Since the trailer for “Nandito Ako” was released several days ago I’ve watched it more times that I care to admit. I’m mesmerized by the fast pace, the Tagalog language, the intriguing storyline and mostly by seeing David in his first serious acting role. Staff Writer Betsy, casually asked me what my favorite part of the trailer was. It wasn’t a difficult question but it’s hard to choose  just one so I came up with a few.

1.  The restaurant scene. Josh and Holly are sitting at a table and Josh tells Holly that she can speak in Filipino if she wants. Holly then asks Josh if he understands it. Josh makes a cute sound like “oh uh”. Holly, with a big smile, tells Josh that he is amazing.

2.  Josh sings “Nandito Ako” outdoors with a few of the members of the cast around him.  I can’t get this melodious song out of my head.

3. “You get out of my house! You get out of my house!”, Holly’s mother screams at Josh, who retorts “Let me explain!”

I could go on and on but now it’s your turn.

Thanks Betsy, for the inspiration.

credit TV5Philippines

collage by djafan

Singapore

David Archuleta Interview/Live Chat

David Archuleta – Interview with MSNentertainment SG (07 Feb 2012)

Credit @Kariiontour

Howdy! Here are the upcoming events on David’s busy schedule these next few days. Whew! Try to keep up cause it’s gonna be LIVE and coming at you fast!

Friday, 2/3/12

Join David, Eula Caballero, Jasmine Curtis-Smith and the cast of “Nandito Ako” on set as they film Josh Bradley’s concert scene this Friday, February 3, at the Tanghalang Pasigueno. Crowd participants can bring concert paraphernalia such as glow sticks, posters and banners provided posters/banners make use of the name “Josh Bradley”, not “David Archuleta.”

Saturday, 2/4/12

Grand Fans Day at SM Megamall Cinema 4 in Mandaluyong City, Philippines, this Saturday, February 4 at 12pm PHT.See David and his “Nandito Ako” co-stars Eula Caballero and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. Only 500 tickets will be distributed for the Grand Fans Day.

Sunday, 2/5/12

David Archuleta is headed to Singapore this weekend! This Sunday, February 5th, David will be doing an in-store signing session for The Other Side of Down-ATE at HMV Marina Square, starting at 3.30pm SGT.

Tuesday, 2/7/12

Star World American Idol Party on February 7th, featuring a special performance by David, and one lucky winner will even win a “money-can’t-buy” experience with David.

Saturday, 2/11/12

David Archuleta will be among the artists performing at the Pyropalooza, at the SM Mall of Asia Grounds in the Philippines on February 11, 2012.

What what?

@MyDearWriter MyDear Writer

Appetizer: Josh Bradley concert: Main course: NANDITO AKO series. Dessert: ‘OMG.’

 Y’all have a nice week.  I certainly plan to. 

The final week of Nandito Ako finds the actors tweeting on the move, headed for the resort town of Batangas, about 3 hours from Manilla. Beach scenes FTW! This should be a very interesting week for David and company. Will he wear beach attire? Will he sing to his love as he strolls on the sand? Stay tuned this week for the final episode of: On the Set of the Bold and  Beautiful, Young at Heart and Still Restless, All My Chillin’ Fans of Nandito Ako.

Batangas at sunset

Eula Nandito Ako

5:35 am and it’s already so traffic? Oh Lord!
WRAP! Done with Regal Shocker. Now heading straight to Batangas for Nandito Ako taping. Thankyou Lord! Everyone be safe!

Jasmine Nandito Ako

Photo: Go on leave me breathless

MyDear Writer

Getting ready for Day 11. Looks like we will sleep after Valentine’s Day. Or maybe after the airing of the first episode. We ♥ #NanditoAko ☺

Advisory: 21 days to prepare the lungs, the vocal chords, the eyes & the ♥HEART♥. A glass of water may come in handy. ☺

Road trip. ☺

I didn’t know that a ‘possible’ shirtless scene would stir such interest…. Hmmmm…. Cliffhanger! ☺

Note to self: Insert new scene. Description: more skin. Wardrobe: not needed. Props: sun block lotion ONLY. ☀☺

Oppss. That last tweet was for my other script. Was just thinking aloud. ☺

Seriously- u can’t expect shirt & jeans in a beach scene come on! And the story is set in a tropical country- the possibilities are endless!

Sunrise. Rice fields. Perfect. ☺

Magic hour. ♥

Anything could happen. Even…

I kissed a dolphin and liked it. Ready to up my game. haha.

Submitted by PaulaFOD

@MyDearWriter, the writer of the movie Nandito Ako, has had some interesting tweets lately.  We’re getting hints…sort of…that keep us guessing what Josh (aka David) will do in the movie.  So it got me thinking…if I was the writer, what kind of scene would I write for David?

There would be close-ups, lots of close-ups, and that look…..you know that look he gave the girl at the end of the Crush video?  THAT look..yeah, the smiling, flirty, the “I can see into your soul” look.  Hmmm…what else?  He would sing (of course he would sing!) something soft and sweet to the leading lady.  He’s the hero, the guy that sweeps the girl off her feet with his charm, his honor and integrity, and his smile.  So, maybe it would go like this:

The sky is overcast (great lighting for those lovely hazel eyes).  David is walking toward a street corner in the city, singing “My Kind of Perfect”…the leading lady is walking toward the same street corner from the opposite direction. “is she the one, is it today, will I turn the corner, see my future in a beautiful face?”  As they each round the corner, they nearly run into each other.  They stop, David apologizes. She smiles, he smiles…they say goodbye, walk past each other around the corner. David is singing again; they both stop, turn around, walking to the street corner again….each hoping to sneak a glimpse of the other.  They peek around the corner at the same time…face to face…David is singing “maybeeeee”….ah, I love happy endings!

So, what kind of scene would you write for David?

Inquiring minds want to know: Counting the days – how do we count the ways?

The following is by Bianca, reprinted in part here from her blog site Bearsafloat

I’ve been asked by Abrra of The Voice to do something about a countdown calendar for people to use to track David’s mission. So I’ve been thinking.

My first idea was to create a page-a-day calendar where you tear off a page each day. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that there is only one site I could find to create one and it would cost a minimum of $20 per year per copy of the calendar. They only offer black and white and all the copies would have to be ordered at one time. Shipping would be a PITB.

Continuing with professionally-printed calendars,we could go with a 24 month monthly format (perhaps like the one I did for 2011). Art could be added to the individual dates for the countdown. I do love spotlighting the best of fan photography like this. If you’re obsessive you could cross out each day as it passes. Cost would depend on the quality we chose.

We could have a poster calendar printed for each year. This would be fun to mark off the days,but I don’t personally have space for one, do you?

It could be a desktop calendar like this with not much room to personalize the dates but cute and doesn’t take much room. By the way,yes,I like Shutterfly and similar services because that way I don’t have to be involved in ordering or shipping and I know exactly what you’ll get.

We could create a journal format so you could keep notes of how you’re doing or things you wish you could share with David. Or something that would fit a standard planner binder.

Finally,I could create printable calendar pages that you could print yourself. The thing about doing this is that many of David’s fans do not have good color printers and 24-25 pages would be expensive to print. These could have great art of course–they could be quite customized. But I would need a lot of encouragement from people who absolutely promised to print them.

So what do you think? What would you invest your money or time into?

Please take the poll below to give her an idea of which format you would most like and discuss in the comments. You can also comment and read her full article on her site.

–bianca said

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 5:06 PM e

I’d like to invite everyone over to my blog for a discussion of ways to countdown the days of David’s mission. Thanks Abrra for the idea and here’s to a fabulous collaboration! http://www.bearsafloat.net/smileblog/

We are just trying to help her get the word out in time for something to be done for the fans.

Do you dare step away from your computer to do something menial like oh…eat, sleep or pay a bill without feeling that you might miss something? Do you keep refreshing every minute so as not to miss a tweet? Do you feel compelled to stay in constant touch with what David is doing in The Philippines? I think it’s safe to say that we are drowning in news but that is not a complaint. He is embracing acting, the newest endeavor in his life. I’m not at all surprised that he’s loving it. From the beginning we knew that he had a natural acting  ability. It was only a matter of time before it could happen. I’m amazed and beyond thrilled at how relaxed he is.

So relaxed that director Mac Alejandre had this to say about him:

“David is such a delight to work with. He knows what’s expected of him. And he’s a perfectionist. Siya mismo ang gustong umulit ng eksena [He offers to do a scene over] if he feels he can do more. If only he could stay here longer, it would be great to do a movie with him. For a first-time actor, he’s a natural.”

I remember several months ago when I read the first rumblings on Twitter about David doing a miniseries in The Philippines. For the most part, the tweets from fans there were negative. Overjoyed at the prospect of having David come there again but not so much for a soap opera type miniseries. Perhaps soaps aren’t the most revered type of TV fare but why do I know that this one will be different? Maybe because I know that David only gets involved in things with positive messages. We don’t know the entire plot of “Nandito Ako“,  but I have every faith that we won’t be disappointed

We are blessed with a treasure trove of memorable projects before his mission: an English version of “Nandito Ako” called “Forever With You”, a rumored Valentine concert in Singapore and a five-week TV series including a concert scene to warm our hearts. Add to this, an appearance on Saturday on a TV show called “Will Time Big Time”.

The U.S. entertainment industry is clearly missing out on a gem of an entertainer, so versatile that everything he takes on turns out to be ridiculously amazing. He’s like the best guarded secret that will one day be impossible to ignore.

More mature and articulate than ever, twenty-one year old David Archuleta spoke yesterday in the Philippines at a press conference and with fans. It was the first time since his mission announcement he has spoken of his future plans. First, he will be working on recording new songs to release while he is away and, he has no intention whatsoever of leaving music. The mission is only for two short years, while his music will continue the rest of his life. He says of his return,

“I will definitely get into music and I already have certain projects that I’m already trying to plan for when I get back.”

Second, he answered the much speculated question of what type of mission he will serve. It will be a traditional one. I am floored. I am proud. I am wanting to shout to the world, THIS! This is what moves the world you stand on and you don’t even feel it. Sacrifice done out of love. Love that makes the world go round like the wheels of bikes that at any moment in time never stop turning.

“I will be doing what you see of those guys that you see on the bikes, with the little ties, I will be doing what they’re doing, it’s very focused, very much focused on service, serving the people, love your community, and being able to teach and it’s very much about sacrifice as well. Because you know for me it was very hard, because it was a lot to have to sacrifice, but for me that’s my personal reason why I wanted to go, is because of what you sacrifice and what you learn from sacrifice. Some of the biggest things I’ve been able to learn in my life have been through, you know, not the easiest things. And so I feel like even though this will definitely not be the easiest thing… I’m leaving a lot of things I love, not having my family life, not having, you know, the career in music, the secure things in my life, I know that I will grow a lot in a way that I haven’t been able to yet, which I’m really looking forward to.”

Whatever you think of his decision, you can not deny the faith he wields to move more than wheels, but any mountain in his way and in the end will find not only fame, which is fleeting, but glory.

Submitted by Betsy

This is not really a recap, not really a normal article. I am just feeling so good that the words flowed. Pretty sure this is acceptance and happiness for David and his strong decision. Love him more than ever. Also, I don’t have a clue how this happened. I am sure the sadness will come back at times, but right now, the overwhelming feeling is YES!! David is doing something he wants very much to do!!

I was planning on writing a recap of my time at the Verona show. But it turned out that I couldn’t. I could barely comment on anyone’s articles. (sorry) I was too sad.

But. Here’s the thing. I must have snapped out of it. For awhile, anyway. It’s starting to feel like Thanksgiving for some reason. I have never felt so grateful, so thankful, as I do right now. It started last night and has kept flowing throughout today. I hope this feeling stays.

So blessed to have such kindred spirits as all of you. ♥
So blessed to have found David almost 4 years ago. ♥
To get him. What he’s all about. To love him. And his music.

When David sang Good Place in Verona, a couple of friends and I sat right in front of him. Stunned. The mistakes mattered not. It was pure David. He laughed a little, but toward the end of the song, there was nothing but tender, heartfelt love pouring out of him.

After he finished, we said “this alone was worth the money, the travel problems, etc. If this was all we were to get it’d be worth it.” We were dead serious. And we still had an entire show after that.

I’ll never forget that feeling. I carry it around with me every day. It’s so good.

Nobody else can give us precisely what David gives us. We are so lucky. He really gave us the best of himself this past tour. If I hadn’t been able to go to the show, I would still have felt it through the videos. I HAVE felt it through videos.

credit Betsy

David, this is exactly what we love about you. You didn’t have to do it, but you did. I hope you had as much fun, as much joy, as we did.

Now go spread your joy to the rest of the world who may be in need of it.
I may not know much, but I do know I’ll still be here, flailing over my favorite song.
And my favorite singer.

Article submitted by MT

Emotions have been running high throughout the fan base since David announced that he has elected to serve a full time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I felt much the same as most of you when I heard the news. At first I couldn’t believe my ears. Then, when I realized I wasn’t just hearing things, that he had actually said those words, I kind of went into shock.  Then I wanted to use his own lyrics and tell him; “Wait, wait, wait don’t go!” Is that a little crazy? Maybe. But I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. It has taken me a long time to come to grips with it. But after thinking long and hard about it, I think I have finally made my own peace with it. And I’d like to tell you why.

As much as I will miss David during the two years he will be on his mission, I think it will benefit him in so many ways. I’m happy for him; happy that he’s made this decision because I think it’s what he really, really needed to do.

I love David. He is a unique individual and an enormously talented young man. He is also one of the kindest, most loving, giving individuals I have ever come across. There is an incredible beauty in his spirit that is absolutely undeniable. You can both see it and hear it when he sings. It is his nature to give, to want to do for others, to help heal the hurts, to encourage those who have dreams. And he has already done this for more people than he could possibly ever know. It is ‘who he is’ and I couldn’t be more proud of him if he was my own son.

Now, I am going to venture out into dangerous territory with an opinion that I realize many may disagree with. But I feel a need to say this because it’s part of why I think he needs to do this for himself.

I think there are some things that have held David back in his career. And I think needing to serve a mission was a large part of it. By not going on a mission at an earlier age, in trying to do a mission through music instead, I believe there were certain standards that he felt he needed to meet in his behavior and his music during the last few years. His career was being driven by an idea of how it could be used to help others rather than being focused on success in the music industry. Don’t get me wrong! I’m not saying it’s a bad thing! But it’s my firm belief that David’s focus has been divided, not allowing him to give himself fully to one or the other.

For this reason, I think he needs to go. I think he’s right in doing what his heart has been telling him all along he needed to do, commit himself fully to serving others for a time.

I don’t believe for one minute that David will ever be less caring or loving or kind than he is now. I don’t believe he will ever want to stop supporting various charities, especially those that benefit children, or wanting to accomplish something good with his music. This is something I love about him. But (and this may sound selfish) I am hoping to see one change in David when he returns.

You see, as a fan, I can’t help but hope there is another benefit to it for him. A side effect if you will. My hope is that upon completion of his mission, he will finally allow himself to focus on his career and on his success in the music industry, that he will finally feel that he has served his Heavenly Father well and will now allow himself to have a desire for success without feeling that it’s wrong to want it. Because I don’t think it is. Am I wrong because I want him to want it for himself?

Let me ask a question to all of you reading this. Do you really believe that David will ever have the success that his great talent deserves without truly wanting it?  Can ANYONE ever truly be successful without really wanting it?

I don’t think so. And I don’t think he’ll let himself want to do something for himself until he is satisfied that he has done what he can for others first. So I hope we can all let David go and do what he must, do what his heart is telling him to do without worrying about us.

We will miss him more than he could ever know but we’ll be okay. We’ll go on with our lives while keeping him in our hearts and keeping a close eye out for any news of him, waiting as patiently as we can for his return.

May God bless him and keep him safe and healthy while he is away.

Time will pass quickly as we keep David close by revisiting the past through his videos and songs (and maybe even some new songs released while he’s gone) while he moves towards his future.  When he’s ready to come home, I’ll be here waiting to see what surprises he has in store for us. I hope you will be, too.