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David Archuleta music biography continued...

family moved to Sandy, Utah when he was six and soon discovered a love for singing. 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, which 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. Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions at the San Diego tryouts - held at Qualcomm Stadium at the end of July 2007 - with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change." Archuleta sailed through Hollywood week with high praise from the judges and in late February, with a soulful rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine," judge Simon Cowell proclaimed that he was the contestant to beat. In mid-May, Archuleta was still a frontrunner, but was dogged by rumors that his father was engaging in stage-dad behavior, leading the producers of Idol to limit his Dad's behind-the-scenes access. Despite the controversy, Archuleta continued with strong performances. After Jason Castro's elimination, Archuleta made the coveted Top Three with rocker David Cook and blossoming diva Syesha Mercado. The finals saw a "Battle of the Davids" with Archuleta brilliantly singing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment" and "Imagine" Archuleta, however, was surprisingly bested by rocker Cook. Despite this, Archuleta's status as a teen idol was set.



In June 2008, Jive Records announced that Archuleta signed a recording contract and gave his debut album a November 2008 release date. The three songs he performed in the American Idol finale; "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "In This Moment", and "Imagine", became top-10 downloads on iTunes. He was a presenter with American Idol winner David Cook at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards in August 2008, where he also won the Teen Choice surfboard for "Most Fanatic Fans." Those fans will likely keep him at the top of the charts for years to come.