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DAVID ARCHULETA

There's been a lot of speculation over whether 17-year-old David Archuleta's father Jeff is an overinvolved stage dad. This Thursday morning, Papa isn't doing much to dispel the rumors as his son rehearses the Neil Diamond anthem ''America.'' ''There's too many 'Todays,''' he tells associate musical director Michael Orland of the climactic, repeated lyric, while pacing around the room. The comments continue throughout the rehearsal: ''Neil Diamond's voice is a fifth lower than his'' and ''The edit to do is 8 to 10 seconds before 'My country 'tis of thee''' and ''The beginning needs to have a U2 vibe.'' He also occasionally compliments his son, who stands silently by the mic nervously pivoting one foot on its heel. ''My dad is like my translator,'' Archuleta later says. ''I have issues explaining what I want.'' He initially wanted to perform ''I'm a Believer,'' only to see Brooke pull the song title out of the hat, and also considered ''Holly Holy,'' but the four-minute, 40-second song couldn't be condensed into the one-and-a-half-minute time limit.

He then methodically went through the Diamond song catalog — drawing a line through anything with inappropriate lyrics — before eventually settling on ''America'' and ''Sweet Caroline.'' ''I don't want to be singing about partying all night with a woman, and a lot of his lyrics were talking about that kind of stuff,'' explains Archuleta, whose confidence seems to be a bit shaky of late. ''I would love to see David become more comfortable on stage,'' says judge Paula Abdul a few hours before Tuesday's show. ''He's gotten a little uneasy. Maybe it's the pressure.'' Of course, it's hard for a teenager not to feel pressure when Simon dubs his performance ''amateurish,'' which happens after Archuleta's uninspiring Tuesday night take on ''Sweet Caroline.'' ''America,'' however — complete with red, white, and blue stage lighting and a flag waving on the screen in the background — proves to be a cagey Uncle Sam-errific selection. ''That was a smart choice of song,'' Cowell tells him while laughing. ''I've got to hand it to you. That was clever.'' It appears the pressure's off...for now.

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