Where is the Realness? Where is the Magic?
Last night’s show of Idol in Vegas – featuring the guys who made the Top 40 vying for a Top 20 position – was all sorts of horrible. In yet another desperate bid to cram a bunch of awful-sounding male contestants to prop up their chances for a girl winner (and by translation, another potential “Kelly Clarkson” or “Carrie Underwood” to reach pop star status), American Idol proves once again how shortsighted they’ve always been in presenting potential music stars.
Ironically, I’m actually in agreement with the folks over at Vote for the Worst. Basically, VFTW claims, Idol will never get another female winner, and these crazy plans of theirs might really blow up in the faces of TPTB when they saddle themselves with a most inappropriate and completely unmarketable Idol winner.
Can’t you just see all the talented girl contestants voted off week after week while a Charlie Askew makes it to the finale? Oy veh!
And, this, ladies and gentlemen, is why David Archuleta must struggle against the Idol lable. When the most respected contestants are the female contestants, who back in the day could rise to victory but nowadays get taken out by the most mediocre cute boy that Idol voters fall head over heels for, is it any wonder why folks get distracted by David’s good looks and downplay his ginormous talent? Mistaking him for any number of mediocre Idol boys?
And yet, last night’s episode really reinforced something for me when it comes to David:
Lightning really, truly, DOESN’T STRIKE TWICE!
We will never get another David Archuleta (and even though poor, stammering Lazaro Arbos is trying really hard to channel my favorite Idol, he’s going to lose viewers like me pretty quickly if he keeps trying to copy David – by singing songs like “Angels” or “Bridge Over Troubled Water” – and fails to live up to the original).
Newsflash, my beautiful Stammerer: The art of being a great Side-Idol is to never imitate and live up to the Main Man in someone’s life. The art of the Side-Idol is to resonate oh-so-slightly with the original while daring to bring something new and different. I’m afraid, next week, Lazaro Arbos won’t fulfill the void.
But then, maybe that’s a good thing seeing as this will only make me miss David even more?! 😛
(By the way, I made up the word Side-Idol, seeing as we don’t have a male equivalent to the word “sidechick,” and while David is away, I was seriously going to consider the adorable Lazaro as my Idol “sidechick” until my FAVORITE! IDOL! EVER! returned in 2014!! How sexist are we as a society?)
Sigh. Still, I want some entertainment. I want some realness. I want some magic. Magic! Magic!
Re-watching David’s “Heaven” on this fifth anniversary week of “Hello Gorgeous” just reinforced for me how one-of-a-kind David’s talent really is, and how utterly and divinely magical and real I found him to be.
It’s amazing to me that, five years later, American Idol can’t even find someone that comes close to that moment.
No wonder I’ve often held the worldview of American Idol: The era BEFORE DAVID, the era AFTER DAVID.
Sadly, in this era of American Idol A.D., it’s just a real snoozer, a real disappointment, indeed a real “Vote for the Worst” contender.
If things continue this way, I just might have to finally give up this bad habit of being an Idol viewer.
At least this season has confirmed for me that David really did strike like lightning. You can’t package or bottle that kind of magic.
Which, I imagine, is why so many of us O.D.D. fans are still here … five whole long years later.
Posted on February 22, 2013, in American Idol. Bookmark the permalink. 45 Comments.
Soul Davidian 
hg. i have to agree with every word you said,
I too agree with your post, HG. There was no magic and most of the vocals were not good. I agree with VFTW that a girl wll not ever win again. They should have put through some better guys. There are so many that try out. There had to be better ones than those shown last night. They are really turning off viewers by doing this. I have only read comments on how disappointing the group of guys were last night. Ratings are really going to suffer if the group next week isn’t better. I don’t ever expect another David on Idol as he is one of a kind, but there are other talented singers out there that would be entertaining. The guys last night were not.
Love your post hg. I agree with every word of it. AI was awful last night and many that I work with did not like it either. “We will never get another David Archuleta” So true hg and well stated.
Hey, to all the Kelly Clarkson fans, Katie Couric is going to have her as a guest on her show due to the tweets following the show with Clive…Hhmn is should be entertaining,..She will soon be going down in Clive’s history! Haha, oh and cc halo…I will change that to big “torch”…
SB
Good to know that Kelly will be on Katie’s show. Thanks SB for the info.
Lol.
When?? that should be good SB!
Amen, HG! I felt just the same watching last night.
“Lightning really, truly, DOESN’T STRIKE TWICE!”
Amen. Really, really.
American Idol BD & AD. Pretty much sums it up for me. The only season of AI AD that held my interest at all was the one with Adam Lambert and…whichever mediocre idol boy won that year…can’t remember his name, but I did really like him, honest.
It was Kris Allen.
From the previous thread, Rae, TSwift allegedly wrote the song about Bob Lefsetz, not Clive Davis.
Re. female contestants on Idol, I think both Allison Iraheta and Jessica Sanchez are very talented. I don’t understand why their careers haven’t taken off in the U.S.
I agree with you about Allison and Jessica, desertrat. I don’t get why their careers have not take off either. The female winner of XFactor (Melanie) music career is not doing well and I don’t think that Cassadee from the Voice will do that great either. Time will tell with her but it is on to the next season with the Voice. It is too bad.
Thanks for the correction re Mean.
Don’t know if this is in the stream of consciousness that’s going here, but,
having listened to David’s “Heaven” (and yes it was heaven to listen and see) from AI,
I went on to watch videos from many of his Idol performances. Just WOW, I have now
risen to an even higher appreciation of that beautiful voice. I closed my eyes at times to just listen and not be distracted by his facial expressions. To think he was so very young at the time is incredible.
The reason David didn’t win over more people was because of his shy, sweet, stammering
responses before and after the songs, the way he reacted to being “judged”. It could make a person uncomfortable knowing he was being rather manipulated by the likes of Simon Cowell.
And maybe a lot of the idea of these competitions is being tough and snarky.
Anyway, I’ve surely been enjoying reliving some inspiring music and I want him back and I want to go to a concert NOW!
I think people liked his personality, but his style wasn’t what a lot of people liked. By the time he sang “With You”, he had already become so identified with ballads and oldies, no one was buying the young, contemporary pop. Plus I don’t think he had really mastered a hipper sound then.
“Crush” was young, but it was never that big a hit for him everywhere. I only heard it on the radio twice in Southern California, and if I didn’t already have an interest in him, I wouldn’t have taken notice.
That’s why I said he needs a great song in HG’s recent poll. People need to know he can sing the styles they like to listen to.
Ditto for me. Listened to Heven and surfed ytube for live performances. Angles in Newcastle, UK always makes me smile. Just love how the Brits respond to David singing one of their favorite songs. What a voice!!
AI has been a disappointment, but I think I’m spoiled.
How can Charlie Askew and the other clueless boys Nicki Minaj want to eat, cradle or have babies with compare to a young, yet classy David? I felt that a cultural shift in musicality is starting to emerge on the show. Randy in particular and Keith so some extent are trying to hang on to the good vocal aspect. Nicki however, is more interested in the performer aspect. She easily calls everyone a star, especially if they they are physically beautiful. The vocal does not seem important to her. Mariah to me adds nothing to the show. She acts more like a fan of the contestants than a judge to give helpful critiques.
As the parent of an Asperger’s kid, I fear that they’re setting Charlie up for a fall. Nobody really mentioned to him that his vocal was lacking, and he was encouraged to get more and more out there. I think people will vote for him in the next rounds, but I worry that he will start to be criticized a la what’s-his-name with the faux hawk–Sanjaya.
well said joymus! first i was sad when kevin(extremely gorgeous, sexy, and talented)was sent home and then pissed off when charlie was sent thru! nicki’s crazy
charlie has asperger’s?
Something similar. He calls it “Charlie Askew Syndrome”, but he’s very Asperger’s-like.
Amazon has a track listing for “No Matter How Far”. Only a couple of new songs, but I’m glad “Nothing Else Better to Do” is on there. I love that song.
Oh, and “Tell Me” was always one of my favorite “Forevermore” songs! Though a very sad song.
Yes, I really wanted “Nothing Else Better To Do” to be on it, so that makes me happy. It is mainly songs already released in Asia so I suppose that is why this album is not being released there. I’m anxious to hear the song “Heart Falls Out” that he wrote with Lady V. Of course I wish there were more new songs.
You MADE my evening with that news!!! I was hoping & praying NEBTD would be on the CD.
That IMO is such a strong, catchy and very kool and marketable song. A bit off the beat and path and showcases David’s voice also. And, yes a love song- but a light one.
Thanks for posting the track listing. “Nothing Else Better to Do” — YES! 😀
celebrating!!
LOVE love love this song. I hope it really is on the album. They need to give us an “official” tracklist. *puts on demanding fan hat* lol.
If the one on Amazon is correct, I have to say I’m surprised to see songs from Forevermore on there.
If the Amazon list isn’t official, I hope that Northern Lights will miraculously appear on the cd too.
I have to think the track list on Amazon is correct as someone had to give it to them. It is not like Amazon would have a fan wish list of songs. Since Forevermore was not released in the U.S. I’m not surprised that it is on the album. My guess before the track list came out was that most of the songs would be songs already released in Asia, and I was right.
Theoretically, yes. But why the typos if it’s official? “Don’t Runaway” and “I’ll Never Let Go”, which people are assuming is I’ll Never Go from Forevermore. As it is on Amazon, it does lend it more credibility than one just randomly circulating on twitter but it’s still a bit curious.
And I guess my surprise with the songs from Forevermore is that they’re OPM songs. Clearly that doesn’t preclude them from being enjoyed by people outside the Philippines, I just hadn’t thought they would be released here in the US. Tbh I was hoping for more unreleased tracks from the TOSOD era. But that’s just me as a selfish fan who wants more music I haven’t already been listening to for the past year lol.
Or maybe I’ll Never Let Go is a completely new song. Now THAT would be exciting. There was talk that he had recorded two originals when working on BEGIN but obviously only one was on there. Still hoping to hear that other one! If it’s not on this album, maybe a surprise for later in the year? A Christmas 2013 present?? ha.
That’s me, always thinking ahead :p
I just love Nothing Else Better To Do. The song has a great vibe to it. Thanks for posting it, rae. Didn’t David write this song with Eman?
Archuleta, Kiriakou, Merritt, and Robbins according to Wiki.
Thanks. I am starting to really look forward to hearing this CD. I hope that is going to be available at Walmart and some other outlets besides Amazon.
I read somewhere that Walmart is selling the cd online for $10.
That will be good for his cd sales if they are.
Ali, thanks for pointing out the typos in the cd listing. That’s unacceptable; I hope Kari has been notified.
Kari got tons of tweets today from fans asking her to verify if it was a correct track listing so I’m sure, if she was checking her twitter at all, that she has seen the listing. No official confirm or deny from her yet though. Maybe she is looking into fixing the typo(s) first?
I bet she’s the one who made the types. 😉
“typos” … not “types”. LOL, now I see how easy it is to make one. 😀
Hahahahaaaa. Yeah, typos are circling everywhere 😉
You’d think, if the listing were official, it would be coming to Amazon from eOne though. But I’m not sure how all that works. And Amazon is the only one showing a track list so far. I wish they’d put the album up as a preorder on iTunes. Totally ready for a snippet of Heart Falls Out. I know some people are snippet-free before album release but I’ve never been one for self denial.
I too wish there were more songs we haven’t heard yet, but I’m sure this album was made to give the U.S. fans the tracks that were released in Asia plus a couple unreleased tracks. I’m sure this was very inexpensive to make since most of the songs were already done and paid for when put on the Asian albums.
As far as typos go, they are everywhere. Not enough proof reading done. I’m sure it will be corrected eventually. I still believe it must be the track list except maybe the one song is I’ll Never Go”. I’m sure they will put up snippets at Amazon and iTunes eventually.
this is a nice article. i may not post a lot here but i lurk all the time, haha.
i have my personal side-idol too. His name is Mikha Angelo, a 15-year old local singer-musician and x-factor contestant that really-really reminds me of David. the giggles, the mannerism, demeanor, musical maturity and his smooth voice. he may be nowhere as amazing as David when it comes to singing and David’s technical skill might have far surpassed Mikha’s. But still, he makes me feel like David is not really away. enough to keep me sane.