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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. Hernandez started work on his debut album with production help from Eric West in 2009.

Hernandez was born in Phoenix, Arizona, but grew up mostly in Glendale. He was raised by his single mom, Spring Hernandez, in a broken family. His father is a truck driver and he has a younger sister named Alexandra who is eight years younger than him.

He began singing at age six. His grandfather took him on his first audition for a local theater company named Valley Youth Theater. He got one of the lead roles and knew that singing and performing was the only thing out there for him. Hernandez used to train at Voices, a vocal coaching studio. His teacher claimed that Hernandez trained "whenever he could afford it" since he wasn`t always financially stable.

He was a young gymnast when he was a little kid and won around ten medals in the Grand Canyon Olympics during that time. Hernandez had some acting experiences and was in an independent film before his American Idol journey.He also once had aspiration of becoming an infotainment show host.

As a teenager, Hernandez went to a college in Tucson, Arizona.During college, he had a job selling knives door-to-door.After college, he was a student of Arizona State University, majoring in broadcast journalism.

Before American Idol, he worked hard and basically took various jobs to support his living, 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.

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


Musical Influences
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.


Musical Background
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 Tribet 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.


American Idol

Overview
David 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 th