American Idol: David Archuleta is the Next American Idol

David Archuleta is the epitome of what American Idol presents itself as the divining force of: the new face of American pop music. The next superstar. The next music icon. The next, well... American Idol. David Archuleta is 17, humble, handsomely cute in a sleepy-eyed kind of way, and one helluva singer.

The first time you hear David Archuleta sing, you know you are experiencing a unique event. His is not the calculating professionalism of some of his more experienced opponents, but a disarming hesitancy that disarms the audience before his smoky vocals control the air around him. He has a mastery of sound beyond his years, and, should he fail to reach the top spot on American Idol at season's end, he will certainly become a sensation.

Not that he isn't already.

Praise has followed most of his performances to date. Even from Simon Cowell. Archuleta's rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" for his Final Twenty song was one of the best this writer has ever heard. Simon Cowell told him he was the one to beat.

His version of Phil Collins' "Another Day In Paradise," his offering for the Final Sixteen, was powerful, but Simon told him he needed to do something exciting. So, attempting to step it up a bit, for his Final Twelve song, he sang the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out", stumbled over the lyrics and produced a sub-par performance. Luckily, so did most of his rivals -- produce sub-par performances, that is.

TV Guide's Power Rankings saw David Cook take the top spot that week, but the second week of Beatles songs, which the rest of the Top Eleven seemed to struggle with, gave Archuleta his chance to regain the number one position. In a seemingly effortless performance of "Long And Winding Road", Archuleta wowed the audience and the judges. He also took back the number one position in the Power Rankings.