David A. on Dad: Rumors Were "Really Weird"

Sun., May. 25, 2008 1:12 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

David Archuleta, American Idol: Season 7

FOX

What David Archuleta wants to know is, why in the world wouldn't he be able to fetch a glass of water for himself?

"I heard one thing where [my dad, Jeff] refused to give me water or something like that and that’s the weirdest thing," the American Idol runner-up said Friday in a conference call with reporters. "I mean, I am 17 and you know, if I want water, I am pretty sure I would just go get it anyway."

Archuleta, who lost to David Cook by a reported 12 million votes Wednesday despite being the apple of the judges' eyes for several weeks, said that he wasn't really exposed to all the "stage dad" reports circulating about his pop until later on.

"He understood that I didn’t like to hear anything going on in the news about me, good or bad, because I didn’t want it to distract me or let it go to my head or anything like that because I just wanted to stay myself as I was at the beginning of the competition before all this happened," Archuleta said of his father, who was banned from Idol's backstage earlier this month after prompting his son to add unlicensed lyrics to "Stand By Me."

"I wanted to keep who I was, the normal, teenage David. But in interviews and stuff it started coming up and it’s kind of strange because there were really weird things."

Of course, it's also weird to Archuleta that he's got millions of adoring fans, but he's just going to have to get used to it.

"It’s such a weird thought to think," the Murray, Utah, teen said. "I do think of it more as people who have really appreciated what I have done and with all the letters that I have been sent. I’ve tried to read as many as I could...

"The fact that people were able to feel what I was trying to give off as I sing is one of the coolest and best feelings ever."

Archuleta said he's going to try to continue his schooling (he still had to do homework during the competition) while also pursuing music.

"Even if music does turn out to go somewhere for me, you never know how long it would last," he said. "I want to make sure I have something to back me up on that."

In the meantime, Archuleta's looking to take his music in the pop-with-meaning direction.

"John Mayer and Sara Bareilles are examples I use for people that have done the more pop side of the music, but their music has more meaning and depth to it," he said. "They are respected as real musicians and artists."

And as for the fact that he didn't come out on top?

"The fact that Cook won, he deserved it so much," Archuleta said graciously. "He just proved that week after week that he deserved to be the American Idol from early in the competition."