'American Idol' Exit Interview: David Archuleta

Might David Archuleta's second place finish on FOX's American Idol be the music profession's loss and the medical profession's gain?

"I'd like to keep trying to do school while I work on music," the 17-year-old singer tells reporters on Friday (May 23) morning, two days after he watched David Cook grab the American Idol crown. "That's kinda what I've been doing through this show; every day I still have to do school and even after this interview I have to go to school. I think school's really important. It was my main priority before this, because I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to get anywhere with music, but I was still hoping for something. Even if music does turn out to go somewhere for me, you never know how long it will last and so I just want to make sure I have something to back me up on that, because I want to do music all my life, I just don't know if I'll be able to make a living off it for the rest of my life."

And what might Archuleta be planning as his potential post-music career?

"I've kind of changed my mind here and there," Archuleta says. "Lately, what I find is really interesting is the Ear-Nose-Throat doctor thing, which I know would take a lot of work and education, but it's something that really interests me, because it's something that helps people who've had the same problems as me, with the whole hearing and nose congestion and problems with your voice. It's just something I can really relate to people with, because I've had so many issues with that stuff, so it's be great to study into that more and be able to help out with all those problems and also learn about it."

Might you someday be able to make an appointment to have your orifices examined by Dr. David Archuleta? It could happen, but not any time in the near future. For now, Archuleta is doing what every eliminated American Idol contestant does, namely plotting his first album, albeit only when he's finished his homework.

"I'd love to still do the pop thing just because I'm still a teenager and on the show I was getting a little mature with my songs, even though I love to do that stuff," he says. "I still want to be able to relate to the kids my age. I like the pop music, but I still want to have meaning in my music."

After a trio of Tuesday performances that had all three judges stopping just short of handing him a winner's trophy, Archuleta's loss on Wednesday came as a surprise for many of his fans. But don't cry for the season's gracious second-place finisher.

"To the people who've been supporting me so much, I just want to thank them, first of all, because it means more than anything to know people are appreciating the hard work that we're putting into this and I just want them to know that I'm feeling great about it. The fact that Cook won, I think he deserved it so much. He just proved it week after week that that guy, he deserves to be the American Idol, from even early in the competition. He's such a great guy, too."

He continues, "My main priority wasn't to win the competition, but it was just to do my best. Because you can suck and people can vote enough for you to win and that wouldn't feel very good. But I think we both gave it all, we poured it all onto the stage on Tuesday night and we both feel really great about it. I don't think I could have done anything better or changed anything to make me feel any better about what I did. Not winning the competition won't limit me from trying to create an album and write stuff. I think this has just been such a great opportunity to open all of those doors that weren't open and available before all this happened. To make it to the Top Two, I don't think there's any reason to be disappointed about that."

Other highlights from Archuleta's exit interview:

On reports about his controversial father: "In interviews and stuff it started coming up and it was just kind of strange, because they were really weird things. I heard one thing was like he refused to give me water or something like that. That's the weirdest thing. I'm 17 and if I want water, I'm pretty sure I would just go get it anyway. And then another thing was that he made me cry during one of the recording studios or something. I can't remember really, but just weird things like that. I'm old enough to have enough control over myself. And then the next thing is he's a great guy. There really isn't anything that he's done that's bad like the things that have been spoken about him. My whole family has been such a great support and they're the ones who have kept me grounded and allowed me to be who I am today."

On his thoughts on romance: "Now it's time to really focus on making an album and writing songs and all that. I just feel like being 17, I'm not really mature enough to understand those feelings yet. I've watched so many of my friends just like, 'Oh, we broke... I can't live without them.' And it's like, 'You're 17. What are you talking about? You have so much more... You have school and what are you going to do for a living? It's not like you're going to live off that person or anything. It's not like your infatuation with them is going to support you.' I just want to make sure I don't get confused with feelings for someone so quickly... I don't know. It just bugs me, all the drama. I so don't want to deal with the drama right now."

On taking the judges' words to heart: "I always really enjoyed when they mentioned the fact that they could feel that I was connecting with the song and that they could feel it to. Like when Paula would say that or when Randy would say, 'That the bomb...' or I don't know. It didn't really make sense when he spoke sometimes. When they could tell that I really felt the song I was singing meant a lot to me, but also when they have advice to give, too, helps a lot, even the smallest of advice."

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