Talking Shop: David Archuleta

Archuleta's clean-cut image has won him heartthrob status

David Archuleta won a legion of fans as a contestant on the seventh series of American Idol in 2008.

Although he finished as the runner-up to winner David Cook, the 18-year-old's clean-cut image and soulful voice have earned him teen heart-throb status.

His debut single Crush entered the US Billboard top 100 at number two in August 2008, with his self-titled album entering the Billboard 200 at the same position.

He is now planning an assault on the UK charts.

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What have you been up to since American Idol finished?

We went on the American Idol tour over the summer and during that time I was working on my album which came out in November.

I've been doing a lot of promos for it since, including one at Madison Square Garden - it was so weird as I was between Kanye West and Chris Brown! It was really intimidating but so exciting.

Are you sick of singing your new single Crush yet?

I'm not sick of it, I really like the song. It takes a while for me to get sick of a song - if it's on the radio a lot I get sick of it. But I don't listen to my own songs on the radio anyway because that's just weird.

You were very young when American Idol first started, were you counting down the days until you were old enough to audition?

I thought I was never good enough to do it. I did a show called Star Search when I was 12 but during that I got vocal paralysis, which had an effect on my singing and I thought there's no way after that.

Then I took some vocal therapy and decided to audition. I almost didn't because I thought there was no point in wasting all that money and time when I didn't think I'd get very far.

But I decided at the last minute and had to quit my summer job running the lights and sound at an amphitheatre near my house.

David Archuleta lost out in the American Idol final to David Cook

What do you think of Simon Cowell?

I really like Simon. Everyone's really like, "he's a jerk and scary and mean" but I think he's really nice. He had a lot of good things to say on the show and if they weren't positive, it was to help motivate you to do better.

You're now a teen heart-throb in the US but I read recently that you've yet to have your first kiss - how is this possible?

I've never had a girlfriend - I've just always felt too young to be into that stuff.

I think that people at school start too soon and haven't matured enough to worry about it and understand what they're feeling. I don't want to let myself get confused too quickly and I'm just waiting for the right girl.

It's weird because I didn't have a lot of offers before and now I get a lot.

What's the most random gift a fan has sent you?

Last night, I got this sponge microphone so when you're in the shower you can pretend you're singing - that was really weird - I've not used it yet!

You've got almost 140,000 friends on MySpace - do you accept them all yourself?

Someone else accepts all the friends but I update my blogs and pictures. You have to build a relationship with your fans, so I think it's a really important thing to do.

It's fun to read what people have to say and it gets them more involved. Most of them are saying the same thing like "I love you" but a bunch of them have really cool things to say.

Archuleta received the Teen Choice Award for most fanatic fans in 2008

How do you stay a typical teen?

By remembering my values and things that help me stay strong through all of this. I don't think I've changed that much as a person, it's just people now know who I am.

Of course I'm going to start changing from the experience I have but I still have the same friends and I'm still David to them and my family.

Are you going to watch the new series of American Idol?

I'm going to try - especially now I know what they've gone through because I know how it feels. I've always been a fan of the show and they find some really good, talented people.

What do you think of the new rules like not showing so many of the car-crash auditions?

A lot of people like those but I always felt bad for them. They do so much waiting and it takes a lot of time to commit to something like that so I'm glad they're changing that.

Did you know there is a kickboxer called David Archuleta and have you ever been mistaken for him?

I've heard about him! I've never met him or been mistaken for him. But it'd be kind of funny to meet him because we have the same name and he's a kickboxer which is the opposite thing to me - and because I'd probably die if I was in a kickboxing match.

Crush is out now. David Archuleta was talking to BBC entertainment reporter Genevieve Hassan.