From David To Kelly: An 'Idol' Frontrunner's Brush With Destiny
If you aren't yet familiar with magical Mormon munchkin David Archuleta, chances are you will be soon. Already dubbed the Chosen One by the LAT, the 17-year-old singing wunderkind seems as though he were literally fashioned out of plasticine by disconcertingly bedentured Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe, ready out-of-the-box for mass tween consumption. And while his aw-shucks humility has served him well thus far in the competition (his reaction to the judge's gushing and Ryan Seacrest's mild flirtation after his first performance was something akin to tickling a five-year-old mercilessly), Archuleta, in keeping with the theme of this year's vet-heavy Idol, is no stranger to high-stakes performing.
Besides winning Star Search 2.0's junior singing competition, Guanabee has unearthed this home video of Archuleta freezing the cast of the first season of Idol in their tracks with a showstopping rendition of Dreamgirls diva anthem "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." That's right: a pre-fame Kelly Clarkson, staring 7 years into the future, into the eyes of the pipsqueak prodigy frontrunner of the current Idol season. That's how the Chosen One rolls.