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.
REACHING OUT
David Archuleta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You mean everything to me
Don't have the strength to say
Give this heart of mine a chance
And maybe then you will see
That I'll do anything, do anything that you tell me
I'll be there, I'll be there, if you need me
Do you feel it to
Loving you is all I wanna do
I'm completely sure
I've never felt this way before
When I smile, you know that there is something more
Ohh
What must I do, so I can make you see
The light that shines in my eyes
You brighten up my day
You even help me find my way
I wish you're always by my side
And I cant stop, don't know how to stop thinking of you
I'll do anything, do anything to be near you
Reaching out to you
Do you feel it to
Loving you is all I wanna do
I'm completely sure
I've never felt this way before
When I smile, you know that there is something more
Something more
Reaching out to you
Do you feel it to
Loving you is all I wanna do
I'm completely sure
I've never felt this way before
Deep inside you know that there is something more
Deep inside you know that there is something more
The song Reaching Out by David Archuleta is about unrequited love and the frustration of not being able to express one’s true feelings. The opening line “What must I do to make you understand” sets the tone of the entire song. It is a plea to his beloved to see how much he loves her and how important she is to him. The repetition of “I’ll do anything, do anything that you tell me” is a testament to how far he is willing to go just to be with her. He is willing to do anything, even change himself or his life, just to make her happy. The chorus is an invitation for the beloved to reciprocate his feelings and to feel the same way about him. However, he knows that he can’t force someone to love him, so he reaches out and hopes for the best.
The song portrays the struggle of unrequited love and the vulnerability of putting oneself out there. The singer is almost desperate in his pursuit, and the lines “don’t know how to stop thinking of you” and “I wish you were always by my side” show how much he is infatuated by her. He is completely sure that he has never felt this way before, and he wants her to know that. The repetition of “when I smile, you know that there is something more” is a hint that there is something deeper than just friendship between them. In essence, the song Reaching Out by David Archuleta is about the yearning for someone who might never feel the same.
Line by Line Meaning
What must I do to make you understand
I am struggling to make you comprehend my feelings
You mean everything to me
You are the most important person in my life
Don't have the strength to say
I am too afraid to express myself
Give this heart of mine a chance
Consider opening your heart to me
And maybe then you will see
Perhaps you will finally understand
That I'll do anything, do anything that you tell me
I am willing to do anything for you
I'll be there, I'll be there, if you need me
I will always be there for you when you need me
Reaching out to you
I am making an effort to connect with you
Do you feel it to
Are you sensing the same connection?
Loving you is all I wanna do
My only desire is to love you
I'm completely sure
I have no doubt in my mind
I've never felt this way before
These emotions are new to me
When I smile, you know that there is something more
There is an underlying reason behind my smile
What must I do, so I can make you see
How can I make you realize
The light that shines in my eyes
The love that radiates from me
You brighten up my day
You bring joy to my life
You even help me find my way
You guide me through life's challenges
I wish you're always by my side
I want you to always be with me
And I cant stop, don't know how to stop thinking of you
I cannot get you out of my mind
Deep inside you know that there is something more
You have an innate awareness that there is more to our connection
Contributed by Sydney M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Marieleyyy ❤️
Nice song ❤
Dimitris Span
David
Our precious David
💖🌹