David James Archuleta became one of the youngest finalists on the seventh season of American Idol at age 16 by the finale that aired on May 2008. He was the runner-up on the show receiving a little less than half (44 %) of over 97 million votes. In August 2008 Archuleta released "Crush," the first single from his self-titled debut album David Archuleta and the highest-ranking debut single release of any American Idol contestant. The album was released in November 2008, and it debuted at the number-two spot on the Billboard 200 chart. Just two months later, it had already sold over 600,000 copies in the US.

 

David was born December 28, 1990 in Miami, Florida. His mother is a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras, and his father a jazz musician. Archuleta has four siblings. The family moved to Sandy, Utah when David was six. He currently lives in Murray, Utah. Archuleta claims that watching a Les Misérables video at age six inspired his singing career. At age 10, he did his first public performance singing “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton in the Utah Talent Competition. Archuleta’s influences include Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin, and Bryan Adams. Other favorite artists of his include Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Kirk Franklin, Robbie Williams, Elliott Yamin, and John Mayer. He likes to give pop selections a soulful twist.

 

In 2003, at age 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show where he met Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the top two finalists from American Idol's first season. For them, he sang a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls—which they praised, especially Kelly. Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions at the San Diego tryouts when he sang John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change." At the Hollywood round, he impressed the judges with Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." He played piano while singing "Crazy", "Another Day in Paradise," and "Angels." A Los Angeles Times article questioned why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine,” which includes the phrase “no religion too.” The author theorized that Archuleta avoided the line due to his Mormon faith. However, when Idol judge Randy Jackson asked why Archuleta didn't sing the first verse, he responded that the third verse was his favorite and has "a great message."

 

In the American Idol finale, many fans, Judge Simon Cowell, and even the night’s winner-to-be David Cook, felt Archuleta was sure to win. According to Cook, Archuleta “nailed” each song he sang that night--"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment," and "Imagine." In the final tally, Archuleta received a little less than half of the votes—44% to be exact. In the summer of 2008, Archuleta signed with Jive Records and released the album David Archuleta the following November. It immediately rose to the top of several charts.

 

In 2009, Archuleta was the opening act for teen pop star Demi Lovato along with touring the UK in support of the band McFly. In October 2009, he released the holiday album Christmas from the Heart, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Holiday charts and sold more than 200,000 copies. He followed that up with his third studio album The Other Side of Down in October 2010. The lead single “Something ‘Bout Love” reached the Top 50 in the Billboard singles chart.

 

MySpace: www.myspace.com/davidarchuleta
Official Website: www.DavidArchuleta.com