Reader comments
Utahn David Archuleta has got what 'it' takes

Micahel Johns is 29. He says so in his introduction, which can be seen on Youtube.

Michael Johns is 29. Not 20.

If you watched American Idol this week then this article was really worthless and a waste of time. Sorry Carmen, I know you mean well. You just repeated what American Idol fans already know and heard. I would like to know more about the contestants themselves especially our local product David Archuleta.

Dadid Archuleta is amazing. I knew the first time I heard him sing he would make it huge. It was impossible that this guy would not be famous. He reminded me of Kenny Loggins and had incredible power and range in his voice that blew me away. I lived in his music trainers neighborhood which is why I knew who he was. The only reason why I own a TV is to watch sports. I cant stand reality TV or American Idol. But I am happy for David and hope his career is remembered 100% out of that show and in his own career as a star.

and guess what.... david archuleta and jason castro... latinos 100%... ha!

David performed at a company party during the last holiday season. Our comments at the time were "This kid needs exposure by competing on something like Americal Idol".

God Bless and best of life David

Not only can this kid sing, frankly, EVERYONE who has made it this far on "Idol" can sing, he has a great personality! Something about him is very appealing - and I hope he wins it all.

I didn't watch American Idol this week and found the article informative. Ever think that Carmen was writing for people like me?

As we have seen in years past on Idol, age does not matter. What matters is if a contestant can come out and dazzle audiences from the start and stay consistent from performance to performance. Simon was right on with his comments when he would say contestants were forgettable or had no relevance. Michael Johns is 29, and just to be fair Carmen, we did say goodbye to a 17 and an 18 year old last night, but good try on the commentary.

Dear Dutchman,

You're right. Carmen's article was a nice review of last weeks American Idol. Isn't that the point? For those AI fans (like myself) that weren't able to watch, it's nice to read Carmen's article and get a nice summary of what happened. I really like Carmen and the way she talkes about the performances and mixes in her own experiences and points of view. Great Job Carmen.

I love Carmen. She's such a sweetheart. I met her once and she is seriously so down to earth and so nice. I wish there were more entertainers like her out there.

David and Carmen should sing a duet or something. That would be way cool.

Loved the article Carmen. Keep em comin'.

Didn't watch American Idol this week? Too much church work? I thought the article was lazy. You can find this information on a zillion web sites. Best of luck to David. He seems like a nice kid but then again I don't know much about him.

I'm a big fan of David's, but did he sing best? I'd say no. I say Michael Johns gave the best performance this week and a VERY good one in the Hollywood round. In the end I think David's going to have to possibly struggle to beat him.

Don't get me wrong, I love David and want him to go as far as possible in this or even win it (that would be awesome!) but Michael Johns is going to be very hard to beat. That's my prediction/judgement thus far... we'll see if my opinion changes over the next few weeks (each should be around that long as they're both popular).

Another one for David to watch out for is that dreadlocks guy.

Oh, and I wasn't all that impressed with ANY of the female singers... none of them has inspired a desire in me to call in and make sure they don't get eliminated. All my votes are going to the 3 guys I've refered to in this post (giving a large bunch to David/the majority and a few votes each to the other two just to help them stay around).

Re: Bentley... oh please no, David and Carmen doing a duet would NOT be cool. Pair him up with someone else instead. I don't want her vibrato invading his song, that would ruin it for me.

Some advice to David Archuleta...

Besides being very talented & looking comfortable on stage, you seem like a very nice guy. You deserve to go far in this and I'd even like to see you win. But you really need to tone down the gosh/golly-gee/aw shucks behavior... take it down a few knotches. If it slightly bugged me (a fan of yours) I'm sure it is probably annoying many out there and it could start to hurt you if you keep acting like you did this week (mainly when the judges gave their response and Ryan Seacrest was talking to you).

Enthusiasm and honest surprise to comments is fine, but you should watch how you show it. I mean look at what Simon would often say to Melinda Doolittle last year, he kept telling her she didn't need to always looks so shocked etc. So I'm sure he'll eventually say something along the lines of what I've just said... don't give him that chance, make some changes now.

I know it's just you being you and that's great at home, but you're trying to win a national contest... find an alternate way to express your humility.

These articles are American Idol reviews. Carmen isn't able to interview the contestants. She simply comments on what she sees on the show and recaps it while trying to throw in a few things she knows from experience.

Also, anyone who is mentioning Carmen's vibrato obviously hasn't heard her sing post Idol, because its essentially gone. Her voice has matured immensely since the show.

David is the first real talented person from Utah to ever be on American idol.

Carmen, thanks for the nice review. Don't worry about the negative comments - they come with the territory. I used to write for the paper, and learned that some folks just don't agree with the topic of the day.

You know who you are, and you know where you've been, so keep up the good work. It's nice to have someone local who's had some success put their spin on these new kids.