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Nice guy David Archuleta is having a whirlwind year

“Yeah, I’m not really involved a whole lot with girls right now,” he says, laughing again. “There’s not really even time to watch TV or anything, so why get a girl in your life when that can make things even more complicated? I think it’s just about waiting for the right time, ’cause I think there are other things that I should be focusing on right now.”

So the boyish crooner doesn’t have a girlfriend — but here’s what he does have: a self-titled album on Jive Records — the home of Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown — that debuted at No. 2 and has gone gold. He has a double-platinum hit single, “Crush,” that was the highest-ever debut for an “Idol” song not performed on the series and the highest debut in 2008, and a new song, “A Little Too Not Over You,” climbing the charts (No. 52 this week). He’s also had a recent appearance on Nickelodeon’s hit TV show “iCarly.”

“American Idol” so far: a race with no horses

Last season I was blown away by David Archuleta‘s version of “Imagine” (performed this week last year) and he became my “horse.” One week later, David Cook emerged as almost a counter-punch to Archuleta with his version of “Hello.” At that point it was easy to see a two-horse race between the cherubic balladeer (which was an over-simplification, of course) and the unshaven former bartender/rock front man (also pigeon-holed unfairly).