Five minutes with David Archuleta, the teenage darling from last season's "American Idol," may leave you wondering if he ever stops smiling. But with millions of adoring fans, a hit record and public appearances that draw crowds of screaming teenage girls, can you blame him?

"That's so cool," said the 18-year-old Archuleta, who punctuates a lot of what he says with giggles and laughter.

On Sunday, though, he'll have a chance to broaden his audience demographic when he sings the national anthem at this year's NFL Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium.

The trip to Hawai'i is Archuleta's first, another stop on his wild, post-"American Idol" ride into pop stardom. Last May, after impressing judges all season, Archuleta finished second in the viewer balloting with 97 million votes.

Then the boy from Murray, Utah, was on to an arena tour, a record contract and an album. And now Hawai'i, where one of his best friends, a girl nicknamed "Fish," told him about a great beach with a name he can't recall.

"I am really looking forward to the sun and scenery," Archuleta said by telephone, as he headed along a freeway after an appearance in Florida. "I am going to try and enjoy it as much as I can while I am there because Hawai'i is not the easiest place to get to."

Traveling has been one of the biggest changes in Archuleta's life since "American Idol." He's rarely home, he said.

"Being able to perform everywhere is not something I expected to happen," he said. "I just didn't think it would reach this height, this level. It is really cool. So much happened and so quickly."

The price is privacy — but even that is something he can laugh about.

"Everyone needs some space, you know, but it's like you kind of have to give it up in this business," he said. "One time I had to take a back way out of a movie theater. But that's unusual."

His appeal, at least to his many younger fans, is easy to explain, Archuleta said. He looks and sounds just like them.

"I guess they can relate to someone closer to their age," he said, channeling a fan's thoughts: "He is one of us, a teenager like us, and he is able to do this stuff when he is young."

That makes him a role model, he said.

"With teenagers they say you can't do this and you can't do that, but you can do things you were told you couldn't do, like following your dreams," Archuleta said. "That is what the show allowed me to do."