Speaking of David being himself, I think a lot of us got hooked on David at Top 24 when he did Shop Around (if not earlier at Heaven or Waiting On the World to Change) and we noticed how beyond Imagine, he never got back his free spirited enthusiastic demeanor. It was really fun to see him alll pumped raising his fist and turning around to the audience behind him and yelling “Yeah!”, it almost seemed uncharactistic of him seeing the David that followed (much shier, awkward, etc.) when in fact, that was completely characteristic of him. So deep inside, the whole rest of the AI season I was waiting for that side of David to resurface. After Imagine, it seemed like something had changed/shifted in him. This interview that Josie posted at Rickey.org explains a lot. And now with the Tour, I am sure he is not letting loose either because of the reasons others had raised, his concerns for the idols, etc. I think that spirited and more carefree side of him came out a lot within his performance of Shop Around and to this day, that one still remains one of my all time favorite, besides Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me (to name a few).

“There was this lady – probably in her 60’s – very well-dressed and in a nice car – who drove around the closest clump of parked cars with her windows down and “Crush” blaring. It was a riot. She just kept lapping these parked cars – I think she played “Crush” twice, then several other of David’s performances, and finally Jason’s “Daydream.” We were loving this lady. She kept such a straight face and just drove around and around like she was doing nothing unusual.”

The YouTube comments are fun, too! Silverfoxe FTW!!

“It was a good thing [his showstopping performance of DLTSGDOM was selected for him] because so many other songs didn’t work for me. It was hard to get songs cleared. I mean, there were like six songs I was trying to get cleared and then I ran out of time. So I had to do a song I had already done, unfortunately. I did “Imagine.” But it was good being able to do “Imagine” again. I think that is a great song.”

This, coupled with the snide remark Cook made of saying how he wasn’t “showing growth” by repeating a song he had already sung, which seemed to have been a set up response that Simon provided for him when he criticized his choice to not do a repeat performance, knowing David was on next to do a reprisal of “Imagine,” is why I absolutely cannot in good conscience watch that show next year.

I can only imagine, if David hadn’t been held back (either due to the “frontrunner” pressure or his limited song choices) how he would’ve blown us away many times over (maybe this is all for the best anyway, lest we all wound up on stretchers in emergency rooms! Ha ha) if he performed “just being himself” the way he said he was when he first sang “Imagine” and “DLTSGDOM.” Can you imagine if David wasn’t held back on the show? The way he’s starting to let himself go on the tour? The way he’s working through certain commercial pop limitations right now for the first album?

Oh boy! I get chills thinking of what he would do when he’s not holding back. World, get ready!

Anyway, the show is behind both David and us, and we can move forward to what could only be bigger and better things.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/08/18/0919214.php

I love this interview because it’s the first time I’ve seen in print how the expectations changed his feelings about performing on the show. Up to Imagine, he was enjoying himself, believing that no one was really watching him (silly boy!) but after that, when he started being called the “frontrunner” the pressure really increased. The interview also, once again, illustrates how unaware he still is of how many of us he’s touched and to what degree. He’s such an inspiration to me! His humility and grace are just stunning.

On another note… Caseydog, your timeline is priceless…a must for all DA fans! And Silverfoxe, the video of you cruising around had me rotfl… thanks to all for the streaming commentary on DA’s journey… what a gift for all of us! BTW, everyone should search for Rascal’s itunes review and respond to it so that we can get it bumped up…it’s got such substance to it…there are a few others as well, but being biased, I think Rascal’s is the best.