David Archuleta’s Father Banned from Idol Rehearsals

David Archuleta performs "Stand By Me" on American Idol, May 6, 2008.

Photo: Courtesy of Fox

The backstage antics of David Archuleta’s papi have gone too far, say behind-the-scenes players at American Idol. Multiple sources are saying that Archuleta’s father, Jeff, was banished from all future Idol rehearsals after a series of disruptive incidents that crossed the line last week, when he insisted that David change the lyrics to “Stand By Me” for Tuesday night’s performance. TMZ reports that Jeff wanted his son to add lyrics from Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls,” which heavily samples the Ben E. King tune, and was resistant to objections by Idol producers. Though David ultimately refrained from seriously altering the track, he did sing one line from the chorus, creating friction for the show with the original song’s publishers.

Jeff Archuleta’s been dogged by rumors of his excessive “stagedad” behavior all season long, and Entertainment Weekly recently reported that other contestants were starting to lose patience with his constant presence backstage. If David wants to win the top prize, it looks like he’ll have to do it on his own now!