What is it about David Archuleta?

What is it about David Archuleta? What is it that keeps us around always wanting more? What is it that draws us in to him and keeps us from doing anything but patiently waiting for the next thing from him?

Some are taken in by his smile, the way it goes a little crooked when he smiles his biggest smiles. How his happiness is infectious and we smile with him. His goofy laugh and dry wit brightens an otherwise cloudy day.

We remember the times at a book or CD signing when despite being hurried through by his management or the store personnel, he will take the few seconds to hear a fan’s story, to hug a little kid or do a quick photo with someone in a wheelchair. We all have memories of David being genuinely touched by a story whether it was one of our own or someone else’s.

 His love of little children is the sweetest thing in the world. When we see or hear of him visiting children in the hospital, taking part in rising star outreach in India, helping at Toys for Tots, Children’s Miracle Network and others, it touches our hearts. He does none of this out of obligation, always wanting to be there to lift the spirits of God’s precious little ones.

His charity doesn’t stop with children. His charity includes helping people in Honduras and other countries through Mentor’s International, visiting a center of special needs young adults, washing the feet of the lepers in India and most recently giving of his time and his talents to uplift and inspire the soldiers in the Middle East. Also, he does not boast about the charity he gives in fact would probably rather the word about it didn’t get out. It’s just another endearing quality about him.

Are we just smitten by how beautiful a person he is inside and out even though he just views himself as a nerd and goofy looking? He can naturally work a camera, and we are stunned by a photo shoot of him especially by the genius photography of Matt Clayton. There are so many pictures of him where we can see that light in him, that spirit; pictures that show us how real he is and reminds us that we made the right choice to be a fan.

Some are proud of him for sticking with his convictions and serving a mission though it was a long two years to wait. His genuine love for his Father in Heaven and his faith in Him is wonderful and adds to his long list of beautiful qualities. Furthermore his love and his closeness to his family coupled with his love for children prove to us that he will be a wonderful husband and father one day. Lucky is the girl who can capture that heart for eternity!

We smile at his ability to sing a song at the drop of a hat in a restaurant, sometimes while reading the lyrics on a cell phone. Or the way he burst out singing when someone says something that reminds him of a line of a song. We are thrilled at the prospect of it happening and more thrilled when it does happen.

Do we keep coming back for more because of how wonderful we feel when we’re near him? We’ve all had that let down feeling that occurs when a concert is over and we’re on our way to our homes or hotel rooms depending on the case. We’re happy for a long while after the concert but can’t help but shed a tear wondering when the next time will be when we see him again. I don’t even think David realizes the full scope of this and that it happens to a lot of fans. He is the real deal, the genuine article. What we see in David is not put on for our benefit. He is what we see. Maybe we put him up on this pedestal and maybe David might feel embarrassed about that. We aren’t that naïve though, we know David isn’t infallible he is human and by his own admission makes mistakes. But we see and feel so much good about him that it is only human to feel that much adoration and love for this young man.

Ultimately, though all the other qualities add to it, it is the VOICE! Remember in Called to Serve when Dean Kaelin talked about Imagine and told David congratulations on his performance on Idol, but “we both know it wasn’t technically perfect”, (could have fooled me) then David said to him he wasn’t trying to be technically perfect he was trying to help people feel the spirit. Feel it we did!! He said in his chapter in “Why I’m a Mormon” that he was getting letters from fans during Idol and few of them were talking about how cute he was. Most of them were asking what it was that they felt when he sang. He realized they were feeling the spirit. What he wanted to do worked. His voice is like silk! Smooth and near perfect. He can sing something pitch perfect a cappella and blow us away at the ability. He can bring us to tears with certain songs capturing our souls, our hearts and our emotions. He puts a smile on our faces from note one and it’s still there at the last note of the last song and beyond.

That is why we wait, that is why we are patient and yearn for more. Hearing him sing Bring Me Home during his Middle East tour reminded us why we wait. We hunger for his voice and we are pulled in with emotion by his heartfelt performances. There has been no singer before or since like David. People can do a karaoke of his songs and some can even sound good, but seriously the voice is just the voice, none other like it. He has such emotion and depth of feeling in his songs, the ballads and the ones you can dance to. He’s a musical genius how he can change up the key in the middle of a song, not the same as we normally know the song to be, yet improve upon the song and make the performances like those some of the most memorable in our minds and hearts.

God bless David as he continues to write songs, to entertain and to bless our lives with his voice and how he is as a person. Can’t wait to see what’s around the “corner.”J