People: Young ‘Idol’ is hitting high gear
It was no secret that David Archuleta could sing – fellow students and teachers had heard him belt out holiday carols during Spanish class and an opera aria at a school arts festival.
But none of that was reason to believe the junior at Murray (Utah) High School would transform from a shy and impish 17-year-old to a fast-rising star on “American Idol.”
“He giggles every time you confront him,” says Archuleta’s 11th-grade English teacher, Chantel Thackarey. “I can’t believe how well he’s doing because he’s just so painfully shy.”
Week after week, he seems to out-sing the competition, winning the hearts – and votes – of viewers. “Idol” judge Paula Abdul has said Archuleta is “destined for superstardom.”
“He commands the stage,” says Dean Kaelin, a vocal coach who has worked with Archuleta over the past six years.
In spite of his obvious talents, Archuleta has kept a low profile on the Murray High campus. An A student with a quiet demeanor, he wasn’t among the school’s most popular kids, nor the star of school plays.
“I didn’t see it coming,” says student body president Adam Ward, who witnessed Archuleta’s Spanish class serenade in 2006. “He’s this little guy, and he just belted that music out. It was amazing. He’s a notch above.”
Kaelin recalls a similar reaction when an 11-year-old Archuleta first came to him for vocal training prior to appearing on the TV talent show “Star Search.” (He won the junior singer division in 2004.)
Even then, the boy with dark hair and piercing eyes sang with a maturity beyond his years, Kaelin says.
“The thing that’s unique about David is his sense of musical styling and phrasing,” he says. “The one thing that is hard to teach is the sense of the music, the feeling of the music and the rhythm. It’s intuitive. Sort of like a sixth sense.”
Acrhuleta’s father, Jeff, plays the jazz trumpet; and his Honduras-born mother, Lupe, is a singer. Both have performed professionally, and they’ve exposed their five kids to a wide range of music, Kaelin says.
David started singing at about age 7, stopping only to recover from a paralyzed vocal cord discovered about the same time puberty began to deepen his voice.
Kaelin calls him a genuinely nice kid whose family and faith keep him grounded.
“My personal belief is that he has no idea what a big deal he his,” Kaelin says.
Big deal, indeed. Archuleta’s soaring success has spawned dozens of fan sites on MySpace and Facebook – most seemingly from teenage girls – that wax about his heartthrob good looks and prognosticate about his being crowned the next “Idol.” A handful of young women have proposed marriage.
English teacher Thackarey says Archuleta, who’s embarrassed by compliments and always more interested in others, isn’t driven by some hope of fame.
“I can’t picture David saying ‘I want to be a rock star, I want to be famous,’ ” she says. “He’s more like, ‘I want to do music because I love it.’ He’s a follow-your-bliss kind of guy.”
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