In the various American Idol threads, there are usually a few innuendos that David Archuletta’s dad is some kind of controlling robo-stage dad. I was listening to a radio program where they were interviewing a neighbor to the Archulettas, and he said that it is very far from his experience, that his father is just a nice, normal dad who is very pleased and excited with his son’s talent. Where does the idea of the controlling dad come from? Was there an incident or news report I missed? Two notes:
I remember Simon telling David, at some point earlier in the season, “you didn’t pick that song, did you?” Is that were the idea started, or something that reflected an earlier idea?
On the radio, the neighbor did say, because David is the only minor on the show this season, a parent has to stay with him pretty much all the time. The neighbor indicated that this was AI rules, not papa Archuletta’s. Is this the source?
Just to note, I like David, but he’s not my favorite (heck, he’s not my favorite David in the competition). I understand there is a lot of hate for him. I’m more interested in the source of that particular idea.
I’ve seen stage-dad-esque behavior alluded to in random entertainment blogs I’ve read (mainly Entertainment Weekly I think), but I never cared enough about the kid to look into it. Googling brings up lots of stuff like this though:
I can’t say for sure, but my sense is that this started cropping up around the time that the ‘found footage’ of David A. singing “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going” to the Season One AI finalists appeared on YouTube. IIRC, a male voice is heard off-camera giving instructions to David. This was around the time the top 24 was getting whittled down to 12.
There were other videos circulating around the same time which showed David in public places singing, or at home playing the piano, often with comments by the disembodied male cameraman, and it gave the impression that David was being “groomed.” That combined with David’s bout with vocal cord paralysis (discussed during the audition episodes) and the mere fact that he’s a young, talented kid could lead many to presume that David was being pushed to the breaking point and beyond. Or, he’s just a driven competitor with a proud dad who likes to document everything. Or some combination, who can say?
The Entertainment Weekly story and the Naomi Judd quote add kindling, but it could very well be that the quotes were printed because they support the rumor, and that arguments to the contrary (such as the radio interview referenced in the OP) are mostly ignored because they aren’t as salacious as a suffering, abused David. That said, just because there is no meaningful evidence that David has an overbearing stage dad doesn’t mean he doesn’t. It’s just that I don’t think anyone can say one way or another based on a few pixelly videos and rumormongering.
I bet it’s true, though.
