David Archuleta had the jitters Monday as he took the microphone at the 25th annual Utah Women's Conference — podium-clutching, leg-shaking, nervous-laugh-inducing jitters.

He would, he admitted several words into his first-ever keynote address, rather be singing.

"A David Archuleta speech for me is like an oxymoron," said the Murray High School graduate, who got his start as a finalist on Fox's "American Idol." "I've never been good at speaking."

Nonetheless, the 18-year-old pop star managed to enchant — however clumsily — the several hundred mostly middle-aged but still giddy-to-see-David-Archuleta-in-real-life conferencegoers.

"I just think he's adorable," said LeAnn Hafen, 53, who drove from Santa Clara to attend the Abravanel Hall conference, which was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch. "He's so sincere and he tries so hard."

Archuleta centered his remarks on doing one's best despite doubts, fears or setbacks.

"If you really have a desire to do something, you should do it," he said. "Even if it's a hard path to take, even if it has big hills and scary trees that might scratch you when you push them out of the way, you should do it. It's the hard things that make us learn in life."

Take, for example: David Archuleta.

As a child, first lured into the world of music by a "Les Miserables" concert DVD, he sang because he loved the sensation of making music. People told him, "you have such a good voice," but he didn't believe them.

"I could not stand the sound of my voice," he said. "As much as I loved singing, if someone would play a recording back for me, I would run out of the room. I hated it. I'd cover my ears and scream."

The first time Archuleta appeared in a talent competition, he said, "I was so afraid to go on stage I had a panic attack."

Now, with two albums, a tour and a No. 2 billboard single behind him, Archuleta doesn't get too nervous when people ask him to sing. He only blushed a little when Monday's crowd started chanting, "Sing! Sing! Sing!"

"I'm sorry," he said, laughing as people snapped pictures from the audience. "Cameras intimidate me."

After a little coaxing and a direct prod from Hatch, Archuleta belted out a silky rendition of "O Holy Night," which is included on his just-released "Christmas from the Heart" album.

Women scrambled, clapping and hollering, to their feet.

"It was beautiful," said Heidi Hansen, 46, who lives in Springville. "I just melted."

e-mail: estuart@desnews.com