Writers who follow American Idol are giving unsolicited (but heartfelt) analysis of AI’s current teen sensation. One writer pointed out, “Peaking this early could come back to haunt David Archuleta. People may tire of the ‘aw shucks’ thing, and his ‘prior experience’ might eventually turn people off … I read a few upset comments about how he ‘recycled’ his ‘Imagine’ performance from a local Utah talk show after a clip popped up on YouTube.” Michael Slezak, a senior writer for Entertainment Weekly who has become known for his American Idol coverage, agrees with the previous writer.

He says, “I think at this point calling David Archuleta the ‘early front-runner’ would be an understatement. He’s that cuddly, cute contestant that tweens and grandmas alike can get behind, and that’s a pretty powerful voting bloc. We’ve seen what … Kevin Covais did in the competition without being particularly great vocalists, just on the cute, teen merits alone, that I think this kid has that plus — what we’ve seen so far — a pretty good singing voice.” Mr. Slezak further added, “I don’t know if I’m ready to call it a great singing voice yet. It’s too early to hand him the competition, but on the other hand, if someone said bet all your money on one contestant to win, it would be David Archuleta.” WOW!!!