Ryan Blames Simon for ‘Idol’ Ratings Drop

According to MSNBC, Ryan Seacrest says he knows why "American Idol" took a ratings hit this season. He says it's Simon Cowell’s fault.

When asked about the decline, reports Canada's Globe and Mail, Seacrest replied, "Well, the knee-jerk reaction would be Simon."

Seacrest says there's just too much of the acid-tongued judge: "Clearly there's an over saturation of his character." Seacrest pointed out that the ratings are still high, and addressed buzz that bosses want to change some of the "Idol" judges. "That's clearly rumor," he said. "I'm positive you can't recreate the chemistry that we have with the group on 'American Idol.' "

Clearly the reporter missed that Seacrest was being tongue in cheek. Seacrest, of course, eggs Cowell on constantly, so if that were the real cause, Seacrest would be at fault as well.

Us? We think the ratings drop was due to a dull season resulting from a lot of generally weak contestants. This was especially true coming off of Season 5, which had a particularly strong group, especially Chris Daughtry, and in which eight (Daughtry, Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Paris Bennett, Elliott Yamin, Kellie Pickler, Bucky Covington, Mandisa) of the Top 12 have already released CD's, a ninth (Ace Young) is in the works; one semi-finalist (Ayla Brown) has released a CD as well.

McPHEE REALLY HURT

US magazine says that although fellow Season 5 competitors Elliot Yamin, Kellie Pickler, Taylor Hicks and Chris Daughtry all returned for guest spots of "American Idol's" sixth season, noticeably absent from the rundown was Katharine McPhee, 23 – and it was not by choice.

"Katharine called them herself, trying to get on the [finale]," a source close to the singer told Us. "She's really hurt." The finale featured performances by original Idol champion Kelly Clarkson, second-season Idol winner Ruben Studdard and fourth-season Idol winner Carrie Underwood and last season's champ Taylor Hicks, along with appearances by numerous non-Idol artists, including Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Gwen Stefani, Tony Bennett, Green Day, Bette Midler, Joe Perry, and Bebe and Cece Winans.

But she wasn't the only former Idol who got dissed. When Sony/BMG president Clive Davis addressed the TV audience, he made sure to plug Taylor Hicks' new single, but failed to mention Kelly Clarkson's latest single or her forthcoming CD, "My December," over which the two have reportedly butted heads.

McPhee's rep could not be reached, and Fox had no comment.

RAISING KANE

Meanwhile, MSNBC reports that Katharine McPhee's fans are outraged that the former contestant was treated rudely on a Washington D.C. radio station. Now the show’s DJ, Kane, is hitting back.

As we reported last week, McPhee was interviewed by an intern named Ally on Hot 99.5’s "The Kane Morning Show." The interview was supposed to be in the studio and the station had agreed that McPhee wouldn't be asked any personal questions. But McPhee didn't show up at the studio — handlers explained that her flight had been delayed — and one of the first questions the intern asked the 23-year-old singer was about her 42-year-old boyfriend. The intern asked if having a boyfriend who was so much older hurt or helped the relationship. An obviously irritated McPhee said she didn't want to discuss her private life and the interview went downhill from there.

Angry fans deluged Kane with hate mail. "Maybe she should have been nicer and been live as she promised," Kane replied to some of them.

The angry calls and e-mails kept coming, and Kane shot back a lengthy response. "I'm getting increasingly frustrated by e-mails from McPhee fans that don't know the whole story and are writing me angry e-mails," Kane wrote to them, scolding, "It makes Kat look bad when every other word in your e-mail about how you thought we didn't handle the interview professionally starts with an f---."

He went on to describe in detail a scenario in which he said McPhee was pitched to the radio show on the condition that she appear live, that the appearance be pre-promoted, and that there would be no personal questions. He also challenged the excuses he was given for her failing to appear live — pointing out, for example, that the flights from L.A. to Washington weren't delayed that morning.

"Slam us, go-head," Kane wrote. "We agreed to have her on; we followed the rules. They didn't tell the truth. Kat could have had a little more fun with Ally. She could have said, 'You guys know you're not supposed to ask me personal questions. What's wrong with you?' Rather, she just got mad."

COWELL 'SICK WITH ENVY' OVER DWTS' SUCCESS

FemaleFirst, a UK Web site, says that Simon Cowell confesses he is jealous of friends who taste success -- but insists it is healthy to be competitive. But the music mogul also admits he is 'sick with envy' that he wasn't the brainchild behind hit U.S. TV show "Dancing with the Stars," and secretly wanted the program to flop.

"If someone I know is doing better than me I get incredibly miserable," Cowell said, adding "A lot of my friends are extremely wealthy, but I'm not envious of their money, however, I'm never pleased if they have a hit show. I don't go to bed thinking, 'I'm really happy their show is doing so well'. It annoys me that it wasn't my idea.

"When I watch 'Dancing with the Stars' in America it makes me sick with envy because I didn't think if the idea myself. But that's how it should be -- when you lose your competitive edge, you're over."

Meanwhile its been revealed that the music mogul follows a superstitious ritual before appearing on TV -- he "worships" his hair dryer, according to his "Britain's Got Talent co-judge Amanda Holden.

The actress explains, "He has a little routine before every show, with his hair dryer, but it's pointless -- he looks exactly the same afterwards. I can only assume it has become a sort of superstitious ritual. Just as Madonna prays before a performance, Simon worships at the alter of his Babyliss hair dryer. He likes to be assured he looks good and we always tell him he does."

BOSTON PICKS PICKLER

Kellie Pickler, travelling with the Brad Paisley tour, got a great review in Boston Herald yesterday. Of her performance on Saturday at the Tweeter Center, the paper's critic said:

"With all the sticky sweet gloss now coating commercial country, it’s easy to forget the earnestness that once defined the genre.

But at a nearly full Tweeter Center last night, Brad Paisley's Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour confirmed that not only is quality country being made, its performers are charismatic and charming.

With Taylor Swift apparently ill, "American Idol" Season 5 top-six contestant Kellie Pickler opened in a sexy red top and skin-tight jeans.

In addition to selections from her impressive "Small Town Girl," Pickler served up a slow, saucy cover of Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" and a hammed-up version of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5."

During "I Wonder," a song about being estranged from her mother, she began to cry; a well-deserved standing ovation followed.

Hook-laden tunes such as "Red High Heels" are proof that Pickler's career is just getting started.

FULLER REASSEMBLING THE SPICE GIRLS?

On Friday, People magazine reported that the Spice Girls are preparing for a Christmas reunion tour. "It should be happening in December," a source told People. "Geri [Halliwell, a.k.a. Ginger Spice] and Emma ["Baby Spice" Bunton] have been in the studio writing new material and they want to do a worldwide tour."

Rumors have circulated recently that the band would reunite for the Princess Diana memorial concert that is to be held on Diana's birthday, July 1, to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.

"They definitely won't be performing at the Diana show. It is too soon and Emma is pregnant," says another band insider. "But plans are afoot for later in the year. It all depends on Simon Fuller. He is the mastermind."

Fuller, 47, the creator of "American Idol," was also the Svengali manager who turned the five-woman group into the most successful female act of the 1990s.

The group plans to release a greatest hits album that will include several new songs, sources tell People. "They have a couple of new songs and one in particular is fantastic," says one recording-studio source. "It's hard to get something as pop-laden as their first hit, 'Wannabe,' but one of the new songs is heading that way and it has far more funk in it than the ballads before the band split."

Until recently, it seemed there was no hope for a reunion. "There are no plans for it at all with or without me," Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm, 33, told People in March.

The band insider confirms that Chisholm was reluctant at first. "It's been a long time coming and the negotiations have been going on for a while," says the source. "Mel C. was the last one to come onboard as she has been pushing her solo career."

The first hint of a possible reunion came on April 22 at the baptism service for 34-year-old Halliwell's 11-month-old daughter, Bluebell Madonna. Only L.A.-based Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, 32, who welcomed a daughter of her own on April 3, was absent.

Sources tell People that Fuller returned to London from Los Angeles earlier this week and is expected to craft an announcement of the reunion. Meanwhile, Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham has returned to California to finalize her family's move.

However, a day later, on June 9th, Access Hollywood reported that while at least one of the girls confirms the multi-platinum fab five have been speaking about getting back together as a tour de force, don’t set aside your ticket money just yet.

"There has been discussions," Melanie Chisholm told the BBC's "Something for the Weekend" recently, "but nothing's been agreed at the moment."

While the girls may be talking, some UK newspapers have said Chisholm who is currently promoting her fourth solo album "This Time" in the UK, is the lone hold out of the bunch. Mel C furthered those rumors during her appearance on the weekend program.

"I really, really like my life the way it is. I've got my record out and it's very special to me," she said. "I've always said I don't want to do it and in my heart of hearts I'd rather leave it really but if the other four girls wanna do it, then I don't wanna be the one who stops it from being the complete five."

Though she offers some hopeful sentiments that the world could see the first reunion of all five girls in nearly a decade (Geri Halliwell left in 1998), Chisholm rules out anything more than new versions of their hits during potential performances.

"I absolutely don't want to do new material 'cause I think that time has passed," she stated. "If we're gonna do it, it should be for nostalgia and it should be all the old stuff, everyone have a great time, put it to bed, finish it and then everyone stop asking me about it!"

YAMIN BACKS OBAMA

Sen. Barack Obama's Web site says that Elliott Yamin will appear at a fundraiser for the presidential hopeful tomorrow in San Francisco from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Ruby Skye, 420 Mason Street. Admission is $250. You can RSVP online. Email for more information.

BILLBOARD CHART NEWS

After reading this week's Idol Chart Watch by Donna Reynolds, we again we have to ask whether the right person was selected as the new American Idol. The EPs for both Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis are in freefall on the Billboard Comprehensive Chart this week (hers went from No. 22 to No. 45; his dove from No. 30 to No. 49. But more interesting, Lewis' "You Give Love a Bad Name" is doing better on Billboard's Hot 100 and Pop 100 than is the new (bleech) Idol Anthem song, "This Is My Now," by Sparks. They stand (on both charts) at Nos. 21 and 25, respectively. Last week, Sparks was at No. 15 and Lewis at No. 18.

Other chart news: Fantasia's eponymous CD rose from No. 85 to No. 65 on The Billboard 200.

Daughtry's self-titled CD landed at No. 5 on this week's Billboard 100.

Bucky Covington's eponymous CD (152,719 copies sold) jumps to No. 51 on the Billboard 200 and is also up to No. 10 on the Country Albums list.

Carrie Underwood 's "Some Hearts," which has sold 5,579,325 copies, drops one spot to No. 11 on the Billboard 200 and is No. 2 on the Country chart.

Elliott Yamin's eponymous CD has sold nearly 251,000 copies to date. The album drops to No. 41 on the Billboard 200 and is No. 27 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Katharine McPhee has dropped off the charts.

Paris Bennett's "Princess P" is No. 93 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums listing

Kellie Pickler's "Small Town Girl" has sold 546,698 copies and is up six spots to No. 103 on the Billboard 200 and is No. 25 on the Country listing.

This Week’s Idols’ Singles Charts

Mandisa's first single, "Only the World," remains No. 2 on the Single Sales chart. The single is also on the Hot Christian Adult Contemporary chart (No. 15).

Daughtry's "Home" hit the No. 1 position on the Hot Adult Top 40 chart and drops to No. 7 on the Hot 100; "It’s Not Over" drops to No. 35 on the Hot 100 and is No. 31 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart; Chris’ single, "What I Want," is No. 11 on the Rock chart.

Bucky Covington's single "A Different World" landed at No. 15 on the Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart.

Elliott Yamin's "Wait for You" continues moves up to No. 32 on the Hot 100, No. 57 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and No. 22 on the Pop 100.

Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" is No. 14 on the Adult Contemporary chart, No. 10 on the Hot 100, No. 11 on the Pop 100, and No. 5 on the Adult Top 40; "I'll Stand by You" is No. 42 on the Country chart; "Wasted" is No. 64 on the Hot 100 and No. 73 on the Pop 100.

Fantasia's "When I See You" is No. 55 on the Hot 100, No. 4 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and No. 8 on the R&B Adult airplay list.

Kelly Clarkson's "Never Again" is No. 11 on the Hot 100, No. 13 on the Pop 100, No. 13 on the Adult Top 40.

Kimberley Locke's "Change" dropped from No. 19 on the Hot Dance Club.

Kellie Pickler's "I Wonder" is No. 2 on the Bubbling Under (the Hot 100) chart and No. 18 on the Country chart.

Katharine McPhee's "Over It" is No. 89 on the Pop 100; "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" / "My Destiny" is No. 24 on the Single Sales list.

Taylor Hicks' "Just to Feel That Way" is No. 27 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Ruben Studdard's "Make Ya Feel Beautiful" is No. 33 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and No. 8 on the R&B Adult airplay list.

NEW VIDEOS

Fantasia performing at the Tony Awards last night:


Katharine McPhee interview at the Special Olympics on "The View From the Bay":



Chris Daughtry singing "Home" at Riverfest 2007 III:


Chris Daughtry singing "It's Not Over" at Riverfest 2007 III:


Chris Daughtry singing "It's Not Over" at Riverfest 2007 III:


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© 2007

Want to Know How to P.O. Kat McPhee?

Let an intern interview her. Listen to this astoundingly rude interview conducted by an intern at Washington, D.C., radio station Hot 99.5. "American Idol" Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee had been scheduled for an in-studio chat, but a delayed plane forced the interview to be conducted via phone. The station had been pre-warned not to ask McPhee, who was visiting D.C. for a Hillary Clinton fundraiser, any personal questions.

Why morning deejay Kane allowed his intern Ally to conduct the interview at all, much less without pre-instruction, is anyone's guess. Was the intention to get laughs? Perhaps. The results were pretty disasterous. Ally asked how old Kat’s boyfriend is (42), if she’s into older guys, what’s the deal with "Idol" not having her on the Season 6 finale (they didn't invite her back), if she's engaged, if it's hard to stay loyal to her boyfriend on the road, and what it was like getting felt up by Tyra Banks. Ally failed to even ask why McPhee was in D.C. (actually, she admitted on air she didn't care why McPhee was in D.C.). It sounded to us like an intentional shanghai of the singer and budding film actress.

Here are two versions on the interview. The first is with commentary from Ally's boss and on-air colleagues, the second the interview sans commentary. Either way, you can hear that Katharine is clearly annoyed by the whole thing.

Hot 99.5 Intern Ally interviews Katharine McPhee (includes commentary from on-air staffers)

Hot 99.5 Intern Ally interviews Katharine McPhee (no commentary)

IS TAYLOR HICKS THE OTHER MAN IN LYDERS' LIFE?

There has been specula-
tion on a number of Web sites, including The National Ledger, The Post-Gazettet and NBC/11 about whether Caroline Lyders and Season 5 American Idol Taylor Hicks are involved in a love triangle. It seems the new couple may have a very good reason for the "just friends" mantra they dished out after being spotted getting cozy on a beach in Hawaii.

According to Star magazine, Lyders the co-anchor of the weekday edition of WISN 12 News This Morning, has a longtime boyfriend, insurance businessman Aaron Ruffcorn. What's the deal? Is Taylor Hicks the "other man" or is he just dating the runaround? Heaven knows.

On May 24, the pair was photographed romping in the surf and smooching passionately on a beach in Maui, with Caroline sporting a teeny black string bikini – much to grinning Taylor ’s obvious delight! Raised in Iowa and a graduate of Columbia University School of Journalism, Caroline shares a musical link to Hicks; she’s an award-winning pianist. Things reportedly began to heat up between the duo after she interviewed him in March 2007, but they kept the affair under wraps until their Maui vacation. Lyders recently admitted, "Taylor and I are friends. Beyond that, I'd rather not comment on my personal life."

But the new romance is hitting a sour note with someone else – namely, her longtime boyfriend, insurance businessman, Aaron Ruffcorn. In fact after the photos of Taylor and Caroline's beach romp surfaced, Star contacted Aaron's Iowa-based dad, Mitchell Ruffcorn, who insisted, "My son is dating her."

Aaron's dad says the couple fell in love while in high school. Aaron wrote on an Internet portfolio, "My commitment to my girlfriend Caroline was both the catalyst and the anesthetic for the move [to Ohio , then to Milwaukee]."

Aaron’s father tells Star, "The last time I saw her was at Christmas 2006. She was with our family for the holiday, and we all had a lot o fun. I know they have been talking about marriage for some time." His father also said they've been talking marriage for some time. His mother told Star that the two are currently dating, but Ruffcorn himself seems less certain.

So what went wrong between Aaron and Caroline in the months since Christmas? Perhaps Taylor being in the right place? Aaron tells Star, "There is nothing but love and respect between Caroline and myself. There is a lot of history between us; all decisions we make are together. Whether there's a future for Caroline and Taylor, I don't know. As to whether there's still a future [for us] at this point, stranger things have happen [sic].' "

In other words his relationship with Caroline is over. In the meantime, if Lyders is expecting to someday walk down the aisle with Hicks, she may have a long wait. Hick's grandmother, Joni Hicks, tells Star, "Girlfriends require attention and time. That's absolutely what Taylor does not have! He's never been close to getting married, and he's in no hurry." Perhaps, but if it's a soul thing, maybe he's finally gonna move on to marriage just to feel that way, grandma!

JORDIN SPARKS OVERWEIGHT? C'MON!

Is it not bad enough that Jordin Sparks will probably be "persuaded" to lose weight anyway now that she's celeb royalty without the tabs and some idiot named MeMe Roth (doesn't that first name speak volumes?)getting into debates and calling her overweight? Overweight! She's 5 foot 10 inches and a a size 12! This is overweight? What has happened to the universe? Normal and healthy are not sizes 0-4. Even 6 in on the small side. Normal and healthy for women are sizes 8-12 (sorry guys). Even 14 is not out of the question.

As Salon.com says, anti-obesity crusader Roth, who is wound tight as a spring and is the leader of a wannabe movement called National Action Against Obesity, is leading a misguided crusade against what she perceives as tubby "American Idol" contestants. She was probably hoping someone such as LaKisha Jones would win so she could make her the poster girl for the nation's obesity epidemic. Jones, for all that heavenly voice, was actually obese, whereas bubbly belter Jordin Sparks is merely kittenishly chubby. No matter. Roth was camped out at Fox News (click to watch video) before Sparks finished the song that got her into the finals. Her message? Skinny Blake Lewis should win [the singing contest] because Sparks, according to Roth's warped standards, is fat.

Bizarro lady also has a blog called "Wedding Gown Challenge" which states:

"Annually, I invite all women to gather with their girlfriends, pull their wedding gowns from storage, and put them back on. The big laughs should come from the dated styles, not busted zippers.

And for the Wedding Gown Challenge, the wedding gown is symbolic of a time in a woman’s life when she’s entered into adulthood at a healthy weight, and intends to maintain that weight for a lifetime. Your wedding ceremony may have been Catholic, Cosmic or Common Law. You may have donned puffy whites or a scuba suit. The Wedding Gown Challenge message is to maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime. And that’s true too for whomever wore the tux."

It all sounds reasonable until she goes off on children such as Jordin Sparks and starts spouting her group's theory on "Secondhand Obesity," which freelance journalist Lindsay Beyerstein, deriding Roth in her blog Majikthise explains, is meant to denote "obesity handed down from one generation to the next, as well as from citizen to citizen."

Yes, that's right says Beyerstein, MeMe Roth's group asserts that obesity is a communicable condition. Hence Roth's willingness to berate Sparks. According to her crackpot supposition, Jordin is a "vector for fatness." Or "A veritable typhoid Mary, scarcely afflicted herself, but suppressing national leptin levels over the airwaves."

Scarier still is Roth's motivation to keep people thin. Katie Allison Granju points out in her blog, The Pop Culturephile, that in Roth's Wedding Gown Challenge blog you find this little tidbit:

Q: Any special motivation?
MeMe Roth: I see staying fit as an obligation to my self and my family. Back in the 80s when I was Van Halen’s "number one fan," I did get the chance to meet the band. Eddie Van Halen made me promise I'd never get fat. He said I looked like something out of Playboy. Talk about making a girl swoon... I kept my part of the bargain; maybe he'll come to the Wedding Gown Challenge?

Er, yeah, thanks. Sure we'll take Eddie Van Halen as our health and appearance role model, an alcoholic and smoker who keeps puffing away to this day, even though he's gone through mouth cancer. And you're taking advice from him on what you -- and everybody else on earth -- should look like? Someone who looks as if they belong on Skid Row? NOT! Have you seen how sexily healthy he looks lately? Glance to your right. Perhaps he suggested to ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli that she join Jenny Craig if she wanted another shot at his wasted wreck of a body. He's what probably drove her to overeating.

Fortunately, according to People magazine, Sparks seems to have a pretty healthy attitude about her body. People says winning Idol she not only won a singing competition, but a lifelong battle to accept herself.

"I think it really helped boost her self-esteem and made her realize she's beautiful as she is," her grandmother, Pam Weidmann said. Jordin's mom, Jodi, says of her daughter's May 23 victory: "It was huge to see her confidence level grow. ... She's standing taller now."

At 5'10" and size 12 by the time she was in junior high school, "I stood out everywhere," says Jordin, who use to hunch, wear oversize clothing and search in vain for her size at teen mall stores. "I'd look at my friends who were just naturally tiny, and maybe they weren't even a size 2, but they were smaller than me and that was good enough. I was like, 'Oh, why can't I look like that?' "

Jordin tried dieting every now and then, but failed because, she says, giggling, "I like food too much to do it. I would try, like, 'Hey I'm going to diet and I'll be a size 8 by the end of the summer,' but it never worked out."

One day at their local mall, Jordin and her mom came across the newly launched plus-size store Torrid. "It was like angels – 'ahhhhhhhh!' – shining down on it because it's sizes 12 and up. They have clothes for girls who aren't an average size so they can totally feel cute and flirty and still keep up with the latest trends," Jordin says, noting that being the store's smallest size was "great for my self-esteem."

In fact, just before auditioning for Idol, Jordin landed a modeling gig for Torrid. "I think it really helped boost her self-esteem and made her realize she's beautiful as she is," says her grandmother.

Her parents' attitudes also helped Jordin feel good about herself. "My mom and my dad always were saying, 'You're beautiful, Jordin,' " says the Idol winner, whose father Phillippi, 38, a former star cornerback for the New York Giants, is 5'11" (mom is 5'6").

After nailing her Idol audition, Jordin's confidence began to soar. For the first time in her life, she embraced her right to bare arms. Before the show, "I liked to wear sleeves because they would cover up my arms," she says. When the show's stylists made suggestions, "I'd go, 'This dress is way too beautiful. If I add sleeves it will ruin it.' So I just got over it."

These days, "I'm really comfortable in my own skin," Jordin says with her signature wide smile. "I learned that I'm not ever going to be a size 2. I would look so weird as a size 2. Somebody would blow and I would fall right over. It just wouldn't be healthy."

And what of Roth? "Inside Edition" reports that the "obesity expert" is taking a lot heat and even death threats from fans of the newly crowned Idol for saying the singer should lose weight.

"When someone is overweight whether she be an 'American Idol' or not we know that her health has been compromised," Roth said. Nasty messages began being posted online after Roth went public saying sparks is overweight and unhealthy.

"Jordin Sparks signed herself up to be a plus-sized model. It's not going to be a surprise to her that she might be perceived as being slightly overweight," Roth told "Inside Edition."

And while Roth now says some of her comments were misconstrued, the controversy doesn't seem to be bothering Sparks a bit.

In case you missed the lovely and vivacious Jordin's appearance on "Ellen," you can watch video of her here, with DeGeneres:



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© 2007