Posted Wed. Mar 19, 3:11 AM ET by Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks
Last week on Beatles Night, American Idol golden boy David Archuleta astonishingly flubbed the lyrics to "We Can Work It Out." It seemed hard to believe that the perfectly poised Stage Search winner, who'd been such a standout only a couple weeks earlier singing John Lennon's "Imagine," would so badly mangle a Lennon/McCartney number like this.

Well, since that incident, rumors have circulated that little David's overbearing father was to blame. And if these rumors are true, then Jeff Archuleta just might be the creepiest reality-TV stage dad since Ashlee and Jessica's Papa Joe Simpson.

According to Entertainment Tonight, David's dad Jeff "yelled at David during a recording session...and even brought him to tears" the day before the first Beatles Night, supposedly because he didn't think his son's singing was up to par. If that's true, then gawd only knows how much he yelled after David's blunder (or, as I like to call it, "Archuletdown") last Tuesday.

I don't know if Jeff went easier on David this week, because David was in much better form tonight. Maybe Jeff's alleged old intimidation tactics worked on David's less-stellar Idol opponents this week, since L.A. Rag Mag further reports that back when a 12-year-old David competed on Star Search, his daddy dearest was banned from the set for supposedly harrassing David's competitors.

Don't know if that rumor is true either, but there are some tough-as-nails contestants on Idol this year. So if Jeff talks smack to, say, feisty Chikezie or leather-clad biker nurse Amanda Overmyer--or bullies little David in front of protective mama bear Brooke White--he may get more than he bargained for.