With American Idol down to its final three contestants, David Archuleta remains the favorite (even though we prefer the stage presence of David Cook).

Below, the 17-year old cutie speaks with Billboard about his experiences so far on the show:

It seems like you’re always emotionally connected to the lyrics you’re singing.
When I was younger, I didn’t know what made me sing the song differently or how I sang it. I still don’t really understand fully, but the lyrics do mean a lot to me now, a lot more than before. I didn’t even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13.

Probably around the second year I did “Star Search” is when I paid more attention to the lyrics. I thought the music itself had such a power to it and now that I’ve understood how powerful lyrics are as well, I think that has allowed me to progress.

Earlier this season, you talked about suffering vocal paralysis a few years ago. Were you worried you wouldn’t be able to sing again?
The year after “Star Search” is when I found out I had vocal paralysis. That’s when I was really struggling, barely getting through a minute-and-a-half song. I took a break after that, because I thought, “I can’t do this.” I was having a hard time singing and I didn’t have a range back then and I didn’t know if it was permanent or not. I had no idea what it was.

I’d never even heard of it. I didn’t know your vocal chords could get paralyzed. After a while, I thought, “I need to start singing again. I just love it too much.” You know, there’s just something about it that makes you feel something that you can’t feel anywhere else.

Published: 5/9/08 by

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