“Regardless of David Archuleta’s performance Tuesday night at Abravanel Hall, the tweens and teenagers in the audience would still have shrieked and squealed in delight every time the 18-year-old Murray pop singer sang a note.

Illustrating a talent for building a solid, thematic set, Archuleta then performed two songs that served as a transition between his opening set and his closing set of Christmas tunes. The highlight was when he was accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, singing a rendition of Sting’s “Fields of Gold” that changed the vocal melody to make the song his soulful own. It was then time for the main show to start…”

For the rest of the article: http://blogs.sltrib.com/burger/index.php

Ok This now is the real graficoartista. I was so delighted to be at the concert last night. I could not belive the excellent seats we had.
I wanted to comment on his song with his mother. More than that I want to comment on her teasing and playing with him on stage. Then the icing on the cake when they hugged and the full mom Loving embrace she gave him an buried her head in his shoulder. I sat there totally in tears. I could feel her love so strong. It reminded me of the embrace they had at his homecoming while still on AI. He was just so blown away and overwhelmed by all of the adoration that he needed to seek balance to the world that had suddenly spun just a bit to fast for him in that moment.
I those earlier pictures we clearly see David crying because of that experience.

Spin the world forward till last night when once again he and his mother sought balance in a very loving embrace.

He went on to sing Silent Night, and the standing ovation that brought him back for O Holy Night. There was a moment at the end of that song that he just stood there with his eyes closed in the most peaceful and serene pose. I could feel him literally doing mental embrace to the one he always gives praise to and the very reason that he did the Christmas Concert. I felt that he was offering a public silent prayer to his Savior Jesus Christ. He expressed so ardently his love for the Savior last night during the concert.

This was one very special and memorable evening for me and my friend LULU from North Carolina.

Hi, this is LULU writing from grafico.artista’s computer, I haven’t been on this website for a while and have missed the articles, I loved this one. The outcome of AI bothered me for quite some time because it was obvious that David was the best contestant they ever had–and he lost. And the show is so heavily publicized that anyone who doesn’t win is kind of overlooked by the media. The manipulation of the votes–providing they were ever honest in the first place–was also obvious. I think the producers of AI deliberately gave David a hard time because the competition was basically over after “Imagine,” yet the show still had to go on so a lot of controversy was cooked up in order to attract viewers and turn the stupid show into a soap opera. David knew he wasn’t going to win and he didn’t look too unhappy when he lost–he looked relieved! WE HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND THAT AMERICAN IDOL IS NOT A LEGITIMATE SINGING COMPETITION. IT’S A STUPID REALITY SHOW AND THE PRODUCERS CAN DO ANYTHING THEY WANT, INCLUDING MANIPULATING THE VOTES OR LYING ABOUT THE RESULTS. It doesn’t matter. What bothers me is the rest of the world is so slow to catch on to David Archuleta. But I believe that will come in time. There’s such a big deal made over not winning American Idol. WHO CARES? In the eternal scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is THE VOICE. And if it hadn’t been for David being on that show, we still wouldn’t know about him. David never needed to win–he just needed the exposure. And the producers knew that; they’d make money on him even if he lost. He was a sure thing from the beginning. But they kept him in because they knew that ratings would dip if he was voted off early and viewers would be suspicious. Let’s face it–in the end, it’s all about the money.

I see that pictures from the show last night at Abravnel Hall are already on TDC. It was a wonderful show! The VIP was not what I was expecting, us fortunate 150 people got to see him do a sound check and hear him sing two songs. One of them is new, called “The Riddle,” it sounds great! Then we went back upstairs and he came back up for a photo session (no autographs). There wasn’t a lot of time to be intimate with him but when you said a few words, you had his undivided attention. Dorothy and I stood on either side of him for a pic and I said to him how much his fans appreciate this opportunity just to see/talk with him for a few seconds, I forgot his response, something like “Oh, I don’t mind, I love my fans.” I told him I had flown all the way out from NC to attend the concert and his eyes got big and he said, “Really?” He couldn’t believe anyone would come so far (I think one fan came from Taiwan) but he’d be surprised how far most of us are willing to travel to see him.

To make a long story short, Dorthy and I missed Benton Paul, there was a 1/2 hour break, then David came on at 8 p.m. The audience went nuts, we had seats in the 3rd row, front and center. My mother’s camera that I had borrowed had dead batteries (discovered too late), Dorothy’s camera was giving her problems, my cell phone was about to die. The magic moment was coming and nothing to commemorate it with! I took what few pics I could, Dorothy managed to get her Nikon up and running. David dressed casually and sang songs from his 1st CD. That boy can move, he had everyone jumping. Then he changed into a casual suit and tie outfit and sang almost all the songs from his Christmas CD. Lupe, his mom, joined him for Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. That’s where David gets his voice from.

Great show, it was over too soon. I know David’s heart must be hurting this time of year because it will be the last Christmas his parents will be together (Christmas of 2005 was hard for me, as my hubby and I filed for divorce on the 23d of December) but maybe that vanishes for him when he’s on stage doing what he loves. He never lets anything get him down and keeps smiling! David’s grandfather, James Archuleta, was there last night to watch and he must have been so proud–2 sellout shows for his grandson. What a fine young man David is, so humble, so honest, so talented. I’m looking forward to reading his autobiography next year.

I have a busy day ahead and need to get going. HOPE YOUR HOLIDAY TOMORROW IS TERRIFIC!

Topic: The big surprise?

There were alot of wonderful surprises at the concert. First off, David was more talkative than I have ever seen him before. I think that speech at the women’s conference really helped him out. My favorite part was when he was remembering the other time he performed at Abravanel Hall. He said something along the lines of being a little kid and you could not get a single word out of him, and now tonight, you couldn’t get him to shut up. I liked that he mentioned he had taken a date, a double date he quickly added, to watch the Utah symphony perform.

His song choices of Fields of Gold and The Riddle were beautiful. So heartfelt and soulful, both performances just soared. I was not expecting Ava Maria or Riu Riu Chiu to be performed tonight and was delightfully surprised that they were part of the concert. Especially Ava Maria, when they brought in strings, Kurt Bestor to play the piano and the children’s choir, it was unbelievable. If “The Riddle” soared – then “Ava Maria” transcended to celestial heights. The audience was transfixed. I’m not kidding, there was no sound except for the performance. It was wonderful to experience that performance, and I wish that I could relive it again.

Of course, everyone now knows that the surprise David was happiest about was sharing the stage with his mom. Lupe looked gorgeous and sang beautifly. It seems to me that David wants to share the stage with the people he cares about. You could see the love & pride in David’s eyes, even from the 12th row. I know David has said how much he loves it on the stage. My guess is he wants his family & friends to experience that joy too.

I saw SB, but was never able to get to her. Hopefully, tomorrow night.