With budding maturity, David Archuleta captures two years’ worth of introspection and reflection, dozens of songwriting sessions, long days spent in the studio and nights in the air, all leading to The Other Side of Down, his highly anticipated second album.
Not only the follow up to David’s 2008 self-titled debut, it’s a reintroduction to the American Idol runner-up with the angelic voice who 30 million television viewers fell in love with during season 7—now older, wiser, with faith still on his side and an eternally optimistic wide-eyed outlook. Hence, the album’s title. “For me, it’s about moving forward and making progress,” David explains. “I’m heading towards ‘the other side of down,’ which is ‘up.’”
On Saturday April 6, 2013 a group of devoted fans got together in honor of David Archuleta and his music with the goal of benefiting Child Fund International and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, two children’s’ charities that David supports.
Pamela Pike did a terrific job arranging this event which I had the pleasure of attending! We had a delicious buffet lunch consisting of grilled chicken and steak, together with greens and wonderful desserts.
I had a great time with Winnie, she’s lovely. It was also great fun meeting up with known fans and meeting new ones. I hope we can continue to have fan get-togethers.
Here are the highlights:
Mariners Elementary School Choir of Newport Beach sang for us. It was a great surprise to hear them sing Nandito Ako, they were so cute.
Newport Platinum Dance Academy danced to Zero Gravity and My Kind of Perfect, some more cuteness.
Singer/Songwriter, Sunny Hilden emceed the event. She has so much energy and spunk. Sunny handled the auction duties had us in stitches. While auctioning off a large David poster she encouraged us by saying it could serve as a wrinkle remover lol. I can see why she is David’s friend. It was a privilege to have some words with her. She is a genuine person. She loves and admires David. Sunny spoke of David throughout the event, sharing how she met him at the AI finale when Randy Jackson told a bunch of kids wanting to sing for him to go sing to Sunny, she’s a singer and songwriter, so they all went to her and sang. David waited to the end. She knew then he had something special and kept in touch with him. Sunny also shared with us a story about The My Kind Of Christmas poem David read to the kids on the Christmas tour. They are actually part of the lyrics of a song by the same name she had never completed. It has since been completed and Sunny read it to us. She shared that the melodies in this song are beautiful. She’s hoping and praying that David record’s it when he returns (I added to my list of prayers).
I was so excited to meet Michael Orland, Musical Director of American Idol. He and I have some tweet history and I’ll never forget him saying “David came to us a genius and left a genius”.
Dorian Holley, AI vocal coach, spoke so highly of David and his time on American Idol. Noting how David in his quiet way stood his ground on things going on behind the scenes. Dorian mentioned how everyone liked David and that his work ethic was something else.
Special video appearances by:
Rosanne Simunovic better known as Masterclass Lady who is a voice instructor also spoke highly of David and has a huge admiration for not only his voice but person. She told the story of meeting David during AI tour in Canada. That upon meeting and introducing herself to David he quickly asked her for help in regards to his singing, always trying to improve.
Dean Kaelin David’s voice instructor sent a video in which he spoke about his singing and the decision of going on a mission. Dean got teary at one point talking about David’s decision.
I understand this will be on the DVD of the day. I hope it has Kari’s parting words at the end, had us in tears.
I was able to speak to Kari for a bit and meet Jon “The Broken Man” I named him. I introduced Winnie to her as a new fan. Kari asked Winnie how she became a fan and Winnie told her because of Nandito Ako. Kari’s face lit up and said “Wasn’t he good?” lol We said, “YES! Still hoping for that DVD!”
Kari thanked us for our support of David through tears. Told us she and David are so appreciative of all we do for him and that David WILL START WHERE HE LEFT OFF UPON HIS RETURN AND THAT THINGS WILL BE BIGGER AND BETTER!
I have chills every time I repeat this. So let the countdown continue.
They played I’ll Be Waiting by Aaron Paul in closing.
When something’s wrong
And too much to handle
Try to find some peace of mind
Let it go.
Wait a minute, you know this road
It’s gonna leave you on overload
Yeah…
‘Cause somebody cares, yeah
I can see you hurting (turn around)
I will be right there
Don’t run away (x3)
When I reach out to you, look around
I will be right here
Don’t run away (x3)
Tonight
Tonight
Hmm…
Don’t make a sound
I’ll be your voice
You don’t need to be afraid
Anymore
I’ll shine a light out in the dark
Guide you here no matter how far
Ooooohhh, yeah
‘Cause somebody cares, oh yeah
I can see you hurting, (turn around)
I will be right there
Don’t run away (x3)
When I reach out to you, look around
I will be right here
Don’t run away (x3)
Open up
Let it all out tonight, yeah
Open up
And everything will be alright
I can see you hurting, (turn around)
I will be right there
Don’t run away (x3)
When I reach out to you, look around
I will be right here
Don’t run away (x3)
(Layered vocals of these words)
Oh, away, away, away, away, away
Turn around
Don’t run away
Don’t run away
I’ll be right here
Ooohhhh
Tonight
Tonight
credit Abrra for lyrics
I have no idea what their strategy is but I’m loving what they’re doing so far.
David fans are the best gifters ever. Most of the time they want to remain anonymous. We want to thank them all who have so selflessly gifted. Here are a couple of thank yous we’ve received; not all sent them, but as long as they are loving David Archuleta and his music, all is well.
English Translation
Hey guys, it’s Georgette here! Haha, sounds familiar? Well seemed like a good way to start this email since that’s how David begins his video blogs every time he makes one, and I love how he does that.
I became an “Archie” or “Arch Angel” as I watched the episode of Hannah Montana on Disney Channel 2 years ago. I felt an incredible connection with David and his way of being caught my attention, so I searched for him in Google (as anyone who wants to know a little more about someone LOL) and what I liked the most is that David has Latin family! wow! That shocked me very much, so I quickly went to YouTube and looked for videos of David speaking in Spanish… I was shocked! Not only by his way of speaking, but by its simplicity, humility, passion and all the feelings I noticed when David speaks, sings or simply expresses himself.
I also noticed that David participated in American Idol and came in second place, so I looked for the songs that he sang and all performances on YouTube. What else did I do? Download all the songs obviously! I converted to an Archie at around September, a little before the release of The Other Side Of Down. I remember it very well.
On http://www.DavidArchuleta.com page there was a countdown marking the days until 5 October. After downloading his songs I looked up the lyrics and I learned them very quickly. The connection I felt with David was very deep… he was not only “David Archuleta” he had become everything and more than I thought. I remember feeling inspired with the lyrics of his songs from TOSOD.
For me David is one in a million. The simplicity and modesty that he shows are a great inspiration for many people. Not many artists are like this. I’m in love with the fact that David sings because he loves singing and music, not because he is interested in fame or anything else that comes with it; He only sings because the music is his life. David can’t imagine doing anything else that is not singing, and I can’t imagine listening to different music than that of David.
It’s as simple as this, if there is no David, there is no Georgette because David is part of me and I see him as a very important person in my life. The things that he taught me cannot be counted with a finger and I am really thankful for it all. I sometimes think, “how can there be people who don’t like David? Or, people who like David, but don’t feel as inspired as I am? Don’t they feel his music like other Archies? It is not easy to say, but I’m sure that if they stopped a moment to listen to any song, the words, it will be an inspiration because what you feel when David sings is contagious… you can see in his eyes, his way of expressing that he has a message behind each song and I am proud to say that I know that message. I now understand the message better.
When David announced that he would leave on a mission for the Latter Day Saints Church, my heart broke… but I couldn’t be happier! David would be serving his church for 2 years preaching the word of God, the person who has taught me many things I know and I give thanks to him for putting David in my path and now David will reach more people. Wow that is incredible!
To make a long story short. I give thanks to The Voice for all that you do for the fans. Thank you for sending me a copy of Forevermore and the amazing bracelet … David: You’ve become part of my soul.
-Georgette, Venezuela.
Original in Spanish
Hey guys, it’s Georgette here! Haha, sounds familiar? Bueno me pareció una buena forma de empezar este email ya que así empieza David sus video blogs cada vez que hace uno, y amo la forma en que hace eso.
Yo me convertí en una “Archie” o “Arch Angel” mientras veía el episodio de Hannah Montana en Disney Channel, hace 2 años. Sentí una conexión increíble con David y su forma de ser me llamó mucho la atención, así que lo busqué en Google (como toda persona que quiere saber un poco más acerca de alguien LOL) y lo que más me gusto es que David tienen familia LATINA! wow! Eso me impactó mucho, así que fui rápidamente a YouTube y busqué vídeos de David hablando en español… Quedé impactada! No solo por su forma de hablar, sino por su sencillez, humildad, pasión y todos los sentimientos que noté en David al hablar, cantar o simplemente expresarse.
También noté que David participó en American Idol y que quedó de segundo lugar, así que busqué las canciones que cantó y todas sus presentaciones en YouTube. Qué más hice? Descargar todas sus canciones OBVIAMENTE!!! Me convertí una Archie al rededor de Septiembre por lo que faltaba poco para el lanzamiento de The Other Side Of Down, lo recuerdo muy bien.
En su página www.DavidArchuleta.com había un conteo regresivo por los días que faltaban para el 5 de Octubre. Luego de descargar sus canciones busqué las letras y me las aprendí muy rápido, es que la conexión que sentí con David era muy profunda… no solo era “David Archuleta”, él se había convertido en todo lo que pensaba. Recuerdo haber sentido una inspiración muy fuerte con las letras de sus canciones desde su primer CD hasta TOSOD. Para mí David es uno en un millón, su sencillez y modestia que expresa son de gran inspiración para demasiadas personas y eso no lo tienen muchos artistas. Estoy enamorada del hecho de que David solo canta porque ama cantar y la música, no porque le interesa la fama o cualquier otra cosa que venga con ella; él solo canta porque la música es su vida, no me imagino a David haciendo otra cosa que no sea cantar y no me imagino escuchando otra música que no sea la de David.
De una manera más sencilla: No hay David, no hay Georgette; porque David ya es parte de mí y lo considero como una persona muy importante en mi vida. Las cosas que él me ha enseñado no se pueden contar con un dedo y estoy realmente agradecida con todo. A veces pienso, ¿Cómo existe gente a la que no le gusta David? O, a la gente que le gusta David, ¿se sentirán tan inspirados como yo? ¿Sentirán su música al igual que otros Archies? No es fácil decirlo, pero estoy segura de que si se detienen un momento a escuchar cualquier canción de él y entender las letras, lo sentirán porque la inspiración es contagiosa al igual que los sentimientos que siente David cuando canta… se puede ver en sus ojos y en su forma de expresarse que él tiene un mensaje detrás de cada canción, y estoy orgullosa de decir que sé cuál es ese mensaje. Y ahora mucho más conozco el mensaje.
Cuando David anunció que partiría en una misión para la Iglesia de los Santos de los Últimos Días, mi corazón se partió… no podía estar más feliz!! David estaría sirviendo para una Iglesia por 2 años predicando la palabra de Dios, la persona que nos ha enseñado muchas de las cosas que sabemos y le doy gracias a Él por poner a David en nuestro camino; y saber que ahora David llegará a mucha más gente?? Wow eso es increíble!!
Para no hacer esta historia más larga me despido agradeciendo a The Voice por todo lo que hacen por los fans, gracias por enviarme una copia de Forevermore y el increíble brazalete… David: Te has convertido en parte de mi alma.
-Georgette, Venezuela.
English Translation
Hello, first of all I want to thank you TheVoiceDavidArchuleta and Blueberry Ice from CA, thanks to you I have this wonderful FOREVERMORE Cd and also to SandyBeaches from Canada for the beautiful bracelet she gave me. INFINITE THANKS!
DAVID JAMES ARCHULETA MAYORGA… MORE THAN AN IDOL
For me DAVID is more than an Idol, why? Because he is simple and humble despite being a famous artist, he has never changed and remains as who he is. I love his personality, so humble and generous to all, it is really admirable.
David is the best singer for me because he has an ANGELIC voice that not many have, his songs are very beautiful and meaningful. He inspires me so much.
For me he is a winner. He worked hard to get to where he is and he remains the same: the same sweet guy. Nice, humble, simple, charismatic, lovable and cute. I watched him on ‘American Idol’ in 2008 and I became a fan of David.
David Archuleta is without a doubt a complete artist! In addition to a great human being < 3!
- ALWAYS smiles.
- ALWAYS delivers the best in every interpretation.
- ALWAYS supports his friends.
- ALWAYS is proud of his Latin roots. <3
- ALWAYS cares for those around him.
- ALWAYS attends to his fans and talks with them.
- ALWAYS is attentive to everyone.
Thanks to his efforts. He has endured adversities but has been able to overcome :’)
The truth for me, and I dare say that for many of his fans he is an example to follow and a being that inspires us a lot. :’ (D)
Waiting for David Archuleta…
Lizbeth
Original in Spanish
Hola, primero que nada muchas GRACIAS a TheVoiceDavidArchuleta y a Blueberry Ice de CA, ya que gracias a ustedes tengo este maravilloso Cd FOREVERMORE y también a SandyBeaches de Canadá por la hermosa pulsera que me obsequiaron. J ¡INFINITAS GRACIAS!
DAVID JAMES ARCHULETA MAYORGA… MAS QUE UN ÍDOLO
Para mí DAVID es más que un ídolo, ¿porque? porque es humilde y sencillo a pesar de ser un famoso /artista nunca cambio y sigue siendo tal como es, amo su personalidad tan humilde y generoso con todos, es realmente admirable.
El mejor cantante para mí porque tiene una voz ANGELICAL que no muchos poseen. Sus canciones son muy hermosas y significan tanto, me inspiran mucho
El para mí es UN TRIUNFADOR, lucho MUCHÍSIMO para llegar a donde el esta , y sigue siendo el mismo: el mismo chico dulce, simpático, humilde, sencillo, carismático, adorable, lindo que veía en el programa ‘American Idol’ aquel 2008 que es desde allí donde me hice fan de David. :)
David Archuleta es sin duda un artista completo! Además de un gran ser humano<3!
- SIEMPRE está sonriendo.
- SIEMPRE entrega lo mejor de sí en cada interpretación.
- SIEMPRE apoya a sus amigos y cercanos.
- SIEMPRE se muestra orgulloso de sus raíces latinas. <3
- SIEMPRE se preocupa por los que están a su alrededor.
- SIEMPRE atiende a sus fans y conversa con ellos/as.
- Es atento con todos.
Y todo lo que ha logrado ha sido gracias a su esfuerzo, al igual que cualquier persona ha tenido debilidades y adversidades pero las ha sabido superar :’)
La verdad para mí, y me atrevo a decir que para varias de sus fans, es un ejemplo a seguir y un ser que nos inspira muchísimo. :’D
The six month mark of David Archuleta’s departure has just passed and we have eighteen months to go. I’m measuring time by holidays and it seems to be working. Labor Day was just last month, Halloween is almost here and Thanksgiving soon after. Christmas is going to be tough this year without David but I’m so looking forward to it because it’s also close to the beginning of the twelve month countdown. There are days I miss David so much it hurts and although it was a tough road getting to this place, I’m ok with him being gone now; I truly believe he had to go.
In the meantime I have his music to get me through every day and his voice on interviews on my ipod to get me through the night. You may have seen my name, djafan, on comments on articles relating to David found on the web. You may also have seen me voting on polls and mentioning David’s name as much as possible, tweeting and trending, etc. You get it. LOL This is what I do.
We all have a comfort zone on how we support David and this is my way of keeping his name relevant. By letting the world know he has passionate fans that are not going anywhere, the media stays interested in him. It works; it really does. For example, recently Cook and Kris Allen were dropped from their labels just months apart and it was barely a blip in the social media. David, however, made mainstream media with the so-called “dropped” news that he was let go from his label when it was really the opposite. David chose not to renew his contract. As soon as his passionate fans started correcting the news the media then picked it up too, and many made an attempt to correct it.
The mission news made headlines also; not only on the internet but television also carried the news, showing clips of the video. I attribute this continued interest by the media to David’s go-getter fans. Most reality show alums have just fallen off the radar, but David Archuleta has not and our intention is to keep his name relevant and out there.
With this in mind and after much prodding from my fellow Adms, I encourage you to vote, to comment, to view David’s videos, to like his Facebook posts, to comment on his OS, heck even his MySpace page has been updated and it‘s beautiful.
I like to follow some charts on David’s social media status, yes the information is out there, you just need to look for it. Here is a two month comparison. You can see that there have been some drops that can easily be reversed.
It’s really simple to get and keep these numbers up. Watching his videos on Vevo and on his official you tube channel are all you have to do to raise the numbers. Typing David’s name into any search field and in any comment counts as a mention. Why worry about mentions? With every mention, his name is being counted on the internet, which raises his social status.
These are examples of things to do to increase David’s social status or popularity.
Wikipedia — Counted when a visitor loads an artist’s page.
Google – Google David Archuleta daily.
Twitter Mentions — Counted each time an artist’s Twitter handle (@davidarchie) is mentioned by another Twitter user.
Comment – Comment whenever David’s name appears in an article. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Just writing David Archuleta will suffice in getting the internet bots* to count him.
*(An Internet Bot is a software application that does repetitive and automated tasks in the Internet that would otherwise take humans a long time to do. The most common Internet bots are the spider bots which are used for web server analyses and file data gathering.)
Here are some David related links you can visit to increase his status. You can use these to listen, view and/or comment.
Lastly, please don’t stop sending David mail. I read on several missionary blogs that it’s common for the mail to slow way down after the sixth month. They say family and friends start to get used to them being gone and not part of their daily routine. David doesn’t just have family and friends but a whole lot of fans he wants to hear from. Why else set up an address for us?
David Archuleta P. O. Box 4297 Apopka, FL 32704 USA
I hope you all can join me in my campaign to keep David’s name relevant during his absence.
As I was watching “Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron” on a lazy Saturday afternoon in July with my daughter, this song came on!!! Man, it shook my world a little bit …ok…a lot!!! I realized how much I miss David!!! I can relate almost everything to him!!! I’m nuts!! I know! haha. He’s only been gone a few months, but somehow he’s just like a close family/friend to me and I believe to many of us as well.
“Spirit” the stallion has similar characteristic as David, though not exactly the same. As the song progresses, the lyrics are really in sync with our situation, both on David’s part and ours. I’m pretty sure that while he’s so super busy with his mission, a part of him misses our excitement-smile-scream-fan-boying and girling on our parts while he’s performing on his stage !! It’s so evident how we all miss him and want the clock to run faster. Our love and thoughts are all over the fansites and YouTube.
The guy has captured our hearts and we have captured his. To wait for him and support him are just about normal and natural things for us to do. He’s generously invited us into his life, so we’ll definitely be here as long as he needs us. That’s what friends are for, right !?
The support and yearning words from the fans, David’s love and trust in us, and a wishful thinking on my part inspired me to make this vid for both David and us. Hope you like it.
♦
I encourage you all to watch this fantastic animation “Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron.” It’s fun and inspiring and the songs by Bryan Adams are outstanding!!!
David performs the REM classic “Everybody Hurts” with an orchestra which includes producer Kurt Bestor. The shots of David were recorded in a studio the day before he left on his mission.
“I hope you know that I never wanted to leave you guys without music, and will continue when I get back.” – David Archuleta
Remember this twitpic from Kari back in March? Now, we have 18 amazing seconds of David’s glorious voice, singing “Broken”! How can we go to sleep tonight? How can we wait 26 more days to have BEGIN. in our hands? I, for one, can hardly wait to read the liner notes, as I expect David’s words to be exceptionally heartfelt and emotional.
Camp ASCCA, Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults, became a part of my life after accepting a job there as Camp Secretary. I knew the moment that I arrived on my first day at work that Camp ASCCA would give me more than simply an income. Every day was a testimony of the human spirit, of overcoming obstacles, and the joy of being who you are. I saw firsthand what camp means to the campers and their families. When a family move took me away from the area, I took Camp ASCCA with me in my heart.
The Singer and the Song Project was born from a simple hope to bring together two groups of people who I love and who I knew would love each other: my Archie family and the campers and staff of Camp ASCCA. It is just an idea…and the person who has the idea is not the person important to the success of a project. The people who are vital to its success are the ones who are willing to take the idea and give of themselves to make it happen.
Thank you so much for having giving hearts. ♥ Please know that every donation, no matter how big or how small, has an impact on the lives of these campers. The music has started. What you are about to see and hear…will be beautiful.
♦ Video by Paula ♦
All of the donations go through Camp ASCCA’s website to their PayPal account and go directly to camp, therefore, donations are tax deductible. All of the steps listed below are the normal steps to make any contribution through the camp’s website. The only addition is tagging the donation, but a lot of people tag donations anyway if making a donation in memory of someone or in honor of someone. It’s really fairly simple to see what to do once you’re on the website. Donors will receive an email confirmation/receipt of their donation.
I also have an email address for any questions regarding the project:
The recipient of the painting will be chosen at random from the donations tagged “In honor of the singer” and will get one chance to win for every $5 donated. The painting is a 16 x 20 oil on canvas.
The instructions are also in the YouTube info for the video too, so I’m hoping that helps.
Abrra
bebereader
djafan
Angelica
voiceadmin
Kari Sellards @kariontour
David Archuleta 
