Early life
David Archuleta was born to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta's family moved to the Salt Lake Valley, to the city of Sandy, Utah, when Archuleta was six. He was raised in Murray, Utah after moving there when he was 6 years old.
Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.
Archuleta was inspired by watching both Tamyra Gray and Kelly Clarkson to "see what performing and really getting into a song was like" during the beginning weeks of the premiere season of American Idol. He later made his television debut, at eleven years old, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars alongside season one finalist A.J. Gil. Through A.J. Gil he was able to meet and sing for Gray who had sung the song on American Idol as well as Clarkson (that year's winner) and Justin Guarini (the runner up).
Musical influences
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.
On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. Like Elliot Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.
Star Search
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. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13".
Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, and received enthusiastic praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson. The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered. He limited his singing for specific occasions like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.
American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") with the help of idol judge, Randy Jackson, who sang the background "waiting" in the song. (at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium July 30 and July 31, 2007) He was 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" to unanimous praise) and because he was not yet 18, had to attend school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."
A Los Angeles Times article speculated why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine": because "of his religion (Mormonism), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'" Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13. During his first performance of Imagine on American Idol, when asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."
In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "In This Moment" and "Imagine." Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it," said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, both Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook appeared in separate but nearly identical commercials for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking a Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.
Imagine
David Archuleta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing for the world...
You... You may say I'm a dreamer
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Oh... You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
Take my hand and join us
And the world live, will live as one
The lyrics of David Archuleta's song Imagine are based on John Lennon's hit song of the same name. In this song, the singer is imagining a world where possessions do not matter, and there is no need for greed or hunger. He is dreaming of a society where people can live in peace and unity, and everyone works together for the greater good. This vision of a society is based on a brotherhood of man, where people share for the world and not just for themselves.
The chorus of the song expresses the singer's belief that his dream of a better world is not unique to him. He knows that there are others who also dream of such a society, and he hopes that someday these people will join together to make the dream a reality. The singer acknowledges that his dream may seem impossible to some, but he believes that with unity, it can be achieved.
One interesting fact about the song is that it was written by John Lennon in 1971, during a time of great social and political upheaval. The song was a call to action for people to come together and work towards peace and unity. Another interesting fact is that the song has been covered by many artists over the years, including Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, and Madonna.
Line by Line Meaning
Imagine no possessions
Picture a world where material objects aren't given importance and don't carry any meaning.
I wonder if you can
Is it possible for you to envision a scenario of a world devoid of materialism?
No need for greed or hunger
An occurrence where selfishness and poverty aren't present and everybody can lead a healthy life.
A brotherhood of man
A world where people come together instead of uniting against each other, ultimately a community based on togetherness.
Imagine all the people
Consider every person globally and regard their quality of life as valuable.
Sharing for the world...
Providing each other with support and items of necessity to aid the community.
You... You may say I'm a dreamer
Others may brand the individual as someone with unrealistic thoughts.
But I'm not the only one
However, there are other people who feel the same way and think likewise.
I hope someday you'll join us
The singer aspires that someday everyone will come together, and others will stand alongside them.
And the world will be as one
By gathering as one and working together, the world will work in tandem with one another.
Take my hand and join us
The invitation to combine forces and band together to strive for the same cause.
And the world live, will live as one
And ultimately as a result, the world will live together in harmony.
Contributed by Penelope V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Carlos Azahares
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
And no Hell below us
Above us only sky Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no country
It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one Imagine no posessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
Or Brotherhood of Man Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one
augustusx82
I remember being in a room full of people in Los Angeles at a house gathering and this was on just playing in the background. The entire room went silent when he started singing….. not a word was spoken until the song was over. Once the audience started cheering at the end all 30 people in the room started breathing again. This was in Hollywood..people who KNOW entrainment… till this day this is the greatest American idol performance we’ve ever seen…To see this live was an honor
Allan Peterson
Best singer!! He should have won first place.
JOHN ADLRIN OGA II
You know the guy who won was David Cook right?
Ashley Whelan
this performance never fails to leave me speechless. His voice is absolutely beautiful.
toweryman
I dont think anyone gives credit to the musicians in American Idol. They are incredible!
Randy R
Thanks David for your beautiful cover of an all time classic. Still moves me. Coming from a life time Beatles fan.
Nick R
After all these years I still believe this is one of the best versions of Imagine ever!
MixedNutsMs
So courageous to take on a John Lennon song, and what a fantastic job!
Edgar Cañalita
That song is easy to sang
MixedNutsMs
@Edgar Cañalita Like to see you sing it as well as David!