I've been a casual watcher of AI since the third season. I had favorites and liked to try and predict the finalists, but I was never actually moved to vote for anyone, nor did I follow the career of any of the contestants after the show was over. That is, until David.

Watching David's performances each week on AI was like opening a beautiful nested puzzle box. Every time one is opened, there is another even more beautiful and intricately carved one inside. Every week the anticipation of opening the next box grew!

There were several facets of his performances that were engrossing. Part of it was the way he projected his personality through the screen as if I were meeting him personally somehow. Part of it was the complex timbre of his voice and how he imbued the songs with so much expression, making each of them his own.

It all crescendoed for me during the top 6 performance when he sang Music of the Night. In that song, the Phantom is seducing Christine with the soaring beauty of his voice. As much as I already liked David, I wasn't expecting him to achieve that in his performance. When he did, I knew the sky wasn't even the limit!