David Hernandez

David Anthony Hernandez (born May 31, 1983) is an American singer and the twelfth place finalist of FOX's seventh season of the television series American Idol.

He moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue his music career after his time on American Idol.

Hernandez was born in Phoenix, Arizona, but grew up mostly in Glendale.

He was raised by his single mom, Spring Hernandez.

His father is a truck driver and he has a younger sister named Alexandra, 8 years his junior.

He began singing at age six.

His grandfather took him to his first audition for a local theater company, Valley Youth Theater.

David Was chosen for one of the lead roles, and decided on a career singing and performing.

Hernandez used to train at Voices, a vocal coaching studio.

His teacher claimed that Hernandez trained "whenever he could afford it" as he wasn't always financially stable.

He was a young gymnast and won medals in the Grand Canyon Olympics.

Hernandez had some acting experiences and was in an independent film before American Idol.

He also once had aspiration of becoming an entertainment show host.

As a teenager, Hernandez went to a college in Tucson, Arizona.

During college, he had a job selling knives door-to-door.

He was a student at Arizona State University, majoring in broadcast journalism.

Before American Idol, he worked various jobs, including singing on cruise ships, working as a server at a pizza bistro, and working at night clubs.

Hernandez also used to sing with a local Phoenix cover group called Tribe 7.

On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, David cites musical influences as: Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, Michael Jackson, Peabo Bryson.

When asked to list his top pop artists, he cites; Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Peabo Bryson.

He also cites Fantasia Barrino and Kelly Clarkson as his favorite former American Idol contestants.

Randy Jackson claimed after one of his performances on American Idol that Hernandez has a Stevie Wonder vibe coming from his singing style.

Hernandez himself described his sound as pop and R&B influenced.

David Hernandez was once part of a singing group called Vinyl Four which consisted of four singers prior to his appearance on American Idol.

The group performed on the cruise ships.

Hernandez also has performed with the Latin/R&B bands Tribe 7 and Straight up.

Prior to his participation on American Idol, Hernandez has performed at Urban Network Events, Arizona Idol and at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

He was a finalist in Arizona Idol (the winner of the competition secures a chance to audition for FOX's American Idol).

After failing to take first place, he traveled to San Diego to audition successfully for the seventh season of American Idol.

Hernandez auditioned for American Idol season 7 at San Diego, California, singing "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" in front of the judges.

All the three judges loved his audition and let him advance to the Hollywood round.

In Hollywood, he sang "Love the One You're With" for his audition and received unanimous praise from the three judges.

Hernandez was finally chosen as one of the Top 24 semi-finalists for season 7 (albeit with some hesitance from Simon).

During the first week of the semi-finals, Hernandez was the first contestant to perform.

He performed "In the Midnight Hour" and was voted through the next round.

During the top 20-week, he performed The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".

This performance received praises from all the three judges and converted Simon Cowell into a fan.

His "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was both vocally convincing and demonstrated a degree of showmanship that he had previously been missing.

After performing "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" during the Top 16-week, Paula Abdul claimed that he has one of the best vocals in the competition.

Simon added that he definitely secured his place in the finals on that.