'Idol's' Archuleta will sing at hometown performances Friday

For the first time since he went to Hollywood as one of 24 "American Idol" finalists, David Archuleta is returning home to Utah.

He's scheduled to sing the national anthem at Friday's Utah Jazz-Los Angeles Lakers game at the Energy Solutions Arena. (However, after initially confirming that Archuleta would sing, the Jazz have acknowledged there are "rights issues" that "still have to be worked out" between the producers of "Idol" and the NBA.)

And there will be some sort of event earlier in the day in Murray, although details of that are still being worked out, too..

Whether he'll still be an "American Idol" finalist on Friday remains to be seen, of course. Archuleta and the other three finalists perform on the hit Fox series Tuesday (7 p.m., Ch. 13); one of them will be sent home when the results of the voting are announced on Wednesday (8 p.m., Ch. 13).

If all the issues are ironed out, Archuleta will sing "The Star Spangled Banner" before Game 3 between the Lakers and the home team tips off at 7 p.m.

And Murray officials have confirmed that an event of some sort will take place that afternoon, most likely at Murray High School. Assuming Archuleta survives this week's "Idol" voting, footage from his trip home will be included in next week's "American Idol" broadcasts.

The event will proceed regardless of the outcome of this week's "Idol" voting.

Details about Friday's Murray event are expected to be announced later Tuesday or Wednesday.