N24

NATION

THE STAR, FRIDAY 10 APRIL 2009

Archuleta mania is here!

Students go ga ga over American Idol runner-ups visit
PETALING JAYA: The real world
and cyberspace were caught up in
the David Archuleta mania as the
runner-up of last years American
Idol made a surprise appearance at
SMK Sri KDU in Kota Damansara.
It was crazy as I did not realise
how many kids would be there.
I did not expect them to be that
enthusiastic and have that much
energy, said Archuleta of the big
crowd at the school yesterday.
He was mobbed by an equally
huge crowd when he landed at KL
International
Airport
on
Wednesday.
The students of the school were
rewarded with the special visit after
having won the Hitz.fm Bring
Archuleta To Your School campaign.
Students were required to answer
questions and vote for their schools
on the radio stations website. The
school garnered a whopping 65,700
votes.
I voted for our school so many
times. I just kept clicking the submit
button (on the website) over and
over again! exclaimed Form 4 student Goh Lih Seng, who added that
he enjoyed Archuletas music but
was never a big fan. Now Im a huge
fan! he said.
The 18-year-old singer spent about
an hour at the secondary school,
posing for pictures with the top students before entering the hall where
he was greeted with screams.

A pleasant surprise: SMK Sri KDU students taking pictures and videos of Archuleta during his visit to the
school in Kota Damansara yesterday.
Meanwhile, the team from The
Stars youth platform R.AGE was
hard at work at the school, keeping
fans of the baby-faced singer updated with what was happening.
Using the social networking tool
Twitter, which allows people to follow updates of fellow Tweeple, the
R.AGE team was able to notify anyone with immediate updates and
pictures on site, including replies by
Archuleta from an interview con-

ducted after the event.

Earlier, Archuleta told the crowd
how much he loved Malaysia and
what a surreal experience it was for
him to be in Malaysia, all the way
from Utah, United States.
He also talked to the students
about how he got through high
school with good grades.
I wasnt the smartest in my class
but I took my time and worked at
(my studies). The effort is what

helped me out and got me the grades

I wanted, Archuleta said.
After the event, Archuleta held a
press conference at the Sunway
Lagoon Theme Park. He will perform a special showcase at Sunway
Lagoon Amphitheatre at 3pm on
Saturday.
* Log on to rage.com.my for more
pictures and details on David
Archuletas visit to SMK Sri KDU.

Wang in
town to
promote
May concert
KUALA LUMPUR: TaiwaneseAmerican pop star Wang Lee Hom
was in town yesterday to promote
his Music-Man concert at the Bukit
Jalil National Stadium here next
month.
Wang last staged his Heroes on
Earth World Tour in 2007 at the
same venue, and expressed his
excitement to be back in Malaysia.
Everytime I hold a concert in
Malaysia, it feels like Im attending
a concert myself, he said.
It is an unforgettable experience
for me as Malaysian music lovers
are so passionate about music. They
always sing the loudest and know
the lyrics to every song.
Wang shared that his concert
theme Music-Man harks at his own
fondness for manga and comic book
superheroes.
Since I like music so much, Ill be
Music-Man. My weapon of choice
will be this dragon guitar. And my
mission will be to save the world
with music.
His supposed weapon is a custom-made Bahamut electric guitar
costing US$25,700 (RM96,700).
The Lee Hom Music-Man Live in
Malaysia 2009 Concert will be held
at the stadium at 8pm on May 2.
For ticket booking, call Galaxys
hotline at 03-22822020 or visit
Galaxys website www.galaxy.com.
my.