American Idol Singing Sensation David Archuleta Update
Not everyone knew David Archuleta could sing. Not like America knows now.
On a parched June day in 2006 before the 17-year-old "American Idol" phenom became a household name, David and dozens of other teens were on their way home from an LDS Church youth conference in Martin's Cove, Wyo., when friends started pestering him to sing.
"He was being bashful. He said, 'No, I haven't warmed up,' " youth leader Julie Lundberg remembered. "They were giving him all kinds of crap. I said, 'They're not going to leave you alone until you sing.' "
David finally relented, grabbing a microphone from the bus driver, and his airy voice resounded through the static-filled intercom system. He sang Robbie Williams' hit song, "Angels," the same inspirational ballad he would later perform on "Idol."
"It was cool. It was dead silence on the bus," Lundberg said. "It's like they all went, 'Wow!' "
Two years later, David Archuleta is inching toward stardom. Since first stepping on the "American Idol" stage two months ago and stunning 25 million TV viewers with his interpretation of the 1961 Miracles' hit, "Shop Around," David has come to be viewed as the "Idol" contestant to beat.
With just five singers left, the Murray teenager known for his soft ballads and sweet, bubble-gum demeanor is virtually guaranteed to make the final two, likely with rocker David Cook, a raw power singer from Missouri and David Archuleta's polar opposite.
"Once he gets out there on stage, it's a whole other world," said friend Shantel Hansen, 17, a Murray High School junior. "He's doing it for the sole love of the music."
David has always been passionate about music, especially since the day his father Jeff Archuleta videotaped a PBS broadcast of "Les Miserables" in Florida and gave it to his kids to watch while they were unpacking in their new home in Utah .
David, who was 6 at the time, and his younger brother Daniel (David has three sisters and a brother) watched the video repeatedly to the point where David soon learned to sing the songs by heart, even mastering a cockney accent.
He comes by his talent honestly. Jeff is a jazz and Latin trumpet player who has performed at clubs such as Salt Lake City 's D.B. Cooper's. He also has performed with his wife Lupe, a pop/Latin singer and dancer from La Ceiba, Honduras .
The couple's second son was born in Miami , where he lived until his family moved to Utah in 1997. In Florida , Lupe would teach David songs on the piano such as "The Little Drummer Boy," and he would pick them up instantly. Though he briefly took piano lessons, his family and friends say David's ability is instinctual.
"He has an amazing grasp of styling and phrasing," said Dean Kaelin, David's vocal coach.
At 4 and 5 years old, David composed songs to accompany his dreams -- pieces he'd play on the piano. A growing obsession with musicals led him to master songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber from "Evita," and "Cats." He sang at church events and family get-togethers at 8 and 9 years old.
But what David had in talent and musical intuition, he lacked in confidence. Those close to him say he never thought he was a good enough singer -- that audiences wouldn't want to listen to his voice. And he certainly didn't feel comfortable singing in front of a crowd. "He's his own worst critic," said Brett Hales, a family friend.
Everything changed in 2001 when David was 10 and his mother signed him up for a state talent competition. It would be the first time he sang in a contest -- and the first in front of an audience of strangers.
Before stepping onto the Salt Palace Convention Center stage to sing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," David had an anxiety attack. Crying and reluctant to come out with only two minutes to spare, David and his father said a small prayer, and the boy regained his composure. He received a standing ovation and won first place, taking home $200 and a trophy.
But more importantly, he won the courage to sing in front of an audience. A year later, he discovered "American Idol."
The first season in 2002 captivated him, and he would pore over recorded episodes until he knew the songs by heart, especially Tamyra Gray's cover of "And I'm Telling You." Later that season, he met some of the contestants at a Hollywood hotel and sing that version to Kelly Clarkson, a moment captured on a now famous YouTube video.
He was only 12 when he competed on the CBS show "Star Search." David instantly charmed the judges.
"Listening to you is nirvana," country singer Naomi Judd, one of the show's judges, told him. "You're the real deal."
David won $100,000 on the show, money his family used to buy recording equipment as well as Florida property for David.
He competed a second time on "Star Search" in a "champions" round, but David developed paralysis in one of his vocal cords that made it difficult for him to sing week after week. He was eliminated just before the finals.
"The last half of 'Star Search,' we were doing everything we could to keep his voice together," said Kaelin, the vocal coach.
His family wanted him to take a break. "He said, 'I just want to go to school and just be the normal kid," Michael Lundberg, his Mormon bishop, remembered.
So that's what David did, spending summers Rollerblading through his neighborhood, occasionally stopping to sing if asked and gaining a reputation for being a good kid.
"One day he came to my door and asked if he could rake our leaves," neighbor Amy Goeckeritz said. "He knew I was pregnant and almost due, and he was raking away. I told him, 'Can, I pay you anything?' and he wouldn't even take a Popsicle. He came back at least two or three times. He didn't even ring the door bell. He just raked and swept." "Every Christmas he's come to our house to sing," added Sherry Madsen, David's former Sunday School teacher. "I learned that you never give David money. He just acted like it was a thrill for him to be asked. He spreads his love of music. That's what he wants."
Once he turned 16, the minimum age for "Idol," David tried out in San Diego last fall and got on the show.
These days, David -- who is living in an L.A. apartment with his father during the show's run -- fills each week with rehearsals, photo shoots, episode interviews, vocal exercises with Kaelin and working with his father on the week's musical arrangements.
"They don't have any time to do anything else," said friend Courtney Hales, 18, who visited David in L.A. "But he's doing really good. He doesn't think it's a competition. He's just there to sing and have fun."
David's rising stardom hasn't all been fun. Internet tabloids claimed in unsubstantiated reports that Jeff Archuleta had been so demanding that he pushed David to tears during one recording session.
In a "Today" show interview last week, Judd, the "Star Search" judge, pleaded with the father to "leave him alone," calling Jeff "the worst stage dad." She said guards once banned him to a security "box" during "Star Search."
But friends defend Jeff, calling him a caring father who never even met Judd.
"He doesn't know how they got that impression, but he's heartbroken about it," said Hales, the family friend.
"I was there for two of the tapings, and there was no guard 'box,' " Kaelin added. "Jeff and Lupe always sat with all of the parents."
So goes the life of a newly minted star.
David, meanwhile, keeps his eyes on the prize as "Idol" marches on to its season finale next month.
Observers say he is still unsure which direction his music will take, whether it be pop, adult contemporary, inspirational or straight to the adoring tween market. Hales said record executives already are "lined up" to sign David after the show ends.
Whether David will put his career on hold in just more than a year to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unknown.
"I truly believe it will be his choice," said Lundberg, David's Mormon bishop. "I know his desire to do it is strong. I believe he would want to do this."
Kaelin, however, believes David may forego the important miles tone for Mormon 19-year-olds, believing his "mission" is to move listeners with his music.
"I don't know if he realizes it, but he's on his mission now," Kaelin said. "People say how inspired they are by him. He's already serving."
Either way, friends and family hope the teen they acknowledge is somewhat naive will stay grounded. But no one's really worried.
David recently was in a recording studio with Kanye West and wanted to meet the rapper. West didn't see David as he walked by him, and the teen was too shy to bother him.
"I don't think he'll ever comprehend how big he is," Kaelin said. "Here he is on the biggest show, and David's still kind of star-struck. He has no idea that people think about him in the same light, and I don't think he ever will."
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