Think of Me
Archuleta showed off his musical sense, finding an unexpected groove in one of Webber’s semi-classical arias, “Think of Me.” Gliding into that downy-soft upper register, he made the song a secret mash-up with Babyface’s “The Loneliness.” Archie may be the show’s youngest prime competitor, but that’s not stopping him from being the most sophisticated.
–Ann Powers, L.A. Times
David’s rearrangement of a ‘diva song’ was the night’s most relevant performance. He was the only contestant smart enough to turn a Broadway tune into a contemporary song…
–Jim Cantiello, MTV
David is the smartest person on the show tonight, because he’s not doing a Broadway version of this song. He made this into a ballady-radio-friendly love song, which is completely amazing. This is the David performance I was waiting for all season.
–John Canstantino, Cinemablend
Archuleta picked “Think of Me” and beat Cook at his own game by completely reinventing the song…This round goes to Archuleta.
–Misha Davenport, Chicago Sun Times
For innovation, the man of the moment was front-runner David Archuleta.
–Hal Boedeker, Orlando Sentinal
David turns the song into a poppy love song and … he did it superbly. GRADE: A — I could imagine his version on the radio tomorrow.
–VoteForTheWorst.com
David Archuletta’s pitch-perfect, gorgeous version of “Think of Me” was, in my opinion, his best performance since “Imagine.”
–Entertainment Weekly
Did any of you happen to see American Idol last night? David Archuleta sang “Think of Me” (a conventionally poperatic female song) from Phantom of the Opera. His interpretation was a sexy smooth pop ballad and it was stunning. His performance was breathtaking.
–Emmy Rossum, “Christine” in the 2004 movie of “Phantom of the Opera” on her MySpace blog
When You Believe
David Archuleta … turned in a flawless rendition, one that felt warmer than the original Carey/Whitney Houston duet.
Howard Cohen, Miami Herald
David Archuleta channeled his own inner diva when he sang “When You Believe” and was the best of the night.
Misha Davenport, Chicago Sun-Times
Coach Carey suggested David Archuleta try his falsetto in his controlled yet thrilling “When You Believe,” setting the bar mighty high.
Lynn Underwood, Minneapolis Star Tribune
David sang “When You Believe,” and when he started, I couldn’t believe it. He looked older. Wearing leather pants and a t-shirt, I thought I was watching a 20 or 30-something-year-old. The vocals were amazing…
Ethan Morris, Film.com
David’s performance was rock solid. One of the areas David excels at, in my opinion, is really connecting to his music, and thereby connecting to his audience.
Tracy Leigh Ritts, blogcritics.org
Starting off the night and setting the bar high was David Archuleta, who downshifted the Mariah-Whitney Houston duet “When You Believe” into the feel-good ballad model that has become his signature.
Lia LoBello, Radar
3 Responses so far
beebee
April 26th, 2008
1 11:03 pm
I simply love that Emmy Rossum felt David’s interpretation of “Think of Me” was “stunning” and that his performance was “breathtaking”—and that she posted those feelings on her own myspace page! I was at a live chat with a family friend of the Archuleta’s and asked if he was aware of Emmy’s myspace post. He said David was aware of it and that he was “humbled”. It makes me so happy that he’s aware of that lovely, glowing review. Go DA!
highervibe
May 19th, 2008
2 3:44 am
Wow! Talk about some great press, check out all these raves from music industry people after this excellent Sunday, May 18, 2008 article:
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/266764/136/
I love this quote from David, speaking with his vocal coach after singing “Imagine”:
“I said, ‘Congratulations,’ and he said, ‘Thanks,’ ” Kaelin said. “And then I told him, ‘You know, it wasn’t really technically perfect. There’s a few things we should work on.’ But he said to me, ‘But my goal wasn’t to be technically perfect.’ And I said, ‘Oh really, well, what was your goal then?’ And he said, ‘I wanted everybody to feel the spirit when I sang.’ ”
Oh we felt it all right, David!
marylee
June 8th, 2008
3 9:59 am
…I adore the spirit within this person…So Special!!!