Why David Archuleta Will Succeed..

David Archuleta is an American Idol is many people's eyes. Not an official one of course, but still a winner... Archuleta and Cook made American Idol's Seventh Season the best so far, and they both should be very proud of themselves. After the finale ended last night (5/21/08), many news stations interviewed both of the stars, but what was most special about those moments were the complements that were made by Archuleta to Cook. While all of the runner-ups handled their end of the road with class also, there was just something about the way Archuleta handled it.

When I was watching a few of the different stations that interviewed Mr. Archuleta, I was listening to what he was saying about Cook, and one of the things he said was that he expected Cook to win. While I would have thought otherwise, being the gentleman that David Archuleta is, he showed a lot of class saying that. Being the younger of the two, i'm sure that Archuleta looks up to Cook in many ways, so perhaps that statement he made was a large portion of him looking up to Cook.

Will it matter to Archuleta even though he didn't win American Idol? Will he still receive a record contract? Will we be hearing him on the radio? We'll surely be seeing him on tour this summer, while both of the Davids, along with the 8 other top constestants will be going from city to city around the USA on the Idols Live Tour of 2008. They will even be visiting the Prudential Center, which is about 10 minutes from my house! Maybe I'll buy tickets and head over there to check them out.

Will it matter to Archuleta even though he didn't win American Idol?
No. Not at all. David Archuleta is already a superstar, now all he needs is a record contract. Whether the offers have been coming in already, or they wait until after the tour is over, it might be smart for Archuleta to see how he does on the big stage. When we take a look at past Idol seasons, there have been contestants that have either made it to the final two, or ones that were voted off way before the finale. Many of these singers are doing well, and I can vouch for one of them. Chris Daughtry is not only doing well with his record sales, he is also hitting the live scene hard as well. Daughtry (the band) is performing with Bon Jovi, the legendary rock band from New Jersey, and he didn't win American Idol.

Rumors have stated that Season 2's winner "Ruben Studdard" and Season 5's winner "Taylor Hicks" both lost their record contracts. Hicks is now making an album on his own now, but even his first album wasn't a HUGE success, selling about 700,000 copies. Still not bad, but could have certainly been better seeing that Daughtry (who made it to the final four in 2006, but got voted off) sold over 2 million copies of his self-titled debut album.

The reason I bring up Chris Daughtry over others is simple. I believe before this season, Chris Daughtry was the strongest talent to not win American Idol. Actually seeing that he is doing so well, he is obviously more successful than Archuleta. Sure there are stars such as Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson who are certified superstars, but they jumped right into the music scene after they won American Idol. As for Underwood, her genre of music accepted her with open arms, and she is doing just dandy. Clarkson is a huge success in the pop scene, and we all know that because her music is heavily overplayed on the radio. Winners of American Idol CAN do well in the music industry, but non-winners can also do well, even better than contestants who have won the competition

So all in all, you definitely do not need to win this singing competition in order to become famous. Surely there are singers who made it to the top 10 who aren't as talented as others, but I assume there will be at least 2 or 3 singers out of this season's American Idol top 10 that will make it in the music industry. The others, well they will sing, just not on the highest level. We will see how they all do during the American Idols Live Tour of 2008, but I will be looking at Archuleta mainly.

Conclusion:
David Archuleta told news reporters that he is already looking forward to making an album, but he has to get through this tour first. The tour is a great way for people to see all of the contestants on the big stage, and contracts are given out left and right during this tour, only to people who do exceptionally well. We will be hearing Archuleta on the radio soon enough, and I know that he will be a huge success. Once we see him opening for a big act, we will know he is doing what he has always wanted to do... Perform and sing.