Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta turns 18 today - and wow, what an amazing year for the young singer from Murray, Utah. A year ago he was singing in small rooms for friends and family, and now he's singing for -- and being drowned out by -- a crowd of 16,000 at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Say what you will about the declining audience of "American Idol," but you can't deny its ability to mint pop music stars. Archuleta's eponymous debut CD just cleared the half-million mark in sales and is still going strong. And his first single, "Crush," has topped 1.2 million in downloads.

But even with all that success, those around him say Archuleta is still humble almost to a fault. When I had the pleasure of interviewing him last July, he definitely exhibited traits that brought jeers during "AI": a habit of rambling, a constant smile that made him seem even younger than he was, and an inability to say something negative about anything or anybody. But when you go deeper, you find him to be insightful, shrewd in the ways of the music business, and unwavering in his work ethic and commitment to his craft.

Mr. Archuleta, may the year ahead bring you even more success and -- more importantly -- happiness.

Recently while appearing at a Jingle Jam concert in Atlanta, David's band brought a cake onstage and sang him "Happy Birthday" -- with the audience's help. There were fake candles on the cake though, and Archuleta's reaction is hilarious: