Archuleta Redeems Himself

This past week on American Idol, the geniuses that pick the themes for the week chose the Beatles. A bit repetitive since the contestants sang songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney the week before.

I beat up on David Archuleta's performance of "We Can Work It Out" and deservedly so. He forgot the lyrics, and it certainly wasn't his best performance. But Archuleta's second Beatles tune was pure redemption.  

Archuleta chose "The Long and Winding Road," my least favorite Beatles song, but his performance had me tapping my foot and bobbing my head. He didn't forget the lyrics this time and certainly made the song his own.

The judge's feedback was positive, with some positive criticism included. Randy Jackson told Archuleta that he could've taken more liberties with the song, by adding more runs.

Simon Cowell reminded Archuleta that, "last week was a complete mess," but added that "this week I thought you were amazing." "It is so important that you a) sell a song and b) that you remember a performance, and that was master class," Cowell added.

When Archuleta is "on" and gives a spectacular performance, it's easy to forget that he's only 17-years-old. I believe he's still a frontrunner to be the next American Idol, but there are some sleeper picks.

David Cook has been giving consistent performances and has been creating interesting arrangements. I do agree with Simon though, that his performances can become "predictable" and that his "element of surprise" is gone. The constant rocker image got in the way of Daughtry winning the prize of being the American Idol for Season 5, but he's gone on to sell millions of albums, making it seem like he actually won.

Syesha Mercado is my favorite female performer. Her rendition of "Yesterday" was amazing. Mercado sang with acoustic guitar and Paula Abdul commented on the "vulnerability" of her performance.

Cowell called it her "best performance so far" and told Mercado that she chose the best song for herself, and that performance will keep her in the competition for another week.