American Idle

Clay Aiken has been in the news alot lately, but for different reasons than his music.

First, there was his well-publicized surrogate mother, who happened to be the daughter of his then-record producer.

Then he came out of the closet, or, rather, leapt out of it telling anyone who cared that he was gay. Probably could have been done with more class.

And now Aiken has signed to Decca records, this after being with RCA Records for what seemed like an eternity, but actually was for four records.

If anybody thought Aiken was gonna put out four records and have the success that he’s had, they are truly nuts, because I thought the guy had no chance of making it.

So we’ll see where the new record deal takes Aiken. Hopefully it doesn’t fizzle like some of the other Idols and their record deals.

Add Clay Aiken to the growing list of people who don’t care much for Adam Lambert. What’s ironic is the two were both runners-up and one’s come out of the closet. Think that might have something to do with Aiken’s opinion? Hard to say, but here’s a sneak peek of the entire article:

“Now that it’s all over, and for the record…. I couldn’t be happier about the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season, and only to see what the set looks like each year. This year, I happened to turn it during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing “Ring of Fire” and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn’t really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him. Granted, I never saw another performance (and many folks who I trust said that he was great) but I can’t imagine I would have enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea at all. To each his own.”

Gee, Clay, tell us how you really feel. LOL Anyway, I’m not sure why there’s this level of hatred between the two–unless Adam spurned an Aiken advance, in which all of this ballast would make PERFECT sense–but these two need to get over it.

They’re fighting like a married couple. Think Lambert might have something to say about Aiken’s rhetoric? Yeah, but like most classy gentlemen, he’ll keep his opinions to himself.

And Aiken also thought the right guy won the competition in Kris Allen, even though Allen has been fairly straightforward about saying HE didn’t deserve to win; Adam did. No matter, the show’s over, but what’s with all this pent-up rage from Clay?

Because of a bizarre week in which American Idol 8 will air Wednesday instead of Tuesday this week, we’ll catch up with some of our former Idols who have been busy furthering their careers. Kind of.

Actually, the Idols we’ll focus on this week got a touch of bad news. But first, the good news. They had something called the Academy Awards last night and Randy Jackson looked like a big stick of Extra gum. (The picture proof, as they say, is above.) Now on to the bad.

First up, it was reported this week that Clay Aiken was dumped by RCA Records, but it actually happened two months ago. (Sneaky.) Anyway, word on the street is the label wanted to “refresh” its talent roster, and apparently Aiken playing to the squeals of silver-haired ladies chucking their panties on stages the world over wasn’t enough. So basically the moral of the story is, going double-platinum may not even enough for a singer to stay on a label.

Ruben Studdard may have a new single called “Together” under the Sony/ATV banner and Hickory Records label, but since it’s tax time the IRS would like to let him know that before he thinks about making any profit from his record sales, he will first need to pay out some back taxes. Like $254,119, according to state and federal tax records. Ouch!

And finally, Jon Peter Lewis does his best Ryan Seacrest impersonation (and mimics several other Group 1 singers from last week) in this funny You Tube video, which I have posted above. Halfway though his show gets more serious and he interviews an A&R guy. It’s not that funny, but it is informative.
And the Jaded Insider blog on Billboard (the same folks who gave you the Aiken news) reports that Joanna Pacitti may have been disqualified from Idol 8 but she’s planning to make it big and the plans may even include her boyfriend, Mark Ballas. (of the Ballas/Hough Band)

Top 36 Group 2 preview tomorrow! Don’t forget to sign up for our Office Pool. Click on info box on the left. Thanks for playing!

Wow, what a crazy week! American Idol 8 showed it’s gonna be a force to be reckoned with, again, after some ear-splitting and melodious performances. But because our coverage is limited to only Idol 8 during the week, we missed out on some big news from Idols past.

First up, Jason Castro, in spite of still not telling us when his album will be released (or if he even has one in production) is still playing small gigs. That tells me he’s doing something, even though only he knows what that is. LOL Here he’s performing “Hallelujah” after the premiere of Amar A Morir at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Bucky Covington has been doing things in the country music world for quite some time now and his success has surprised some folks, me included. But you can’t fault the guy’s work ethic; he’s back in the studio and is ready to release a new single. He may just be the James Brown of country.

And what is with this picture of Clay Aiken? Uh-oh…we got a bad boy on our hands! LOL Of course the paparazzi picked up on this playful photo like cockroaches crawling on dirty dishes, but whatever. Hey, he’s just happy because his run on Spamalot is over, OK?

And don’t look now, but Sanjaya is back in the news, just in time for whatever it is he’s doing. Like putting out a book, for example. And talking about possibly taking some photos in the nude. But other than that, I would like to know who gave this kid $100,000.

And finally, in some real interesting news (seriously!) Ace Young has reportedly been tapped to co-host American Idol Extra with (drum roll please, thanks) Jillian Barberie, that loud-mouthed Canadian/ex-FOX football/Good Day weathergirl.  Talk about an interesting couple. Hehe. Like Steve before her (if you know FOX Good Day you’ll get the joke) Ace will probably want to kill himself before the third episode.

Since Clay Aiken has come out of the closet, and in being the first major American Idol star to do so, he has been on a crazy ride. He also celebrated the birth of his son Parker and now will prepare for a much-needed break from his role as Sir Robin in the Broadway show Spamalot. He’ll get that break come January 4 and plans to start singing again, just as soon as he’s done spending some quality time with his baby boy. - People

Ruben Studdard hasn’t been as busy as Clay Aiken, mind you, but he’s still been doing something. In a recent look back with other Hollywood stars Ruben talks about how he got straight A’s…until he felt like opening up! In this case, he opened up his vocal cords and started using that bulbiferous voice until he almost lost the opportunity to have a Christmas!! Speaking out in class got him an F grade in conduct. When his mom found out, he said she told him he wouldn’t get a Christmas!! In the end though, as Big Rube pouted outside of their home, someone (probably Santa) put his gifts back in plain sight. His mother only meant to teach Ruben a lesson. - Star-Telegram

We all knew Simon Cowell was a jerk, but apparently he has taken that title a step further. Now he and his crack legal team have sent a notice ordering The Inquisitr, a blog, to take down the photo they published. (The incriminating (and hilarious) photo is above)). The bullies even carbon copied the photo to Cowell. So in the span of two weeks Cowell has (drum roll please) broken up with his girlfriend, had some English schoolkids name him more important than God and set a tracking device under his car. All I have to say, in closing, is that Cowell needs to lighten up! Then maybe people would lay off his sorry ass. - The Inquisitr