David James Archuleta was born on December 28, 1990 in Miami and grew up in Murray, Utah. David is the second oldest of five children. His father is Jeff Archuleta is a jazz musician and his mother is Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. David started singing since age 6, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. At age 12 he became a Junior Singer champ on Star Search. David started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton. He received a standing ovation for it and won the Child Division. At age 11 he made his television debut. He sang "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars. His musical influences are Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. He was 16 when h e did auditions for American Idol. He became an early favorite by performing songs like "Imagine" and "Shop Around." On may 21, 2008 David became the runner-up of American Idol 7. On June 5, 2008, he signed a recording contract with 19/Jive Records. His debut album will be released later this year, after he finished the "American Idols live tour".