The Voice David Archuleta

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  • David Archuleta Wikipedia

    David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances.[6] When he was twelve years old, Archuleta became the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2.[6] In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of American Idol.[7] In May 2008 he finished as the runner-up, receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes.

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Archive for January, 2010

Revealing Himself

Posted by bebereader on Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Song of Myself
By Walt Whitman
1819-1892

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Courageously vulnerable and incredibly honest, David Archuleta, is known for the strong connection he makes with his audience when he sings.  To make a strong connection, you have to believe in what you sing.  David recently said he will be taking a larger part in the songwriting process on his next album because he wants his music to reflect who he is as a person.

“I want the stories to be more relatable to what I want to talk about.  It’s, like, fun music! But you can tell that it’s my story.  And I like that.  I think people will get to know me better with these songs.”

“I want my music to make people feel good.  I want people to be able to connect with me and my music.  You know, it’s just figuring out how to do that the best way — because I’m not good with words, but I think I’m learning to do that more and more, as I get more involved with writing.”

David has been working with accomplished songwriters such as Joy Williams (co-writer of “Waiting For Yesterday“), Matt Wertz, Mat Kearney, producer Robert Marvin and  producer/songwriter/novelist Matt Bronleewe in Nashville, with Jeymes Samuel in New York and with Victoria Horn, Matt Squire, Kina Grannis and Daniel Bedingfield in Los Angeles.

Songwriting is undoubtedly a key element of a recording artist’s career.  It seems that to be taken seriously as an artist, you have a greater chance of being respected, winning Grammy Awards  and having longevity if you can do more than sing.  While talented singers are always sought after, those who in addition, can write their own material are especially valued such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Sheryl Crowe, Alicia Keys and Phil Collins, to name a few.

But writing one’s own music doesn’t automatically win you respect if you can’t connect with your audience.  I wondered how important it is for an artist to write their own music and what it takes to be a success in the music business.  With David in mind, I did some research on what the total package was all about.  Here is a list of attribute’s of successful artists from “The Music Think Tank“.

• Heart – the powerful force that brings art to life and creates the charisma that bonds great musical artists to their fans.

• Conviction – the total and absolute belief in yourself as an artist and in your ability to write great songs.

• Drive – the thing that fuels an artist’s belief that their music is great.

• Perseverance – this is what permits an artist to become successful if they hang in there until it all comes together.

• Originality – this is what separates great music from the music everyone else makes and allows it to stand alone from all the rest.

• Great Songs – A great song is made up of words and melodies that embody the artist’s spirit and soul.  Together they forge a sound so special that those who listen to it are moved and emotionally bond with it.  Great artists never stop trying to challenge themselves by writing better and better songs.

• Appealing Image – an appealing image that is comfortable yet edgy enough to define and differentiate who you are as an artist.

• Great People Skills – the ability to communicate with fans one on one as well as connect with a large audience.  Honest communication only strengthens the connection.

• An Accomplished Live Performance – The greatest musical artists combine incredible music with a compelling performance. Of course, a great song can stand on its own without an accompanying live performance.  But great music played live by a powerful, exciting, charismatic performer gets taken to a much higher, more memorable level.  Some people are born to play live and others have to work at it to be good.  Live connections almost single handedly drive every aspect of an artist’s success.

This list made me wonder how important it is for David to write his own music when he already has heart, conviction, drive, perseverance, originality, an appealing image, great people skills, drive, and a kick-ass live performance so early in his career.  However, I feel that for David to shed the American Idol image once and for all, and for him to be taken seriously as an artist and recognized as an accomplished singer/songwriter, he needs to write great songs.  I have every faith that he has it in him and that he knows what kind of music to write for his voice.  It’s exhilarating to think about in light of the many genres The Voice can sing.

How important do you think it is for an artist to write their own music?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 97 Comments »

The Little Things

Posted by thefunnygirl on Saturday, January 23, 2010

When you love someone, sometimes you see magic in some little thing they do.  The way they flip the burger on the grill, the way one eye squeezes closed a bit more than the other when they smile, they way they hold their toothbrush or splash their feet in the pool.  Endearing little everyday things can make your heart skip a beat and make you smile.  We have been fortunate to get a glimpse into David’s world.  Anyone with full-blown ODD knows David’s crooked smile, his shy smile, his eyebrow moves, his little strut across the stage, the face he makes when he ends a glory note.  There have been so many moments we have been able to share with him, yet there are so many little everyday things we will never get to see.  We all have our David obsessions – his hair, his nose, his clothes, etc….and as creepy as he would find this exercise, I would love to know what little thing you’d like to know about or see David doing (please be respectful).  Not that we want to invade his privacy – just some curious musings by bored fans awaiting a book signing tour (please God) or other epic announcement….Does he type using the home row?  Does he roll up his sock all the way before he puts it on his foot?  Does he clip his nails from the thumb to the pinky or the other way?  Does he have an elaborate skin routine that keeps him so sparkly?

If you cannot narrow it down to one thing, please feel free to ramble on – David would approve of rambling.  My secret little thing goes a little something like this:

Pretend for a moment with me that David would actually eat a Cinnabon.  He is presented with a large Cinnabon, complete with extra icing.  No fork, no knife, no napkins.  He picks it up with his huge manhands and looks it over, planning his attack.  Will he start at one edge or at the top?  Will he orbit it or go from one edge right across?  Will he let the icing drip down or will he be sure to take careful bites that include equal parts cinnabon and icing?  Either way, this would be quite the spectacle.  Either way, there will be icing on his face and hands.  And he’ll have to do something with it.  Either way, this will end well.

FYI  – I know I am a freak, and I fly my freak flag proudly.  🙂

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Connections

Posted by Abrra on Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Photo by Jennifer Barry

A huge snowstorm was looming in the gray skies over Newark as I boarded the train for Providence.  My mood was resigned.  I had made the painful decision to forgo David Archuleta’s last two Christmas concerts in Boston and Westbury.  I stared glumly out the window, cursing the blizzard that had destroyed my plans to connect with David again.  The train was filled to capacity with people heading home for the holidays.  The seat beside me soon became empty and mysteriously remained that way through three more stops of passengers jostling to board.   Suddenly, I looked up to see a tall young man in his early twenties.  He smiled and politely asked, “May I sit here?”  That was the beginning of a remarkable conversation that lasted until John Torrey got off in Norwich, Connecticut.

John Torrey in Bagamoyo, Tanzania

John is a student at Princeton University.  As the train sped onward through the frigid landscape, he talked to me about his life at college and how he spends his time in summer between semesters.  He does volunteer work in Bagamoyo, Tanzania in an AIDS clinic for women and children, teaching healthy lifestyle habits and disease prevention.  No small task in an impoverished village where health care is virtually non-existent but for the works of good Samaritans, like John and other volunteers for UKUN.  As John wrote in a subsequent email I requested since our meeting, “UKUN also provides care to over 5,000 orphaned and vulnerable children through coordinating support services….providing clients with nutritional assistance, counseling and testing, transportation to the hospital, physical therapy, ARV monitoring, income generating opportunities, referrals to social services in the community, AIDS education in schools, and much more.  They serve as the eyes and ears of the Bagamoyo medical community because they actually enter communities and residences. At the moment, UKUN is facing a funding crisis, so I spent most of my time writing letters and grants in an effort to obtain funds.  I also went on numerous home visits and helped to transport clients to the hospital.  Along with other volunteers, I set up what is now a regular support group for HIV-positive women.  Separately from UKUN, I also taught and played with children at a local center for orphaned and vulnerable children called IMUMA every weekday.”

John Torrey and some orphaned children he taught English, Math, and Geography to in Tanzania.

As I listened to his story of the plight of the Tanzanian people, I immediately felt that John was a person David would be proud to know.  Here was someone doing the hands on work close to David’s heart and fund raising efforts.  They are connected in that way, he and David, strangers and brothers at the same time in their mission.  I began to talk about David’s work with various foundations prompting John to exclaim that, “David certainly seems like my kind of person!”  This was my opening to offer John a Christmas Tour CD.  He promised to play it with his family when he got home.  I showed him some of my videos with my IPhone that feature David singing “Save the Day” and “Falling”.  My seatmate was delighted with the songs and the Voice.  Then he told me that he was a songwriter!  Was there nothing this charming young man did not attempt?

Before we parted, I asked John what his goal was in life.  His answer:  “To bring peace to the world by working to improve health care in poor countries.  I want to write grants for funds to help the continuing effort to raise these people out of poverty so they can support themselves.”  John, like David has a deep feeling of responsibility to try his best to make the world a better place.  I am proud to call John Torrey my friend.  I am almost sure David would be too.

The train pulled into Norwich and my companion got off with a wave and a promise to keep in touch.  Strangers on a train, connected for a moment that would last forever.  I sat back in my seat and felt the smile return that he had placed there; felt my spirits rise as the train gathered speed.  I had missed my connection with David, but I had made the connection I was meant to keep.

Connections

How am I connected to you?
How are you connected to me?
How are we connected to the small girl who plays
With her doll on a porch in the summer in L. A.?
How is she connected to us?

How were you connected to your husband or wife
Before you first met later on in your life?
How were you bound to her joys or his strife?
How did this matter to you?

How am I connected to you?
How are you connected to me?
How are we connected to the farmer who plows
Out his small field of maize miles north of Callao?
How are his story and ours tied right now?
How are we connected to him?

How are you connected to the small child who dies
Of severe diarrhea in the slums of Mbuji Mayi?
When pennies from your pocket could have kept him alive
‘Till his fifty-first year when his grandchild turns five?
How are you connected to him?

John Torrey 

From the song collection-Child of the 21st Century

To contribute to ensuring the futures of some of the brightest young orphaned children John taught by sending them to secondary school, donate here: http://www.reach4tomorrow.info/meetthekids.html or to donate generally to IMUMA’s amazing and empowering activities, donate here: http://friendsofimuma.bbnow To donate to UKUN, contact the project coordinator, Charles Njonjele at cbnjonjele@lycos.com

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The Power to Be

Posted by emifriend on Saturday, January 16, 2010

The thing about David I can’t quite stop thinking about is his unhurriedness.  It’s in his attitude:  I am just a kid, I don’t know about a lot of things.  I am not even supposed to know about all those things yet, but I’m looking forward to learning about them in my future, when the time is right.  David is not in a huge rush to do grown up things.  It is remarkable that though he likes to stay busy and productive, this attitude of unhurriedness is present in everything he does.  You can hear it in his singing, in the way he attends to each note with deliberation and patience.  It is there in the way he treats people.  He takes the time to be kind and when you talk with David he looks at you and gives you his full attention.  He listens not only to what you say but to what your heart can not.  In his lack of hurry he often ignores those who are.  Even in the way he talks… he will patiently persevere through his own awkwardness with words to make sure he is completely understood when it is important to him.  On the other hand, he will wait quietly and not interrupt or rush in to correct someone when it is not.  Like politely listening to Kathy Lee Gifford with her Josh Groban advice and replying, “Oh, yeah?” and then zipping his lip and smiling.  Hah!  Beautiful moment.

I’ve heard it said that some people get their power from having things, some from doing things and some from BEING.  David is a BE-er.  He could be a doer with that talent and that voice, but his identity is not wrapped up in that, I think.  His Identity is in the YOU AND I, to quote the Riddle, of the present moment, a sensibility which I think we are all born with until we are about five and then it slips away.  David has retained this quality, and I think it is part of what makes him “child like” but not childish.  David’s conscious efforts to be pure and true to himself, and his efforts to guard his heart, mind, soul, and mouth, empower him to be without guile, to be generous with sincere affection and to live in the moment.   Following in the steps of the great “I am,” he is the quintessential, existential, “to be.”  He walks the walk and makes it look easy.  Why does the phrase, “walk this way” from Young Frankenstein come to mind?

Maybe that is how we walk now.

This trait of living not in the past or rushing toward the future but unhurriedly being in the NOW, is so rare in our entitled twenty-something generation and those who follow, but David is such a great role model.  It’s a powerful thing in him.  I have great hopes for his younger fans.  And I have learned a lot from his example that I hope to apply.

I am learning to hurry less and to be more in the moment.  To let go of the past and not be afraid of the future.  This being in the now brings with it an increased sense of thankfulness.  So I am thankful.  To David’s parents who disciplined David without destroying his spirit.  To Dean Kaelin, who taught David to respect his gift, helped him find and expand it, and mentored David toward a professional career in music.  To all those Sunday school teachers, Boy Scout leaders, and other kids’ parents, who affirmed in David the goodness of good.  To all his siblings, who are as much a part of David as he is of them.  To his business managers who have done a great job of presenting and guiding David throughout this whirlwind year.  And to his friends, old and new, who support and encourage David and with whom he feels at home.  Most of all, I am thankful to David, for showing me, despite his youth and the prevalence of ageism in our society, the way to be.

“Let no man despise thy youth:  but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

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Yeeaahh Baby, We Have a Winner!!!!

Posted by djafan on Friday, January 15, 2010

And a new 24/7 Video Chat room to hang out in!

Which shall hereafter be called

The Voice Unplugged

It was a really close race between this and Heart Connection.  Here are the final results.


Thanks everyone so much for your overwhelming interest, creative suggestions, and support.  SandyBeaches’ suggestion won the most votes!  Now Abrra can get busy working her magic!  Looking forward to seeing all of you there next week!!  Please join us in this little oasis of David while we wait for another tour.  We CAN get through this together!  We got movies, movies, movies, David, David, David, talk, talk, talk.  What could be better?

BYOC

Bring your own chocolate.


Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 59 Comments »

Let the Voting Begin!!!

Posted by djafan on Thursday, January 14, 2010

 

Thanks to everyone who submitted names for our new 24/7 video chat room.  The response was tremendous!   There were so many great suggestions, it was really hard to come up with a top 3.  But come up we did and they have surfaced below.  Surfaced below?  As David would say, that’s an oxymoron.  LOL!  Anyway, cast your vote for the name you think best suits the chat room for The Voice.  Personally, we think they’re all good, but only one can win!   The voting will end at midnight EST and the winner will be announced Friday morning.

Ready…Set…Vote!!



 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | 31 Comments »

The Name-Our-Chat-Room Contest

Posted by djafan on Monday, January 11, 2010

The Voice is very soon to have its own 24/7 video chat room.   It will ultimately be run by the great and powerful, Abrra Kadabrra (aka Master,) the sole possessor of the almighty spam wand.  We are taking suggestions for a name for our new chat room which shall be open to one and all.  Submit them in the comments section on this thread.   Toward the middle of the week, we will put up the best 3 for a vote.

We must have a name before Abrra can begin to work her magic, so the sooner we have it, the sooner the room will be open for business and we can all move in.

So….What do you think the new room should be called?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Do it for 

OK, then do it for a fellow ODD sufferer.  Remember, your quick action during this time of drought may just bring someone back from the {{{LEDGE}}}




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A High Speed Heart Connection

Posted by yjfanofdavid on Friday, January 8, 2010

Photo by Genevieve Wang ("gengen") 2009 Christmas Tour

A short time ago, Angelica posed a question on The Voice in the comments:  “Was David reserved to come along at a time when the Internet was here, in order that we could have so much access to him? And love him more than was possible before this technology arrived?”

The answer I arrived at is, yes and yes!  I too like to think it was cosmic design that he was reserved to come to us when the technology had finally caught up with the human capacity for sharing life and love.  The Internet is the difference between “Oh, he’s got a great voice” and having him inhabiting our entire psyche.  I don’t know about other artists, but a search of him in YouTube shows 4,370,000 results; Google shows 4,210,000 results.  AI brought him to us, but it is in cyberspace where our fondness turns to love and inexplicable attachment.

As Angelica said, “If not for the internet, we would have all returned to our usual lives before AI, not forgetting him, but not obsessing over him either.  Everything would have turned out so differently.  But it didn’t.  Why?  I believe, without deifying him, he has a message of love and healing the world needs to hear and in order for that message to be disseminated, he needs the Internet and all the angels it has gathered to him.”

Thanks to the Internet, he shares the story of his life with us, in real time.  The story is profound at times and trivial at others.  We know when he gets up because he says good morning to us.  We know what he eats for breakfast because he tells us he is eating oatmeal with blueberries.  He informs us he mixes up the conditioner and lotion in the shower.  We know when he wakes up from a nap.  He bids us good night before going to bed.  The Internet breeds familiarity but, rather than contempt, familiarity with David breeds love, for to know him is to love him.   Although he doesn’t tell us, we find out he sneaks out of his tour and goes visiting some of the lonely and forgotten souls among us.

We have reassessed our priorities.  When packing essentials for a trip, a power cord is as indispensable as a tooth brush and we fuss about reliable WiFi.  At home when our power goes out, we lament not the thawing of the refrigerator but the lack of internet access.  Priorities, schmiorities.

Our most vital body part is now our index finger.  He shows up with the slightest touch, materializing from nowhere and everywhere, singing, humming, dancing, jumping, running, sweating, laughing, talking, rambling, and just being.  Click.  He is a romantic figure, leading us through Fields of Gold.  Click.  He is a devout choir boy.  Click.  He is solving the existential riddle.  Click.  He is telling us the greatest story ever told.  Thanks to the Internet, he stands by ready to soothe, lift, comfort, and exhilarate, depending on what our heart requires at the time.

VIPs play havoc with our senses, because he leaps off the Internet and bounces into the room.  The three by three inch, two-dimensional David from our computer screen is now a 3 dimensional warm body, wrapping his big hand behind our back.  But oh, where is the replay button after he sings Crazy?  We greet him like a friend because, surely, we know him.  But why does he treat us like old friends too? Standing before that ILAA screen, we touch him, hug him, and just try to hang on to the flesh-and-blood David for as long as we can, and he happily indulges us.  After he looks at us and touches our hands, we are satisfied for the moment.  We return to our computers, and wait, with increased longing, for the next encounter…

Of modern celebrities, W. Somerset Maugham said:  “It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes.  They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.”  David is the anti-celebrity.  There is no illusion and no disillusion about him.  He lets us behind the scenes and bravely shares his life.  And here is the irony:  He makes use of the latest technology yet his life and story hark back to a simpler time.  He shares with us the excitement of seeing a giant grape, a guy rollerblading down the street, a parade going by; the pleasure of eating roasted corn on the cob and cherry limeade.  He is amazed by the first snow on the mountain tops, the yellow hills against the blue sky, and the ocean and the stars in one glance.  He takes us back to a time when life was less complicated, when the beauty of the world was appreciated; when art still touched us, and when how we treated each other mattered.  Is our addiction actually a yearning for a time when goodness was good enough?

Does the Internet cause ODD?  This much we know:  the Internet tells the story of David so we read on, unable to put the book down, and with a click, we turn another page.

Photo by Genevieve Wang ("Gengen") from the 2009 Christmas Tour

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The Case of the Unraveling Raffle Plan

Posted by rapture on Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Wherin I attend the final Westbury concert and devise a cunning plan.  But first, the set up and a little background:

I have two daughters that, for the purposes of this story I will refer to as my “younger daughter” and my “older daughter.”   My fifteen year old, the younger, is a casual David fan and my concert buddy.   She puts up with most of my fanatic behavior.  My sixteen year old, the elder, is not a fan, nor is she a fan of me being a fan.  She puts up with NONE of my fanatic behavior and wants nothing to do with David.

I am a math teacher in high school and also the advisor to my younger daughter’s Class of 2012  fundraising effort which is, (no surprise) Invisible Children.

My younger daughter and I won tickets to the Westbury show which included a Meet & Greet after the show.  I had no plans to attend the VIP.  I was pretty sure that there would be an autograph opportunity after the show, but wasn’t sure what to have David sign.  So I had the brilliant idea to make a photo collage of David with the invisible children logo and have him sign that.  Then our class could raffle it to raise more money for Invisible Children.

At home we have the entire collection of the six colored Invisible Children bracelets.  I wear the red one, my younger daughter wears green and  my older daughter’s is blue.  My cunning plan was to ask David to wear the white bracelet while signing the collage, (thereby increasing its value significantly.)  I would then raffle the white bracelet that David had on his body for a few seconds with the collage.  I also planned to take a photo of David wearing the white bracelet while signing the collage and raffle that.   Both daughters were aware of said cunning plan to involve the white bracelet in the raffle.

Now…here’s where the plot thickens and you must pay close attention or it becomes a “who’s on first” conundrum.

Day of the show, I can’t find my red bracelet so I asked my older daughter if I can borrow her blue bracelet.  I was taken aback by her strangely suspicious and unfounded response.  “You’re not going to give it to David Archuleta, are you?”
“Me?  No, of course not.  He has is own bracelets!”  The very idea.

At the last minute, due to the weather, Abrra wasn’t able to make it to the Westbury show.  She was kind enough to transfer her VIP to me, so I was able to attend the VIP after all!  I was soooo excited.  I dropped my younger, very accommodating, daughter at a nearby mall while I attended the VIP and got to meet up with many cyber-friends.

My next brilliant idea was to give David the white bracelet at the VIP and let him wear it for the WHOLE SHOW, then get it back from him at the M&G after the show.

Our conversation went like this:
Me:  Hi again
David:  Hey!
Me:  I’ll see you again later, after the show…
David:  (puzzled look)
Me:  Oh, my daughter will be with me.  We won a radio contest.
David:  Oh, cool. OK.
Me:  I’m a math teacher at our local high school and Invisible Children is our fundraising effort. I’m going to ask you later to sign a collage that we can raffle off for Invisible Children.  When I found out that I was coming here, I thought you could wear this bracelet for the show and give it back to me after.  It will really add value to the raffle.

I give David the white bracelet and he puts it on his left wrist.

David:  Oh, I lost my bracelet.
Me:  Oh, then just keep it.
David:  No, you need it for the raffle!
Me:  Well then here, take this one.

Helplessly I watched my older daughter’s prediction come to pass as I slip her blue bracelet off my wrist and give it to David!

At this point David is looking confused.  I calmly explain my brilliant, slightly more complicated, yet still cunning plan.

Me:  *touches the white bracelet on his left wrist*   Wear this one for the show and give it to me later and,  *presses the blue bracelet into his right hand* keep this one and put it in your pocket.

David:  Oh, OK.

What was I thinking?  I had just given him my psychic older daughter’s blue bracelet!  No worries.  I chuckled to myself at the ease with which I conceived yet another brilliant plan.  I’ll just order her another one and stall and act dumb till it arrives.

The show begins and Benton’s playing his first song.  We’re sitting off to the right in the second row.  Very good seats, but the bass amplifier is blowing out our eardrums.  I quickly scan around and spy two empty seats in the FRONT ROW right in the CENTER.  We scooted into those seats and not a moment too soon!  After I sat, some guy sits next to me while my daughter was still making her way down the aisle.  I asked if that was his seat and he said, “No.”  Ha!  He was doing the same thing!  I just told him my daughter was sitting there and he kindly removed himself.  We kept those seats for the entire show!

At last David strides on stage singing WFY.  My daughter and I both notice at the same time. David was wearing my older daughter’s blue bracelet!  How did that happen?!  And how will I raffle off that blue bracelet?  My older daughter knows that hers was the only blue bracelet in the house and that I was going to be raffling off the white one!  So much for my brilliant plan.  I just turned to my younger daughter in the seat next to me and we burst into laughter.  That was cool.  And it was SO cool when David talked about Invisible Children before POTC and said, “…like this bracelet.”

As you all know by now, the entire show, from the first note to the last wave, was incredible.  The best part for me was that I was on my feet the entire time (along with about 75% of the audience) and my daughter was right up by my side – having a blast!

After the show, several of us waited in the back of the auditorium for David to come out for the Meet & Greet.  When David came out he was calm, but friendly.  There was a quiet moment before we got started and I said to Ray,  “So you were pretty good out there on the stage!  You must have been practicing!”  ” Not at all,” he replied, “I just have some natural talent, ha ha!”  Then David told us what a surprise it was and how at first he thought Ray’s voice was just coming through his earpieces so he pulled them out!  We all laughed.  Then we started with photos/autographs.

When it was our turn, my daughter and I asked him to sign the Invisible Children collage.

David took the blue bracelet off and gave it back to me.  I thanked him for wearing it and he asked me if he wore the wrong one.  I said it didn’t matter, and something about him being easily confused but that was refreshing because I am also.  He laughed.  I asked him if he still had the white bracelet…..to keep.  He said, “Yes, but not in my pocket.  I gave it to someone to hold for me.  I’ll get it back.”  He’s so funny.

So what became of the blue bracelet?  I didn’t take it off for 48 hours and then I retired it to safe keeping in my drawer.  I ordered two more blue bracelets, one for my older daughter and one for me to wear as a reminder.  I would wear the actual bracelet David wore, but I don’t want anything to happen to it.  So… I have the signed collage and the blue bracelet he wore through the whole final show.  Our fundraiser is in the spring.   My next cunning plan…make a substantial personal donation to Invisible Children and hold on to that bracelet!

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There are Angels Among us

Posted by Jukevan on Friday, January 1, 2010

Ohhhh, I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from some where up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live,
To teach us how to give … Alabama

I am blessed.  There are really no words to clarify how blessed I truly am, but I will do my best to convey what’s in my heart.

Several of us had this conversation throughout the end of the Christmas From The Heart tour.  But since not everyone was there, I really wanted to take an opportunity to share some of the thoughts and feelings that were discussed.  Abrra has mentioned that at Foxwoods many of us had front row seats.  If I were to believe this was by chance or pure coincidence, I believe I’d be mistaken.

David has close to 300K twitter followers. He has tens of thousands of fans worldwide.  Many of these fans, will never be lucky enough to see David live in concert.  Most of these fans, will never have an opportunity to meet David.  And YET .. here we are.  A handful of folks, from all over the country, that forged an everlasting bond, through the glue that is comprised of all things David Archuleta.

We’ve had many opportunities to see David live in concert.  (I don’t even want to count, because the sheer number would be staggering.) We’ve had many opportunities to meet David in person.  We’ve been able to extend a hand, an embrace, to look into his eyes, and thank him for all his hard work, to thank him for allowing us to be a part of his journey, to express how the voice touches our collective hearts.

I don’t want anyone to feel left out, or omitted, because I do believe that we have not been drawn together by mere chance.  Some things are supposed to happen for a reason… I have always believed that.  Even if the answer doesn’t reveal itself immediately, at some point, we all come to understand why certain things have happened in our lives.

I am not, and never have been a fan of American Idol.  I don’t like or dislike the show; I am just not afforded a lot of time to watch television.  I saw David by accident flipping through the stations the night the San Diego auditions aired.

Now it’s almost 2 years later.  Not only has David become eternally part of our lives… so have the friendships he’s created without even knowing it.

He knows he has what he refers to as “the really dedicated fans”, that he sees repeatedly.  What I don’t think he knows, is how many of us travel together, share rooms, open our homes, our cars… and our hearts to these unique and forever friendships.  They span across states and across countries.  There was a moment during soundcheck at Foxwoods… Silverfox and I were sitting next to each other in the front row off to David’s left.  And we both saw him do a double take.  He looked at me, he looked at SF.. he looked back at me.. and he looked back at SF.. and he smiled his smile.. and I think he realized at that point.. we actually knew each other.  (Later on SF and I would joke about this moment, and wonder if David was ready to send morse code to Ray.. OH NO.. they actually know each other.. AND THEY’RE TOGETHER !!!)

In Stroudsburg David asked me where I was actually from.  I said, “You don’t KNOW??”  And we laughed; he said, “I’ve seen you in so many places, I don’t think I know or I don’t remember.”  I said, “I live in New Jersey.”  He said, “OH.. okay.. New Jersey.”  He repeats a lot. I’ve heard he does that to try to remember things…who knows.  I never take that time with David to try to say something meaningful..because we know how well THAT worked for me.  I no longer do that type of planning.  We just chat about whatever comes up.  But when he asked me where I was from, I remembered he’d asked SF that same question at another VIP.  Of course she was too busy walking away from him to realize he was still having a conversation with her.  But there were a lot of us around to prompt her attention back to David.  I love ya SF.. I do.

I’m not a huggy person; I’m painfully shy.  And YET.. there are hugs and kisses aplenty when these gatherings form.  We take up full tables at restaurants and we have no shame or worry.  We are in our element.  We are among are favorite people, all riding the same cloud, all breathless and loud with excitement over the same thing.  I’ve never seen so many women squee in delight simultaneously as I have during these gatherings.

To sit in a hotel room with 5 or 6 women watching a YouTube video of a recent performance and without prompting, every SINGLE one erupts in glee at the EXACT same moment… is something that will live on in my mind forever.

IF we get a chance to do this again later in 2010, I’m not only willing, but would like to try to bring more of us together.  I’d love for djafan and Angelica to meet the rest of us over on this side of the coast.  I’ll donate to plane fare and hotel costs.  I’ll forgo the opportunity to go to several concerts, for an opportunity to have the biggest get together we can plan on having.

We are very blessed indeed and if I never get a chance to tell you in person, please know… I mean it just the same.  I love you all.. and your friendships are the best thing that has happened to me during 2009.  Here’s to a great 2010 !!!

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