David Archuleta, runner-up on American Idol's seventh season, is going to try his hand at acting.  The impish teenager, who has never acted before (unless you count those horrible Ford commercials), will make an appearance in an episode of Nickelodeon's iCarly that will air next Spring.  iCarly is a show focused on a high-schooler who runs a video blog with her friends.  Archuleta will make his appearance in an episode entitled “iRocked the Vote.”  Archuleta will play a contestant on a show suspiciously similar to American Idol, called America Sings.  David's character will receive a huge boost in votes after gaining the support of the iCarly blog. 

The Internet is one of the most popular media in today's tech-savvy society, and Nickelodeon is banking on the web's drawing power with the new tween series, iCarly.  The show stars Miranda Cosgrove, previously seen on Drake & Josh, as a 13-year-old student who hosts her own web series.  The show is also the first program to integrate viewer-submitted videos into storylines.

Cosgrove, 14, says the show's unique interactive element is what appealed to her the most.

Miranda Cosgrove, cast member on Drake & Josh who now leads her own series iCarly, reveals that she has a lot in common with her character Carly Shay.  Just like her teenage character, the 14-year-old actress loves to hang out with friends and family.

"But [Carly] always knows what to do when a situation goes wrong - and I'm not like that at all," Cosgrove told the Daily News.  "I'm sort of tech-savvy - I IM [instant message] my friends all the time and I'm always online - but she seems like she's more into Web sites."

The premiere of Nickelodeon's newest live-action series, iCarly, which stars Miranda Cosgrove (Drake & Josh), was considered a huge success as it drew 13 million viewers when it aired over the course of the weekend of September 8 and 9.  According to Nielsen, the Sunday's encore at 11:30am scored the highest-rated telecast of the series for the entire weekend with 30 percent more viewers than the Saturday 8pm premiere.

iCarly made TV history as the first series to incorporate kid-generated original content into its scripts.  It centers on a 13-year-old teenage girl, Carly Shay (Cosgrove), who starts her own web show, along with her brother and legal guardian, Spencer Shay (Jerry Trainor), Carly's neighbor, Fredrick "Freddie" Benson (Nathan Kress), and her best friend, Samantha "Sam" Puckett (Jennette McCurdy).