David Archoleta’s a sweetheart and a strong candidate to win American Idol — if his dad doesn’t ruin it all for him.

Jeff Archoleta’s been a meddler from the start, but after the “Stand By Me” debacle (he insisted on changing the song’s lyrics) he’s been banned from backstage. Apparently the show had to fork over a lot of money to the enraged publisher of the song.

Face it, Jeff. Your son isn’t going to win this show by being “creative” — that’s David Cook’s strength. Nor are you going to get far into the business by being a schmuck — that’s Simon Cowell’s.

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