long-run.

What was creepy about the clip was the mere fact that David -- or more likely his parents -- was so desperate to get noticed that he stalked Season 1 contestants in a hotel lobby.

I'm not particularly a Kelly Clarkson fan, but she was very gracious in the video -- before exiting stage left as fast as she could.

Robert Hirshi - you must be an angry, over critical type of person to condemn a 17 year old for choosing this great verse over the other two great verses. He has about a minute to sing a song. He was forced to choose one verse. You've lost respect? It certainly must be easy to get your panties all in a bunch. This young man delivered a controlled performance and a moving rendition of a classic song. To take any other meaning from it is just absurd.

David is really talented and seems pretty simple to me.

I agreed with Shawn 100 percent ! And I'm telling you David will be the next big thing! Awesome vocals for someone so young!

Robert, dude, chill. It's Idol. Not the primaries. Just enjoy it for the cheesy goodness that it is.

I definitely take my comment back from last week. David A. sounded amazing last night and a lot less Muppet-like. He must read Joanna's blog. :) Anyway, if his editing of the song was intentional, I do see Robert's point. But, I'm not sure that it was intentional.

You guys are rediculous! He was not "stalking" anybody, he was doing what any young kid would do. He was out there to watch the show, and he saw his idols and he tried to impress them. Your telling me that kids dont go to soccer matches all the time and try to find their favorite player and talk to and impress them? Or go back stage after a concert to talk to their favorite musician? He was an 11 year old boy! He has an amazing gift, give him some credit instead of putting a 17 year old boy down for something he's good at... stop putting other people down to make yourself feel higher than you are. Your opinion doesnt even matter in the long run.

Shawn, I agree with you. People like to see conspiracy in everything to do with American Idol. Just enjoy the show for what it is. The sky doesn't fall because of what happens on the show. It's just enjoyable. Not creepy, not religious, not a conspiracy. Geez, just take it easy!

I agree, he is creepy, and I hate that he changed a classic to suit his singing voice and not to offend his Mormon upbringing. The fact that he sung to the Idols back then is not cute, it's really creepy that he'd be singing that song to a bunch of strangers in a lobby.

gahh.. he's totally brilliant.
He gets the message across, and what better way to do it while looking absolutely gorgeous.

And frankly, I doubt singing for what you dont believe in would sound convincing for someone who sings from the heart.

David Archuleta is the obvious front runner this season. His talent and stage presence are so far ahead of the other singers, that it's embarrassing watching them trying to keep up. It's amazing that he's only 17! Almost all of the other performers last night were either bland, average or trying too hard. And I totally agree with Shawn's post---If he hadn't done verse 1, you would have complained.....or if he hadn't done verse 2 yada yada yada. If he had done the whole song, I'm sure someone would have have complained about his ...let's see....his hair! ...or um....his shoes! Give it a rest and accept it for what it was: a beautifully sung and moving rendition of a great song from a genuinely humble, sweet guy.

Robert Hirschi - Must be miserable to be you. Yikes!

I'm a huge Archuleta fan, I think he's a true phenomenon, possibly the biggest star AI will have ever produced. But there are creepy elements here, to be sure. I think what's a little creepy about the "lobby performance" is more about what he's singing... "And I Am Telling You," the big show-stopping Diva number from Dreamgirls. A woman's lament about an obsessive, masochistic romantic attachment coming from an eleven year-old boy is pretty creepy. But I'm willing to let that slide in deference to his youthful enthusiasm for vocal pyrotechnics. What really creeps me out are the cutaway shots to his parents. It wasn't as bad last night (during "Imagine") because it was apparently his aunt instead of his mother sitting next to his father, and she was very animated and excited and crying and whatnot. But when it's just his parents, the mother always appears strangely unmoved, and the father, well, let's just say that if little David turns out to be anything other than a married Mormon with a pick-up truck in the garage, it probably won't be pretty. Just sayin.'

He has a youtube video where he sang all three verses of Imagine at the age of 13. Clearly he doesn't despise the other verses, despite the Mormon bashing of Robert.

Robert Hirschi-if you lose respect for someone for choosing one verse that means more to him than others...I lose respect for you for choosing one contestant over another. Good grief. Talk about reading too deeply into something. For heaven's sake-wait-maybe the word heaven will alter your opinion of this comment-for HEAVEN'S sake. His performance was stellar, he's probably going to take the title. As for you. "Blindly embrace". Get educated before you go attaching false perceptions. I know many a mormon, none of which blindly embrace anything.

The simple truth is Archuleta was the best and if you were not moved by that performance- than I'm not sure what would move you. He did a great job especially for being only 17 years old. Who cares what religion he is or what verse he chose to sing. I think people way over analyze every single detail of this show and that's what bugs me. Just enjoy it. Enjoy the performances and vote for your favorite.

Robert Hirschi...Im an athiest too. I also love "Imagine". Think of all the free publicity "Imagine" just got. Okay, so it was only one verse. Alright, it was a teenager singing instead of a wiser, older man who wrote the words. Oh yeah, and he's Mormon. Big deal. Just get over it. The kid did a good job. Your comments just make you out to be an angry person. I hope you can find something to be happy about.

I heard on a DC radio station this a.m. that David's father is ex-Redskin's player, Adam Archuleta. I think that David is an amazing talent. I wanted to listen to last night's performance again, so I went to You Tube and found not only last night's performance, but a slew of other performances, several dating back to Star Search where a much younger David was vying for the junior vocalist championship title. I'm not sure if he won, but OMG, what a talent he was even then. There are also clips of his parents in the audience way back when and the father is always singing right along with David. If you go to You Tube, make sure you listen to David singing A Thousand Miles while he plays piano...flawlessly. Amazing. And as for you, Robert - I'll pray for you!

I think that David Archuleta is really a great singer. Loved your post!

Dan and Robert. Your opinions cave under their own vitriol and stink. Relax, get some much needed help, and then try again to do anything public that is worthwhile. Sad, very sad.

It's so funny that some people can't just appreciate true talent without having to put some crazy spin on it. David is good and that is that regardless of his religion or what verse he sang. Just appreciate the gift that he has and settle down.

Lennon's song is generally thought to be a peace song, but the first two verses can seem to be against loving ones country and loving ones religion. Just because someone loves ones country and ones religion does not make one a bad person. Hating David A for not singing the first two verses, seems to go against the theme of the song that we need more peace in this world. But since the song seems to condem love of country and religion, maybee the song's first two verses can foster feelings of hate (against country and religion) in some people which hate can lead to war. Ironic isn't it.

Some of these comments are hilarious. As already stated, he sang all verses of Imagine on "Good Morning Utah" when he was 13. I'm guessing those big bad Mormon higher ups were going stir crazy for it, maybe his membership will be revoked. Give me a break. Believe me the LDS church would embrace the meaning of the song. The song is calling for the world to come together and not look at everybody as different. He was asked why he didn't sing the first verse and he stated the third verse was his favorite, it's as simple as that. Also, he wasn't stalking the season one contestants in a hotel lobby. This happened while he was on Star Search; the producers of Star Search set up a meeting so he could meet Simon Lythgoe (the producer of American Idol). Simon Lythgoe was so impressed by him that he asked David to sing in front of the season one contestants, which is what we saw on the video. It was a prearranged meeting that was recorded. It's not like he was lurking in the halls right before they came back from rehearsing. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube and you can see that Kelly was really impressed, she even wanted an autograph.

The performance was simply amazing. I wouldn't pay to hear most people sing (that includes all the past Idol winners), but that kid is simply amazing. Let's leave religion out of it:)

This kid has amazing talent--and great to see a nice guy finishing first. I'm pretty critical person, but this guy brings fresh air the table.

Way to go, DAVID A.

His performance was absolutely stunning. He took the Beatles and brought them to a new generation. It is a testimony to his collosal potential as a superstar, and a testimony to the type of " song-shaped gifts" offered by the Beatles exemplified in this song that just keep on giving:

With his deft vocal skill and powerful passion, he did for this Beatles song what Alyssa Kaess did for this song about Beatles songs:

When I Heard you Sing
Alyssa Kaess
words and music by Dr BLT copyright 2008
http://www.drblt.net/music/yousing.mp3

His version of Imagine was THE best cover of Lennon's song ever sung. It was THE single best Idol performance to date (though that isn't saying much).

Attacking his Mormonism while missing the point of the song (which is "we're all in this together, join as one, live peacefully) is disgusting.

DAVID IS GONNA WIN THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!!HE'S GREAT AND THAT'S ALL I'M GONNA SAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HE'S ALSO GRORGOUS!!!

My thoughts as I was listening to David's rendition of the song was that he was putting John Lennon to shame. Wow! I've never heard this song sound any better. Way to go David! Don't let jealous souls destroy what you have going for you. They are obviously envious and try to cover it all with anger and ugliness. If anyone should be ashamed, it is the ones who spew venom your way without reservation. You made the right decision in choosing the verse that you did and many of us are so proud of you for having the insight in doing so. You are wise beyond your years. Keep up the good work.

I have to agree with Shawn, Justin, and Dee here...and Dan...don't musicians usually sing to strangers??? What's so creepy about that? The fact is, (regardless of race, religion, education, or age) David has musical talent! I don't watch television, but heard about this boys performance from several people and checked it out on You Tube. Touched Me!!! ;)

DAVID archuleta is my idol....
\judges...love him....
\pls....have a daily info about david archuleta and
ramielle malubay...

thanks....

I hope that Donny Osmond can have a few words with David Archuletas dad, cos if their from the same church, they need him to pull his head in or loose his son.
I think if he mucks this up for david, I think a certain judge should step in and take over his career hhhmmm hey Simon.