American Idol Review – David Archuleta and Jason Yeager teach us a lesson

Posted on 28. Feb, 2008 by Per Bristow in American Idol, Performance, Singing

Last week I was going to write about a great thing David Archuleta did to win the audience – a lesson we can all learn from. This week he did something else that was quite fascinating to watch. First, I must say that I am quite impressed with the guys this year. I feel as a group they are far better than the girls. Last year I felt the opposite. But anyway, let’s talk about the guys and especially what David Archuleta did…. 

After the contestants receive the judges’ critiques, they are always approached by Ryan Seacrest. He may ask them how they feel and how they reflect on the critique they were given, and many fall into the trap of actually responding. Many tend to squirm or become defensive.

When Archuleta, on the other hand, was asked how he felt, he gave a quick response but then immediately turned the attention to the audience. It maybe wasn’t a measured move, but a spontaneous moment of moving the attention away from himself to acknowledge the audience in gratitude. This spurred a warm reaction from the audience which spurred a new reaction in him and so on. It is this ability to bond with the audience with great empathy that makes you a great artist.

This week I am comparing two performances – Jason Yeager and David Archuleta The problem with Jason Yeager’s performance was that he was trying to be charming. He fell into the trap of singing a line then smiling, singing a line then flirting. Unfortunately, his behavior had nothing to do with the song or what the song was about. In short: he was acting. He was trying to come across as charming, but the result was that we didn’t feel it on a deep emotional level. It came across as somewhat cheesy or as Simon Cowell said “corny”.

On the other hand, when David Archuleta sang Imagine, he was completely engrossed in the song, the meaning of the lyrics, and how the text applies to all of us. He was aware of the audience and the camera but didn’t need to play to it. He barely smiled once, he barely looked into the camera, he didn’t try to come across as charismatic, yet that’s exactly what how he came across – he come across as extremely charismatic.

It was a prime example of the difference between acting and being – between trying to impress the audience compared to genuinely embracing the audience.

Notice that David Archuleta after the song once again turns his attention away from himself and onto the audience. Granted, he is getting overwhelming positive response, but he would probably do the same if he was harshly critiqued. Jason falls into the trap of analyzing himself and forgets about the audience as soon as the song is over.

Now, I should add that I think Jason Yeager is an exceptionally good singer. His rendition of Moon River last week was vocally quite masterful, yet the song choice and the performance didn’t deliver emotionally. Naturally, he felt he wanted to change things up this time with an upbeat song, but unfortunately, he got caught in the same trap of acting rather than being – of performing rather than connecting. I hope he gets another chance, but I’m afraid he might not.

Surprise of the evening: Chikezie! Wow, where did that come from? A new singer since last week in my opinion.