American Idol runner- up David Archuleta signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/Jive Records and is expected to release his debut album later this year. Archuleta follows the footsteps of other Idol contenders such as Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, and Clay Aiken who have proved themselves successful — sometimes more than the winners of the AI season they competed in.

Although Archuleta was expected to win this season’s AI, David Cook stole the throne winning by about 12 million votes.

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Though many believed that David Cook was the better singer, there were doubts about him clinching the title after the reviews handed out by judges on their finale performances the other night. Still, it has been proven that the judges’ choice were never that big a factor in the finals. At the end of the day, the winner would be the one who got the majority of the audience, regardless of the judges’ opinions.

The final statistics were close. This year’s voting reached 97.5 million, beating the previous record by 23 million. Of total votes, Cook received a close 56%, beating the young Archuleta by a mere 6 percentage points. Apparently, Cook hoarded more of the other contenders’ followers than Archuleta. Moreover, it appears that bad publicity on Archuleta’s father may have affected the public’s preference. Tagged as the stage father from hell, Jeff Archuleta was banned from the AI backstage after disregarding producers’ mandate to keep the lyrics of David’s “Stand by Me” unchanged. Instead, he had David sing the song with Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls.” This had been the last straw after reports that he has consistently badgered producers, the band, vocal coaches, and even other contestants. Too bad for the the young Archuleta since he does have the talent and the charisma to make it even without his father shadowing every move he makes. Hopefully, the turn of events will serve as a lesson for the stage father.

Many believe, me included, that the better singer won. However, this is not for Archuleta’s lack of talent nor his incapacity to beat Cook.  Like any game or sport, triumph favors the experienced and weather-beaten player.  Someday, Archuleta will have his turn at the spotlight — that is, if his father learns to take the back seat and allow him to have faith in himself and stand on his own.

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As expected, the American Idol for the 7th season will be David. Question is David who? It is now down the wire as Syesha Mercado was eliminated with this year’s American Idol final showdown will be David versus David . . . better yet let’s just say it’s Cook versus Archuleta. No doubt fans of both contenders are battling it out as well trying to convince people that their man is the better singer.

They say that one is original while the other is adorable. It is undeniable that both have the makings of becoming a pop star. One sings heart-rending ballads, the other cool alternative rock. The clock is ticking before the curtains are raised and the final showdown begins. I can’t make a prediction — it is a close call. Cook has the experience while Archie is barely floating without his father. Meanwhile, Archie’s puppy face has girls screaming in frenzy while he serenades them with his love songs. I only have one wish — that fans will not make the difference when the voting begins. Rather, I hope those who objectively listen to both contenders be the deciding factor. Good luck David. May the best one win.

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And then there were three. As Simon predicted, Jason’s charming smile was not enough to save him from his mistake in Tuesday’s performance. Jason was voted off Wednesday, leaving David Archuleta, David Cook and Syesha to battle it out in the final stretch of the competition.

The 20-year old Castro started strong during the initial stages of American Idol 2008. However, his performances started to slide down the line and had been in the bottom 3 in some instances. Despite weak performances, he was able to hold on longer due to the fan base he has already earned. Apparently, Tuesday’s performance was his last when he forgot the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man.

I’m a bit disappointed because I was hoping that it would be the 3 guys who I have chosen as my favorites to be competing in the final stages. Jason shouldn’t worry though. Despite the loss, I believe he has the charisma and the talent to make it in the business. That smile of his will definitely bring him places. A little experience and about a year or two in maturity could make him the next pop idol.

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Jason Castro’s charm and cool dreadlocks were not enough to get him out of the fix when he forgot the lines to the second verse of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” last Tuesday.  Simon simply told him to pack his suitcase, anticipating that the 20-year old Texan would be the next one to be booted out of the competition.  Randy Jackson commented that he wasn’t “in the zone” while Paula remained kinder. Earlier that night, he rendered Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” and still received bad reviews from both Randy and Simon.

Castro is the third American Idol 2008 contestant this year to forget the lyrics to his song.  Earlier on, it was David Archuleta who fumbled with the lyrics to his Beatles song while Brooke White had the orchestra restart after forgetting the opening verse of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “You Must Love Me.”

With bad luck currently hounding the contestants and Paula’s recent blunder,  are these signs that the reign of American Idol has come to an end?

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It was the strangest night American Idol has ever had. Paula stole the show from the contenders when she dished out a serious blunder while giving her comments to Jason Castro in the first round. For the recent episode, the 5 contenders were made to perform 2 songs — 1 song per round for 2 rounds. Due to the limited time, the judges were made to comment on all the performances only after each round.

In the first round, Paula Abdul was looking at notes written on index cards (supposedly made while the performance was ongoing) so as not to consume too much time in delivering her opinion on all contestants. After the first round, she gave her first comment to Jason Castro on the first song. The blunder came when she followed up giving a comment on the second song which Jason has yet to sing, even ending it with saying that both songs made her feel like he was not fighting hard enough to stay on the top 4. The crowd was already laughing way before Randy tried to save the moment by telling Jason that both were for the first song only. Ryan Seacrest came in saying that she was seeing the future while Simon went ahead and gave his critique to cover up for the mistake.

Needless to say, Paula left people wondering whether she was on drugs or if the whole show was indeed scripted to influence the public. To me, she seemed drunk — actually, whenever I watch AI these days, she always seemed drunk. Maybe because of the time limit, producers let her make her notes in advance (or these were made for her) since it takes her too much time to give her critique. I guess the change in format confused her even more. Anyway, for those who didn’t get a chance to see it, check out the video below.

 

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Despite the blunder that Brooke White did in her latest performance, she was still saved. Unfortunately, Carly’s rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar was not good enough to get her the votes. Carly has been eliminated, leaving 5 contenders to battle it out in the last weeks of American Idol 2008.

As the competition gets tighter, performances are not getting any better. Even crowd-favorite David Archuleta got a thumbs down from Simon. On the other hand, David Cook’s rendition of Music of the Night still did not impress the overly-critical Simon. Paula’s comment that he had a “beautiful instrument” was funny though. Even with her meaningless blabber, I can’t help but wonder if she meant something else.

I’m still partial to the young Archuleta. He hasn’t performed anything spectacular lately. I can only hope that he has saved the best for last.

Tags: American Idol 2008,Carly Smithson,David Archuleta,David Cook,Paula,Simon
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