Young David Archuleta has been closely supervised and encouraged by his dad, who calls himself a "musical consultant," throughout the past weeks of American Idol – now that Archuleta senior has been overthrown, can little David manage as before?

Well this has been an interesting revelation: the engine that fired the sweet looking, well singing and tender aged David Archuleta is his father Jeff Archuleta, a man that has been close to the Idol contestant’s side, ever ready with advice, indications and support.

With all his previous apparently smooth and acceptable choreographing of his son’s showmanship on “American Idol,” Jeff Archuleta however stepped badly on toes last week, via a bold intervention.

David was to perform Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” during last Tuesday’s show and dad wanted him to insert lyrics from “Beautiful Girls,” Sean Kingston’s 2007 hit. Archuleta senior was told this could not be and that he would not be allowed back stage again should David perform the song thus.

David did sing it as suggested by his father. Archuleta senior has been consequently banned from rehearsals, reports the Associated Press.

In an interview with US Weekly last month, Jeff insisted he was not a controling and pushy father, but only a "musical consultant" for David.

The question that now arises is whether the 17-year-old, who is closely competing with fellow finalists David Cook and Syesha Mercado for the top prize and accompanying record contract, can manage solo.

What impact has his father’s close watch had on him? We can imagine the teenager felt parental pressure – surely, he strived to satisfy his father’s expectations. This effort has so far paid off. He has seldom been chastised by the trio of judges.

Last week, his rendition of Elvis Presley’s classic ballad “Love Me Tender” and the aforementioned friendship song elicited enthusiastic comments from the judges. Jason Castro, who was eventually kicked off, was having a bad night and the comparison appeared to aid David’s efforts.

“You didn’t beat the competition tonight — you crushed the competition,” was Simon Cowell’s twofold evaluation, meant to praise David and crush Castro. Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul could only agree that little David shined.

Will he still glow tonight? Or will he somehow surprise, either for the better - with some spontaneity and originality, a successfully applied personal touch, or for the worse – a less-than-perfectly-staged performance, lacking dad’s contribution? Good luck with the pressure, little David. In an interview with US Weekly last month, Jeff Archuleta insisted he was not the pushy dad that everybody thought he was, but only a "musical consultant" for David.