Today Show story on David Archuleta and his Stage Dad

It’s a really sad day when Today stoops to the level of TMZ. This will just make us all vote that much harder for David A.!

Someone needs to confront the rumors. Or, do they….?

I think idol will do what they always do to these kinds of scandals and mighty touch upon them on Wednesday…without really answering any questions

I meant lightly…sorry I’m on my iPod…and I’m mildly retarded

Today’s coverage of Idol always seems kind of lame…

I think that if these rumors can’t be confirmed, this story needs to be dropped. If in fact they are false, this can be just as damaging to David. I think it is cruel.

I’m glad at least they ended by saying it was a rumor, but come on, aren’t they known for giving the news, not rumors? I wonder how Archie’s father feels about being put on the Today Show that way. I mean, you expect grunge like that from the tabloids.

I can’t watch, but I think it’s the Today Show’s way of trying to get viewers at the end of the day. If they have some ‘scoop’ on AI, they have info on the most popular television show in america and can get more viewers. As for if the story is true or not, who knows if we’ll ever know. I hope not for David’s sake. It doesn’t make me want to vote for him though.

I’m just wondering if Daddychuleta is allowed to defend himself. After Simon’s comment last week, he should have been able to say something. I just don’t think the negative press is helping because it creates the possibility that David’s father wants this more than he does. After all, the Today Show covered this and not the whole Cook “song-snatching” scandal.

Shame on Today. Rumors belong to Star, TMZ and Nat’l Enquirer or our blogs heh heh. And was shocked to find msnbc often uses tmz and star. What have we come to on news shows. I’d also seen on one of those NY Posts things this story w/comments from readers and one comment was from “another” official who said those StarSearch rumors were absolutely not true as he was there..and that “all” the parents and their kid were isolated from the others to be able to concentrate on their own performances etc. Then when went back to try to find the article w/comments all the comments had been removed, so have no idea what that was about. oh well.

True or not, these rumors will only hurt David. The publicity may be good for Idol (as they like ALL press) but, how will the seemingly sweet 17-year-old handle all the added pressure?

I wish him luck.

ohh dear.. my poor baby.. :cry_wp:

not to mention that I am so nervous for him tonite….It’s how I use to feel before my son played his BB games in grammer, high school AND college..sick to my stomach :down_tb:

I bet you anything Ryan mentions it tonight. Lately they’ve been addressing whatever “scandal” has happened during the week. Probably after David sings, especially if he messes up.

I guess asking the press politely to let it go is just a waste of breath….

I don’t know how the show could address this directly. That will only add to the story.

That a such a loving father has taken a real interest in his son’s career gives me chills…
Now if only Stage Dad would come out from under the hat.
Not likely.

Are the incidents from the Star Search competition just rumors too??
Not likely.

IMO the fact this issue is slowly gaining national attention is terrific as every move JeffA makes is being watched very closely.

And in the long run, I don’t see how that hurts DavidA one bit.

All I can add to this is I have close friends who know David A., and they say the father is pretty overbearing. Has the father hurt David’s chances in the past? — they say so. Will it hurt him on Idol? – who can say?

Really Allison? How you be more specific how did the father hurt David’s chances in the past? I will cut a bitch if he hurts David’s chance in idol.

All I can add to this is I have close friends who know David A., and they say the father is pretty overbearing.

No wonder Archie seems so hesitant and unsure of himself..he probably breathes a huge sigh of relief when he gets praise because it will be one less thing he has to worry about..dontcha think.? I’m so sad.. :cry_tb:

Being a Skeptic, Even the Overbearing Stage Dad Rumors or innuendo actually help David A in the Idol Race. Yes it sucks if it is true for David, but think about how much more sympathy and appeal he receives from fans because of these “negatives”. David is 17, one more year and he can Dump dad to the curb, after he has his million dollar recording contract.

Really Allison? How you be more specific how did the father hurt Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s chances in the past? I will cut a bitch if he hurts Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s chance in idol.

The only specific I got was there’s an upcoming show coming “Rockcamp” which he was passed on for. And Disney knew of him, but also had passed. But now that he’s gotten all this Idol exposure, they will film a cameo an insert it in High School Musical 3.

She just said “why do you think nothing has really happened with his career for the last few years?” re the father.

And also she told me that David had really bad strep throat about 3 weeks ago, which was not mentioned. And also that the Beatles song he ‘forgot’ the lyrics to, was his 3rd choice of song. He got it late and was very rushed to learn it.

I’m surprised Idol took David A on if they knew his dad was such a problem. If David A gets signed dad will be along for the ride at least for awhile and could create quite a few problems for them. Taylor obviously was difficult for TPTB to deal with. You wonder why they’d want another “difficult” winner. David A looks to be fading though so maybe they won’t have that problem. Maybe this is the wake up call to raise the minimum age to 18.

In this case, I don’t think that all publcity is good publicity for David or the show.

Sorry, wrong thread, but WordPress is being a b*tch and won’t let me reply anywhere else. EW.com is going with the rumored spoiler list that’s been circulating – maybe it is correct or mostly correct?

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/04/dolly-idol-set.html

I think Idol’s backing away from David A — they don’t want to have to deal with that dad if he wins. It was all about Archuletta and how wonderful and ‘hot’ he was early on — but they’ve changed direction, I think — others have earned their respect, gained tremendous fanbases, and don’t come with extra baggage.

They’ve always tried to influence the audience to vote for who they want. And they’re doing it again.

Personally, I wasn’t ever voting for him anyway — doesn’t matter much to me. (i.e., would I *actually* buy a cd of his music? Short answer: No.) Who would his competition be? Like the Jonas Brothers? He’s not anywhere in their league, IMHO.

Unfortunately Jeff Archuletta won’t see what’s being pointed out to him in these pieces, he’s too far gone. We see Dad’s like him a lot in the teen-sports world — overly infested, over-the-top competitive types that interfere and cause problems for coaches — but can never see that their behavior is out of line. If 1/2 of this stuff we’re hearing is true, he’s a bit of a scary dude.

This coming out so publically might help David — but that Dad isn’t going to change or go away.

The only specific I got was thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s an upcoming show coming à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Rockcampà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  which he was passed on for. And Disney knew of him, but also had passed. But now that heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s gotten all this Idol exposure, they will film a cameo an insert it in High School Musical 3.

Not that it matters, but would that be Camp Rock? Just wondering because that’s the Disney Channel movie starring the Jonas Brothers, and that wouldn’t surprise me at all but is interesting to me, since the kids I used to babysit are obsessed with Jonas, and, not ironically, David as well.

I think Idol is backing away from David A. too and moving towards David Cook. Because at first it was all “You can do no wrong!” and now they’re letting the Daddy Dearest stories spread (and so far doing little to mitigate them).

Now they’re de-pimping him after every performance. He might end up getting the “shocking” Melinda Doolittle boot at #3.

I think they could very well be de-pimping him, but not because of his father. I could very well be because they came on too strong in the beginning. It was very much, “David A. will win, so who will be the runner up?” Backing off of him a little makes for a much fairer show.

All of that aside, I don’t know if the rumors of his father are true. Either way, I still think they need to raise the auditioning eligibility age to 18. That nixes the parents being so hands-on….or it should.

Who would his competition be? Like the Jonas Brothers? Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not anywhere in their league, IMHO.

Well, I’m not a huge fan either, but I’ve got to say that I think Archie is light year’s better than the Jonas brothers. I’m still trying to figure out what makes the Jonas Bros so popular – I mean other than being friends with Hanna Montana.

I make fun of the little pageant boy a lot myself, but I really do feel bad for him. I’m inclined to believe that Daddy Archie is probably at least a little stage-daddy-ish. Because, well I simply don’t believe you can grow up to be Archie without having at least one stage parent.

Every day parents just do not enter their kids in multiple talent competitions and allow them to spend their entire lives performing. I think these stage parents see a desire and a talent in their kids when they’re young and then they just take it too far.

Sure some kids are born with a love of performing, singing or whatever. But, I don’t think they’re born with the urge to start working for a living and supporting their parents when they’re 10. That’s where things get messy. Like those irrational mothers who enter their daughters into 500 beauty pageants by the time the kid is 7. No lady, she doesn’t love it. She likes the crown and the pretty dresses. She wanted to play dress up and be a princess – for an hour. She doesn’t want to be spray-tanned and wear a fake dental plate. She’s only continuing to do it to please you. No child wants to work that hard.

To some extent, I think all of the performing monkey type kids have absurd childhoods. Some of them just seem to have a stronger sense of character and they somehow come out the other side unscathed. Whereas, we read about the others on TMZ.

I don’t think Archie’s little humble giggle, oh gosh golly gee stuff is phoney. I think it’s the only reaction he knows how to give. Because he has no idea who he is, outside of the performing monkey – he’s never been allowed to find out. He doesn’t know what other stuff he likes to do besides sing, because he’s never really had time to do other things. At some point when he was little, he sang a song great, and his parents realized he had talent. Then, it just snowballs from there. One or both of his parents deluded themselves into thinking that singing was the only thing important to the kid – when who it was really important to was them.

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think Archieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s little humble giggle, oh gosh golly gee stuff is phoney. I think ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the only reaction he knows how to give. Because he has no idea who he is, outside of the performing monkey – heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s never been allowed to find out.

:down_tb:

Which then brings about the questions: How badly does he want this, and does he want it at all? In other words, if no one was pushing him to do it, would he?

I so agree that they need to change the age to audition to 18. I feel sorry for David A., because it sounds like a little bit of the Jackson family. WE all know what happened to Michael. Let kids be kids! His talent will be there whether he’s 17 or 27.

I think David A is a great singer, but very immature and robotic on stage. I feel sorry for him in a way. I too think they should raise the age to 18.

Which then brings about the questions: How badly does he want this, and does he want it at all? In other words, if no one was pushing him to do it, would he?

Well, not that I haven’t already ranted enough on the subject – but why not just keep on going. I think the answer to your question is impossible to know. I don’t think these kids even know themselves. By the time they reach that age, I don’t believe they are even capable of discerning the difference between what they want and what their parents want for them.

I think the answer probably comes to them a lot later, for instance:
When the lucky ones break free and go to college, sometimes they decide to resume their former performig career with a whole lot of new wisdom learned out in the real world (i.e. Brooke Shields and Jodi Foster)

Or, the ones who emerge from a drug fueled haze and put their lives back together, and maybe decide to continue their careers but on their own terms (Drew Barrymore)

Or the ones who emerge from a drug fueled haze to return to a drug fueled haze, whore themselves out on reality tv in an effort to stay in the spotlight in any way possible, marry a porn star, do a sex tape, etc (really, just about anyone on VH1 Celebreality).

Some even go to college and live a regular old life, or buy a farm somewhere (provided their stage parents haven’t stolen all of their money).

If I think about the things I wanted to do when I was 12, it’s really really different than the way my life turned out. Basically, I just think these kids are too young to know what they want. So, when I hear their parents say it’s because the kid wants it, I believe they’re full of shit.

I’ve seriously spent entirely too much time thinking about this LOL. Whew – I’ll stop now.

I don’t know what to say. I think he wants this for himself. I don’t know his parents, I do know something about overbearing Dads, maybe David could request for his Dad to go home and his Mom to chaperone him.

I am not worried about David in the context of this show. Eff this show. He will have a career because he has the voice and the look, and it’s really a good time for a singular heart throb of his age. A contract will be forthcoming, guaranteed. Win or lose. I worry about this affecting him as a person. I really like the kid, he is endearing. I hope this story is overblown, I really do.

It’s hard to say whether he wants it for himself, I think of other young contestants like Jasmine, Jordin, Diana and they definitely wanted to be there competing. From Archie I get less of that competitive sense…but that could just be difference in personality.

I don’t know about competitiveness but I do think he wants to sing. I’ve read a few articles where ppl say that he’s always singing and will break out in song randomly. He even did it once in his video package.

If David A. doesn’t win , there will be hell to pay from Daddy Dearest. No wonder the kid looks so programed in everything he does , his control freak papa is pulling the puppet strings. Raise the age to 18 and get rid of these parents with dollar signs in their eyes.