During David Archuleta's run on "American Idol" last season, the Utah teen came in for quite a bit of unwarranted criticism.
Refusing to believe that he could possibly be as humble and emotional as he appeared, the cynics claimed he was acting.
And now we have absolute, irrefutable proof that Archuleta wasn't acting on "American Idol."
He has an acting role on tonight's episode of Nickelodeon's "iCarly." And he can't act.
Oh, he doesn't really have to. He pretty much just has to stand there and look cute during his brief appearance on the episode, which debuts at 9 p.m. on Nickelodeon. And Archuleta remains as cute as a button.
He manages to speak his lines, smile that big smile of his and, yes, look cute. Which is all that's required of him.
For those of you unfamiliar with "iCarly," it's a teenage sitcom about Carly (Miranda Cosgrove) who stars in a popular webcast produced in the loft studio she shares with her dopey-but-sweet older brother/guardian, Spencer (Jerry Trainor).
The cast includes her smart-alecky best friend, Sam (Jennette McCurdy), and the techno geek Freddy (Nathan Kress), who produces the webisodes.
In tonight's episode, Carly and Sam are obsessed with the popular TV show "America Sings," which is so "American Idol"-like it even borrows the blue-and-white logo. They're huge Archuleta fans, but everyone is predicting he's about to lose in the finals to favored Wade King (Alex Schemmer).
But when Carly and Sam exhort their viewers to "Whip out your phones and vote … because we really want David to win," that turns the tide.
The producer of "America Sings" "confirmed there was a huge spike in votes for Archuleta just after the 'iCarly' Web show."
"I guess nobody got hurt," Carly says.
"Except that poor guy you made lose," Spencer said.
So Carly, sweet thing that she is, decides she's got to do something to make it up to Wade. And let's just say that he's not the nice guy he pretends to be.
Before you start thinking that this is some slam at David Cook, who beat Archuleta in the "Idol" finals, it's clearly not. The character of Wade is nothing like Cook — he doesn't look like him, sound like him, sing like him or anything else. He's British, for that matter, while Cook is from Kansas City.
Waiting for the announcement of the "America Sings" winner, Archuleta has to look anxious. When he wins, he has to look happy.
He accomplishes both.
Archuleta doesn't reappear until the end of the episode — his total screen time amounts to just a couple of minutes. And he does a good job of playing himself:
He stands sort of awkwardly.
He looks sort of uncomfortable.
He has a huge grin on his face.
None of this is meant as criticism. He's a singer, not an actor.
And, quite frankly, there have been plenty of successful actors who started with no more talent than Archuleta. Heck, there have been plenty of successful actors who never became any more accomplished than Archuleta is now.
The show itself is kind of silly and stupid, but it's also harmless and, well, cute. It is aimed at tweens and young teens, after all.
Just don't expect to hear Archuleta sing — which is almost a bit of bait-and-switch.
"You guys wanna hear David Archuleta sing?" Carly and Sam ask viewers.
"Well, he's not gonna."
Huh?
"Sore throat. Sorry," Archuleta says.
Well, whatever.
Archuleta's obvious lack of any training as an actor does prove his critics wrong, however. Like those young "journalists" at last May's "Idol" finals, who were openly mocking him.
It was all I could do not to smack them upside the head.
Archuleta is a hugely talented young man. But not talented enough to have been acting on "Idol."
So there.
THERE'S SOME FUNNY stuff on the faux talent show that takes shots at the real "American Idol." Like the endless attempts to stretch out the suspense by the host before announcing who the winner is.
Like telling viewers the winner is … going to announced right after these messages.
"Another commercial!" Sam exclaims in frustration.
"And they wonder why they're losing teens to the Internet," Carly adds.