David Archuleta is Golden for American Idol Final Four

While David Cook seemed ready for bed and Syesha seemed ready for her close-up and Jason just seemed ready to go home, David Archuleta showed that he's ready for prime time. My misgivings about his youth aside, he brought his A-game last night. While not rocking it in the truest sense of the word, David A did deliver to two best performances of the night. Archie's of the world rejoice. Your man has pulled ahead. David A's first number "Stand By Me" by Ben E. Cook is a tried and true standard, so I wondered what Archuleta could bring to bear. While staying true to themelody, David brought soulful full bodied vocals that had Randy darn near gushing.

Admittedly. I was not a fan of David A'sNeil Diamond week performances but he more than made up for it this week. While he didn't convert me to an Archie, I wasn't mad at him either. His second song , was Elvis's "Love Me Tender". David A kicked it up a notch by bringing Elvis's timeless classic into the 21st century. With his lush soulful vocals and a softening of some of the more Elvis like parts of the song, he created a beautiful song that would work on Top 40 radio today. I never thought I'd hear myself say that someone was able to remake an Elvis song that I thought was acceptable. David took the challenge and delivered the goods. While I still find it a little hard to get past David A boyish looks and cute little kid wardrobe, I have admit that he was the best last night.

David A and Syesha's performances were tops for the night. It pains me to say that because I love me some David Cook, but he just wasn't on point tonight. There seemed to be more going on, last night, than just nerves. He was tight as a drum and looked about ready to fall over. Poor Jason Castro just seemed like he'd rather be anywhere other than on the idol stage. Both of his performances were lackluster at best and pitiful messes at worst. Perhaps he has discovered the Idol is just not his scene. Jason Castro fans, I beg of you; stop voting. Let the man go, he's obviously not happy. Syesha delivered what I believe were two of her better performances. Yes, the "Rollin' with the River" rendition was a little shrieky, but correct me, if I'm wrong but wasn't the original a little shrieky. It was also a copy performance but isn't that the whole point of covering Tina Turner, to try and out Tina, Tina. All and all, I thought she did a great job. Her second song, "A Change is Gonna Come" actually gave me goose bumps. I not only thought she sang it wonderfully, but she seemed to feel the emotion and motivation behind the song.

The final four performances overall could have been better but out of the group David Archuleta deserves to wear the crown for this round. Who is in danger of going home? If it's based on performance and not popularity Jason Castro should be gone. I'm not even trying to be mean. He is obviously out of his depth and so over the whole Idol thing.