Sasha Frere-Jones, the music critic for the New Yorker, offers this harsh (yet mostly accurate) assessment of American Idol favorite David Archuletta:
David Archuleta, a smooth-skinned man-child with a giant smile, a good voice, and a creepy inability to become displeased with himself … may lose to the dark horse David Cook, a slightly doughy twenty-five-year-old rock singer who sounds improbably assured, and seems smarter every week, as Archuleta’s woodland-creature routine feels increasingly forced.
I’ve never been a big fan of Archuleta’s style, but I can give the 17-year-old a lot of credit—he’s the most natural talent on the Idol stage.