Christmas Tour, Random Spaceyness and a New Vlog

The much-anticipated Christmas Tour has traveled to seven cities so far, and David is doing his level best to spread ArchuLove and Christmas spirit from coast to coast.

The tour kicked off in a big way in hometown Salt Lake City.  The elegant Abravanel Hall was the site for concerts on the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Special touches for the locals included a string section, a white-robed children’s choir and the surprise of mother Lupe joining him in a duet.

It was this mother-son duet of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas that made Perez Hilton spaz:

“This is so presh!”

Hilton invites us to “Watch the performance that makes us wanna hug our madre!!!”

The Salt Lake Tribune review on November 25^th declared that he gave a “rousing performance.”

Whether singing in English, Latin (as on “Ave Maria”) or French (as on Bestor’s galloping arrangement of “Pat-a-Pan”), Archuleta showed not only a command of the material but an ability to connect with the audience with self-deprecating humor and sheepish but endearing half-waves to the crowd, which nearly sold out the symphony hall.

What was most impressive about the concert was that Archuleta and his team relied not on slick, overly produced Christmas music that would dull the experience, but on a real string section and a lean, stripped-down soft-rock sound that shows an authenticity to the teen, who is turning into a man in front of our eyes.

The Ann Arbor show on the Friday after Thanksgiving was unique in that David sang with a full symphony orchestra.  He performed both his pop and his Christmas songs with the orchestra, including a slow version of Crush.

An articulate article by an 8^th grader was printed in MLive.com, Grand Rapids Entertainment.

After Archuleta sang a superb “Ave Maria,” I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house- including mine. When David sang “Ave Maria” it really reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the first place. Although David can belt out any pop song you throw at him, when he sings a slower, more traditional song while backed up by a symphony, you can’t help but have tingles sent up and down your spine.

The tour bus then moved on to California, where David apparently enjoyed the warm weather as well as enthusiastic crowds.  There were shows in Bakersfield, Santa Rosa and San Francisco.  The San Francisco Chronicle published a short Q&A before the SF show.  David gets zero radio play in the Bay Area, and there seemed to be a bit of a culture gap in the conversation.

Q: Are you already over this whole Christmas thing?

A: Christmas isn’t here yet.

Hip, cynical San Francisco meets non-ironic, tell-it-like-it-is David.  SPLAT!!

But there were some nuggets revealed in the interview.  His mother apparently is a big fan of Celine Dion and her songs are a big part of his Christmas memories.  Also, he had a dream about Bob Dylan.

Q: What was Dylan doing in your dream?

A: I think he was singing Christmas songs. I don’t really remember my dream. It was snowing and his Christmas music was going on. I don’t know why. I guess he was on the back of my mind yesterday. I should Tweet about that.

Then on to Anaheim, to finish off the California segment of the tour.  The Orange County Register had some kind words.

The last half of the night proved to be the most artistically satisfying, with the singer performing a song he co-wrote (“Melodies of Christmas”) as well as challenging classical material (notably “Ave Maria”) and numbers for which he sang in French (“Pat-a-Pan”) and Spanish (“Riu Riu Chiu”)….   Archuleta closed his show with a powerful and extended version of “O Holy Night” that served as another reminder of the power of his vocal ability.

Before David performed at a sold-out BYU-Idaho show on December 4th, he visited an assisted-living center and sang several Christmas songs, including I’ll Be Home For Christmas, to the delight of the seniors.  He then apparently insisted on shaking everyone’s hand.  What a sweet, sweet boy!

Random Spaceyness and a Vlog

A wrap-up of news is never complete without some tweets from David.

First up: dang it, no camera and something really weird to photograph!

I wish my camera battery wasn’t dead and that my charger wasn’t lost, because I’d take a picture of this GIGANTIC grape!  It’s huge!!

Second up: David twittered happily that there was an Archie ice cream truck right next to his bus and twitpic’d us the photo.

The ice cream truck here!  How ironic!

Oops, maybe David does understand irony.

He tweeted “Hi Murray.  Bye Murray.  lol” as the bus barreled through his hometown and sent us a vlog from the bus.  There was not much going on to report.  He was just hanging out on the bus, but he shares a cool view of Utah through the window.

Hi David.  Bye David.  lol!  Those who have been fortunate enough to see the tour are missing you already. Those who haven’t seen you yet, can’t wait!

(Thanks to Jennifer Barry for photos.)

~ davidfanLIZ

Geesh, is there ever a dull week in DavidLand?

Jim Contiello of MTV.com proved himself to be a major ArchuFan with a series of warmly appreciative videos and articles.  Last week MTV aired the infamous Christmas caroling incident.  This week there was an article and video about the third CD.

David talked about how he was enjoying the fact that the current song writing sessions are unhurried, without a deadline. This is a luxury he didn’t have with the first album.

“It’s exciting, I don’t know when it is coming out, and that’s kinda nice!”

“I like doing different sounding stuff…they’re David songs.”

He said that he doesn’t care about creating smash hits, but rather wants to have the stories more relatable to what HE wants to talk about.

“I think people will get to know me better with these songs.”

“You can tell it’s my story, and I like that…. It’s kinda like having a conversation with a friend.”

Sigh…  Does it get any better than this?

Blog

There was a new blog this week that mentioned his talk at the Utah Women’s Conference.  At the conference, he spoke for almost an hour in an endearing stream-of-consciousness style, and to top it all off, was coaxed into singing “O Holy Night.” Of course the whole thing was captured for posterity.  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 – including O Holy Night.

From his blog:

“So last Monday I spoke at the morning session for the Utah Women’s Conference. I was the speaker for the morning session, and Laura Bush was the speaker for the afternoon session. I was a little nervous to speak when I was trying to figure out what I should say, but the more I thought about it the more I surprisingly got excited to speak. I really had a great time getting to talk about what was on my mind and share it with all the ladies who came haha.”

An article in the Salt Lake City Tribune mentioned David’s appearance at the conference.

The blog also included the usual ArchuRandomness as he suddenly remembered that it was Halloween.

“Oh wait! Halloween is this weekend! If you guys have any cool costumes you should share! bwahahaha.”

CD reviews

Reviews for the Christmas CD continued to pour in, both favorable and tepid.

Favorable review from  Bring Da Beat Back:

“David begins Christmas From The Heart with several familiar tunes, but have no fear! I promise you he sings them not only in such a way that you’ll forget you were ever tired of them, but with such (how do you put his voice into words again?) next-to-Godliness that I simply cannot deny the fact that it is the best I’ve ever heard the songs sung.”

Oh yeah, this reviewer really gets our guy.

Tepid review from Salt Lake, the Magazine for Utah, 10/28/09

This reviewer lamented that the songs were sung in a “swoony way,” but would be good for the kids.

“The album is the perfect stocking stuffer for any American-Idol-loving, 12-year-old girl or mom.”

Ouch!

Rescheduled shows

David finished up the summer rescheduled shows in Manchester, Providence and Atlantic City and received a fab review from neonlimelight.com.  The term “minimalist” is great for David.  He’s not about flash and fluff, but about the Voice. Yeah, and he does it “so damn well.”

First up was Archuleta. Unfairly dubbed the opening act until several shows were abruptly postponed (Oh, Disney!), Archie made the most of his impressive 50-minute set. He’s a bit of a minimalist when it comes to showmanship — not a bad thing. He skips the flash and gimmicks many singers use to cover up their shortcomings and gets right to the meat of performing live — actually singing, and doing so damn well.

A Book?!?

And it looks like we will have a book to ooh and ahh over before too long.  Although the Amazon.com page says 244 pages, according to David it is still being written with a writer who is helping him gather his thoughts together. Weird that you can order it before it is finished being written!

David – the Voice, the Inspirational Speaker and now the Author!  It’s never dull in ArchuWorld haha!

It’s a long day at the office. You’re glancing at the clock and cannot wait for the day to end. And suddenly appearing at your door is David Archuleta, singing a Christmas carol!

That was the fortunate circumstance that befell more than one lucky employee at MTV, when David went caroling around the MTV offices with Jim Cantiello. As for one person in particular, Jeffrey… we all know that David personally singing “O Holy Night” a cappella is enough to make anybody ver clempt, but Jeffrey looked even more meshugenah than the typical person. He must be an Archie—you think?

Jim Cantiello had the pleasure of duetting with the Archster, and judging from his blog, he was similarly smitten:

They don’t come sweeter than David Archuleta. I know Paula Abdul got a lot of flack for saying she wanted to decapitate the boy and dangle his head from her rearview mirror (as a compliment), but after spending time with him this week I know exactly where Paula is coming from. By the end of our hour together, I was looking all over MTV for a hacksaw.

The reason for the caroling, of course, was to highlight the October 13 release of David’s second album, “Christmas from the Heart.” Fans have been clamoring since the beginning that David should release a Christmas album, and now they’ve gotten their wish. Reaction among fans has been rapturous: a remarkable 85 out of 87 people have given five stars out of five as of this writing.

But no report of the response to CFTH is complete without mentioning the infamous Rivallgate incident. When Ann Rivall, an undergraduate at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, published a “ho-ho-horrible” review, fan passion went unhinged. The article racked up 224 comments, ranging from articulate to saying “I HATE YOU! EVERYONE HATES YOU!” It even became a “teachable moment” for one professor’s media studies class. File this under the category “It seemed awful at the time, but in hindsight it was kind of funny.” Heck hath no fury like a fanbase scorned.

Despite having much less media buzz than Bob Dylan’s Christmas album released on the same date, CFTH sold nearly as many units (17,000) as Dylan’s (20,500). These are excellent sales, given how far we still are from the holiday season.

Nashville

David spent a week in Nashville, the Music City, where he had the chance to focus on writing and recording songs with Joy Williams (writer of Waiting for Yesterday) and other artists. David loved his time in Nashville and posted two video blogs, one while surrounded by pianos during a writing session and the other from the recording studio.

David opened up to Brian Mansfield in an excellent interview on Idol Chatter, in which David enthused about the Nashville music scene and about being able to write songs that reflected and expressed himself. It’s hard not to read it without feeling some Archuticipation:

Instead of saying, ‘We need to write a hit! Smash! That’s not good enough! It’s not catchy enough!’ they’re like, ‘Let’s just write and see what comes out.’ They really care about what I like and what makes me feel good.

It’s cool getting to talk about things I want to talk about. I feel like it’s me talking in these songs, and that’s what I really like about them. Even though I talk weird and stuff, I guess that’s what makes me the way I am. There’s more of my personality in these songs.

It sure is sounding like the second pop album will be much more a reflection of David than his first pop album, which was produced quickly while touring.

David tweeted about having a “good meeting” with Jeff Fenster, Senior VP of A&R (Artist and Repertoire) for the Zomba Label Group. This interview with Jeff Fenster reveals what a VP of A&R does. Given David’s good feeling about the meeting, this sounds most excellent.

David then flew to New York, where he did his promotional caroling with MTV. In an interview with ABC News Radio, he talked about the holiday season and the new album. Video of the interviews is on YouTube: Part One Part Two.

The Christmas Tour

Benton Paul

The dates to David’s Christmas tour were released, but puzzlingly did not include the Southern states. The tour will run from November 24 to December 20, and David buddy Benton Paul will be opening.

ILoveAllAccess.com is selling VIP packages for premium seating and the opportunity to meet David and hear a private pre-concert. The VIPs for Cleveland, Waukegan and Westbury sold out within hours. Fans are organizing meet-ups at this site and elsewhere.

And it looks like David is on a fitness binge, tweeting incessantly about healthy foods and exercising. Perhaps David loves how cardio improves his breathing? Or maybe he wants to train for running quickly from fans. (Cuz I run pretty fast after all.)

- ronaldsf

David Archuleta did a photo shoot with 1980s star Rick Springfield for an article on “Teen Idols Then and Now,” to appear in People’s special 35th anniversary issue. David had the distinct, um, experience of being accosted by a group of nine- to twelve-year-old girls. The promotional video took us behind the scenes and included yet another Archudorkable moment for the history books. After David sweetly said his mom was “awesome,” Rick Springfield tried to make a move on Jeffrey’s girl. What did David think? “It’s kind of awkward, I guess.” Oh David, always saying what you think. But keep doing it—it never fails to make us smile.

Speaking of smiles, David reveals that his stretchy cheeks are now back to normal. Not letting an “issued computer” get in the way of delivering us the good news, he records a video blog showing he is okay and that all is quiet on the dental front. This video also features new buddy and fellow musician Benton Paul. A Utah native and singer-songwriter who also prefers an acoustic vibe (check out one of his performances while opening for David in SLC in March), Benton was jamming with David around the time of said video. It should not surprise us if they should do some music together in the future—that is, so long as Benton can see past the unfortunate piano incident. It’s good to see that David has been having a good time while waiting for the poofiness of his mouth to B gone.

Speaking of mouths, one fan creepily told David “I reeeally like your mouth” as he travelled through Asia this spring. This disturbing fact was disclosed by David at 2:01 in a hilarious video interview. Not sure if this has already been posted, but it’s just so much fun to watch David describe weird fan encounters. And you all remember his interviewer, Yvette? That lucky girl who spent a whole day with David last spring and posted a long blog about it, noting that he was “completely made out of nothing but muscle”?

Speaking of muscle, David tweets that he has been following the P90X exercise program, in keeping with his favorite Twitter topics of music, food, and exercise. The P90X program promises a “ripped” body in 90 days! Not sure if David will stick to the regimen—he says he started it because he couldn’t be seen jogging while his cheeks were all poofed up and swollen—but oh dear, David seemed awfully happy to do P90X in his video blog. What might happen in 90 days? And are the fans ready?

David announces the Oct. 13th release of “Christmas from the Heart”

Speaking of (about) 90 days from now, we’re still a long time away from Christmas, but fans will be celebrating the holiday season early when David’s “Christmas from the Heart” is released next Tuesday, October 13th. The Salt Lake Tribune ran an excellent article interviewing David and Kurt Bestor, who arranged and produced some of the songs. The Tribune takes us inside the album production process:

Archuleta had changed in the year between recording his first album, which Bestor worked on briefly, and the new Christmas release. Before, the teen seemed bashful and reluctant to speak up. This time around, he was still polite but demanding of himself, evidenced by the five hours he invested in singing Bestor’s arrangement of “Ave Maria.” “He’s not happy unless it’s right,” Bestor said.

So exciting to see David asserting his artistic vision! “Christmas from the Heart” sounds like it will be awesome.

Speaking of “Christmas from the Heart,” Frogcooke came up with the idea of having a Twitter trending party on October 13, in order to get David’s album to the Twitter home page and promote the album. Kudos to The Most Fanatic Fans, who will do anything to help David, including doing an internet campaign together.

Speaking of working together, David is now in Nashville, Tennessee working with writers for his second pop album, currently scheduled for early next year. Oh David, you’re about to slay us with your Christmas album. And next year you plan to slay us again, just when we’re about to recover and complete our Archutherapy? Thanks a lot, David.

-Ronaldsf

After delivering a brilliant performance at the ALMA Awards and leaving his fans swirling in the “CELD Vortex,” and in a week during which his name was submitted to the Grammy Awards for seven categories including Best New Artist, David made sure to take us through every step of his oral surgery.

Twitter allows fans the privilege of becoming part of artists’ daily lives. And in this regard, as in nearly all things, David does not disappoint. The Twitter Saga of David’s Wisdom Teeth, albeit weeeird, was full of awesomeage.

How can we forget David’s nervous video blog right before the surgery?

Or the picture of David fully awake, mouth clamped open, during said procedure?

Or David’s own up-to-the-minute account?

1 down 3 to go.

I can’t fall asleep, and I look like a chipmunk. But there’s a cool lightning storm going on outside.

David’s teeth troubles (and eventual triumph) managed to be highlighted as one of the top Twitter stories of the week in a hilarious video on MTV.com.

David’s fans, maternal and paternal instincts activated, sent him well wishes and sympathies from around the globe which were compiled in a Get Well Video lovingly made by AnniefromtheEU.

Reunion

Those of who us who have been riding the David Train since AI7 were delighted this week to see him reunited with old friends (and former reality-show TV rivals) Michael Johns and Brooke White—as well as Benton Paul, who opened for David in Salt Lake City back in March—as their tour stopped through SLC.

With Brooke White singing at the piano and Michael Johns wearing a formal white dress shirt and black tie (in a fashion role reversal with David from the AI Tour days, when Michael was the muscled hottie in a tee and… um, have I said too much?), David made a surprising appearance on stage and joined them in singing “Let It Be” and then “Proud Mary.” It was great to see David being all smiles with old buddies while belting it out like a mofo.

In a “Road Report” to Popeater.com, Brooke White gave a great blow-by-blow account of the evening.

Grammy??!?!

It has already been said above, but it needs to be said again: “Grammy??!?!” AceShowBiz reports that David’s name has been submitted for a total of SEVEN categories: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (all 3 for “A Little Too Not Over You”), Best Short Film Music Video (“A Little Too Not Over You”), Best Pop Vocal Album, and Album of the Year!

Hopefully, David’s name will be chosen for the final lists of nominations, which will be announced on December 2. David getting nominated would be huge recognition of his amazing talent!

In Other ArchuNews…

Jennifer Barry posted a wonderful series of photo etchings and shared them with fans over at ArchuletaFanScene. They look like they would make great T-shirts (hint hint).

David’s former Jingle-Thingie-buddy Katy Perry, in light of the tragic effects of tropical storm Ondoy in the Philippines, is rescheduling her Manila concert to be a charity concert to raise money for Red Cross disaster relief. David will also perform at the concert, which is scheduled for November 14. Knowing the huge reception David got the last time he was in the Philippines, his participation will surely help the relief effort.

And anticipation builds for the release of David’s second studio album and first Christmas album: “Christmas from the Heart.” LatinaRoom.com reported that CFTH zoomed to the top of the Amazon holiday charts.

- Ronaldsf

Archudominación

David proved this week that his is a voice that can open the hearts of billions across the world. Beginning with his masterful rendition of “America the Beautiful” (one of his most daring reinterpretations to date) and ending with his sensuous, transcendent “Contigo en la Distancia,” David showed himself a musician whose art could transcend national borders and unify.

Because of the magnitude of these events and their importance in relation to each other, it made sense perhaps to focus on these two events:

America the Beautiful

David opened the women’s finals of the U.S. Open with a rendition of “America the Beautiful” that was “soaring” and “soulful,” in the words of Tina Molly Lang, a Yale School of Music grad. Even in the broadcast, you can see certain audience members being blown away by The Voice. Here is an excerpt from Lang’s great article:

[I]t would be unfair to pigeon-hole David Archuleta as a power balladeer. His vocal strengths also come from the versatility of his voice. He has a voice that suits classical, gospel, pop, or R&B. His interpretation of America the Beautiful had an interesting soulful R&B quality, yet it would have worked accompanied by an orchestra, a gospel choir, or a band.

Kizzi related her husband’s reaction to this performance. One could imagine the new groups of people who opened their eyes to David because of this performance:

Mr. Kizzi wasn’t able to watch the Women’s Single Final Sunday night. Early yesterday I was playing a YouTube recording through computer speakers of David’s performance and Mr. K stopped in his tracks, put his hand over his heart (he’s a Navy man – “Guam is Good”–Navy people get this) and had tears in his eyes. He had me play that last “A – MERRR – IC – K-A-A-A” over and over again.

Contigo en la Distancia

Thanks to r2rod2 for these high-quality videos!

David was simply masterful. He showed himself to be one of the world’s most important and powerful musicians, at the ripe young age of 18. Much has been said about this historic performance—and very well—elsewhere, and so there is not much else to do here but to thank the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) for having the faith in David to award him the Best Year in Music award and to showcase him in their awards ceremony.

It is difficult to grasp the wide impact that “Contigo en la Distancia” will have, but it is clear that David has won whole new groups of fans. At MJ’s Big Blog, where anti-Archie sentiment once ruled, the reaction was near-universal praise.

And, perhaps more importantly, David has gotten a big reaction in the Spanish-speaking world. One Spanish-language entertainment blog, Celestrellas, posted a poll asking people what their favorite performance of the night was, inexplicably not including David! The response was swift and condemnatory: who could you leave out the most memorable moment of the night? The authors changed their poll, and needless to say that David clobbered the poll. Still, the comments section is still replete with universal praise:

David Archuleta fue el mejor cantante de todo el show. Quiero ir a su concierto ahora!!!
(David Archuleta was the best singer of the whole show. I want to go to his concert now!)

Lo mejor de los premios ALMA: DAVID ARCHULETA!!! BRAVO DAVID!!! BRAVISISMO!!!

Hermoso, único, exquisito talento; su voz es sublime! WOW! la voz mas bella que he escuchado. Que elegante se veía; su sonrisa ilumina al mundo entero. David es un gran orgullo para todos los latinos en EEUU y el resto del mundo.

Espero que muy pronto grabe un disco en español. No hay duda que David Archuleta tiene un gran y exitoso futuro en la música y en lo que se proponga.

(The best of the ALMA Awards: DAVID ARCHULETA!!! BRAVO DAVID!!! BRAVISIMO!

Beautiful, unique, exquisitely talented; his voice is sublime! WOW! The most beautiful voice I have heard. He looked so elegant; his smile lights up the entire world. David is the pride of all Latinos in the United States and the rest of the world.

I’m waiting for him to record an album in Spanish soon. I have no doubt that David Archuleta has a great and successful future in music in whatever he chooses.)

One can only imagine the impact this performance is having to Spanish native speakers. Many are hearing David’s soul speak to them directly for the first time, without the language barrier getting in the way.

And there are now 2 great videos with subtitles on YouTube made by billandsherri and itsnancyer, that help us English speakers grasp the full beauty of this song as well.

The first video is by billandsherri. The second video, by itsnancyer, is below.

¡Que viva la Archudominación!

Final summer concert, studio recording, ALMA Rising Star, a trip to Alaska and a vlog!

Last Friday night’s concert in Hershey, PA, marked the final concert of the summer tour…sort of. And due to impending storms, the Hershey concert was cut short….but who cares, because David gave an energetic performance and rocked the house. Final concert antics accompanied Zero Gravity and Crush as cast and crew jumped and cavorted on stage and Mike, Dave and Jerry were “treated” to a little whipped cream. (thanks to muldur99 for the videos)

There’s Archulove everywhere – see this PennLive Review:

Opener and “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta knows his strengths and sticks to them. He has a deep, rich, resonant voice well beyond his years and a lovely, soaring falsetto, all displayed on tracks like “My Hand,” the acoustic “Somebody Out There,” the spry “Works For Me,” and the bouncy “Little Too Not Over You.”

His material might be a little lightweight, but it suits him, as did, surprisingly, the almost Europop flavor of his standout track “Zero Gravity,” a tune that would be a sure dance-floor hit. He wrapped with his big hit “Crush,” a track that really worked his falsetto effectively.

After canceling the Atlantic City, Providence and Manchester concerts, Demi Lovato’s tour dates were rescheduled for October 30^th, 31^st and November 1^st, and of course, David had to follow suit.

Fans scrambled to make new plans and David went into the studio to work on his Christmas CD, available for pre-order on Amazon. David sure seems to have enjoyed the recording time as evidenced by this tweet:

“I’m siingin’ in the booth, I’m siingin’ in the booth, what a marvelous feeling I’m haaappy agaain!”

The internet was abuzz this week with the news that David will be a guest performer and is being honored as a Rising Star by the The ALMA awards. CNBC posted this (now, come on, you can spell his name correctly can’t you?):

LOS ANGELES – The stars of “Ugly Betty” and “Wizards of Waverly Place” will be among those lauded at next month’s ALMA Awards, which celebrate Latino achievement in entertainment.

Honorees in film, TV, music, sports and behind-the-scenes categories will be feted at the Performers will include David Archuelta, Nelly Furtado, Selena Gomez, Sean Kingston, Pitbull and Luis Fonsi. Adam Rodriguez, Benjamin Bratt, Michelle Rodriguez, Oscar Nunez and Rey Mysterio are among the show’s presenters.

And from topplaylist:

David Archuleta: Everyone’s Crush

Let’s talk about David Archuleta– American Idol, with 5 Teen Choice Awards, the Forbes’ breakthrough artist, with top-selling album, hit singles, fanatic fans and irresistible charm. With so much success, who wouldn’t want to be David? or at least have his charm?

David flew to Alaska on Thursday for an appearance at the Alaska State Fair.  Nice promotion, too!

With a second-place American Idol title, a successful debut album and a full tour schedule under his belt, 18-year-old David Archuleta is already being hailed as a young musical prodigy and a genuine pop star. A performance on The Jenny Jones Show, followed by appearances on two seasons of “Star Search,” and successful treatment for vocal paralysis, preceded Archuleta’s impressive musical debut on the seventh season of American Idol. With the support of the judges, and love from America, Archuleta made it into the spectacular season finale, where he took the runner-up position.

The show’s finale marked just the beginning of what is sure to be a long and successful career for the talented teen, who has since signed with 19 Recordings/Jive Records, released his first album, and had three songs debut simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. His self-titled debut featured his first single, “Crush,” as well as the popular tunes “Touch My Hand” and “A Little Too Not Over You.”

Archuleta, who performed across the country as part of the American Idol tour last year, is currently touring in the U.S., as well as in the United Kingdom. This summer, Archuleta will also join Demi Lovato on her summer tour 2009.

Once David arrived in Alaska and had fielded questions about whether he was there for the fishing, he recorded a vlog and then struggled to get a decent internet connection to upload it to Youtube. He finally found a good connection sitting outside someone else’s hotel room door.

Hello!  Greetings from Alaska. I’m in Alaska!

And just for fun, here is what is posted on the Idol Live Poll of the Week

After fourteen weeks of competition, IDOL LIVE’s annual poll of the week champion series edition has come to a close, with David Archuleta taking the top spot following a two-week voting period finale that consisted of a whopping 10 alums from the series’ seventh season.

As expected, Arch took the cake with 11,595 votes, reeling in 64% of the total votes cast. Arch’s only real competition was David Cook, who netted 6,257 votes, or 34% of all votes.

And finally, there has been a spate of new members of the ODD club this week. Welcome to TDC and as Rascal says, “Another one bites the dust.”

Allergies and a New Vlog

David struggled with losing his voice and then suffered a severe bout of allergies.  He was on voice rest for several days, but was able to continue to perform through it all.  He celebrated the return of his voice with a new vlog.  He rambles on about how good it is to have his buddy Ashlee with him.  He describes how they got to be friends by singing together. He even stops the video at one point and tries to find Ashlee to include her in the video, but she is off giving massages. Dang it!

Tour Wind Up and Reviews

The summer tour continued with venues in Moline, Omaha, Grand Rapids and Clarkston.  Didn’t get to Grand Rapids?  Want to experience the whole thing?  Click here and select “Play all videos.”  That emilyluarchie has done it again!

The Moline concert got a generally good review, but the writer couldn’t give David a break for being sick. In referencing Demi and David, he wrote:

They each represent two of the biggest pop music factories of the decade – the Disney Channel and “American Idol.” …His stage banter needed some work: It included “Any of you ever struggle with allergies?” after needing a water break.

On the other hand, the review at the Grand Rapids Press revealed a writer who was obviously smitten.  At Mlive.com, she wrote:

His voice is fantastic, a lustrous tenor with an unaffected shot of the blues, and he has a way of performing that draws people in, belying his tender age.

It was even better than Daughtry’s early solo shows, at least the one that I saw in Muskegon about a year after he was on “Idol.” I’ll get flack for this, but last night’s show was beefier, tighter, and more professional than that dismal night a few years back.

Ashlee Jensen turned 19 while still on tour with David and she got a brief, on-stage rendition of Happy Birthday from her bff.

Christmas Album News

At last we have a title and a release date for the Christmas album. Christmas From the Heart will be released October 13, 2009.  Even without any cover art and its release date still two months away, this album jumped to #11 on the day of announcement on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases in Music.”

Frustration and Controversy, Final Shows

Devastating news was released on Wednesday, August 19th.  Demi Lovato was canceling the last three shows and thousands of fans cried out in despair.  For many, these final shows had been anticipated for months and there was disappointment, frustration, and even anger over why a sold-out show at a huge arena like the one in Atlantic City could be cancelled a few days before the date for any reasons other than medical or weather emergencies.

To add insult to injury, there was no clear explanation beyond “scheduling conflicts,” and worse yet, no expression of sympathy for the disappointments and inconveniences suffered by thousands by either Demi or David. The surprising silence led many to speculate that Disney had in fact instructed the artists to avoid comment.

Controversy ensued across the fan base over whether or not David should have said something – or did he? – despite the speculated “gag order.”

Fairfax, Virginia and Hershey, Pennsylvania turned out to be the final shows of the summer tour, with the canceled shows being rescheduled for October.

Teen Choice Awards Archudomination & OMGAshlee!

David certainly made the news this week with his three Teen Choice Awards. From Latina.com:

A Heartthrob in the Making: David Archuleta Scores
David Archuleta may not have won season seven of American Idol, but that hasn’t affected his potential as teen idol. The fresh-faced 18-year-old, who released his self-titled debut album late last year, got some love from his young fans at last night’s 11th annual Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

He nabbed trophies for Breakout Artist (beating out David Cook); Best Love Song (“Crush”) and Music Tour (along with Demi Lovato). Paula Abdul must be proud: The former Idol judge once told the singer, “I want to squish you! Squish your head off and dangle you from my rearview mirror”-she meant it in a good way, in case you’re wondering.”

Aceshowbiz also reported on David’s wins:

David Archuleta won big at the 11th Annual Teen Choice Awards.  The winner of “American Idol” season seven who didn’t attend the event brought home three surfboards in music field, dominating the music winners list.

David’s single “Crush” was named Choice Music Love Song, beating Beyonce Knowles’ “Halo”, Jonas Brothers’ “Lovebug”, Jesse McCartney’s “How Do You Sleep?” and Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”. Another prize, Choice Music Tour, was gained by David from his joint tour with Demi Lovato.

Completing his triple victories, David got Choice Music Breakout Artist. He won the title after facing off such heavy contenders as David Cook, Kid Cudi, Lady GaGa and Asher Roth.

And  examiner.com made an interesting comment about the relative succes of AI runners-up – something we fans are already well aware of:

Move over, winners. It is clear that, at least for teens, American Idol runner ups are much more interesting. In last night’s Teen Choice Awards, Adam Lambert beat Kris Allen and won the surfboard for Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star. He did not win the award for Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon: Male, which went to the Jonas Brothers, who hosted the event.

David Archuleta, last year’s teenage runner up to David Cook, also beat the AI winner, this time in the Choice Music Breakout Artist category, even defeating Lady GaGa! The young performer also won the awards Best Love Song, for “Crush,” and Best Summer Tour with Demi Lovato.

No, those aren’t the real surfboards, but since David chose to perform a solo show instead of attending the Teen Choice Awards, these will have to do. Several creative TDCers created the tiny surfboards (much easier to store on the bus than the real thing!) and asked three excited girls to present them to David at the VIP.  A memorable moment for all of them!

David’s friend Ashlee joined him on tour and even joined him on stage to sing some duets.  Yes, this is the famous Ashlee of “Ohmigosh Ashlee!” fame.  How can we forget?

They sang Lean On Me in Sioux Falls on August 9^th as part of David’s encores.

NEW BLOG! (text we often see in the comments of TDC)

David’s blog gave new insight into who David is – he talks about the struggles he had with losing his voice, about writing and recording, and about what fun it was to have his friend Ashlee along on tour, and barely a word about the Teen Choice Awards. David certainly makes his priorities known.

And speaking of David and Ashlee again, David twittered on Thursday, 8.13:

DavidArchieIt’s Ashlee’s last day on the road with me . I don’t want her to leave! It’s been way fun with her though!about 5 hours ago from txt

Well, maybe she’s leaving and maybe she’s not.  David twittered later that same day:

DavidArchieTrying to rebook Ashlee’s flight… Haha. No one wants her to leave!about 1 hour ago from txt

In related news, Paula Abdul will be leaving American Idol.  An article from Azcentral mentions her infamous remark about David:

• Paula to 17-year-old David Archuleta in Season 7: “I want to squish you, squeeze your head off and dangle you from my rearview mirror.”

Paula may have been a bit wacky at times, but she was always entertaining!

Crushiversary / Acoustic Show

Wow, what a week – fans were treated to three solo shows, one of which was the EPIC Louisville Acoustic show.

On August 1^st, we celebrated the anniversary of the release of “Crush,” with a fan push to get David and “Crush” up the chart on Twitter’s Trending Topics!

(#itsuckswhen is number ONE???)

Remember when we all watched as David listened to Crush for the first time?  It was August 1, 2008, at Z100 in New York City.  What a day that was!

David even honored those at the VIP pre-show on August 1st with a few lines of “Crush.”  Another first at that same VIP: David actually stopped singing after a few lines of “Crazy,” and reprimanded a fan for recording. “What are you doing?  Why is your phone recording?” he asked as fans gasped.  David may describe himself as “spacey,” but in reality, he seems to be totally aware of what is going on, and expects fans to follow the established rules.

The week continued with David/Demi shows in Fort Lauderdale where Kizzi took the BEST video of Zero Gravity ever and Orlando where we saw a revved up ALTNOY.  He had a few days off from touring and spent time with family at Disney World.

DavidArchie: Loved hangin’ with the family! I found and invited my 2nd cousins to the show tonight. It’s usually the other way around haha 7:23 PM Aug 2nd from txt

DavidArchie: Had a blast with my cousins at Disney World today! Went to the American Idol Experience ha ha.4:24 PM Aug 3rd from txt

Tuesday brought us a new blog.

He was excited that his Grandparents were able to come to three shows.  He looked up a cousin of his mother’s, someone she hadn’t seen in 16 years, and then invited the whole family to the show.

I didn’t even know these 2nd cousins existed until I did some research and invited them myself to the show haha. So you guys should do some research and see if you have any family members you haven’t met yet, and then let me know your stories!

Isn’t that everybody’s dream: to have David call you out of the blue, claim you as family, and be invited to his show?  LOL!

He talked about his vision of the upcoming Louisville show:

For the Kentucky show we’re going to be trying a more toned-down set of the same songs I’ve been doing, but where the audience can focus more on the music and vibe. It’ll be my first time trying something like this out, and it’s always something I’ve wanted to try.

And Louisville did not disappoint.  Even 6 ½ ” of rain in one hour the day before didn’t cancel the event.  This show at the Hard Rock Cafe replaced the cancelled David/Demi show on that same date.  Here was David’s chance to try an experiment of a small acoustic show.  Perhaps to give himself some breathing room as he tried out something new, he asked to have no recording of any kind.  So it was only those blessed 300 souls that were able to witness this event – a stripped-down, acoustic version of his songs.  He encouraged the audience to sing along and without his ear monitors, he said he could actually hear the singing. He said he liked acoustic sets he wanted it to be about the music, not about the performance. We can only hope that there will be many more of these “experiments”.

The lovefest between David and Shontelle continued this week  on Shontelle’s website with a mention of David and his fansites, including SoulDavid by our own HelloGorgeous!

And finally, after a day without videos (fans were in withdrawal), David gives his fans two new gifts – his acoustic rendition of Desperate, and a full version of I’ll Be. Is there a week that goes by that David doesn’t gift us with something new – a blog, a series of funny twitters or a new song? Being a David fan is like having a birthday every week!