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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Bo Bice - who came in second behind Carrie Underwood in 2005’s American Idol - is revealing the name of his unborn son, who’s due in August.

“%26#91;We’re%26#93; having a little boy %26#91;and%26#93; we’re going to name him Caleb,” he told PEOPLE exclusively at the show’s season-seven finale Wednesday night.

This is the second child for Bice and his wife, Caroline Fisher, who are already proud parents to 2-year-old Adian Michael.

The rocker dad - who opened up his own record label, Sugar Money, last year and released the album See the Light - has no complaints about life as an Idol runner-up. (David Archuleta, take note!)

“You know, all my dreams have come true,” Bice gushed. “To be able to be a dad and got out and perform shows and do what we love for a living, man … there’s nothing better!”

David Archuleta’s first single, “Crush,” debuted on the syndicated radio program Elvis Duran and the Morning Show on Friday.

The singer was reportedly shaking when it first aired, but whether it was nerves or excitement, his fans have nothing but praise for the track.

Carol, 65, from Colorado, called in to the radio show to say: “Wow. I tell you. How many of us have ever felt the song you just sang. There are so many girls saying, ‘Wow. He wrote that because he knows how I feel.’ I hate it when they call you little because you’re the biggest man in town.”

Chloe from Canada also “loved it” and caller Alexandria said, “I am, like, in tears. You are absolutely amazing. You have no idea. You’re so talented. You’re going to have an amazing career.”

To listen to the song and read the lyrics, click here.

The full album from the former American Idol favorite is due out in November.

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!!!”

• America Ferrera, lunching with a male friend at

a corner table inside New York’s the Coffee Shop in Union Square. The

Ugly Betty star will soon be calling the Big Apple home: Production

on her hit show has relocated to the city for the third season.

• New mom Jessica Alba, browsing at Anat B in

Beverly Hills. According to a source, the actress wasn’t

quite ready to try on too many things. But Alba did leave with one item, a

white belted jacket with a wide white belt and ruching at the sides.

• Audrina Patridge, posing for a photo with

David Archuleta at Katana in West Hollywood. The Hills star was dining at the Japanese eatery - and so was the young

Idol runner-up, who ate specialties from the sushi bar and kitchen with about 20

people, including fellow Idol stars Brooke White, Kristy Lee

Cook and Syesha Mercado. A source tells us that the Idol crew loves to eat at Katana before heading out on their annual

summer tour.

• Charlize Theron, sharing dinner with her mother

at Dakota inside the Hollywood

Roosevelt Hotel. The actress ordered wine with her steak dinner - and

even took leftovers with her.

• Chace Crawford may have skipped his pal Ed Westwick’s bash in Las Vegas - but the Gossip Girlhottie didn’t miss a minute during a birthday party for his manager, Eric Podwall. At the bash - held on the roof and inside the Motley

Bird Nest, an energy drink company in L.A. - Crawford politely greeted

the female admirers who immediately flocked to him. The actor was the hit of

the party, but reserved his attention for one girl in particular who sported

a tuxedo-style white and black dress. The two shared a drink, private

conversation and even their phone numbers, an onlooker reports. At one

point, she even stole the baseball cap off his head and wore it -though Crawford didn’t seem to mind.

• Meanwhile, Podwall’s bash was a who’s who of young Hollywood: Adam Brody sipped an energy drank and chatted with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. And Brody Jenner didn’t stray too far from pal

Frankie Delgado. Also there: Rumer Willis, who

arrived late but made up for it by chatting with plenty of party

guests, including Desperate Housewives‘ Shawn Pyfrom.

Also Spotted … In Chicago

• Hometown favorite Jeremy Piven, hosting a Grey Goose-sponsored fund-raiser for

his mother’s Piven Theatre Workshop at Chicago’s Rockit Bar %26 Grill. …

Michelle Williams (of Destiny’s Child), dancing all night

at Manor Nightclub.

• By SHRUTI DHALWALA, JENNIFER GARCIA, LESLEY MESSER and EMMET

SULLIVAN

Celebrity Hot Spots.

Monday’s Couples Watch >

David Archuleta has a poodle named Teddy that doesn’t do much and a goldfish named Conditioner (”Long story,” he says). His first language was Spanish, and he’s gotten “pretty flabby” living in Hollywood.

In this sneak-peek video, the American Idol runner-up good-naturedly opens up about his life offstage as he answers his fans’ burning questions submitted to his MySpace page.

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.”

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.