Gina Glocksen's Dan Band Birthday

TMZ.com reports that Gina Glocksen kicked off her birthday celebration over the weekend by checking out the Dan Band in Hollywood.

Dan Finnerty -- who fronts the hilarious group and was also featured in "Old School" -- spotted Glocksen sitting near the stage with fellow "Idols" Chris Sligh, Chris Richardson and Phil Stacey. In traditional Dan Band fashion, Finnerty took a swig of beer as he belted out "Flashdance" to the table of "Idol" finalists.

There's a video, too, but it's real fuzzy and short.

MORE KATHARINE McPHEE STUFF

Yesterday we told you that Katharine McPhee would be gracing the August cover of Stuff magazine and included some quotes from their story. People.com has some more quotes from the interview:

"I want to have, like, 15 babies," the American Idol singer, 23, says. "I've always wanted to be pregnant."

She continues: "One year for Halloween, I decided to be pregnant, so I got this nun costume, and I put a big belly under it. I showed my parents and said I want to go to school as a pregnant nun."

Her folks didn't panic. "My dad sat me down," she recalls, "and said, 'Katherine, you can't!' "

The California native says she was always popular with the opposite sex. "I was prematurely developed," she says. "As a freshman, I looked like a junior; I had boobs. Some of the older kids saw me in the yearbook and said I was cute. I came from an all-girl school. I was determined to get a boyfriend!"

Her current beau, stage performer Nick Cokas, is nearly 20 years her senior – and she says she's got a thing for older men: "When I turned 21, I thought it was a good age to explore. You're no longer a teenager, so it's okay [to date older guys]. I gravitated toward them, and I love them. They're just wiser, and they're less about themselves and more about you."

Asked what younger men should know about women, she replies: "Women sometimes act out, and men get frustrated. They don't get that all we want is, for a few seconds, for you to be all about the girl – to snuggle her and give her kisses and tell her, 'Your lips are so pretty today. I love your lips.' "

And she practices what she preaches. "For me, with men, I will fixate on something. I'll say, 'I'm obsessed with your chin.' I'll kiss his chin and munch on it, and I think that makes people feel good."

TV GUIDE SPONSORS 2007 IDOLS LIVE! TOUR

Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. has announced that it will be a sponsor of American Idols Live! Tour 2007, traveling to over 50 venues this summer. Its on-site sponsorship will feature various TV Guide cross-platform elements: TV Guide has produced an exclusive 18-page Tour Guide publication, which will be wrapped around the current issue of TV Guide magazine and given to everyone who attends the concerts nationwide. In addition, TV Guide will have a special "Red Carpet" booth in the concourse at each venue where fans will be able to experience their very own "celebrity moment" by taking photos on the TV Guide Idol Tour "Red Carpet." The photos can be retrieved and e-mailed to friends after the show by logging on to www.tvguide.com/idoltour. Concert attendees will also have the chance to appear on the TV Guide Network, which will air tour updates throughout the summer.

Justin Guarini and Kimberly Caldwell, both previous Idol finalists and the hosts of "Reality Chat," "Idol Tonight" and "Idol Chat" on TV Guide Network, will also make special appearances at four Idol Venues: Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, St. Louis and East Rutherford, N.J., during the tour.



CLAY AIKEN EMBRACES HIS INNER DORK

Or so says the Houston Chronicle, which interviewed the Season 2 runner-up before his performance Friday with the Houston Symphony:

Clay Aiken — despite the stylishly shaggy 'do — still isn't hip.

"I'm never going to be, and I'm fine with that. We all must embrace our inner dork," he says with a laugh.

"People always come up to me and say, 'My grandmother's your biggest fan,' " Aiken, 28, says. "There's a misconception among these ladies that I'm cool and hip and now. And they think that by liking me, it makes them cool and hip and now.

"But shhh. We aren't going to tell them that I'm not cool and hip at all."

An affable Aiken took time to talk about his future as a talk-show host (maybe), turkey basters (keep reading) and how Claymates saved Jericho from TV extinction (seriously).

Fans still get worked up over you. What's with the enduring Claymania?
don't get it. I don't know why. They don't see me right now in my pajamas, with my hair all messed up, one contact out. There's nothing to be excited about, honestly.

What's the most unique gift you've received from a fan?
You mean turkey-baster unique? Like that? Because I've gotten one of those. Let's just let you sit on that for a minute. [Brief pause.] And there it is.

The show Jericho . . . I loved it. I started blogging about it on my fan site. It got canceled, and I blogged about how upset I was. I said, "The Claymates can do anything. How do we get this show back on the air?"

Honestly, within a week they had organized a campaign amongst Jericho fans to send nuts to CBS. It kind of started in that place. And it's back on the air! It just blows my mind.

Do you feel that Aiken love in Texas?
Texas is really a tough market for pop. I think sometimes the fans don't understand, and they think I hate Texas. I love Texas. It's just people there don't love me that much. You want me to come, you've got to come to the show!

Any songs that didn't make the cut on "A Thousand Different Ways"?
Things other than covers. Sorry, I'm being way too honest today. How do I say this politically correctly? I was strongly encouraged by other sources to do an album of covers. There was the feeling that it might be successful because there'd been success with Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow doing covers. I guess the argument against that would be I don't have the reputation that Rod Stewart has. I really don't have the credibility that he has, so there's no reason for me to do them.

Do you like the disc at all?
It did turn out to be something I was really proud of. My mom's always told me, 'Take lemons . . .' I think we really did that.

Are you itching to do new material?
The goal for the next album is to go with one producer. The person we picked is very credible, has won Grammys and has really done an eclectic mix of stuff. The hope is that we'll be able to find really great songs that suit me and produce them in a way that . . . makes me hip without trying too hard. I'm sorry I'm teasing you, but you're getting more than anybody else.

Do you hear anything on Top 40 radio that you can relate to?
This Rihanna girl — she's got a great voice. I really think she deserves to be where she is. . . . (But) what happened to Whitney Houston on the radio? Not literally — let's not go there — but what happened to that kind of stuff on Top 40? I think nowadays radio doesn't care how good someone sings. They just care whether or not people can fake having sex while standing up dancing to it. That's all they want.

What was the first record you purchased?
I got in big trouble when I was 6 or 7. They had that Columbia House, seven albums for a penny or something like that. I was young enough to not really know what I was doing, and I stuck the little penny on. You want to talk about being completely not cool and hip? One of the ones that I remember was Crystal Gayle. God help me. It's somewhere around the house.

I don't know if that's my first album, but it's the one that I remember — and it's got a better story.

What one record would people be surprised to find in your collection?
My brother's a Marine, and he's into this group called Breaking Benjamin. I don't know much about them, but I own that. I wanted to kind of see what he was listening to. There's a song called "Diary of Jane" that I think is pretty good. . . . Breaking Benjamin is going to kill themselves because they got mentioned in the same article [as] Clay Aiken. There goes the rep.

You've got a great sense of humor. Ever consider hosting a talk show?
I'd be great. There are probably 15, 17 different shows I could pitch. One of the basic ones would just be going around and letting America tell their story. Everybody has a story, if you let them tell it. I'd love to do "Charles Kuralt's On the Road" again, somehow. I loved that.

But [by] the same token, I'd love to have a variety show. Like Andy Williams or Carol Burnett or Donny and Marie. I remember my mom watched the Mandrell sisters' show like it was some sort of religion.

If you're the anti-cool singing star, who's the ultimate pop hipster?
I think that Justin Timberlake's going to have that market cornered for a while. And I honestly believe that he's extremely talented. He can believably pull out an album like [FutureSex/LoveSounds]. I'm not a huge fan of that one, but I'm a fan of his.

Will we ever see you bring SexyBack?
I'm actually going to do — God help me for saying this — with the Houston Symphony, a little bit of SexyBack. We're going to do a little medley of songs that people wouldn't expect to hear with an orchestra. I know that it's not going to be cool. I have no problem making fun of myself.

I could never pull songs like that off without knowing where my place is, and it's not as Justin Timberlake. Thank God we have him. I'm happy to be the person who gets the old ladies covered.

KELLY CLARKSON'S 'MY DECEMBER' LANDS NO. 2 SPOT

E!online says that that despite the tussles with label chief Clive Davis, a split with her manage-
ment company and a scuttled tour due to low ticket sales, Kelly Clarkson made a strong showing with "My December," which sold 291,000 copies at number two last week. Featuring the Top 10 single "Never Again," the new album offers a darker edge than her previous efforts, though Clarkson announced she's already working on a fourth album that features country-music influences.

Clarkson's previous release, 2002's Grammy-winning Breakaway, debuted at number three with 250,000 and went on to spend 131 weeks on the Billboard 200.

WHO WE WATCH: SIMON COWELL & CARRIE UNDERWOOD

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch OK! magazine has announced their list of "most influential" celebrities.

The list of 19 famous faces, which appears in the magazine's latest issue, on newsstands tomorrow, was separated by editors into six categories: beauty queens, style setters, entertainers, newsmakers, survivors and body shapers.

The top three entertainers -- the "people who decide what we watch and listen to," according to OK! -- were "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, Carrie Underwood and model-TV host Heidi Klum.

JORDIN SPARKS' MESSAGE TO OUR TROOPS

ET celebrated The Fourth by asking the stars to take a moment to pay tribute to all the men and women in uniform who are serving our country, both here in the United States and overseas. Here is what they said:

CLINT EASTWOOD: "I certainly wish them well on the Fourth of July -- and on the mission period, because it's no fun to be away from home."

TONY BENNETT: "I was in the second World War as an infantry foot soldier in France and Germany, so I'm praying for them every minute and can't wait for them to get back home -- everyone of them, I love 'em."

ROBIN WILLIAMS: "You're the best -- especially in the really far bases and especially the guys who have been there way beyond their tours of duty."

GLADYS KNIGHT: "I had a son over in Iraq so I know the feelings of the parents that have young men over there fighting for our country. So you guys, I wish you well. We pray for you every single day. Come home soon. We're working on it, okay? We love you, and take care."

JOELY FISHER: "Come home. I want you to be safe, and we'll celebrate for you. Thank you and God bless you."

JORDIN SPARKS: "Thank you so much for everything you do. I am so appreciative, and the world is a safer place for people. So, thank you so much."

AL SHARPTON: "[It doesn't] matter whether you're for or against the war, the troops are there for all of us. We love you and support you."

ALICIA KEYS: "Happy July 4th -- for giving your time, your heart, your selves and your souls. Please keep your head up and come home soon -- safe and healthy."

VIDEOS: IDOLS CELEBRATE AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY

Watch video of Elliott Yamin performing "I'm in Love With You Forever" on PBS' "A Capitol Fourth":


Watch video of Elliott Yamin singing "America the Beautiful":


Watch video of Jordin Parks, Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle sing "God Bless America" on NBC's "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular" (BTW, the performance was prerecorded last week):


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