http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/arts/music/15jing.html?_r=3

David is love.

We have been rewarded. For all I have endured in my life, I know why I was chosen. Do you? Why are you one of the lucky ones? Why has this gift been given to you?

Beautifully said!

But after seeing David shine in these videos? I know he’ll be fine. I don’t need to check anymore to see how they compare in sales or in crowd reaction or in anything. Whatever happens to Cook and for Cook, ‘our’ David will be fine.

What a relief!

For anyone who likes the YouTube’s (HA!) here is a cool site that I use to rip them to MP3’s to put on my Zune player.

http://www.flvto.com/

I ordered my David cup yipee! Thanks Rascal and SF!

Abrra

This is what I get for hanging out all day and all night without checking online to see what’s the latest David news. I missed these incredible moments as they unfolded!

No worries…better late than never!

First, Kindredspirit, thank you, thank you for those profound words. I read your post after watching many of the videos, and putting your words in the context of what I had just witnessed (albeit via You Tube) made me cry.

And to some extent, I’m like Juliebug here: “whimper.”

I look at David with so much awe here and anticipate what it will be like seeing him LIVE.

So, these are my thoughts about David’s recent Hollywood performances.

If there is one word I would use to describe David, it would be: INTENSE.

When was the last time we watched a performer thrust his entire body into a performance when he sings? He delivers such an embodied performance, the way he uses his hands, his eyes, the way he places his hand over his gut when reaching for certain notes. It’s not just his voice, it’s everything.

KS, no wonder your body vibrated when in such close proximity with David. Just looking at him, it’s like he’s opening up his body -- surrendering it, using it as a vessel to be filled with a higher power —> love, music, power, spirit.

Simply breathtaking.

And his vocal wisdom, not even just vocal intelligence. David is already worthy to be placed among the pantheon of greats -- and I’m not talking Elvis or Michael Jackson. I’m talking VOCAL giants —> Billie Holiday, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, vocalists who just had a style all their own that so many others try to copy but could never live up to.

David already has his own style. I am by no meanings overpraising or deifying him. I’m recognizing that he’s got vocal wisdom that not many singers have.

So, let me contrast David with another American Idol contestant. During Season 5, another 17 year old by the name of Paris Bennet delivered what many still consider to be the best AI audition ever. She just threw down on two different songs -- one from the Dixie Chicks and a jazz classic. Her voice was phenomenal and the kind that God blesses you with (very much like David).

During the course of the competition, she went downhill. Not because her singing got worse: her vocals were still spot on. But it became instantly clear that she didn’t know what to do with such a beautiful voice. Her age and her eagerly bloated head indicated to me that she was too young to be thrust into the limelight and was simply immature without the vocal intelligence required when showcasing her lovely voice.

By contrast, David showcased his voice beautifully. Like Paris, he too is already blessed with a phenomenal voice (functioning on one vocal chord, I must again repeat here -- to remind us of the miracle that is David), but he knows what to do with it. God gives you a head start, the rest is up to you. And I’m absolutely just blown away that, at his age, with no pretensions, complete sincerity and humility, he brings it in every performance.

He knows just when to soften his tone, when to trumpet out a triumphant note, when to hit certain low and high notes, it’s just so incredible how he gets music and, specifically, how he gets what the power of song is.

I saw a movie last night featuring his idol, Tamyra Gray, and I’m just tickled that her “diva” style (read: soul style) singing introduced to an 11 year old David what it means to inject emotions and feelings into singing. I’m tickled because Tamyra has so much to learn from David quite honestly.

I believe Tamyra and other singers like her have gotten caught up in the performativity of soul singing -- they work hard at imitating the Arethas, the Billies, and the Whitneys. Young David recognized the style and imitated it in his early years. But, at 17, he’s not appropriating soul singing. He’s embodying it. He’s bending it to fit him and his worldview. His influences (Daddy’s jazz appreciation, Mommy’s Latin roots, the current pop music that he listens to) have given him a musical language, and like every promising young author, he gets that his job is to not imitate, but to draw from this deep well of influences and find your own voice.

And boy does he ever!

We are so blessed -- despite current economic woes and global insecurities -- to be living right now and experiencing the rise of a new kind of star.

So, I sit back and watch and listen with wonder. And know that God is real when I listen to someone like David sing.