David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990 in Miami, Florida) is an American singer and “Top 20″ contestant, and amongst the top ten male vocalists, on American Idol’s seventh season as of February 2008. He is one of the youngest finalists on the show winning a spot in the top twenty at seventeen years old. At the age of 12, Archuleta won the Junior Singers competition on Star Search.

Overview
Archuleta started singing when he was seven because he was inspired by a “Les Miserables” 10th-anniversary video he was watching, “That musical is what started all of this.” He started performing for others when he was ten. He once suffered partial vocal paralysis but refrained from risky surgery and feels he has fully recovered.

Archuleta lives in Murray, Utah and is a student at Murray High School. If his bid to become the next American Idol fails he plans to continue school and keep singing. The only regular job he has had was over the summer of 2007 as a sound “techie” at a park amphitheater.

Musical influences
Archuleta’s mother is from Honduras and much of the music he listened to as a child was Hispanic-influenced; he also listened to jazz music from his dad’s collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and “soulful music”.

On his American Idol “Fast Facts” page he cites musical influences as: Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Brian Setzer. When asked to list his top pop artists he cites; Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Bruce Hornsby, Michael Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Brian Setzer and Kirk Franklin.

He also cites Tamyra Gray and Elliott Yamin as his favorite former American Idol contestants. Like Elliott, he has said he wants to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.

Star Search
In 2003, at the age of 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. On one episode, he sang against then 13-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who is also a “top 20″ semi-finalist on American Idol.

American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium - July 30 & July 31, 2007. He was still only sixteen during the Hollywood auditions and, along with other contestants not yet 18, will have to go to school (”doing schoolwork in the morning and then come onto the stage and then go back to the schoolwork”) while a part of American Idol’s seventh season.

Source: Wikipedia 

David Archuleta has been called “The Soul man from Utah,” the “Soul Midget King,” “Mini Motown Monster” and a singing prodigy. David’s natural “soulful” voice has captivated America through his performances on Jenny Jones and most recently as the junior singer grand prize winner of Star Search 2.

David Archuleta was born in Miami, Florida on December 28th 1990 and spent the first six years of his life in various cities in Florida. In February of 1997, David and his family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where he lives with his parents, his brother and 3 sisters and 2 cats. He comes from a musical family where his mother sings both Spanish and English pop music, and his dad is a jazz trumpet player. David began singing at the age of 6 when he memorized several songs from the Les Miserables 10th anniversary concert, complete with English and Cockney accents.

When he was 10 he participated in the Utah Talent Competition and although VERY reluctant to go perform in public, and feeling extremely nervous, he went onstage and sang “I Will Always Love You” and received a standing ovation. He has since been featured on Janny Jones, and the last several months have included performing 3 times on Star Search, being seen on CBS’ The Early Show. He is now in negotiations to record some new material and will be releasing a new CD soon.

Based on Boysoloist.com

Subjects at School: Science, Social Studies
Computer Games: Neopets, Zoo Tycoon, RollerCoaster Tycoon
TV Shows: Lizzie McGuire, STAR SEARCH, Sister Sister
Movies: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Actors: Robin Williams, Jim Carrey
Actresses: No favorite
Animated Characters: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck
Bands: Destiny’s Child
Singers: Natalie Cole, Céline Dion, Michael Jackson
Songs: And I’m Telling You, Who’s Loving You, Complicated
CDs: Avril Lavigne, Let Go
Sports Teams: Utah Jazz
Breakfast Foods: Cereal, French toast, pancakes
Fruits: Orange, banana, apple
Snack Foods: Orange, banana, apple
Candy Bars: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Drinks: Water, orange juice, Sprite

Source: Cbs.com