MURRAY— That wasn't some sort of terrible accident at Murray High School Friday afternoon.No, all that screaming was just David Archuleta and 5,000 or 6,000 of
his closest friends getting together to celebrate him being only two
votes away from being this year's "American Idol.""It means the world to me that you guys came here," Archuleta told the
crowd. "I can't believe it. It's crazy. I can't thank you guys enough."
Oh, and among Archuleta's new best friends were Murray Mayor Dan
Snarr; Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman
Jr. Huntsman, by the way, required less security than Archuleta. But
then there aren't thousands of teenage girls screaming Huntsman's name,
either.
The pep rally/celebration/carnival/concert, co-sponsored by
Murray City and Murray Schools, filled the stands on both sides of
Murray High's football stadium as well as about half the field. There
hasn't been that much orange and black since Halloween.
Hundreds of Archuleta's friends and classmates were in
attendance. While all were excited, some said the fact Archuleta has
gone so far on "Idol" is a little bittersweet.
"I'd rather have him here with us," said Caitlee Meyers, a
junior. "To us, the people who know him, he's just David Archuleta from
Murray."Jessica Judd, also a junior at Murray High, spent the whole day with
Archuleta Friday. She said it was a surreal experience, but she's
excited for him.
"It's crazy that so many people are here for someone I have known for so long," she said.
The audience cheering Archuleta was packed with young girls and
mothers with children. When he was introduced on the stage and began to
sing, people stood on tiptoe, holding their cameras in the air and
chanting Archuleta's name.
Hundreds of friends/fans were wearing orange or white shirts
declaring voting allegiance to Murray's favorite son. There were signs
declaring, "David, your music makes my heart beat," "David, you are our
hero," "David is a hottie" and lots of signs with some variation of
"David, will you marry me?"
The whole marriage-proposal thing was a recurring theme throughout the day.
There were speeches and proclamations and photo-ops, but the fans
also got what they really came to hear. They heard Archuleta sing three
songs —"Stand by Me," "Imagine" and "Angels."
Some of them may not have been able to hear the songs very well because they were screaming too loudly.
It was the climax of David Archuleta Day (as declared by the
governor), a day filled with interviews, visits with family and
friends, and two public events (including one earlier at the Gateway)
that brought out thousands of fans. A day that concluded when Archuleta
sang the national anthem at the Jazz-Lakers game.
The ever-humble Archuleta actually went so far as to apologize
for trouble he was having with his voice at the Murray rally, although
it wasn't readily evident in his performance."I'm sorry, I wish I had more of a voice for you guys," he said. "But I'm giving it the best I can just for you guys."And, urged by emcee Big Buddha of local Fox station KSTU-Ch. 13 to tell
the fans to vote for him, the astonishingly modest 17-year- old
couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I just hope you guys enjoy the performances," Archuleta said.
The Big Evening Event took Archuleta to the EnergySolutions Arena
to sing the national anthem. Ironically, he said earlier in the day
that he'd once auditioned for that gig and the Jazz had rejected him.
Surrounded by security, Jazz personnel and a horde of cameramen,
Archuleta gave fans on the front row high-fives before heading over to
the scorers' table where he graciously smiled (imagine that) for the
flurry of flashes. The smallest guy to perform on the court on this
night then drew one of the biggest roars of the night when he was
introduced to his hometown crowd.
Archuleta's take on the national anthem, complete with impressive
runs that displayed his range, was received about as well as a
game-winning shot by Deron Williams. Fans cheered at every pause and
went bonkers when he wrapped it up with a big finish and an even bigger
smile. Many stayed on their feet, cheering as he was escorted to his
lower-bowl seat.
At the Gateway, too, Archuleta faced thousands and thousands of screaming fans.
And the thousands and thousands of fans brought Archuleta to tears. Literally.
The 17-year-old "American Idol" finalist from Murray was clearly
overwhelmed by the enormous turnout at the AT&T store at the
Gateway. Well, he was at the AT&T store; the crowd stretched the
length of the shopping center.
"I can't believe this many people turned out," Archuleta said. "I
thought I was just going to be at a little table down there and just
say hi to a few people.... I don't think you realize how much this
means to me. Thank you so much for you guys' support."At which point he turned his back, trying to hide the tears that welled
up in his eyes as his mother, Lupe, put her arms around him.
"I can't believe this," Lupe Archuleta said. "I'm so proud of him. I never thought anything like this would happen."
Archuleta's appearance was like a combination of the Beatles
invading America and Barack Obama making a campaign appearance. The
most-heard phrase of the day (after "I love David") was "Isn't this
crazy?"
The crowd was spread out through the Gateway Center, but it
easily numbered in the thousands. It may have been the biggest crowd of
screaming fans for something other than a football or basketball team
anyone had ever seen — and this was hours before the big pep rally
scheduled at Murray High later in the day.
"I've never been to anything with this kind of enthusiasm," said
Marty Clark, director of sales for AT&T in Utah. "I've seen big
crowds, yes. But not this enthusiasm."
Attendance must have been way down at quite a number of local
schools Friday. The crowd was at least 90 percent teen and pre-teen
girls. And if you don't count the fathers who were there with their
daughters, it was probably more like 98 percent girls.
(And that bodes well for Archuleta in the "American Idol" voting,
because research indicates that's the demographic most likely to phone
or text in their "Idol" votes.)
One of the few boys who was there without any girls, 17-year-old Karlo Velez of West Jordan, was there on an errand.
"My cousin in Hollywood wanted his autograph," he said.
Maddie Hansen, Tiffany Harding and Maddee Hales, classmates at
Fremont High in Plain City, were first in line and were among the few
who got autographs — but they arrived at 4 a.m. "because we are so
excited to meet him!" Hansen said."I'm probably going to pee my pants," Hales said.
There were "I Love David" shirts everywhere you looked — some
professionally printed, some hand-made. One girl held up a sign
plastered with pictures of Archuleta that read "My Future Husband."
Surrounding Archuleta was the kind of media crush you see in
television shows and movies. In addition to camera crews from "American
Idol" (which will use the footage in next week's shows) and Fox-owned
KSTU-Ch. 13, there were cameras and reporters from competing local TV
stations.
(And local television stations are loathe to report on a show that airs on any network other than their own.)
Archuleta's every wave and gesture was greeted with screams and
cheers. And the diminutive high-school junior couldn't keep a huge grin
off his face.
What with the crush and the crowd and the tight schedule,
Archuleta was only able to sign autographs for a tiny fraction of those
in attendance. When he headed back toward his limo, the crowd surged
around him was like, well, a rock star.
Or maybe an "American Idol."
He did stick his head and shoulders out through the sun roof on his limousine, which was enough for some of the fans.
"Mom! Mom!" 13-year-old Meghan Carpenter of Highland shouted into
her cell phone. "We didn't get his autograph, but he waved at me! Twice!
"And he is so cute!"
Archuleta kicked the day off with an early visit to Fox 13's
morning studio, telling the hosts he's thrilled to be doing something
he loves on such a grand scale.The 17-year-old also said he's ready for his life to change if he wins the popular music competition."I'm so ready for that," he said, flashing his trademark shy smile.
"I've wanted to do that for so long already and now that it's finally
happened, I'm so happy now. You can't be happier."
He talked about a few flubs on the show where he forgot the words
to songs, but said "a lot of people have done that." Archuleta also
said he can't believe he's gotten to the top three in the competition
and said there was no animosity between the three finalists.
"It's been a long road — just go, go, go, go, go," he said.
Archuleta answered questions from "American Idol" viewers as far
away as Puerto Rico, but also fielded questions from students at Murray
High.
One student asked Archuleta, a member of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether he planned to serve a two-year
mission for the faith. Archuleta responded that it was something he
planned to do if he wasn't still doing music.
"I feel like I'm serving a mission right now in a way," he said.
Archuleta described how he believes his music has changed lives.
He has received letters from people, thanking him for singing a song.
"I'm doing something I love and performing and it does something for people," Archuleta said. "I can't believe it."
A second question was asked by Murray's mayor, Snarr, who
wondered whether Archuleta had learned any good pickup lines. Archuleta
smiled and said he had heard one line where a guy could ask a girl
whether she liked water. If the girl responded "yes," then he could say
that his body was about 70 percent water. "You must like me."
Following that response, Archuleta sang "Smokey Mountain
Memories," by Dolly Parton. Girls and young boys in the audience held
signs and looked at him with smiles. The performance ended with cheers
and screams.Archuleta ended his visit to Fox 13 by answering a few audience questions.
"Being able to sing is what I love to do," he said. "I feel so blessed to be here."
After leaving Fox 13, Archuleta climbed back in the limo and headed to a couple of radio stations.
Scanning the dial, it was clear even if Archuleta wasn't going to
be on that station, the morning hosts were talking about him anyway.
Some stations talked to people who had had a David-sighting and, since
many stations share the same building, some ran up the hallway to
report on the events in neighboring studios.
Frankie and Danger Boy at 97.1 KZHT commented that this was
"bigger than the time we met Michael Jackson," noting the phone calls,
constant updates on Archuleta's whereabouts and overall excitement.
"That's crazy!" Archuleta said when the DJs played a clip of Ashton
Kutcher talking about him on "Ellen."
Archuleta also stopped at 101.5 The Eagle, where humble and
down-to-earth Archuleta was surprised that anyone knew his schedule,
commenting, "I don't know how they know where I am."
The Eagle, which has been playing Archuleta's "Smokey Mountain
Memories" for many weeks, asked him about his daily life in Los Angles.
"We live in a bubble most of the time," he said. Asked whether or not
he likes the other contestants, Archuleta said, "I love them, they're
amazing. We really all get along." How about the paparazzi? "They find
out where you are and take your picture," he said shyly.
At both radio stations, fans filled the parking lots, wore "I
voted for David Archuleta T-shirts" and girls flashed their phone
numbers.
About the only thing that didn't turn out as planned was that
windy weather precluded the planned hot-air balloon ride at the Murray
rally. On the other hand, an otherwise gray and somewhat forbidding day
suddenly turned bright with sunshine just as Archuleta arrived at
Murray High.It's was, after, all, David's Day.CONTRIBUTING: Erica Hansen, Jody Genessy Deseret News