There’s nothing worse than to hear and watch a singer strain his/her voice. It’s actually physically painful for the listener. When I replayed Archuleta’s video, I understood what you meant. Fortunately, the boy has huge potential and we can only hope that he will be coached properly. It is scary to know that the wrong coaching can actually destroy someone’s future.

I agree 100% with what you’ve said. No question this is one of the best male sets AI has had. I further agree that Archuleta is the guy to beat. My only concern is can his voice hold up? As a recording engineer, I listen to voices just about daily (and not the ones in my head, well, most of the time) and I’m familiar with vocal chord strain and what it sounds like. Was I hearing things, or did he have that “airier than normal” sound on some of his notes? On one of the highest notes he hit (the word he was singing was “join”, he craned his neck, and was noticeably flat which is usually a sign of grabbing rather than releasing the note, but, holy cow, the kid’s a kid! How good will he be in 5 years? I just hope he is able to develop correctly without forming bad habits that hurt him later in the season and/or later in life.