Friday afternoon I read an article about American Idol sweetheart David Archuleta and I couldn't agree more with it. I know, I know. In some of your eyes I've committed a sin worse than Saint Peter. In the past I have touted Archuleta as the next American Idol, called him America's most likable babysitter--I've even given him a super cute nickname. My admiration for The Arch came crashing down around me like a glittering disco ball of sadness Thursday afternoon at work. In an attempt to give each song on my iPod a fair chance I had it in shuffle mode. After some Ramones, a Pixies tune, and a song about letters from TMBG, David Archuleta's take on Stevie Wonder's version of The Beatles "We Can Work it Out" started. Now first of all, I did not add this song to my playlist to be ironic, but I also hadn't listened to it since I purchased it from iTunes. I remember at the time I thought it might not be that bad, but I am a man, so I can admit when I'm wrong, and, brother, let me tell you, I was horribly, terribly, wrongfully wrong. It sucks. It's like elevator muzak with vocal accompaniment--whiny vocal accompaniment at that. This spawned a moment of quiet reflection. For the past few weeks, The Arch's televised performances had left me empty, wondering, "Is that all there is?" Everyone, from morning radio DJs to my lovely wife, was saying the same thing: everything Archuleta sings sounds exactly the same. And it's true! The Arch finds a way to make every song he sings sound bland and uninspired. And it doesn't help that most of the songs he chooses are that way to begin with.
Ironically, Archuleta was what made me watch American Idol beyond the auditions this year. I'm a sucker for a sob story (and stories about fathers and sons--In the Name of the Father, beautiful film--check it out), and The Arch's tale of paralyzed vocal cords was one of the sobbiest (though there was that girl whose father died while she was on the way to her audition and the whiny douchebag who lived in his car). I thought he was likable, like a Boy Scout sent from heaven on a cloud of pixie dust and good feelings, and I honestly wanted to see what he was capable of. Now I know. Now I'm over it. It wasn't until Friday that I found an article that so beautifully expressed my own feelings. Leave it to the AV Club.
Now, I don't agree that the Arch will be the destroyer of the American Idol franchise because the show makes money and people love money (it's true--google it). I do believe that he has become the poster boy for the mediocrity that has been allowed on the Idol stage this season. It's the 12 year old girls and their sex-starved mothers who are keeping Little David around and it's the judges that keep filling our hearts with good feelings for the mildly-talented little imp. Don't be mad at the Arch though--he's just a sweet high-school boy who sings better than some and has a dad with enough free time who is motivated enough to catapult him to the top of the middle. We all know that if he wins this year he is less likely to have the career of say a Kelly Clarkson, and more likely to end up like this guy:
But, yeah, I'm over it.
But, yeah, I'm over it. 