I’m going to update this more later but here’s a quick summary of Lisa Tucker’s visit to Macy’s Saturday at North Point Mall in Alpharetta. She was there to promote a line of “American Idol” T-shirts targeting 7 to 16 year old girls.

Tucker, who came in 10th last year, has gone a different path than her peers, taking the acting route. She got a cameo on “The O.C.,” then a recurring role as a student on Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” and is now in a Fox pilot drama tentatively called “Born in the USA.” She’s sweet, cute and professional, with no diva-like behavior in sight (unlike her buddy Paris Bennett, as many of you recall here. Paris, by the way has a new CD dropping May 8, according to People and she’s the spokeswoman for the new “Idol” line of Happy Meals.)

Lisa’s mom Eleanor, who looks just like her daughter, told me she was going the acting route at age 11, working with Disney on “The Lion King” but decided to focus on singing, which eventually led her to “Idol.” She will get back to singing, especially if the pilot show falls through. She’s got several original songs in her back pocket and she’s repped by the powerful talent agency CAA. (Others with CAA: Jennifer Aniston, Nicolas Cage, Matt Dillon and Tom Hanks.) Lisa seems to have an extremely good head on her shoulders.

Here are some photos I took:

Ashley Lombres, 5, from Charlotte, N.C. gets an autograph from Tucker.

Tucker sings to the crowd, mostly parents and young girls.

Here, she sings her original song, an ode to her boyfriend, “Just Not Long Enough” in the girls 7-16 department. (She’s wearing the coolest of the four T’s, one with a guitar that she says looks a lot like hers.)

And she gabs with the amiable Fox 5 camera guy

Season four contestant Jessica Sierra, known as the blonde gal who wasn’t as good as Carrie Underwood, was arrested early Sunday in Tampa for allegedly hitting a guy at a cafe with a glass. The unnamed victim suffered a cut over his eye. She was charged with felony battery charges. She was also charged with possession of cocaine and introduction of contraband in a correctional facility after they found the substance on her. She was released on $11,500 bond.

She finished 10th in 2005 and actually visited Atlanta to sing at a local car dealership in early February. Her most memorable performances were “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “The Boys Are Back in Town.” Simon at the time said, “Yes, they are back in town,” alluding to her pups.

Here;’s the link.

CREDIT: Rodney Ho

Bucky Covington, visiting Kicks 101.5 for a radio promotional tour Wednesday, is the nicest “Idol’ contestant I’ve ever met this side of George Huff from season three. What you saw on TV is what you get, an aw-shucks country boy with a happy grin and a relaxed demeanor.

“This sure beats working at the body shop,” he said, referencing his pre-“Idol” job.

His reaction to selling 61,000 copies his first week, which he found out that day? “It’s awesome and lets you know all this work is starting to pay off.” (He’s the biggest new male country artist in first-week sales since Billy Ray Cyrus!). He’s psyched that Lyric Street (Rascal Flatt’s label) has been so supportive of him, including Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown. He said he sampled 200 to 300 songs and picked his favorite dozen or so, the ones that resonated with him. I got to give him credit for finding songs he could perform with conviction.

Bucky said he liked the nostalgic “A Different World” (his first single) because it showed how committed he is to country. “When I was on ‘American Idol,’ although I was pretty cut and dried country, people thought I might go rock. On the show, I did a lot of harder vocals. This song is true country, the lyrics, what the songs are about. I just loved it to death.” Later, to the fans, he said some folks have complained he wouldn’t know about life with just three TV stations but he said he did, that in his youth, the TV had the knobs and it was cool when they finally got a remote control. He recalls his mom sitting on the couch with Chips Ahoy and a Pepsi calling for him or his brother to give her the remote. And if they complained? “We didn’t talk back cos we got daddy’s belt!”

He said he’s still working on his own songwriting skills. (Only one song was co-written by Bucky.)

Bucky said he admits he wasn’t worthy of winning “Idol” last year. “I was far from putting on my best on the show. I didn’t know what my best was.”

He said a radio station gave him the idea to autograph any pre-ordered CDs off his Web site. In the end, he signed 5,000 CDs, nearly 10 percent of his entire sales last week. He said he has finished signing them all. At one point, his band set up a system on his ping-pong table where he signed and signed and signed. He said he had been practicing a cool autograph for years and he can’t believe he gets to use it. I asked jokingly why he couldn’t get his brother Rocky to help out on the autographs. “He can’t! He’s lefthanded!” he said.

Though he’s met many big country artists, he said he gets more starstruck meeting actors like Billy Bob Thornton, Dave Chapelle and Jamie Foxx (“He knew my name!”!). And last week, when he sat in the audience for the country results show on “Idol,” he met Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith. He said Simon Cowell actually came up to him and said, “You know. I actually miss you!” That surprised Bucky, but honestly, many of us miss having a good country act on the slate this year.

And he like me is scratching his head that “Idol” couldn’t find a truly decent country act in the final 24 this year (though Phil Stacey has discovered that might be his best genre.)

He will be back in Atlanta at some point later this year for a tour. Most likely, I expect he’ll latch onto some bigger act’s tour.

Later, he performed a few songs for about 25 people in a boardroom at Kicks 101.5 Wednesday evening. He played a few cuts off his album and a couple of covers: Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” and Toby Keith’s “Shoulda Been a Cowboy.”

He teased his brother, who ended up getting cut by “Idol” the first round. “When he’s sleeping in, I’m working,” Bucky said. “He’s pretty content.”

And as a true country man, he preferred performing at the Grand Ol’ Opry vs. “American Idol.” “I’ve been judged enough,” he said with his trademark grin. He said he was so excited, he felt his left knee shaking. “I had to walk it off.”

Here’s Kathy Grantz of Atlanta with Bucky (left) and his twin brother Rocky, who is Bucky’s drummer

Kayla Gibbs, 17, from Berkmar High School in Atlanta, is making her boyfriend jealous here.

This is one of Bucky’s biggest fans. “I’m a grandma groupie,” said 65-year-old Hilda Hanlon, of Miami and Monmouth Beach, N.J. She has met him a whopping 35 times.

The “Idol Gives Back” charity event Wednesday night raised more than $60 million for poverty outreach in the U.S. and Africa, according to Fox in a press release Thursday afternoon. It’s unclear how much was from corporate donations and how much from individuals.

In comparison, various telethons after Hurricane Katrina raised nearly $100 million, according to the Associated Press. And “America: A Tribute to Heroes,” that aired after 9/11 on multiple TV networks, raised about $150 million for victims of that tragedy.

One recipient of “Idols Give Back” is SafeHouse Outreach here in Atlanta. Our city was picked because it’s Ryan Seacrest’s hometown.

Safehouse founder Philip Bray said a producer at “Idol” knew Dr. Gerald Durley, former president of Morehouse College. Durley recommended “Idol” support SafeHouse. On April 9, producers flew into Atlanta to film footage about SafeHouse, which received about 30 seconds of airplay Tuesday night.

“The main thing was exposing them to the good works and people making a difference in Atlanta,” said Bray, who founded the charity 25 years ago. It now raises $2 million and several million more in volunteer and in-kind services. The organization, he says, draws thousands of volunteers a year and served 187,000 meals last year. Based in downtown Atlanta near the Ritz Carlton Hotel, he says SafeHouse does both preventative and intervention-type outreach featuring mentoring and parenting classes. With more poor people leaving the in-town core (due to rising real estate prices and torn-down public housing), the organization opened a satellite office in DeKalb County a few years ago.

Bray has no clue how much money he’ll ulimately receive.

From the press release, here’s how the charity organization “Idol’ created will work:

CPEF is a new charitable organization established to raise money and awareness to help combat extreme poverty in the U.S. and throughout the world, particularly in Africa. CPEF’s mission is to use the power of entertainment to drive positive change to achieve its vision of creating a just world free from poverty. CPEF is inspired and supported by the UK charity that invented Red Nose Day.

CPEF is a supporter of ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, a new effort by Americans to rally Americans — ONE by ONE — to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is a coalition of over 2.4 million people and more than 100 of the nation’s leading relief, humanitarian and advocacy organizations joining together to help save lives in Africa and the world’s poorest countries.

In the United States, CPEF has selected Save the Children, America’s Second Harvest - The Nation’s Food Bank Network, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Children’s Health Fund as beneficiaries of IDOL GIVES BACK. These organizations deliver support to poor children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country, providing them with medical care, food and grocery products, health and life skills, literacy programs and obesity prevention, among other important initiatives.

In Africa, funds will be dedicated to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Malaria No More, Nothing But Nets, Save the Children and The U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Each organization will receive funds to support efforts to battle poverty through various health and education programs, including delivering medical supplies and providing clean water. These organizations also aim to control and prevent malaria through practical resources and programs, including providing life-saving bed nets and other activities tied to Africa Malaria Day on April 25.

As the day comes to an end, one simple question: was Jordin treated fairly by being placed in a situation where she thought she had been eliminated but… wasn’t?

Ultimately, did “Idol” producers achieve the right mix of schmaltz, sadness, comedy and manipulation to keep us watching?

Kelly Clarkson has announced her summer tour dates, including a stop in Atlanta on August 28, according to Idol Chatter. I’m trying to pin down the locale but odds are it’s Philips Arena.

Preliminary Nielsen “Idol” ratings were down about 2 million viewers over last week, finishing at 26.4 million. But the fact it ran two hours dragged the numbers down.

Here are the approximate half hour breakdowns, according to Marc Berman

8 p.m.: 21.6 million

8:30 p.m. 25.2 mil

9 p.m. 28.6 mil

9:30 p.m.; 30.3 mil

And Bucky Covington landed at No. 4 on the Billboard top 200, no. 1 on the country chart, with 61,000 in sales. He naturally was thrilled at the Atlanta Kicks country station appearnace last night. (More later.). He didn’t do as well, first week sales wise, as fellow season fivers, Taylor, Kat, Chris, Elliott or Kellie. But he did come in eighth and in fact, he is the only 8th place “Idol” finalist to even get a major record label deal. (Lyric Street, home of Rascal Flatts.)

He even beat Chris Daughtry, who sold another 52,000 to move his total to 2.3 million. He ranked no. 7, down from 6.

Carrie, thanks to CMT, jumped back into the top 10, from 14 to 9. Sales were 45K. Sales are up to 5.3 million.

Elliott slips to 62 from 59, with 10K sold and 164K total.

Kat edges up to 108 from 112 but her single “Over It” is slipping. She moved another 7,000 and 301K total.

Kellie jumps to 118 from 142 (CMT effect?) and has jumped to 505K.

Fantasia rebounds to 166 from 192 and has sold 351K.

Taylor adds another 2K, with 671K total. Ruben sold 1,200 with 222K total. Clay sold 600, with 509K total. Kellie’s “Breakaway” moved 4,900 and is up to 5.7 million.

“American Idol” itself isn’t above shameless self promotion. And neither am I.

First, the fine folks at ajc.com have designed a little game in which you rank the six finalists in order and compare your results with others. It’s right here.

I ranked them 1-Jordin 2-Melinda 3-Blake 4-LaKisha 5-Chris 6-Phil

I’ll let you do it yourself so you can see what the consensus is. (It’s not the same as mine.)

And you can watch me pontificate about “American Idol” on CNN Pipeline, the online version of CNN, every Wednesday and Thursday. Check it out! I’m new at TV (even if it’s only online) so cut me some slack. I was supposed to do one today to talk about “Idols Give Back” last night, but CNN Pipeline had technical problems so it won’t be happening.

Oh jeez. What a horrible way to yank our chain.

“How can we let anybody go on a charity night?” Ryan Seacrest said after the non-results.

So nobody goes home but next week, two will be ousted, leaving four. The votes from this week will be added to next week’s votes.

Ryan predicted this will the “most shocking” result in history after 70 million votes. Well, I guess that is shocking in an annoying, manipulative sort of way. Thanks!

I just came back from the Bucky Covington event at Kicks 101.5 at 9:10 p.m. I sped through portions but got this:

They interspersed very serious pieces about the charities with comedy from the Simpsons, Jack Black and a lip-synching crew of celebrities doing “Staying Alive.” And there was that duet near the end between Celine and Elvis through the magic of technology. They even made it seem like Elvis was on stage. It wasn’t quite as painful as it could have been. In fact, it was fairly convincing if you weren’t paying too much attention though you can often tell a stand-in was used for certain angles and shots. Cheesy? Oh, yah. Absolutely. Celine didn’t sound half bad but they should have just had her duet with someone, um, alive.

Madonna, with that mild British accent, made a plea, too. And Bono showed up at the end to say a few words to the contestants.

There were recent tabloid shots of Kelly Clarkson having gained a few pounds. That dress she wore tonight certainly doesn’t bely that notion. She actually looks a bit like Valerie Bertinelli. It’s great to hear her sing some gospel.

The show had already raised $30 million before the end, Seacrest said.

I just spoke with Philip Bray, the founder of

With Sanjaya gone, ratings on the first Sanjaya-less performance show went down a bit, too. The preliminary Nielsen ratings for last night was about 25.6 million, the lowest for a performance show this season and 3 million below the comparable show last year. Among 18 to 49 year olds, the ratings are down 17%. Typically, when final numbers come out, “Idol” gains another 400,000 or so, so it won’t be quite as bad as the prelim numbers look. And indeed, performance shows in general have been down about 10 percent from last year. Oddly, the results shows have been unusually strong the past two weeks, pulling in bigger numbers than the performance shows, perhaps because folks were waiting to see Sanjaya go home.

Also, I’ll be talking to Bucky Covington later today. Any questions? I’m also gabbing with Elliott Yamin for real tomorrow (in the sense I’ll get more than five minutes.). Email me your questions for either contestant at rho@ajc.com. Elliott has already noted he’s not really following the show this year. I bet Bucky’s been a wee bit busy, too.

And I’ll be talking to Philip Bray, the executive director of SafeHouse Outreach, which helps homeless people in downtown Atlanta. The group was featured on “American Idol” last night.

Plus, did anyone follow “Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll”? It was a fun show though I can’t imagine the prize being all that great since nobody really knows who is in the Pussycat Dolls anyways. They’re as interchangable as a Menudo member. Oddly, the winner named last night, Asia, is probably now better known than any of the existing Dolls. She already has a chip on her shoulder, as Melissa learned in the finale episode. I can’t imagine what Asia would be like behind the scenes with the existing group members. The other two finalists, Chelsea and Melissa, are both actually very talened. Chelsea, in fact, is such a good singer, she could easily be a top 10 finalist on “Idol” and in reality, she probably would have been better off doing this show than “Pussycat Dolls,” which pulled in about 1/9th the ratings of “Idol.”

The theme was hope and compassion. So naturally, it was heavy on ballads, not my favorite genre. Most of the finalists rose to the occasion, but LaKisha really made a big mistake going after Fantasia. She will be in the bottom three, along with Chris Richardson and possibly Blake Lewis again. The only thing that might save LaKisha is the fact she was in the bottom two last week and her fans might save her. So I predict Chris will be going home. He’s due.

The only safe ones to me are the glorious Jordin and an ever consistent Melinda. Since I’ve been favoring Jordin for weeks, she gets my top slot over Melinda but it’s close.

Oddly, Ryan referenced Bono as a vocal coach but, um, no sign of him! Maybe he’ll show up tonight.

“Idol” expanded voting to four hours instead of two and two phones lines instead of one. The charities will include those who will provide funds for Africa and all over America - not just the Gulf Coast, as was originally stated. (Atlanta’s homeless are included.)

Jordin Sparks (“You’ll Never Walk Alone” from “Carousel”. More info about the song here)) - She finishes the show in the prime slot. Everyone from Elvis to Barbra Streisand to Johnny Cash has done it. It’s an oddly shapeless song with not a lot of pop hook. But she takes the song, builds it and hits the key notes with emotion and verve. Randy: “That’s one of the best vocals ever by anyone on the show in six seasons. And it’s someone who is 17 years old.” Paula: “It’s one of those songs that is very haunting and it swells. Only someone with great vocals can do it. You did a lovely job. You’re glorious.” Simon: “Unlike Randy, I thought you were fantastic. That song is about 60 years old. You’d have a hit record with that.”

Melinda Doolittle (Faith Hill’s “There Will Come a Day”) - I’m not a Hill fan at all. Her songs are often schmaltzy and overdramatic. But Melinda does a good job keeping it real, providing enough emotion and depth to the song to make it worth listening to. I still don’t love the song. Randy: “You are so dope. You have it all together. You have arrived.” Paula: “There’s no one like you. You’re magical.” Simon: “It wasn’t a copycat performance. You took a song and made me believe you recorded it originally. That was really a vocal master class.”

Blake Lewis (John Lennon’s “Imagine”) — Ruben did an okay job with this song a few years back, but as one previous blogger here noted, this song is so iconic, it’s awfully hard to top the original. It’s a servicable version, very controlled, very respectful. Better than John? No way. Randy: “It was just kind of awright for you dawg. I wanted you to do a little more with it.” Paula: “I was thinking of that in the beginning. Then I thought how simple that song. That was the first sensitive performance. That goes a long way. I enjoyed it.” Simon: “This is a tricky one. You’ve chosen one of the big songs of all time. There’s always going to be a comparison. You can’t belt out. It sounded sincere. It didn’t go anywhere. The best thing is you sang it with sincerity.”

Phil Stacey (“The Change” by Garth Brooks) - He’s back with country after realizing that is the one genre he can do well last week. He’s really not the sexiest bald guy by any stretch is he? He’s no Daughtry. Those ears and the shape of his scalp? Oh, wait. Should I be paying attention to his vocals? He’s actually doing okay but as usual, the lack of distinction in his voice period makes it hard for me to pay attention. It is in fact possibly his most consistent vocal to date. Randy: “You know what I”m happy about for your dawg, since last week, country week, you showed who you are. You came back with another strong performance with another great song. Two ina row!” Paula: “You found your comfort. This was your best.” Simon: “You’ve come back with confidence, spring in your step. The only thing I’d advise you is to put more country tone in your voice than the way you sang it tonight.” (I agree. That might have added something to the song.)

Chris Richardson (Eric Clapton’s “Change the World”) — This fine Clapton song proves how thin and ineffectual his voice can be, especially in quieter moments. He picks it up near the end and makes it a respectable performance. Randy: “Tonight dawg for the first time in a long time, you’re in it to win it. That was great, dude.” Paula: “You did fantastic. A great song choice.” Simon: “It kind of feels the competition starts properly tonight [now that Sanjaya is gone.] It was a good vocal. It had more soul in it. A more sexy performance. I think you did really well.”

LaKisha Jones (Fantasia’s “I Believe”) — Uh oh. She’s trying to do an “Idol” alum’s song AGAIN. Is she on some sort of suicide mission? I’ve seen Fantasia sing this song at least four times live, including once in the Lenox Macy’s basement, and it’s just extraordinary each time, totally a goosebumps moment. But LaKisha fails that and proves that she’s no Fantasia. Is it good? Yes. But no goosebumps. Sorry. Randy: “It had some pitch problems for me. It wasn’t your best performance but I did like it. It’s a very hard song to sing after Fantasia I must admit.” Paula: “You are a powerhouse vocalist. Don’t attempt Whitney, Mariah or Celine. Fantasia hasn’t been around a long time but she is so undeniably and wonderfully unique. I have a hard time getting past that.” Simon: “I’m having an issue with the shouting. Whereas before (‘Will you shut up!’ he says to the crowd)…” Then he gets cuts off.

Here’s an item that will be in tomorrow’s print edition about “Idol Gives Back.”

With Sanjaya Malakar out of “American Idol,” what’s there to talk about?

For at least one week, the show’s producers have found a worthy distraction: a massive charity event this week which concludes Wednesday with a two-hour extravaganza featuring Bono and Celine Dion.

Through www.americanidol.com or a 1-800 line flashed on-screen, fans will be able to contribute money for charities to help children in Africa and the Gulf Coast area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Corporations such as AT&T and Coca Cola will also kick in money, though producers haven’t said how much. (In some cases, companies will contribute a portion based on how many votes were tallied for last night’s performances.)

TV has a history of generating huge amounts of cash for charities, from “Live Aid” in 1985 to combat famine in Africa to “A Tribute to Heroes” for the families of victims of 9/11. This is the rare time when a reality show has taken on such a task. But “American Idol” isn’t just any reality show. It’s by far the most popular reality show in American TV history, averaging more than 30 million viewers in its sixth season.

“These kinds of shows can be a little bit depressing if you’re not careful,” said executive producer Ken Warwick on a phone interview to media last week. “It’s going to entertain people and it’s going to move people.”

Instead of the usual one-hour results show, Wednesday’s installment will feature a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Scheduled acts include Pink, Josh Groban, Rascal Flatts, Gwen Stefani and former “Idol” winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Actors such as Hugh Grant, Jack Black and Helen Mirren will make on-camera pleas and Ellen DeGeneres will host.

Some enterprising dude on youtube posted this lovely video of Julien on the French version of “American Idol.”.

The guy is pretty attractive but man, he sings “Like a Virgin” like the worst lounge singer on earth. It’s pretty darn funny, too. And the show in France doesn’t cut the songs to 90 seconds. Nope, he sings the whole dang song! And the audience acted as if he was Kelly Clarkson. Anybody know French who can translate the judges’ comments?

From the Washington Post, covering the White House Correspondents Dinner where Sanjaya was invited on behalf of People magazine:

Sanjaya Malakar, the shy, slender, 17-year-old “American Idol” reject, was at his table when a tall, middle-aged man stopped by to ask for an autograph. The boy’s hosts, from People magazine, tried to shoo him away.

“We are trying to let him eat,” they explained.

The man protested: “But I’m the governor of New York.”

And so Eliot Spitzer got his autograph. It was that kind of night. It always is.

And here’s what Sanjaya will read on tonight’s “Late Night With David Letterman.” Sadly, it’s not very funny in print. Let’s hope he does a good job presenting it.

    THE “LATE SHOW” TOP TEN

                                                “Things I Learned from ‘American Idol’”

[As presented by Sanjaya Malakar, the most recent contestant voted off “American Idol,” on the Monday, April 23 broadcast of the LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN, seen weeknights (11:35 PM*12:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.]

10.       The camera adds ten pounds to your mohawk.             9.         Work hard and make sacrifices, you can finish in 7th place.

8.         It’s very important to “Keep it real, dawg.”

7.         I should have gone for the immunity idol - oh wait, that’s “Survivor.”

6.         On-camera Simon is a bit nasty, but off-camera, he’s a total jerk.

5.         Voting for yourself 100 times an hour causes some wicked carpal tunnel.

4.         When you forget the words, just do this.             (Sanjaya belts out a riff like“Ohhhhhhhh”)

3.         Honestly, I thought I was auditioning for “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”

2.         Nothing.

1.         America loves performers with bad hair - right, Dave?

For the upcoming “Idols Give Back” concert Wednesday, TMZ.com reports that Celine Dion may do a Natalie/Nat King Cole type of duet with the late Elvis Presley, who has been dead for three decades.

Hold back that gag reflex, everybody — at least til we see it.

On a more serious note, Fox today announced U2’s Bono will show up Wednesday to meet the final six contestants and talk about his charity work on behalf of Africa. You can check it out at www.one.org. The contestants also will perform “American Prayer,” a song written by Bono and Dave Stewart about the AIDS emergency in Africa.

Kelly Clarkson’s new single “Never Again” has been out less than a week and it’s already No. 24 on the top 40 charts, whichs tells you how hungry stations are for something fresh and interesting. I’ve listened to the song three times. It’s a bit edgy and doesn’t really resonate to me the way “Since U Been Gone” did. But it’s much better than a lot of the gunk on the top 40 charts the moment. Evanescence would be proud. What do you think? Check it out on Kelly’s myspace page.

Taylor, Elliott, Kat, Chris, Paris, Kellie, Ace and Bucky have scheduled visits or have recently come to Atlanta this year. (I plan to meet Bucky at a private Kicks function next Wednesday.) Now it’s 10th place finisher Lisa Tucker’s turn to come to the ATL.

She will be at North Point Mall’s Macy’s on Saturday April 28 from 2 to 4 p.m. and will sign American Idol T shirts by Awake in the girls 7 to 16 department.

Tucker had a bit of the pageant thing in her and never quite defined herself on the show but she’s done pretty well since she left.

She’s gotten a semi-regular part on Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 and got a part on a Fox pilot series “Born in the USA.” She graduated high school and had a part in Paris Bennett’s new CD. And she’s making plenty of public appearances.

Two of the most powerful entities on TV mashed up Thursday. The “American Idol” finalists popped in on Oprah Winfrey. Like “American Idol” needs the promotion? They are pushing “Idol Gives Back” next week.

Simon, via satellite, said about Sanjaya’s departure: “I was on a very happy plane last night. I miss him probably in the same way I miss my favorite horror movie. And i don’t mean that nastily. I like horror movies. I hate it. I love it. A very sweet guy. Quite entertaining but a horrible singer. That was the problem.”

“If he made it to the top three, I’m gone,” he said. But “they wouldn’t let me.”

“I’m a little bit frustrated. I haven’t had enough ‘oh my god’ moments. I want to see a few more.”

Who does he like? “I have a soft spot for Melinda. Very sweet girl. I like her. Jordin was sensational this week. Chris I like because he’s contemporary. But I’m a little bit worried about singing through the nose… My top three or top two would be Melinda, Jordin and I’m not writing off LaKisha.”

Simon on Paula: “She’s gone sensible-ish. I love when she talks complete and utter rubbish. We haven’t had enough of that the past few weeks.”

Then Oprah talks to the final six. Some (bland) comments. In fact, she didn’t get much at all. Here’s a sampling:

Jordin: “It’s really awesome. I’m enjoying every minute of this.”

Melinda: “All I can do is try to take baby steps. I try not to listen to what’s going on. We’ve all been considered frontrunners at some point.” (Huh?) On Ryan forcing her to pick a side: “Why in the world would you do that to me. I wanted to cry. So I just sat down.”

Blake: “Being on this stage very week is very surreal.”

Phil: “My poor wife [about missing the birth of his second daughter to try out for ‘Idol.’]. I missed my first because I was in the Navy. So I’m not playing favorites.”

Sanjaya was, as expected, soft spoken and his answers were so brief, he managed to get through quite a few reporter questions in 30 minutes. I was like 8th in line and within 5 minutes, I got in.

Upfront, he said he sensed this was his time to go. “When I watched the show back Tuesday, I kind of had a feeling. I was in the dumps Wednesday. I kind of knew.”

“I’m not a country singer. That took a toll on me. I didn’t h ave a strong enough set of performances to have people forgive me for that. LaKisha, she’s not country either. But she had enough strong performances to get through. I didn’t think I did.” (This kid ain’t stupid!)

He only had an “inkling” over time how big a deal he had become:

“It’s been kind of surreal for me. I got inklings every once in awhile of something different, something going on that was a cultural phenomenon. I don’t think it has hit me exactly how big it is.”

Did he read the blogs about himself?

“I read online blogs to balance myself. It was impossible not to hear stuff. Oftentimes, it was negative. I kind of balanced the positive and negative to stay grounded.”

I asked him whether Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” was his first choice. It wasn’t. He wanted to sing Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” but since Ford is a sponsor, the producers said, um, no. That’s kind of interesting in a random sort of way.

I had one followup and asked his favorite personal performance. Not surprisingly, it was “Busame Mucho” from last week, the only time Simon truly gave him a compliment.

His take on Simon’s negative opinion of him for most of the competition:

“I think he had gotten to the point that I hadn’t fulfilled my potential for long enough. He didn’t think I deserved to be there, whch is fine. Everyone has their opinion.”

He also reiterated what the executive producers have told us about Vote for the Worst and Howard Stern trying to subvert the voting process in his favor:

“That’s fine. I don’t think Vote for the Worst or Howard Stern had enough people voting for me enough times to make a dent in anything. The reason why I’m here is solely because of my support from my fans.”

As for the SNL skits and other shows mocking him, he said he was okay with it: “I love to poke fun at myself.”

One great question: Did you ever consider quitting out of deference to fellow singers?

Sanjaya: “No way. I was going to stay as long as I possibly could and work and learn from everything that happened.”

Did he think he had any prayer of winning?

“Every one of us wants to win. I was more focused on the learning aspect of this. I did get my GED after sophomore year. I saw this as my junior and senior year of high school. This is what I want to do. This is the way to learn it in a quick time. I got a lot further than I had expected.”

Sanjaya’s hair: “At a certain point, it had become my thing. Everyone looks for something to grab onto with each contestnat. I feel like my hair was that for me. That was my little joke back at ya.” Later, asked for his favorite hairstyle, he didn’t say it was the pony hawk: “My favorite style was when I did Busame Mucho. I always wanted my hair tob be curly like that. It’s a little curly naturally. That’s like my dream hair. I liked it.” He also confirmed that his hair styles were his choice, not the “Idol” stylist.

One questioner asked if there was a “turning point” when he decided to just go for broke?

“I think that throughout the competition, I grew as a performer and as a person. I did have a lot of things to learn from. And I think that I kind of found myself as I progressed. I don’t know when it happened. [The turning point, that is.] I do think I found myself and got more comfortable in my own skin.”

And as expected, when asked who he thinks will or should win, he punted: “The show is completely unpredictable. I honestly have no idea who will be cut next week and who’s going to win.”

His future?

“I’m definitely looking at a music career. I also will venture into acting and modelling and possibly Broadway.” (Sorry, with that voice, Broadway isn’t going to be his destiny.)

We’ll get our chance as print/online media to talk to Sanjaya at 2 p.m. I’ll update this blog item with quotes from that press conference. Or I might start a new one. Not sure yet!

Here are reasons why I liked Sanjaya and why I hated him, too. Either way, I’m going to miss him! Please include your own:

Good points:

1. He’s entertaining, pure and simple. He’s got moxie and the camera loves him. And he’s by far the most interesting contestant among the final 12.

2. His song choices have often been gutsy, bordering on crazy. He actually dared to take on the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”? Even against Gwen Stefani’s wishes, he opted for No Doubt’s “Bathwater.” Last week was his best performance when he actually sang in Spanish during “Busame Mucho.”

3. That hair, that hair, that pony hawk, that hair!

4. How he transformed from that shy, modest boy to someone bursting with (over)confidence.

5. That grin, that grin, that monstrous grin!

6. That first name is so darn memorable, he’s like Cher or Madonna!

7. He had a hot sister who also tried out for the show but didn’t make it to the top 24. Guys would relish those brief moments of her in the audience cheering him on.

8. He rendered Simon virtually speechless a couple of times.

Bad points:

1- He never seemed to project his voice. If it had any heft, he almost never showed it.

2- His amateurish dance moves, if you’d even call them dance moves.

3- That hair, that hair, that pony hawk, that hair!

4- That grin, that grin, that scary, scary grin.

5- He’d make some absurd song choices that didn’t remotely fit his voice i.e. Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” this past Tuesday.

6- That hula dancing he showed off one week.

7- That frightening 13 year old girl Ashley who couldn’t stop crying when he sang.

8- He took so much attention away from the other contestants that the rest of the show now feels anticlimactic now that he’s gone.

Also, Bucky Covington’s CD, based on first-day sales Tuesday, may open as strong as 60,000, which would place him in the top 10. That would be the sixth person from last year’s “Idol” to debut in the top 10 after Taylor, Kat, Elliott, Daughtry and Kellie.

Ken Warwick said it right yesterday, that last year was an unusually good crop, that it spoiled us so much that this year’s crew pales in comparison. Eight of the top 12 have record contracts, which is twice as much as a typical year.

Without Sanjaya, what are we going to talk about the next five weeks. Sniff.

Sanjaya just beats out LaKisha. Phew! I’m going to miss that kid though! He kept it entertaining.

We shall all wear a pony hawk tomorrow in mourning! (He’s crying during the farewell. Aww…) “I’m fine,” he said. I couldn’t hear what else he said. Go figure. He sounds better than Tuesday doing Bonnie Raitt.

Blake, who I felt should have been in the bottom three last night, had the third-lowest vote.

Ryan and those conniving producers split the group into those with the highest votes and those with the lowest votes. Sanjaya is first and Phil is placed in the “other” group so you know he’s safe. Jordin joins Phil so she’s safe. LaKisha goes with Sanjaya so she’s near the bottom. Blake is there, too. Chris is safe!! (the Virginia Tech mention didn’t hurt perhaps?) Then they tell Melinda she’s safe and asks her to pick which group to join. She sits down in protest. Smart! Last night on this blog, I picked Chris, Blake and Sanjaya at the bottom three and predicted Chris going home. I’m obviously wrong there. This morning, I changed my mind and dropped Blake in favor of LaKisha. (Still wrong.). On CNN’s Idol Chatter, I changed my mind and predicted LaKisha would go home because hey, I can change my mind, right?

Simon set the record straight about supposedly rolling his eyes after Chris Richardson gave a shout out to the victims and families of the Virginia Tech tragedy. “We got into quite a heated debate about singing through your nose. I was talking to Paula. I didn’t hear him mention the people of Virginia. I gave a look. I was giving a look to Paula. I wasn’t disrespecting victims. I want to set the record straight. I didn’t hear what Chris was saying. I may not be the nicest person in the world but I would never ever ever disrespect those families and victims.”

They then showed the camera on Simon while Chris was talking and it was clear Simon was not paying any attention indeed to Chris but talking to Paula.

“There’s another show happening at the table every night,” Ryan said.

So there ya go. (Non)controversy over.

Here’s a quick summary of the 53 other minutes before the results in case you missed it:

The group sing is not a Martina McBride song but a No. 1 song from Jo Dee Messina circa 1997. It’s actually fairly tolerable for a group sing. Fergie pimped a new song. A promo for next week’s “Idol Gives Back” with the likes of Gwen Stefani, Il Divo, Hugh Grant, Josh Grobin, Jack Black, Helen Mirran, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Annie Lennox and Earth, Wind & Fire, to name a few. And the promise a big duet by two big names. A “Shrek 3” promo with Antonio Banderas showing up. Martina sings “Anyway.”

Simon Cowell this morning told TMZ and Ryan Seacrest’s Los Angeles morning radio show that he rolled his eyes Tuesday night because of Chris Richardson’s prior comments about his nasal singing, not his comments about the Virginia Tech tragedy.

“I couldn’t hear what Chris had said,” Cowell told Seacrest. “My rolling of my eyes was to what he had said previously, that singing nasally is a form of singing.” Simon went on to say that he wanted to clear this misunderstanding up due to the sensitivity of the situation in Virginia. “We wanted to set the right tone on the show last night and then something like this happens and it just starts fanning the flames…it’s not right,” Cowell said

By coincidence, “Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick (to promote “Idol Gives Back”) got on the line with print reporters at 3 p.m. EST and we naturally grilled him about the Simon (Inadvertent) snafu.

Warwick missed the eye roll. And he repeated Simon saying he couldn’t hear Chris. “He’s not stupid,” Warwick said. “He came off and he was mortified.” Simon didn’t know about the problem until after the show was over. Warwick said Simon spontaneously made his own Virginia Tech comment after Blake’s performance near the end of the show. “It hit us afterward it could be misconstrued.”

I asked him as a followup if the judges always have trouble hearing the contestants. Warwick said yes. “The audience is yelling and whooping all the way through. It is a mad house to be true.” He said the judges can hear Ryan when things are quieter but frequently when the contestants are talking back to the judges, the crowd is making so much noise, the judges can’t hear anyway. (They do have mikes in their ears to hear the singing.)

Simon added similarly to tmz.com: “Cowell told TMZ, “I couldn’t hear what Chris had said. I was talking to Paula. My reaction (rolling my eyes) was to what he had said previously, that singing nasally is a form of singing.” It’s true, when the judges are off camera they frequently jab at each other as the singers do their thing. Simon told TMZ he was shocked when he saw what went down: “When I watched the show back, I was horrified.”

And you can watch the video of my online TV debut gabbing about Idol here, at least for now.

Poor Sanjaya got booed at a recent baseball game..

And in a cruel homage, Maxim has named him “Today’s Girl.”.

And on a non-Sanjaya route, USA Today explores the success of country “Idol” contestants., though clearly nobody is going country this year.

Also, I’m supposed to be on in the noon hour on CNN Pipeline. The online version of CNN does a lot of original broadcasting and does a weekly “Idol” roundup. One of the weekly participants left so they needed a sub. That sub is me. It’s subscription only, though ($2.95 a month for tons of commercial free, on-demand video, or $24.95 a year. There is a 14-day free trial period, too.). We’ll see if I can transfer my writing skills into any semblence of charisma in front of a camera!

Country was a mixed bag of hay for these singers to gnaw on. Some excelled, some bailed, ahem.

I’d say Melinda and Jordin solidified their places in the top three while Phil Stacey shocked us all with his best performance to date.

Bottom three is easy: Sanjaya is due for a fall, along with Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis (his first appearance.) Who goes home? Chris Richardson is homeward bound. I think Sanjaya will just escape elimination this time.

Also notice how Simon r