17 years old

Hometown: Murray, UT

Musical Influences: Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin, Bryan Adams

?You'll never be lonely if you learn to befriend yourself.?

-From the American Idol website

David Archuleta's first exposure to the American Idol happened when he was only nine years old. On the first season of the famous singing competition, Archuleta was shown singing ?And I'm Telling You I'm not Going? to AI hopefuls. The video is everywhere on the Internet. It amazed those who were there to hear and enticed audiences to watch out for this budding performer. Almost eight years later, Archuleta auditioned for the American Idol himself.

His story

Most of the American Idol hopefuls come with their own stories to add to the drama of their joining the competition. For David Archuleta, it was his suffering from vocal paralysis, which caused him to nearly lose his singing voice. Fortunately he was able to overcome his condition long enough to impress the judges on his San Diego audition. His rendition of John Mayer's ?Waiting on the Road to Change? even got Randy joining him while he was singing. All three judges loved him enough to give him the go-signal to continue on to Hollywood where he is all set to prove everyone that he has everything that it takes to join the ranks of Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard and Jordin Sparks, all of whom made it to the top spot in previous seasons of the American Idol.

Profile

David Archuleta has been seeing since he was seven. He started performing in front of a live audience at age ten and his ?stint? at the AI season one was probably one of his first television appearances. He's had singing lessons since he was twelve and is currently into writing songs and improving his talent on the piano. His favorite artists include Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin, Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey.

Performances

David Archuleta has so far consistently impressed the American Idol judges because of his talent. For Hollywood Week, he sang ?Heaven? by Bryan Adams who happens to be one of his favorite artists. All three judges agreed that he has the potential. Not one negative word was heard. Even Simon was inclined to agree that he was an incredible performer.

The fact that he has such good looks didn't hurt either. A lot of fans are now rooting for this young singer, even going so far as forming fan sites and compiling all television appearances and posting them on the Internet. He has been considered a singing prodigy and is now out to prove that he's worthy of the title by trying out for the AI.

Apart from his ambition to make it big in the industry, David Archuleta is just your average teenager. He aims to finish school and attend college and make something out of himself somehow.

For the most part, Archuleta can well become one of the most interesting personalities in this season of the American Idol. People love him. He has the talent, the looks and the charisma to make it big. He's more than just a cute face and even Simon believes that there's more to this young man than meets the eye.