David Archuleta's Back on Top with His Top 9 American Idol Performance 'Smokey Mountain Memories'

Despite the judges mixed reviews of David Archuleta over the past two weeks, they were all in agreement last night that he was back on top of his game. Top 9 week of Season 7 of American Idol brought in mentor and pop phenomenon Dolly Parton. With over 3000 songs and 111 number one singles, the Idol contestants had a vast song book to choose from. The competition started off shaky, but when David Archuleta stepped on the stage, he changed the whole tune of the show.

David performed 'Smokey Mountain Memories', a song about home and family, a song that Dolly Parton holds very dear to her heart. Throughout the competition, David's strong suit has been ballads. A few times he's tried to jazz up a song, but those performances always fell short of greatness. David's Top 9 performance had him returning to a ballad and was arguably one of his best; with his 'Imagine' performance being the only one to beat it out.

'Smokey Mountain Memories' has a soothing melody which David sung perfectly and, like all of David's other songs, it has a message. The 'Smokey Mountain Memories' message is about home and family and love. David is very smart for choosing songs with significant messages because they allow him to evoke emotion both out of the song and out of his audience. He sings with such conviction that we can see how emotionally involved he is in a song. It's an age old tool that continues to win over audiences.

The judges were very pleased to see that David was back on point in Top 9 week. As one of the most popular contestants on American Idol this season, his falters over the past few weeks didn't exactly hurt him but they succeed in taking some of the judge's confidence out of Archuleta. After his 'Smokey Mountain Memories' performance, you could see that the judges confidence returned and that they were overjoyed to see him back in the competition.

While no one questions the talent of David Archuleta, many often wonder exactly where he'd fit in in the music industry if he were to become the next American Idol. David is most definitely one of the front runners on the show this season, but there are many other Idol hopefuls that may have a better shot at winning because they fit more snugly into a musical niche. David Archuleta will definitely go far this season, but whether or not he'll make it to number one...that remains to be seen. In the mean time, it will be exciting to see how the competition unfolds.