Not surprisingly, David Archuleta told Seventeen magazine he has never kissed a girl..

And he has no celebrity crushes he’d admit. His favorite TV guilty pleasures are “Fairly Oddparents” and “Foster’s Home For Imaginery Friends.”

He’s 17 years old? As we all suspected, he still acts, looks and talks like a 13 year old!

David Cook, of course, is amusing in his Q&A. He had his first kiss when he was 12 or 13. His celebrity crush? Burt Bacharach! (hah!) His builty TV pleasure is “Mythbusters” on Discovery Channel. Favorite Web site is www.funnyordie.com

-Josiah Leming has officially signed a deal with Warner Brothers..

“Josiah’s talent as a lyricist is one of the main reasons I signed him,” says Warner Bros. Records’ Senior Vice President of A&R Perry Watts-Russell. “All of his emotions go into his songs. He has an extraordinary gift for turning his experiences into art.”

He’s working on his album now in London. If you’ve forgotten, he was the kid who lived in his car for months, insisted on singing “Stand By Me” without a backup band and cried a lot before getting bumped from the final 24.

Following in the footsteps of Kellie Pickler (minus the personality), Kristy Lee Cook is getting a 19 Recordings/Arista record deal, according to an exclusive story in USA Today.

19 Recordings, an arm of the “American Idol” industrial complex, has only occasionally signed contestants who didn’t finish in the top 2. Daughtry is one of the few others.

Pickler has been a huge success, outselling Taylor Hicks with three top 20 country hits. Daughtry has four top 20 pop hits and more than 4 million albums sold.

Will Cook do as well as Pickler? I doubt it. But it appears they are going to release her album before the two Davids, just like Pickler. And if she can give us good songs, you never know!

Here are the details:

Her first single, “15 Minutes of Shame,” arrives Aug. 11, and the album follows in the fall. The album is being produced by Brett James, who co-wrote “Jesus, Take the Wheel” for former Idol champion Carrie Underwood. The signing marks the return for Cook, 24, to Arista Nashville. She was signed to the label as a teen but dropped before recording anything. Cook will record her album while touring with American Idols Live, which kicks off Tuesday in Glendale, Ariz., and runs through Sept. 13.

More Idol news:

-The Idol download and sales info last week was pretty darn slow.. Only three albums on the top 200 from “Idol” folks: two Carrie Underwood albums, Daughtry and Jordin. Jordin’s third single “One Step at a Time” isn’t gaining much momentum so far. Not sure if she’s going to have a hit out of it. If not, her effort to get to a million in sales is threatened.

This will be a Paris Bennett-free zone this weekend.

First off, here are some details from the Birmingham News about Ruben Studdard’s wedding to that Atlanta flight attendant Surata Zuri McCants.

Sounded like a very modest, low-key wedding before 300 guests. They plan to stay in Birmingham. Here’s the rather tiny photo from the Birmingham News:

-Fantasia was supposed to be in Atlanta Saturday night at Dreamz Nightclub on Cheshire Bridge Road for a paid nightclub appearance to celebrate her 24th birthday Monday. I was too lazy to actually show up last night and am now trying to confirm details of her visit from the general manager. According to ew.com, she’s been dropped by 19 Management because she wouldn’t heed their advice. But she’s still with J Records.

-Next, check this New York Post report, showing that top “Idol” alums are magic elixirs for Broadway sales. Taylor Hicks, despite a modest role as Teen Angel in the revival of “Grease,” has fueled sales by an estimated $150K a week, according to The New York Post.

-The press in Branson doesn’t seem all that aggressive so I haven’t seen any reviews of the first round of “Idol” finalists including Brandon Rogers, Haley Scarnato, Scott Savol, R.J. Helton, Carmen Rasmussen and Vonzell Solomon. This reservebranson.com blog trods light allows them to spout all sorts of cliches about how honored it is for them to be working together — though the subtext is, to be working at all. The biggest news: Carmen is pregnant and due in December! She must be just entering her second trimester. (She’s been married awhile.)

Soon, I’m going to have to call R.J., who used to live in Cumming, about the experience. Knowing him, he will tell me it’s fabulous, whether it’s fabulous or not.

-Blake Lewis expands upon his earlier comments about being dropped from Arista with ew.com and on his own blog.

“I was just wishing they would have put the word out to me over the last couple months, because let’s face it…. Waiting SUCKS!!!! Oh well. I guess the right time was now. No biggy. I’m still with 19 Recordings and I got a tour and new record on the way. Now all I need is a home for my music. Some place warm and tropical…”

I never got around to finishing yesterday’s blog entry. Got busy with the other blog, focusing on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and the last day of B98.5’s Kelly & Alpha morning team.

Anyway, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s gossip columnist C.J. confirmed with Paris Bennett’s mom Jamecia that she is indeed pregnant, as the photos last weekend at the Philips Arena AARP concert indicated. She’s due in October, when she’ll be 20. More details here.

Who’s the daddy? “He chooses not to be in the public eye,” said Jamecia. “I respect that.” What does he do for a living? “I can’t tell,” she said.

“I’m proud of how she did it. I was 16 when I got pregnant,” she added.

Then she gave this hilarious comment: “We tend to stay out of the media,” Jamecia said.

Yup, that’s what you do when you’re trying to build a career— stay out of the media!

-Ruben Studdard gave more details on how he met Surata McCants at that Wal-Mart in Atlanta with the Birmingham News.

“I was signing copies of my CD and she came in to get one signed for her friend who couldn’t get off from work,” he said. “We started talking, and she was telling me about her friend. But I just looked at her and thought, `She is so beautiful.’”

When McCants walked away, Studdard said he caught up with her in the toy section

“I asked her for her number. We developed a friendship, and about two months later we started dating,” he said.

The eight audition cities for season eight will not include Atlanta, not a surprise. Atlanta auditions actually didn’t generate that many top contestants last year.

This year, it’s mostly cities never tried before by “Idol.” Three are in homage to recent winners and runners up: Phoenix, for Jordin Sparks and Brooke White; Kansas City, near David Cook’s hometown; and Salt Lake City, where David Archuleta is from.

San Juan, Puerto Rico is definitely a new one and perhaps we’ll find a hot Latino singer there. Jacksonville, Fla. and Louisville, Ky. are two new cities, I think. A couple of cities they have tried before: San Francisco and East Rutherford, N.J. (that’s the Meadowlands, which is in shooting distance of New York City). First-round auditions from in July and August. Usually, the later rounds are done in September and October.

Despite rumors they’d push back the age limit to 14, that is not the case. The ‘Idol” press release says it’s still 16 to 28 as of July 15, 2008.

Your thoughts?

I have to finish up a story about Dukesfest, the “Dukes of Hazzard” festival at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. Will add on to this blog entry in a couple of hours.

Ruben Studdard’s manager Cedric Evans called me this morning to confirm the people.com report a couple days back that he is indeed getting married to Surata Zuri McCants, 30. The marriage will happen this weekend in Birmingham.

Better yet, she’s an Atlanta flight attendant. He met McCants at an October, 2006 Wal-Mart CD signing I attended back. Here’s a photo of him I took that day:

Here’s the original blog entry about his Wal-Mart visit.

Evans didn’t know (or wouldn’t say) what the honeymoon destination is.

But he did confirm that Studdard is going back to his “Idol’ roots by doing an album of covers. (Clay did it!). In his case, he’ll do R&B classics by the likes of Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson. Working with Minneapolis producers Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, Studdard is nearly done and Evans said he’s aiming for an August release date. (Lewis and Jam helped produce his farewell song for “Idol” this season “Celebrate Me Home”).

Rehearsals for “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” (with Frenchie Davis) starts in October and Studdard will use his off time to promote the album.

His latest “The Return” has sold about 237,000 copies and J Records dropped him earlier this year. But he’s still with 19 Recordings.

-Photographer Robb Cohen (freelancing for the AJC) attended the AARP Divas concert with the likes of Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick and Ann Nesby. Here’s a shot from his photo gallery featuring Ann and her grand-daughter Paris Bennett:

-TMZ reports that Kelly Clarkson has purchased a $1.5 million home in Nashville..

Yes, Reba McEntire and Kelly are tight buds now and Kelly now has Reba’s hubby as her manager. We can expect some serious twang on Kelly fourth album.

Based on the photo at TMZ, the home looks relatively modest (especially for that price), but this may not be Kelly’s primary residence. She owns a huge ranch in Texas, too.

-I just noticed this June 12 item about season four third-place finisher Vonzell Solomon. She was recently busted with a gun at an airport. But more importantly, Bank of New York was foreclosing on her house June 16.. Ouch! Maybe Kelly can help her out!

According to the News Press:

Solomon, 24, who finished third on the Fox Network’s popular talent contest three years ago, bought the south Fort Myers house Jan. 6, 2006, from Betty Hack for $405,000.

The purchase was made with two mortgages: one for $312,800 and the other for $78,200, court records show.

Solomon is working to pay some bills doing that Branson, Missouri “Idols” gig with Carmen Rasmussen, R.J. Helton, Scott Savol, Haley Scarnato and Brandon Rogers. Help her out by buying tix here.. She’s there through July 20.

Want to hear Jennifer Hudson’s new song “Spotlight”? Check it out here:

It’s a midtempo R&B tune with some crossover potential to top 40. It was produced by Atlanta’s own Ne-Yo and Stargate, the same team that did Rihanna’s huge hit “Irreplaceable.” Tell me what you think! On my first listen, it sounds like a solid tune but not breakthrough No. 1 territory. It might grow on me, though.

-MJ reports that Blake Lewis clarified his remarks he made about being “dropped” by Arista to Fox 5 in New York, saying his contract option wasn’t picked up. Semantics. He’s still with 19 Recordings, like Ruben Studdard. Check out the video here. He’s already working on a second album.

And the goddess that she is, she also has David Cook and David Archuleta (still promoting!) on “The View.” Since they’ve been on every other talk show already, this offers zero revelations. Cook does look zonked. Funny that one of the ladies thought he said David Cassidy when Archuleta cited Eva Cassidy. Archuleta’s dad Jeff blamed the press for just focusing on him just for the sake of controversy and Cook defended him, saying he saw him as nothing more than a “loving, caring father. That’s it! It’s funny sometimes media will take a story and pervert it.” Yes! It’s our fault!

-MTV.com has given us a preview of Katharine McPhee in her August acting debut in “House Bunny” here.. She also sings the Waitresses’ classic “I Know What Boys Like.”

-Simon Cowell is producing a movie based on the down-and-out opera singer/phone salesman who won “Britain’s Got Talent.” It’s called “One Chance.”.

Here’s a video of Paul Potts from the show:

-Not sure if this crew watches much “America’s Got Talent,” but it’s a lot more fun than “Nashville Star.” And I enjoy it more than “So You Think You Can Dance.” This week’s audition episodes featured a dude Eli Matson, 26, who sang “Walking in Memphis” fairly well, so much so that the judges and crowd went gaga but I wasn’t nearly as taken in. I’m not sure why but you have to wonder if he tried out for “Idol.”

Then there’s the gal named Miss Pussycat who does something dubbed “grinding” which features metal and sparks. Lots and lots of sparks. It’s a novelty but I can’t say it’s “talent” per se. There were two street dancers from New Orleans with a great bakc story who were also quite entertaining and acrobatic. The boy band cometh aren’t half bad either.

Some acts are great for two minutes but I’m not sure if they have staying power—the dancing cowboys will make the top 20 for sure but not much further. And can that gal who jumps on the pole give us enough entertainment by the fourth or fifth time we see her?

While the papparazzi drool over David Cook and Kimberly Caldwell, season two winner Ruben Studdard quietly got a marriage license Monday in Birmingham. according to People.com

Studdard, 29, arrived at the Shelby County Probate Office in Columbiana, Ala. with fiancée Surata Zuri McCants, 30, just before noon, filled out the paperwork and walked away with their license, an eyewitness says. Studdard is a native of nearby Birmingham.

No word on a marriage date. Let me give a couple of my sources a call to see if I can get more details. Will update this when or if I get any.

Photo taken by Carlos Diaz/INF

-Here is some harmless fluff about Syesha and Kristy Lee Cook’s respective upcoming nuptials, courtesy of ETonline.com

-I forgot to tape “Nashville Star” last night and only caught the last 30 minutes. What a mess! Guys singing “Umbrella” and “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”? Anyone singing “Maniac”???? And Danity Kane (huh?) performed? Hmmm… Danity Kane and country. Riiiight. It seems NBC is working hard to make this as little about country as possible.

MJ was kind enough to link to this group sing of “Like a Prayer.” Check it out here. Melissa starts out fine but Sophia and Lauren’s harmonies are downright bizarre. Bringing out the black choir? How very cliched! And Justin (later eliminated) proved he has no range when he had to switch keys to sing his solo.

And I have to watch Pearl Heart do a countrified version of B-52’s “Love Shack.” Here it is if you dare.. The dancers are absurd, the actual execution not as bad as you’d think. The trio are adorable but it still feels like karaoke night at the country bar.

Third-place finisher Syesha Mercado appears to be following the Kat McPhee post-Idol path by modeling. Here’s a shot of her from OK magazine.

Are you a fan of bikinis?

I did one photo shoot where I was doing a few bikini shots and it was fun. And it was actually somebody I knew, so I was a little bit more comfortable. But this, to me, is just a lot of fun.

Welcome to summer everyone!

-I mentioned the Forbes Celebrity 100 last week where Simon Cowell ranked No. 22. Here’s the full feature from the magazine about Cowell. It’s definitely worth a read and just think—he makes about $1 million per “Idol” episode! And for a guy who used to badmouth precocious teens (think Diana DeGarmo), he is now supporting a move to reduce the age of “Idol’ to 14 years old. Good idea? I’m not too excited. Then again, Archuleta acts and looks about 14.

His harsh putdowns and bravado have put Cowell in position number 22 on our Celebrity 100 list. Last year he pulled in $72 million, $45 million from Idol, $15 million from Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor (he owns both and appears as a judge on each) and $12 million of profit from his record label, which features past Idol winners.

Cowell knows his days as Mr. Nasty are numbered. “You end up on a reality show and start believing you’re a TV star,” he says. “I’m not. My act is quite limited.”

So Cowell is trying to build his company, Syco, into an entertainment phenom to produce television programs, records and movies—without featuring Simon Cowell.

-And since we fellow bloggers are always willing to pat each other on the back, I’m thanking Ken Barnes of the USA Today Idol Chatter for calling my blog “exemplary.” I may have to save that for my next review!

Wow. That was quick! The runner-up curse continues, save for Clay Aiken.

Season six runner up Blake Lewis lost his record deal with Arista just a few months after coming out with “Audio Day Dream,” which generated zero radio hits (“Break Anotha” and “How Many Words” went nowhere) and 299K albums sold since December, 2007.

I can’t say this is surprising news, though it did happen rather quickly. We haven’t heard or seen much from Blake in months and honestly, I don’t think anybody on this blog was terribly confident he’d become a big star. His skills lie in production and as I noted last year, he’d probably make a good living being a Timbaland-type.

You can listen to him on this Maximum Threshold podcast, though you’ll have to go to the 1 hour and 58 minute point for the interview..

And these guys asking him questions are pretty clueless—seems clear they’ve never seen the show!

“What was it like to be on ‘American Idol’?” one interviewer actually asked.

“Wow, that’s a pretty bad question!” Lewis said. (Gotta appreciate his honesty!). They are relying on questions provided by fans, which are not much better. Snooze.

Lewis casually drops the news of losing his Arista deal at the 2 hours and 6 minutes mark about eight minutes into the interview: “It’s a huge success for me,” he said. “It went great.” Then he added, “I got dropped from my label two days ago. I never wanted to be with a major label. I wanted to be with an independent label. After ‘American Idol,’ I was forced into the deal. I still got 80% percent control of my record and making a record I’m really proud of… I don’t feel I got the support I needed at that record label. It’s a good thing.”

First, season one runner-up Justin Guarini lost his RCA Records deal soon after selling fewer than 150K. Season three runner-up Diana DeGarmo lost her deal after selling 170K. Season four runner up Bo Bice lost his deal with RCA despite moving more than 650K. Season five’s Kat McPhee’s deal didn’t last long either after she sold fewer than 400K.

More to come if I can find anything. Reaction??

David Cook gets some love from People magazine as a hot available bachelor, joining the likes of Mario Lopez, Gerard Butler and Bret Michaels. (Bret Michaels?????)

More here.

-MJ reports that Vanguard Records will distribute Taylor’s next album, which he is self releasing at Modern Whomp Records.

-Ken Barnes over at Idol Chatter is back to tracking downloads and sales. Not much happened last week except Clay’s album fell off the top 200 after a month. Sales are only at about 140K and he moved just 3,000 copies last week. He’s may have trouble selling even a third of what his last album did. Tis not good. The top selling “Idol” album is Carrie’s “Carnvial Ride,” which moved 18K and 2.18 mil total, followed by Daughtry moving 13K and 4.12 mil, then Jordin at 11K and 816K total. Carrie’s “Some Hearts” took home 8K and is at 6.46 mil. Kellie’s album and Kelly’s “My December” are both at 768K. Josh Gracin is at 50K, Phil at 30K and Bucky at 348K. Elliott is up to 511K, Blake is just shy of 300K, Bo is at 57K, Sligh is at 6K, Mandia at 92K, Fantasia 514K, Randy at 31K, Taylor 702K, Kat 372K, Kimberley 21K

-Jordin’s “No Air” is the top “Idol” download and has moved more than 2 million copies. Her latest “One Step At a Time” isn’t doing that well, having moved 114K so far and is only ranked 121. I don’t think this bodes well for Jordin’s efforts to get another top 10 hit but it only “officially” got pitched to radio on June 10 so we’ll see whether it will start showing the big momentum. Carrie’s latest (and fourth single off “Carnival Ride”) “Just a Dream” is just starting to get airplay on the radio. Daughtry has had a couple of rock hits, plus four pop hits. Amazingly, the label is offering up a seventh song “What About Now” to pop radio set to be released early next month.

-Ma Connie Seacrest gabs about son Ryan in Parade magazine.. She’s helping him out on a new reality show casting called “Momma’s Boys.” She didn’t really say much but it’s worth a look on a slow day like this if you’re a Seacrest junkie:

Not everybody loves Ryan. How do you feel when he gets criticized?

“I don’t like it much. But a couple of years back he said, ‘Mother, you’re going to have to get tough skin. You’re going to have to toughen up.’ And I said, ‘Well, I’ll try.’ I’m still trying.”

This is the holding spot for my much anticipated interview with season five finalist (and very briefly, a Fayetteville resident) Paris Bennett today in advance of her Philips Arena appearance at a big AARP concert with Chaka Khan, Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick and her grandman Ann Nesby.

I am planning to call her at about noon and will post something later today. Will she be kind? Snooty? Snippy? Gabby? Which Paris Bennett will I get this time? Does she even know about this blog? Does she even have a clue what impression she left me last year? We shall see if she even brings it up or acts like she has never spoken to me before.

Email me at rho@ajc.com if you have any questions you’d like me to ask.

I’m also talking to Frenchie Davis at 3 p.m. and will post that interview closer to the July 3 appearance she’s having with Expose, Thelma Houston and CeCe Peniston at the Atlanta Civic Center for Atlanta Pride. Her publicist said not to ask her too many questions about “Idol.” I guess she either doesn’t follow it very closely or is tired of answering the same questions she has answered 1,000 times from five years ago.

In other “Idol” news:

-David Cook has raised $30,000 for the American Cancer Society. His brother Adam has brain cancer. More here.

-Quote of the day: “Oh, no, I don’t write songs about the guys I date. Every song, though, has to have a character in it. You definitely relate certain characters to certain people. Even if I write a song, I pick a song and sing a song, I have to relate them to certain people that I know. So I may relate a little bit to friends or family or guys that I have been around.” - Carrie Underwood, at CMA Festival last week, to OK magazine.

-Quote #2: “I am the queen of putt-putt,” said Kellie Pickler to People.com at Monday’s outdoor fund-raiser on behalf of United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee.

-The Miami Herald pillories “Nashville Star,” mostly deservedly so.

Jason [Castro] would outshine the 10 remaining NS contests — that’s how low the bar for this show is.

I tend to agree in terms of country talent, this crew isn’t likely to generate another Miranda Lambert.

-Anybody catch “America’s Got Talent” last night? Loved those hip-hop violinists, the male baton twirler and the adorable four year old singing the cutest version of “Somewhere Out There” ever. The sound mix on my advance CD was kind of poor and I couldn’t fully embrace the big opera singer dude.

Simon Cowell landed at No. 22 on the Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 list, down from 21 last year.

It’s a combination of pay, Web rank, press rank and TV rank. Simon made an estimated $72 million, ranked 65 among the top 100 in Web rank, 47 among press rank and 40th among TV rank.

Ryan Seacrest moved up from 76 to 62, ahead of Gwen Stefani, right behind Maria Sharapova. He made an estimated $31 million, No. 72 in Web rank, 70 at press rank and 33 at TV rank.

Carrie Underwood came in at No. 79, with $9 million in pay, 35 in Web rank, 63 in press rank and 44 in TV rank.

Oprah was No. 1, of course, just like 2007. Top Web rank was Angelina Jolie. Tiger was No. 1 in press rank. And Oprah was No. 1 in TV rank.

Some surprises—Beyonce was No. 4 and David Beckham was No. 5. Jay-Z was all the way up to No. 7 ahead of the Police and J.K. Rowling. Atlanta’s Tyler Perry is at No. 42 with estimated pay of $125 million. Savannah’s Paula Deen came in at No. 100.

-His boys can swim! Josh Gracin is expecting his fourth child.

-The Kelly Clarkson/Reba McEntire show is back but again, not coming to Atlanta. Closest spot? November 14 in Birmingham.

-I’ve gotten one person so far who wants me to interview Paris Bennett before her AARP concert appearance Saturday at Philips Arena with Chaka Khan, Queen Latifah and the like. Anybody else?

Happy Monday to you all!

Season two “Idol” tryout Frenchie Davis, ousted early because of that controversial Web exposure, is coming to Atlanta for an Atlanta Pride concert July 3 at the Civic Center with Expose (“Come Go With Me,” “Seasons Change,” “Let Me Be the One,” “Point of No Return”), Thelma Houston (“Don’t Leave Me This Way”) and CeCe Peniston (“Finally”), to name a few. Tickets range from $17.50 to $50 and can be purchased here.. I plan to interview her soon. Any questions you’d like me to ask? She spent a few years doing “Rent” on Broadway. I’m not sure what her current situation is in terms of recording music. Not surprisingly, the gay populace likes her. She was at L.A. Gay Pride over the weekend with Kimberly Caldwell and Kimberley Locke.

-Season five’s Paris Bennett is at a soul and inspiration concert sponsored by AARP this Saturday at Philips Arena with Ann Nesby (her grandma), Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick, Patti Austin and Queen Latifah. As you can tell, Paris is not the headliner. And after last year’s experience, I’ll ask your sage advice: should I reach out to her and get an interview? Or not?

-In an impressively boring court case, the musicians union filed a lawsuit last week against “American Idol,” claiming its members had been underpaid because the show’s live music was rerecorded during “American Idol Rewind.” Yawn.

-Paula Abdul is single again, E! News says. So, single men, have at her! She and restaurateur J.T. Torregiani broke it off months ago, “Idol” host publicist Jeffery Ballard told E!. Torregiani’s publicist (he has a publicist? Who is he?) insists he’s still dating her.

Katharine McPhee is going all infomercial on us, just like Paula Abdul. She is selling Neutrogena skinID, a personalized acne solution that claims to beat proActiv. (Did McPhee ever have anything but perfect skin on “Idol”). You can check her out here. Click on her face to see the commercial.

Watching her, it’s still fair to say she is the prettiest gal ever to finish in the top 12 on “American Idol.” And she’s carved out quite a (non-singing) career outside of “Idol” so far.

-MJ provided the clip of Taylor Hicks doing “Beauty School Dropout” on “Live With Regis & Kelly” yesterday. I can’t seem to embed it so here is the link.

Taylor sounds great, but he doesn’t do it with quite that glinty-eyed sarcasm that Frankie Valli pulls off so well in the film.

-Carrie Underwood’s first seven singles have gone to No. 1 on the Mediabase airplay charts. (One of her singles “Don’t Forget To Remember Me” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard country charts.) “Last Name” is the latest success. Clearly, Mediabase is not counting non-official singles like her “I’ll Stand By You.”

Have a great weekend everybody!

In Touch Weekly says Clay Aiken and his music producer gal pal want at least two children.. So this may not be the last time they go for artificial insemination.

“Clay will be a really good dad,” said Randy Jackson.

-And sadly, season five third-place finisher Vonzell Solomon has more or less disappeared since 2005. But she accidentally brought a (legal) gun to the airport and got caught, according to the Fort Myers News Press.

The gun was confiscated, and Solomon was issued a notice to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a weapon into an airport. Solomon does have a concealed weapons permit, but carrying it into an airport is a violation of that permit.

-A well-written profile of David Cook can be found here at Rollingstone.com. Annoyingly, the Web site (to get more page views?) splits it into three pages. I hate when Web sites do that!

“I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds me” is Cook’s standard answer when questions fly about Idol’s authenticity. But aside from criticizing the group numbers and a particular matador outfit he was forced to wear, Cook says he got what he bargained for. “There’s a vibe associated with American Idol, and the show’s not for everybody, just like anything else,” he says. “But I’m aware that I signed on the dotted line.”

And he added:

“I was never in it to win it, and that took some pressure off me,” he says. “If I’d gotten caught up in all that, I would’ve had a coronary.”

-And here’s a photo of Taylor Hicks you might find amusing.

Here’s a video of David Cook performing the National Anthem at last night’s NBA Championship finals in Los Angeles.

Bad first note but he recovered nicely.

“The nerves are way worse [than on Idol],” David Cook told reporters moments before his Tuesday night rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. “It’s the one song you don’t want to mess up. I’m going to try not to notice Jack Nicholson sitting in the front row and think about the lyrics.”

More from people.com

-John Rich naturally believes “Nashville Star” is better than “Idol,” that the judges will spend more time helping improve the contestants off camera. The “Idol” judges generally stay away from the contestants, esp. after that Corey Clark/Paula Abdul controversy a few years back. More here.

Based on what I saw Monday night, the talent isn’t that impressive on “Nashville Star.” There are some charismatic folks, some pretty ones, a few talented ones. I’m not sure if any one person has the entire package based on initial impressions. We’ll see. The ratings were okay—6.6 million viewers, far more than it ever got on USA.

At least this was (deliberately) the most diverse crew of Nashville Star contestants, thanks to the very talented and potential winner Gabe Garcia and less interesting Coffey.

EW thinks it’s better than “Idol.” Do you agree? I don’t. But then again, I’m probably a wee bit biased here on an “Idol” blog, ya know?

-And this is what counts as controversy for Carrie Underwood. She tells People: “I burp a lot.” Stop the presses! More here. Actually, she admits at least one of her exes has cheated on her.

Season one third-place finisher Nikki McKibbin has shown up on post “Idol” reality TV before (like “Battle of the Network Reality Stars”). But now she’s following up Jessica Sierra by joining Dr. Drew Pinksy’s “Celebrity Rehab,” part two. The second season is being produced now for airing starting in October.

McKibbon’s housemates? Jeff Conaway (“Grease”) returns, with newbies Rodney King (yes, that Rodney King from the “Why can’t we all just get along?” post-L.A. riot days), Rod Stewart’s son Sean, Tawny Kitaen (on the hood of that Whitesnake car), Gary Busey, Steven Adler (Guns ‘n Roses) and some actress I have never heard of named Amber Smith.

How forgotten is McKibbin? The VH1 press release misspelled her name. Certainly nobody expected her to do better than Tamyra Gray that year. She had spunk but would probably have never even made the finale 24 in any of the past three or four seasons.

In other “Idol” news:

-Every “Idol” winner (except Fantasia) has sung the National Anthem at an NBA championship final. And David Cook does so tonight in Los Angeles, where the Lakers try to claw out of a 2-0 deficit vs. the Celtics.

-If you’re at home watching the NBC Fourth of July celebration, check out Kat McPhee and Jordin Sparks from 9 to 10 p.m.

-Any impressions of “Nashville Star”? They sped through a quicky review of the auditions, almost the point of pointlessness. They got to the top 12, which for the first time includes some duos and trios. What I found tiresome was carting out songs I’ve heard a million times already on “Idol,” including “Drift Away” and “Piece of My Heart.” But I do like Jewel as a judge. She’s serious and smart though occasionally smug. And some of these contestants are adorable and cute like teen friends Lauren & Sophie, who did “Stand By Your Man” as a duet.

-Taylor speaks to a Long Beach, Calif. paper and says the following.

“The great thing about this role is I was able to be Taylor at the same time as Teen Angel,” he said. “It allows me to get my feet wet a little bit before I really dive into acting.”

And his thoughts on David Cook, to OK magazine:

“I think he has a great shot [at success],” Hicks, 31, told OK! at a ceremony at Planet Hollywood where he made a hand-print in concrete to commemorate his Broadway debut in Grease.

“The rock genre he’s in is really… radio loves rock,” he said. “I think it’s going to work wonders for him. He’s carved himself a little niche for his own identity, and I think he’s going to do well.”

-Speaking of David Cook, he shows up at on “Leno” Thursday night. Randy Jackson stops by Conan afterwards. On Friday, check out Taylor Hicks on “Live with Regis & Kelly.”

Personally, I am watching “So You Think You Can Dance” but I’m not a good judge of dance and will likely blog about it only if something unusual is happening. CMT has “Can You Duet” but honestly, who needs that? There was a Cumming, Ga. gal on it for awhile but she was eliminated in the final six.

I’m going to give “Nashville Star” a spin. I have watched it the past few seasons. The only big star that show has generated is Miranda Lambert—- and she didn’t win. (Buddy Jewell, the first winner, had two hits, then disappeared.) The big difference is it’s now on NBC instead of USA. That means a somewhat bigger audience. (We already know how many stars “Idol” has generated in the country world alone.)

I am also following “Last Comic Standing” and “America’s Got Talent.” And of course, “Project Runway” is coming back. (Too soon, in my opinion. Give it a rest, Bravo! Then again, the network probably needs to squeeze one more out before ceding the show to Lifetime.).

I’m semi-following “The Bachelorette” only because the Newnan gal DeAnna Pappas is on it. ABC seems to have a panoply of new reality shows coming out this summer, plus the return of “The Mole.” I may sample a few of them and see what’s worth keeping on the DVR. As for “Big Brother,” no thank you.

Anything else worth catching?

In “Idol” news:

-This is a slow day cos I’m actually linking to a Los Angeles blog chronicling the history of Ryan Seacrest’s hair styles over the years, such as the blond tips, the greased, highlighted and streaked days, the darker plummage, et. al. Seacrest thinks he looked worst season one. Anyway, here’s the photo gallery of Seacrest hair over the years. He’s eligible for a new Emmy category for best host of a reality program (though Simon Cowell has no category to fit what he does.).

-“Best Week Ever” on VH1 highlighted that TMZ video where Clay Aiken got a bit peeved and smacked a photographer when queried about his baby. In case you missed it, you can view it here..

-Taylor Hicks debuted as the Teen Angel on “Grease” on Broadway. A fan site, righthickssave.wordpress.com has photos! Since this person has exclusive photos, I’m not going to be rude and copy it over here. His gray locks are in somewhat in a pompadour and his white shirt is open to show off lots of chest hair. And he plays the harmonica at one point.

E! Online spied David Cook with season two finalist Kimberly Caldwell at a Dodgers game Tuesday..

She sang the National Anthem and they hung out.

“They were all cute and cuddly,” an eyewitness tells E! News. “They definitely looked like couple. But they were acting like they wanted to keep it low key.”

I interviewed Caldwell back in March to get her impressions of the top 12 in her position as a TV Guide reality show expert. Her comment about David Cook? “I want David Cook’s baby! He’s got that sexy, gorgeous voice…He’s a star. He could win this.” I took that as hyperbole at the time, but hey, in reality, it appears she might really want his baby!

Here’s a really bad YouTube video of him asking her out live:

And here’s the post first date via TMZ:

-Tonight is the big debut of Taylor Hicks on as Teen Angel on “Grease” on Broadway. I’m going to post the reviews as soon as I see them. I’m sure he’ll do just fine.

-Wal-Mart shareholders meeting or “American Idol” concert? Or both? David Cook and Jennifer Hudson performed.

-Bucky Covington is scheduled to show up in the upcoming Hannah Montana film.. Billy Ray Cyrus invited him.

“I’ve never been on a movie set so I don’t know what to expect,” said Bucky Covington. “I’ve always been a fan of Billy Ray’s music and it really is an honor for him to ask me to be a part of what is sure to be the biggest movie released next year.”

Jive Records has signed David Archuleta.

The record label usually skews younger, including last year’s winner Jordin Sparks. It’s also home to Chris Brown, Ciara, the Backstreet Boys, 311, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Nick Lachey, Usher, OutKast, Pink Tool, YoungBloodz and “Weird Al” Yankovic. (Yes, Weird Al!)

“Signing a record contract with 19 Recordings/Jive Records is truly a dream come true,” states Archuleta. “Being a fan of American Idol since season one and admiring the alumni, I am honored and humbled to be a part of that group. I’m really excited to start working on everything.”

In other “Idol” news:

-This Yahoo music writer does a nice review of various past “Idol” contestants.

-I’m still behind on watching “So You Think You Can Dance.” The auditions focus more on the good than bad compared to “Idol.” And Nigel Lythgoe is far more animated, if not as artfully negative