“He commands the stage,” said Dean Kaelin, a vocal coach who has worked with the teen American Idol sensation over the past six years. The coach adds that even when David Archuleta was 11 years old, he sang with a maturity beyond his years. “The thing that’s unique about David is his sense of musical styling and phrasing. The one thing that is hard to teach is the sense of the music, the feeling of the music and the rhythm,” Kaelin said. “It’s intuitive. Sort of like a sixth sense.” Others are saying that maybe talent is just in David Archuleta’s genes.

His father, Jeff Archuleta, plays the jazz trumpet while and Lupe, his Honduras-born mother, is a singer. Both have performed professionally and they’ve exposed their five kids to a wide range of music. Kaelin describes David Archuleta as a focused, hard-working musician who sets specific goals for technical growth and understands that songs are stories too. Out of the spotlight, Kaelin says Archie 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,” he concluded.