American Idol: David Archuletta Shines

Amazing David Archuletta Covers the King and Makes it Even Better

Tuesday night on American Idol, was amazing and, as usual, full of surprises. Rock and Roll "Hall of Fame" night it was. At least two of the performances did Rock and Roll proud.

David Archuleta covered one of Elvis Presley's best songs, "Love Me Tender". David did a fantastic job. Let's face it, staunch Elvis fans will never find any cover of the King's songs acceptable. I was stunned watching this 17 year old have the chutzpah to take on the King. David actually won over the judges, albeit possibly the luck of the draw, placement wise helped a bit. Normally taking on a singing legend is extremely difficult and most efforts fall short. Not Tuesday night as David's effort left many Idol viewers stunned that anyone could even come close to matching one of Elvis' best songs. The finals will be tough with a battle of David Cook the rocker and David Archuleta, the crooner facing off against each other. The choice of Love me Tender was brilliant for David who is not a rock singer. It kept him in the nights song base while allowing him to showcase his particular talents.

Now the question will be; Can Jason Castro's locks and fan base pull him through a disastrous night? Both of Jason's songs left a lot to be desired, with the normally fatal forgetting of lyrics in the second songs. The Bob Marley, first song, was pretty blasé, with only Jason's hair pulling of a decent cover of a Marley performance. The second song, a cover of Dylan's Tambourine Man was okay but, again, the lack of enthusiasm shines through Castro's performance more than anything else. Anyone that can wear their hair like Jason does obviously has thick skin, but his attitude comes off, to me, as if he just does not really care. I am sure that is not the case but I wish he would show a bit more interest and appreciation to his fans that have brought him this far.

Then we have Syesha Mercado. Her first song was a knockout and should be enough to pull her through to next week, but you never know. She should have reversed the order of the songs because the first was the most powerful. I hope her fan base came through for her on Tuesday night.