David Archuleta is set to make his acting debut in an episode of Nickelodeon’s iCarly.

The American Idol Season 7 runner-up will play himself when the cameras roll on Thursday, Nickelodeon confirms. iCarly centers around a high school student, played by Miranda Cosgrove, who runs a video blog with her friends.

In the episode titled “iRocked the Vote,” Archuleta, 16, plays a contestant on an Idol-style show called America Sings. He gets a huge spike in votes after winning support in an iCarly webcast.

His episode of iCarly will air next spring.

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American Idol seventh-season runner-up David Archuleta just released his first music video!

In the clip for his upbeat ballad “Crush,” Archuleta plays piano on a dock and strums a guitar as a group of fresh-faced teens frolic in the grass along Wynn’s Pond in Coweta County, Ga.

(Fun trivia alert: Scenes from Reese Witherspoon’s movie Sweet Home Alabama were also shot here.)

The singer, 16, shot the video last month during a break from the American Idols Live Summer Tour, which included his pal, David Cook.

Archuleta’s as-yet untitled first album is due Nov. 11 from Jive Records.

As the American Idol tour comes to an end, season seven runner-up David Archuleta is feeling bittersweet.

“I’m here in Tulsa for the last day of the tour and it’s pretty sad but exciting at the same time. I don’t think it’s really hit all of us that it’s the end of the whole American Idol experience together. It’s been an AMAZING year,” the singer, 17, wrote Sunday on his MySpace celebrity blog.

“I can’t wait to see the different directions everyone’s careers go now, and I’ve become a big fan of all the other guys,” he says.

Calling the tour “one of the greatest times in my life,” he reveals the great surprise he received during the final stop: a visit from his grandmother, whom he said was “having such an awesome time.”

Archuleta, who released his first single, “Crush,” in August, is currently working on his upcoming debut album. He says, “Writing is just so much fun.”

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You can’t believe everything you see - or don’t see - on MySpace, says American Idol’s Brooke White, who blames a technical glitch for the absence of David Archuleta as a “friend” on her page.

“Don’t fret, my dears, David is one of my favorite people on the

planet!!!” she writes. “Rest assured, we all are all super-duper

friends, like family, actually, enjoying this tour together.”

The 25-year-old fifth-place finalist on last season’s show

says only a technical issue has kept 17-year-old runner-up “Archie” from showing up on her “top friends” box. Both are now on an American Idol tour of the U.S. with the other contestants.

“It’s been driving me crazy … and so after going on a search through hundreds of pages of friends … I still can’t find Archie’s official page … along with a few other Idol contestant friends of mine!” White writes. “In time, I will work it out, when I have few spare moments while on the road!”

White says she’s amazed it even became an issue among some fans.

“It’s kinda funny, and/or interesting how seriously people take this MySpace thing,” she writes. “I can’t believe I’m even writing a blog about this, LOL!!!”

Archuleta family friends are speaking out to PEOPLE in support of Idol finalist David Archuleta’s father, Jeff, whose backstage privileges have been revoked until further notice, according to reports.

Jeff Archuleta was accused of interfering in the production when he wanted David, 17, to alter his “Stand By Me” performance by adding a verse from Sean Kingston’s 2007 summer hit “Beautiful Girls,” against producers’ wishes.

“I get frustrated with this because of course they never get the story the way it really is,” says Richard Parkinson, 35, of Murray, Utah, who for the last three years has been working with David Archuleta on arrangements, and has also written and performed with the young Idol star. “It is completely unfair that he be taking the brunt of this, if that’s exactly what’s going on. It’s awful … It’s really awful.”

David’s voice coach, Dean Kaelin, told PEOPLE in an email Saturday: “He is just not allowed to go into the arranging sessions with David. It is more of a fairness issue than anything else, since the other two contestants don’t have people on site to help with their arrangements. It is not a punishment.”

Kaelin calls David “a good kid” and adds: “Jeff just happens to be there because David is a minor and is required by law to have a guardian with him. David’s dad is just a caring, concerned parent that fortunately has some musical expertise, and some people fear that because of this David receives an unfair advantage.”

Parkinson also denies the “stage-dad” allegations. “Jeff is a great guy. He’s involved. He’s intense. I’m intense. Sometimes people don’t like that. He’s raised a great kid. We absolutely love him. It’s unfair and uncalled for.”

More than 97 million votes were cast and the results are in: David Cook is the newest American Idol!

The 25-year-old bartender from Blue Springs, Mo., became the seventh American Idol Wednesday in front of more than 7,000 screaming fans at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre.

“I started this season - much to Simon’s chagrin - as the word nerd and I’m absolutely at a loss for words,” Cook told the crowd after hearing the news. (His love of vocabulary was highlighted in one of his earliest moments on the show.) “Thank you guys. This is amazing. Thank you.”

After Ryan Seacrest announced the winner, Cook fought back tears as reality set in, but he took a moment to congratulate his final competitor, 17-year-old David Archuleta, of Murray, Utah. The two Davids hugged, and Archuleta raised his arm in congratulations to Cook.

During Tuesday’s performance show, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson said that Archuleta clearly won the night. But last week, Cowell predicted that Cook would take the title. “He’s done more to deserve it over the eleven weeks,” Cowell said. “He’s taken more risks, he’s done things with certain songs that have been more interesting.”

Simon even apologized to Cook just before Seacrest announced that he had won by 12 million votes.

“I want to congratulate both of you,” Cowell said. “It wasn’t quite so clear as we called it. In fact, David %26#91;Cook%26#93;, I will take this opportunity to apologize because I think I was verging on disrespectful with you and I don’t think you deserve that.” To that, judge Paula Abdul gave one of several standing ovations of the night.

And there was a lot to clap about. The two-hour broadcast was jam-packed with performances from the Top 12 contestants, for American Idol Carrie Underwood, Donna Summer, ZZ Top, the Jonas Brothers, George Michael and more.

But the best performance of the night was saved for the end, when David Cook sang for the first time as the reigning American Idol, performing the winning entry in the show’s songwriting competition, Regie Hamm’s “The Time of My Life.” Idol’s Top 12 and his mother Beth Foraker and brother Andrew joined him onstage for the final moment of the seventh season.

But as Paula told both Davids, “It’s odd that it’s called the finale when it’s anything but a final. It’s the start of the destiny of your career.”

David Archuleta may not have won American Idol, but he’s still in disbelief that he made it as far as he did, he said after Wednesday’s results show. The 17-year-old high school student from Murray, Utah, answered reporters’ questions backstage at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre, and talked about what he learned from Idol winner David Cook, what’s next (”School is really important,” he says), and whether he and Clive Davis cut a deal.

How do you feel now that it’s over?
It’s a big relief. After last night, I was just like “Oh my gosh, no more getting judged after each performance.” Now we just get to do what we love to do without it being viewed as a competition and being judged right after singing. It’s like, “Oh, let me enjoy this for a second.”

What’s next for you?
I really want to make an album and see how that turns out and if music doesn’t go as far as I was hoping it would, then…I still want to complete an education. School is really important, especially after all this ends. It would be nice to make a living off of it but you never know. People can have a few years of performing, touring and making money that way, but then they have to go back to something else afterwards, so you always have to be prepared.

What you learned from David Cook?
Cook, he’s like my big brother. I’ve learned so much. I’ve looked up to him since the beginning of this. He’s just such a great guy — really humble, down to earth and I just feel like I can’t believe I’m standing next to him. I’m just like, “I feel honored to be standing next to you, Cook.’ That’s what I told him. And I’m just so proud of him and I can’t believe that people decided for me to be next to him - of all people!

What has being on American Idol done for you?
I love singing and I love being able to perform whenever I get the chance…I just love what I do and what this competition has done for me. I really appreciate it and all the fans who have allowed me to make it this far…I can’t believe that I made it this far. I didn’t even know I would make it past the first round for Pete’s sake. It feels like such a blessing.

What did you make of the judges’ comments Tuesday?
Paula and Randy were both appreciative in what we did and all our hard work. And Simon, I’m glad he apologized to Cook because I don’t think anyone realizes how much work we put into this - it’s not like we just learn the song the day before.

Do you already have a deal with Clive Davis?
Well, we just met with him for a short time and it was on camera so, he just told us what song we were singing and it was nice to hear what he had to say about what he saw us as and him recognizing all the hard work we put into this. It was just really neat to be able to have a conversation with him - being as big a person in the music business as he is.

What is your favorite of your performances this year?
I really enjoyed “Imagine.” It’s one of my favorite songs and it’s one of the best songs ever written. And what it did for people meant a lot because…people still go back to that performance even after all this. They just keep going back to that and saying, “Thank you for singing that.” That song means a lot to me and for people to be able to feel that when you’re singing, it’s the coolest thing ever.

David Archuleta returned to his native Murray, Utah, for a big hometown welcome that included TV and radio interviews, an autograph party, a rally with over 10,000 fans and his singing “The Star Spangled Banner” before a sellout Jazz vs. Lakers playoff game audience.

At 8 a.m., Archuleta stepped out of a black limousine with a characteristic shy grin and wave to his fans at Fox affiliate KSTU. “My gosh. I wasn’t expecting everyone to be here. I thought I was just coming in to a studio,” said the 17 year-old finalist. He later sang Dolly Parton’s “Smokey Mountain Memories.”

Fans at Salt Lake City’s Gateway Mall AT%26T store numbered about 2,000 when Archuleta arrived to sign photos of himself on the stage.

Ten thousand fans filled Murray High’s football field for the afternoon rally. They wore orange and black tee shirts proclaiming, “Murray Loves David Archuleta.” The man of the hour rode in on a white convertible with his mother Lupe Archuleta. Utah governor Jon Huntsman issued a proclamation declaring May 9 as “David Archuleta Day.”

“I’m going to sing a few songs,” Archuleta said, before launching into “Stand By Me.” Amid audience screams at the end of the first song he said, “I hope you guys enjoyed that. I’m giving it the best that I can. I want to keep Murray proud. I didn’t know how many were supporting me here at home.”

The other remaining Idol contestants, David Cook and Syesha Mercado, also made trips home.