No wonder the young favorite on American Idol an stare down the judges and the cameras and perform so well. Star Magazine reports that if not for his voice coach, his singing career could have ended before it even began. The report notes that Archuleta’s dreams of hitting the big time were in tatters when one of his vocal cords was paralyzed in 2003 while he competed on CBS’s Star Search.

But David didn’t just overcome the problem – he went on to win the show and $100,000. Now David, who just turned seventeen, stands on the brink of stardom, thanks to the voice coach who helped him beat the affliction, which is usually caused by a virus.

“Normally, both vocal cords come together tightly and neatly when you speak,” the coach, Salt Lake City, Utah-based Dean Kaelin, tells Star. “But David’s paralyzed cord was just sitting there doing nothing while his good vocal cord had to come all the way over so that they could join. This overstressed his voice, causing swelling and pressure in his cords.”

According to the report from the weekly entertainment magazine, Dean immediately started David on a rehab program based on a unique set of vocal scales and breathing exercises Dean learned while studying under Seth Riggs, who has coached superstars including Stevie Wonder, Barbara Streisand and Josh Groban.

Then David was faced with another challenge, one common to all boy singers. “His voice began changing just as we started our program!” says Dean, who still works with David.

“We had a one-week window between Star Search performances, so the therapy was on the fly. But we worked our way through – David really kept it together.”