Real Salt Lake climbing a mountain with no end

It was a polished, composed, finished performance, drawing a roar of approval from the crowd at Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday night. Pop star David Archuleta was everything the people wanted, both before and after Real Salt Lake's 1-1 draw with Colorado.

The problem was what happened in the middle.

The game.

Oh, that.

After scoring in the 79th minute, RSL surrendered a goal nine minutes later, extending its winless streak to seven.

This season, RSL has mostly followed the lyrics of Archuleta's song called "Barriers":

This mountain we've been trying to climb

It's never ending

Just can't do nothing, gotta do something. . .

Do something indeed. Like, say, trade someone? Bring back 68-year-old soccer legend Pele? Put shrink-wrap around the opposing net?

"We're a long way from where we want to be," said RSL owner Dave Checketts.

It's been that kind of year for RSL, a season of missed chances, which has even caused coach Jason Kreis to wonder about his decisions. Real has scored just one goal on the road.

That's not a slump, it's a hibernation.

It would have helped a lot if the six goals Real scored in one game in April could have been spread out over a few weeks. Talk about spoiling your appetite by eating cake before dinner.

Many think say it's time for a shake-up. Club officials aren't being specific. Clearly, the team that surprised everyone late in 2008 hasn't made a dent in 2009.

Thanks to yellow card suspensions to midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales, it wasn't the same team on Saturday, to be sure. The game was a truncated version of the Rocky Mountain Cup matchup that usually happens. While RSL was lacking the aforementioned midfielders, Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni (remember the guy who got at odds with Checketts in 2006?) and Conor Casey were away with the U.S. National team.

A star-studded night?

Sure, if you count Archuleta.

You have to hand it to Real. It's doing what it can to attract an audience – and it did. A crowd of nearly 20,000 showed up. In the midst of its struggles, the club still managed to bring in teen heartthrob and Murray native Archuleta — which accounted for an inordinate number of star-struck teenage girls, who wouldn't know a header from head lice.

An hour before the game – and long before Archuleta appeared — you could hear girls squealing and calling "David!"

Come for the "Idol" worship, stay for the soccer.