This is a nutty turn:

After “American Idol” rejected Josiah Leming last year and didn’t place him in the top 24, the 19 Entertainment lawyers are threatening to block his album from coming out January on MCA.

“Idol” contestants must sign strict contracts with the show’s producer, Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment, promising to record only with the label chosen by “Idol” - Sony/BMG. The 19 Entertainment shop also retains exclusive right of refusal for management and merchandising.

A rep for Leming, who grew up in Tennessee as one of eight siblings, said, “Josiah was the only ‘Idol’ contestant ever to get a record deal who didn’t make the top 24, and one of only four contestants to get a deal this year. He has personal reasons for getting his music out, threat or not.”

As MJ noted, this is complete bullhockey on the part of the “Idol” folks. Why deny this kid a chance to get his music out?

• I skipped radio airplay and sales figures last week. Here’s the latest:

Jennifer Hudson remains in the top 10 on the album charts after a tragic week, selling 29K and 355K total. “Spotlight” sold 18K and 240K total. The single slips from 5 to 6 on the urban charts.

Jordin Sparks sees her single “One Step at a Time” fall to no. 10 on the top 40 charts via Radio & Records after peaking top 3. Her album sold another 4K and 941K total. Another 33K sold of the song and 908K total. That song will breach 1 million.”No Air” sold another 11K and 2.54 mil total.

David Cook has seen his single “Light On” jump back in digital sales with 34K sold for the week and 189K total. “Time of My Life” moved another 13K and 970K total, another that will break 1 million soon. “Light On” has yet to broach the top 40.

David Archuleta sees his single “Crush” frozen at No. 13 on the top 40 charts, shy of top 10. Single is at No. 16 on the download chart with 55K sold and 805K total. It’s a guaranteed million seller, too.

Daughtry’s “What About Now” has peaked on the top 40 chart and is now at No. 28. It sold 15K and 441K total. The album moved 6K and 4.26 million total.

Carrie Underwood “Just a Dream” has become her seventh number one song including her fourth off this current album. That is an amazing run. Digital sales: 19K for the week, 305K total. “Carnival Ride” moved up to 37 from 58 thanks to the Wal-Mart special xmas edition and sells 12K and 2.39 mil total.

Bucky Covington In its 27th week, “I’ll Walk” moves up to 12 on the country chart. It sells 6K on the digital download chart and 90K total. His album has sold 1,800 and 376K total.

Kellie Pickler Her single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” peaked around No. 20 and is now slipping off the charts. Her CD drops to 59 with 8K sold and 79K total.

Kristy Lee Cook has managed to get in the top 30 with “15 Minutes of Shame.” Her CD sold just 1,000 and 20K total.

Josh Gracin edges up to 39 from 40 with “Unbelievable.”

William Balfourmay not have acted alone in the triple homicide of Jennifer Hudson’s mom, brother and nephew, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Balfour has not been charged in connection with the murders but is held on a parole violation after being arrested and questioned in the case over the weekend.

-Cloris Leachman is off “Dancing With the Stars.” No shock but are you sad? Relieved? Is Maurice or Susan next?

-We’ve had duets, country singers, gospel singers, celebrity singers, dancers and every permutation since “American Idol” came out. How about Fuse’s “Redemption Song” featuring women competing for a singing prize, except they are all “bad girls” such as a stripper, an ex-druggie and a teen runaway? There’s booze and host Chris Jericho and cattiness galore. The New York Post loves it. I might have to DVR this just to tell you how it goes!

-Idol Chatter nabbed a copy of Melinda Doolittle’s album and like it a lot.

Here’s Ken Barnes’ summary: Excellent as the album is (I’d lean somewhere between three and three-and-a-half stars out of four), I fear it’s being released too late, with an entire season of Idol and the beginnings of Season 8 having ensued since Melinda was top-of-mind. Quite possibly, even the subsequent vogue for neo-classic soul triggered by Amy Winehouse and Duffy might have faded by January, although that’s the best hope for this album’s widespread acceptance. It won’t have a major label’s push, either, coming out as it is on a small indie label.

I’ve been so busy with Michael Johns and David Archuleta, I haven’t done much on Jennifer Hudson at all.

Here’s the latest news:

-From the Chicago Tribune:: Julian King, the 7-year-old nephew of actress-singer Jennifer Hudson, died from multiple gunshot wounds and his death has been ruled a homicide, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said this afternoon. The announcement follows an autopsy on Julian’s body, which was found in a sport-utility-vehicle parked on a street on the city’s West Side on Monday.

-From the Sun Times::

On the morning of the day Jennifer Hudson’s mother and brother were killed, the singer’s sister Julia Hudson had argued with her estranged husband over car payments, sources say.

The husband, William Balfour, is in custody but has not been charged with the killings of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.

-From People magazine.:

Although her famous daughter encouraged her mom to leave their often-dangerous Englewood neighborhood, Donerson resisted.

“She didn’t need to move,” says Richard Lyons, Hudson’s acting coach for her 2006 Oscar-winning role in Dreamgirls. “She didn’t need a bigger house. She didn’t need anyone to buy her a new car. She didn’t desire or want those things. She was just supportive and stood by her daughter.”

And Jennifer’s sister Julia (right) blogs about her son’s death, according to mtv.com.

“I guess it’s time to update this,” she continued. “Now because I chose to do what was natural to me and love someone, it cost me my beautiful family. It cost me my beautiful, loving, supporting mother Darnell, my true blue baby brother Jason — I love you baby — and last but never least, my only son Julian, my innocent baby one that was sheltered from all the evil in the world because we loved him so much.”

And in more frivolous “Idol” news:

-Thanks to Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler has gone vegetarian:

“Most country girls do like their meat!” she told People. “I used to eat steak rare all the time. I’d just throw it on the grill for two seconds, flip it over and it was done and everyone was like, ‘That’s so gross - that thing is still moving!’ ”

-And here’s a story from the L.A. Times on the redemption of Josiah Leming, the emotional kid who lived in his car and just missed the top 24 last season because the judges worried about his fragile emotional state.

He’s quite embittered by the “Idol” experience:

“The real story is that the producers didn’t like me,” said Leming, who lived out of his car during his “Idol” experience. ” ‘Cause I wanted to do my own songs, and I wanted to have complete control.”

And of the show that brought him to the world’s notice, he added: “The producers pretty much control everything. You know, it’s all kind of rigged, and hands are coming in from places you don’t see. You just see the hand. It’s a dirty hand. And you don’t want to eat the food that that hand touches.”

“Idol” declined to comment.

Despite his new album coming out and having a pad in L.A., he seems a bit lost and may always be:

*”Sadness finds you,” he said as he ripped a sliver of onion in half, again and again, until the fragments covered his plate. “It doesn’t matter where you are, or how much money you’ve got, or how many people know your name. It’ll get you one way or another.” *

I checked out David Archuleta and his appearance at Q100, where they created a rather convoluted plan to surprise three big fans of his. They gave the impression to the fans that Archuleta was on the phone and the one who had the best Archuleta fan story was going to Houston to see him at a concert there.

But he was actually in an office down the hall. The trio were kept in the dark (yes, even their cels were temporarily confiscated in case friends clued them in on the ruse.). Once they were done with their pleas, the Bert Show came up with a cockamamie “the video camera didn’t work, we need to re-do your pleas” excuse.

So one by one, each woman was placed at the mike to repeat their spiel. Archie, now hidden behind a green curtain, would sneak out and catch them from behind and shock them. I’ll post the video of Karin Carlson’s reaction, which was probably the best of the three, once I get it on YouTube in a bit. (The other two fans were Lynn Slocum, a substitute teacher, and Kathleen Horgan, a Georgia State student who is friends with Rebecca Terry, who is buds with Michael Johns.)

Archuleta’s album comes out November 11. He is also appearing December 17 at rival Star 94’s Jingle Jam. (This Q100 in studio was a way to make sure the label keeps both stations happy.)

I’m going to update this blog in a little bit but here are the photos I took:

The smile that has melted many an Archie’s Angel.

Although Jeff Archuleta tries to stay out of the limelight, Bert Weiss convinced him to go on mike and refute his reputation as an overbearing stage dad.

Here’s a cake given to one of the fans, Karin Carlson of Mableton.

Archuleta was listening to a song while Jeff Dauler snapped this photo. I just have my dorky headphones around my neck.

Before I get to the Michael Johns appearance at the NASCAR race today, I do need to get this tragic story out:

Jennifer Hudson is offering a $100,000 reward for her missing 7-year-old nephew after her brother and mom were killed Friday. This from the Chicago Tribune.

A suspect in the slayings was believed to have abducted the boy, but when the man was arrested Friday night the boy was not with him.

About 3 p.m. Friday, a relative found Hudson’s mom Darnell Donerson, 57, fatally shot in her living room, law enforcement officials said. The family member notified authorities, who then found her brother Jason Hudson, 29, dead in a bedroom.

Police believe the murders happened about 11 a.m., and started outside with the gunman firing through the door and striking Hudson’s brother, according to a law-enforcement source. The gunman then entered the house and continued to fire, striking Hudson’s mother when she entered the room. Police have recovered shell casings from the scene.

David Archuleta is on a promotional tour of radio stations to push his top 15 hit “Crush” and his upcoming album, due out November 11.. He comes to Q100 at about 8:30 a.m. Monday. I’ll be there but for some reason, not allowed to converse with the little Archie. Maybe another time. Nonetheless, I’ll get video and photos up asap.

I’ll also be doing a blog Sunday about my visit with Michael Johns at the NASCAR race here in Atlanta Sunday.

In other Idol news:

-Constantine Maroulis will be guesting on “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” on Fox tonight. I may or may not remember to tape it.

-Carrie Underwood denied to People that she has any bitterness toward Jessica Simpson over dating her ex Tony Romo. She also had a funny comment about her Madame Tussaud’s wax figure: “Honestly, it looks so good, it’s almost kind of creepy looking at myself.”

-Kelly Clarkson on her blog tells the world she’s finished with her album. No details yet:

I finished recording my record yesterday woohoo!!! Can’t wait to get it mixed and mastered and y’all to hear it! I LOVE the record! So so happy We had a show tonight in North Dakota and it was a great crowd! On our way to Minneapolis for another show and to meet Melissa Peterman’s family ….I hope they’re all like her because that means lunch will be awesome and very funny!

Carrie Underwood unveiled her wax version of herself Wednesday at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City.

I won’t dare make any jokes about this because really, it’s way too easy. I’ll leave that up to you!

Caption photo please!

More exciting info here.

She also has a special holiday version of “Carnival Ride” out just on Wal-Mart.. Five Christmas songs are included.

-Poor Diana DeGarmo has suffered harassment from an Australian hacker/stalker, who has broken into her cel phone and her computer the past two years and sent her nasty emails and phone calls. The woman Tanya Maree Quattrocchi will stand trial for her actions.

Here’s an excerpt from the Herald Sun.

“I have moved twice and she still finds me. I cannot have any private or professional life without her infiltrating it,” Ms DeGarmo said in a statement.

“No matter what I do I cannot get away from her. She is still to this day stealing my online identity and harassing my friends, family and myself,” she said.

The court heard Ms Quattrocchi allegedly sent emails stating the singer wanted to have sex with her brother, loved older men and was a lesbian.

This woman needs to be kept away from all electronics! What a nut!

-David Cook previews his album for Rolling Stone

A preview of eight tracks suggests that listeners can expect radio-ready anthems like the sweeping, U2-esque “Come Back to Me,” some aggro rockers like “Bar Bi Sol” and plenty of the soaring voice that the AI judges loved.

-MJ got a cool tip showing a photo of Daughtry producer Howard Benson with Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry. Is a duet forthcoming?

-And proving how nice those folks in Nashville can be, Kristy Lee Cook has been invited to perform at the Grand Ol’ Opry.

With Nikki McKibbin and her coke habit on display onVH’1s “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew,” I figure since there isn’t much news today, I’ll post my top 5 biggest “Idol” trainwrecks so far. (I’m not talking about individual trainwreck performances. That’s for another blog. These are just trainwrecks in general.)

1- Jessica Sierra — Her time on the show was relatively indistinguished though I found her oddly appealing. Basically she was a trashier version of Carrie Underwood, which barely got her in the top 10. Afterwards, she never quite got her career in gear and dabbled in cocaine, landing in jail for possession. She then did VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab,” but it didn’t stick because late last year, she was arrested again for disorderly intoxication. Last reported, she was still in a rehab facility in California. She also had a saucy sex tape that’s floating around on the Web.

2- Corey Clark — It’s hard to find anything likable about this guy. On the show, Sideshow Corey with his Justin Guarini wannabe hair came across as arrogant, his singing Justin Timberlake lite. And he is the only guy disqualified from the show for not revealing an arrest ahead of time. Oh, and he claimed he hooked up with a certain “Idol” judge, who denied it. Class act!

3-Paula Abdul — She’s a trainwreck not for any arrest record but for her general history of loopiness, punctuated this past season by her ability to critique a song before it was even sung! Whether med-induced or not, her unpredictability makes for great TV. Unfortunately, her crappy short-lived reality show on Bravo “Hey Paula” revealed that her so-called best friends seem to be hired help, a sad state of affairs.

4-Nikki McKibbin — The drinking, the cocaine, the mom who died of a drug overdose, her depression driven deeper by Simon Cowell’s comments. (Boo hoo!) Hmmm… I wonder why she hasn’t been able to carve out much of a post-“Idol” career, eh?

5-Sanjaya Malakar — The most polarizing contestant in “Idol” history, he often seemed more concerned with his hair than his singing. And his own ability to generate buzz was both brilliant and bizarre. Long after we’ve forgotten who LaKisha Jones and Blake Lewis are, Sanjaya will remain our generation’s Tiny Tim.

Any others you’d like to add?

-Any surprise Toni Braxton went home yesterday on “Dancing With the Stars”? She was a very good dancer but she didn’t have the fan bases of Susan Lucci, Lance Bass or Cloris Leachman. She lacks the sparking personality of Warren Sapp. And she wasn’t as good as Brooke Burke. I tried to get an interview with her since she used to live in Atlanta, but ABC said she’s too busy.

A truly deathly dull day in “American Idol” news when the only possible lead I can offer is LaKisha Jones coming out with a single, culled from MJ, the hardest working Idol blogger on earth!

Her album is set to drop in February 2008. You can hear her first single on her MySpace page.. It’s a mid-tempo R&B song, very modern, not bad after a listen.

Hmmm.. scraping, scraping, scraping for items!

-Kelly Clarkson last week performed at the ASCAP Awards, honoring Reba McEntire. Kelly pops up at 31 seconds, Kellie Pickler at 1:41 looking like Marilyn Monroe.

-Oh wait! I now get Country Weekly and the readers of the mag voted for sexiest female country singer. Last year, Carrie Underwood won. This year, she got beat out by Kellie Pickler. (No, I did not vote!). She was ranked No. 5 last year. Underwood came in second this year around. The rest of the top 10: Gretchen Wilson (I’m all for that!), Shania Twain (she’s still in country music?), Taylor Swift, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Faith Hill and Danielle Peck.

-“The Secret Life of Bees,” with Jennifer Hudson did well opening at about $10.5 million, finishing No. 3. Reviews were mixed. Rottentomatoes.com noted that 56% of critics liked it.

Sorry for the belated entry today. But I did set up my media credentials to see former Atlanta denizen Michael Johns at the Pep Boys 500 NASCAR race this Sunday at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The last time I was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway? To see William Hung. I know, I know. Why do I admit such things? Johns will be singing a pre-game concert of three or four songs from 12:50 to 1:05 p.m. Sunday, then will sing the National Anthem at 2 p.m. or so. These races attract 80,000 plus people. It’s like Athens on a UGA home football game day.

I just spoke with one of his buddies from Atlanta, Blaine Terry, who was in Hollywood over the weekend celebrating Johns’ 30th birthday. Brooke White, David Cook, Chikezie and David Archuleta were all there. I’ll definitely ask Johns about that, as well as his trip to Australia and his upcoming album, which is about halfway done.

• Good review here for Constantine Maroulis’ “Rock of Ages” off-Broadway play.

-More on David Cook’s album here on mtv.com while he was shooting a video for “Light On” last week .:

“I did [a version of Cornell’s cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’] on the show, and Chris went into the media and said some really, really nice things,” he explained. “And this song actually got pitched to us, which I take as another huge compliment, the fact that he saw something in me with a song of his … just the fact that somebody of his caliber takes the time out of their day not just to mention my name, but to say something nice, it’s kind of out of this world.”

-The New York Times reports that “Spamalot,” despite the return of Clay Aiken is losing money now and is set to close its doors January 18, 2009. The economy can’t be helping Broadway business.

Nikki McKibbin said Simon Cowell’s negative comments toward her during the first season of “Idol” fueled her low self esteem and “drove me deeper into depression,” she told US magazine

McKibbin is talking in advance of her show I wrote about a couple days ago, “Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew” on VH1, which debuts October 23.

“We were heavily chaperoned, but I would buy vodka and sneak it into the refrigerator on the bottom floor,” McKibbin tells Us. “If I wasn’t too exhausted, I’d have one or two drinks.”

Here’s a quick weekly rundown in sales and radio airplay:

• Jordin Sparks saw his “One Step at a Time” drop from 4 to 6 on the Radio & Records top 40 chart. Download sales: 43K, 833K total (courtesy of Idol Chatter). Her album sold another 5K and 932K total. Like I said, this album may have trouble hitting 1 million unless she gets a fourth single aboard and I’m not sure if anything else on the album is top 40 worthy. We’ll see.

-David Archuleta’s “Crush” is stalling out a bit, holding at 15. It’s also No. 15 on the download chart with 60K sold and 694K total.

-David Cook saw his single “Time of My Life” hold at No. 38, an impressively slow fall off. It sold 13K downloads and 946K total. It should hit million downloads within a month or so. “Light On” fell sharply on the download chart, selling 31K and 140K total.

-Daughtry sees his “What About Now” slip from 19 to 20. Looks like it has peaked. Downloads sales are stuck 17K (409K total.)

-Carrie Underwood moves up to No. 3 with “Just a Dream” and has a shot to be her seventh No. 1 single. Incredible, eh? Download sales: 20K for week, 270K total. Album sales are down to 8K and 2.37 million total.

-Bucky Covington keeps edging up with “I’ll Walk” to 16 after 25 weeks. He sold 5K in downloads and 77K total.

-Kellie Pickler saw a major dropoff in sales of her album week two to 16K from 43K. Her single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” takes a jump from 25 to 21 after 21 weeks on the chart and 8K in sales on the download chart for 103K total.

-Jennifer Hudson watched sales of her album drop 71 percent week two to 63K and 280K total. “Spotlight” hits the top 5 of the urban chart and remains at No. 1 on urban AC for her third week. It sells 25K on the downloads chart and 202K total.

Season six top 3 finalist Melinda Doolittle has an album set to drop in January. I don’t know what the single is yet. Here’s the “sell” job from the publicist:

Melinda Doolittle will release her hotly-anticipated debut solo album, Coming Back to You, on Hi Fi Recordings in January 2009. Featuring production by Grammy-nominated producer Mike Mangini (Joss Stone, Run DMC, The Jonas Brothers), Melinda’s debut solo album is an R&B tour de force that combines the fiery electricity of Tina Turner’s early years with the slick production and lush instrumentation of today’s pop-soul renaissance.

“I’m so excited to be using live instruments and to be singing music that really paints a picture,” said Melinda. “I knew my task was to just go in the studio and be me and the music would take care of the rest.”

Melinda’s undeniable talent has resulted in a timeless collection of 13 songs that will take listeners on a journey from the blues clubs of Louisiana to the churches of Mississippi, to the piano bars of New York City and back. From the first horn blasts of “Declaration of Love,” listeners will feel a driving pulse and unstoppable energy that is reminiscent of Tina Turner’s iconic hits, while “Coming Back to You” and “Wonderful” feature Melinda’s silky voice wrapped around the smooth, sleek sounds of classic R&B. Melinda commands the emotional storytelling and funky delivery of the blues in “Dust My Broom” and “Walkin’ Blues”, and her impeccably artful and expressive voice has never been more on display than on the beautifully lush ballad “I’ll Never Stop Loving You” and the stripped down jazzy melody of “Wonder Why.”

-Constantine Maroulis is back on stage, playing a wannabe rock star on an off-Broadway play called “Rock of Ages.” There are lots of ’80s cheeseball songs by the likes of Bon Jovi and Whitesnake.

Here’s a Fox 5 report from New York. The show opens tonight. He tells the reporter he’s single.

Archie’s Angels are going to be lining up for tix Saturday because David Archuleta will be joining Star 94’s annual Jingle Jam at Gwinnett Arena. Mark the date: December 17. Tix go on sale Saturday at Ticketmaster but you can get seats Thursday by signing up with Star 94 here.

He will be joined by We the Kings, Flyleaf, Colbie Caillat and Gavin DeGraw. Although he’s not the headliner, he is arguably the best known name in the lineup this year and will drive sales the way the Jonas Brothers did last year (although Avril Lavigne was the headliner.)

-Daughtry, Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood all received American Music Award nominations this year. Show is set to air November 23 on ABC.

Daughtry was nominated for favorite band, duo or group in the pop/rock category (vs. the Eagles and Coldplay) and favorite artist in the adult contemporary category (vs. Jordin Sparks and the Eagles.) He might have a shot at either one.

Carrie Underwood once again was nominated for best female artist in country, against Taylor Swift and Reba McEntire. (Taylor is hot right now. She could win based on online votes.)

-David Cook is going to appear on “Saturday Night Live” on November 1 (with Ben Affleck), the big one right before the election. Except mondo ratings. Already, “SNL” is up 50 percent over last year, averaging about 10 million viewers. He is the fourth “Idol” to appear on the show after Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Info confirmed by the Chicago Tribune.

-And MJ found David Cook’s album cover and track listing for his new album set to be released November 18, courtesy of RCA. It’s just $9.99 on Amazon.

01 Declaration

02 Heroes

03 Light On

04 Come Back to Me

05 Life on the Moon

06 Bar-ba-sol

07 Mr. Sensitive

08 Lie

09 I Did It for You

10 Avalanche

11 Permanent

12 A Daily Anthem

BONUS TRACK

The Time Of My Life (yes, the fact it became a top 40 hit at all forced their hand on this one)

I would have nabbed a Blake Lewis interview if he were coming to Atlanta but his date here on October 20 was cancelled. Nonetheless, the Philly Daily News got some incredibly frank comments from the man. As the reporter noted, he’s the most honest of any contestant I’ve ever seen, short of Chris Sligh.. This is a must read and as MJ noted, he gives some sort of strange comment about Sanjaya at the end that along makes me very very curious indeed.

I’d still like to talk to him one of these days.

The best part of the interview excerpted here but read the rest.

Q: Did you always feel like an odd man out on the show?

A: [Laughing] They sure treated me like a troublemaker. Early on, when we got to Hollywood, we had this handler … I wanted her fired. She’d come down to the lobby in her pajamas at 10 o’clock at night and scream at me - where had I been, blah, blah. I don’t disrespect anybody, but if I get disrespected, I’m over with you.

I also complained that they didn’t feed us well. The catered food was really gross. The biggest TV show and you’re treating us like cattle? You ought to make people happy who’re making you half a billion a year.

So I’d leave, do my own thing. I brought a skateboard with me and would get away from the bunch. Plus, I didn’t rehearse a lot, and they hated that.

I come from a jazz/hip-hop/electronic/freestyle improvising tradition. I did a one-man-band thing for 10 years before this came along. At rehearsal, I’d stand straight in front of the camera and sing badly. I was holding back for the live show. After three weeks, they finally caught on and let me be.

And I wasn’t a team player. I hung out with the production guys - the lighting and sound guys. Maybe that’s a reason I was successful. I cared about the true people running the show.

-A writer in the U.K. Davina Morris read my blog about Jennifer Hudson’s people refusing to let me ask about her album cover or personal questions and was concerned. But Davina wrote she was “cheery and enthusiastic.”

“I’m confident, so maybe people mistake that for arrogance,” she said. “But I think it’s just a misconception. I find that some people are afraid to approach me. When those people meet me, they seem almost surprised that I’m a nice person!”

But when the reporter even dared broach her weight, she said, “It’s really not an issue. And you know what? When people meet me, they know way better than to come to me and say something crazy like that!”

Ooookay. She sounds defensive, doesn’t she?

Then she said she didn’t know anything about any tampering with the photo of herself on the cover that makes her look a bit slimmer. (This is the first time I’ve even seen the issue addressed. Thank you Davina!)

“If there was,” Hudson told the reporter, “I’m not the photographer. I’m just the person in the picture.”

Hudson is a bit contradictory about talking about her personal life. She has talked about her engagement enthusiastically with several media outlets (remember Leno?) but then chooses not to with others. With this British reporter, who asked about her wedding date, she said, “I don’t discuss that.”

More here.

Not much goin’ on in “Idol” land so I previewed the second season of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” on VH1, which debuts October 23 at 10 p.m. and features season one third-place finisher Nikki McKibbon. The concept: 21 days in a treatment facility with Dr. Drew Pinsky. The first season was interesting in many ways though it’s clear 21 days is barely a start for a lot of deeply drug-addicted people, celebrity or not.

“I screwed everything up, drinking and doing drugs” McKibbon said on the “Rehab” show. “I’m an alcoholic. I have a very severe drinking problem and I need help.” She is also trying to “kick a really bad coke addiction. I got down to 90 pounds, wasted away.”

She actually looks a little heavy now. “I’ve been drinking every day since my mom died,” she explained, noting her mom was also a druggie and died from it. “The coke kills the pain. On the other hand, you’re crazy from it.” (“She blames herself for her mom’s death,” Dr. Pinsky said.)

She told Dr. Pinsky that she had physical and emotional abuse as a kid. “She has emotional diagnoses,” Pinsky said. “There are many different layers.” He said it could take months to deal with her issues.

McKibbon, who was the relative rebel on the show and a single mom, never really had a career of any note that I can recall, at least nothing notable.

She follows Jessica Sierra, who was in the first season and continues to do rehab now.

McKibbon’s celebmates include Jeff Conaway (again!), Rodney King (yes, the man who got beat up by cops and said “Why can’t we all just get along?”), Amber Smith (model/actress), Tawny Kitaen (that gal on the hood of the car in a Whitesnake video), Gary Busey (he already had his own reality show!), Sean Stewart (son of Rod) and Steve Adler (Guns ‘n Roses). This is a bizarro way to get treatment — in front of TV cameras. But alas, this is entertainment first, rehab second. Oddly, Busey is there to “help” out the others, having been through rehab himself and saying he’s been sober 13 years.

-MJ is noting that David Cook is now doing radio promotional interviews to promote his upcoming album. Nothing terribly revelatory but if you want more details, read it here.

“American Idol Rewind” offered up a few of the lesser known “Idols” from seasons three and four to talk to to promote the syndicated show (also seen on TV Guide Channel.). I decided on John Stevens, the cute redheaded singer from season three who managed to finish sixth ahead of Jennifer Hudson.

Stevens, who is now a senior at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, didn’t feed me any cool insider anecdotes or shocking insights. But he sounds very grounded and ready to work when he graduates next year. I liked him on the show though he was clearly uncomfortable stretching into genres he was unfamiliar with at the time.

“I’m much more confident with my own voice and everything,” he said. “My repertoire has expanded so much. I’ve got so many more tools. I could be able to pull off from different genres now.”

He said he had only performed solo for a couple of years before “Idol,” unlike Diana DeGarmo, who was the same age but had done so since he was age five. (The two still keep in touch. He also keeps tabs with Jasmine Trias, who continues to make a living in the Phillipines.)

Though Stevens could imitate Dean Martin (the audition was replayed in the first “Rewind” episode), he was actually the youngest contestant on the show in its history, having just turned 16 at the time. After the show, he released an album “Red,” which featured standards such as “Come Fly With Me” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.” It sold modestly. After touring in 2005, he chose to go to Berklee.

He did so because he felt like he didn’t know enough about music. During his “Red” tour, he had worked with a seven-piece band, guys from ages 24 to 30 who had gone to college for music. “There was this communication barrier,” he said. “I needed to go back to school and get accustomed to the language.”

While in school, he’s learned to write his own music, which he said remains jazz flavored. He is also taking acting classes. He performs with swing orchestras in Boston and does regular gigs whereever he can. He is surrounded by musicians from 70 countries at his school and has learned much more about jazz and bebop. He also has gotten into Afro Cuban, R&B, pop, rock. But can he still do a mean Dean Martin? “I can still do those imitations but I keep them on the back burner,” he said.

He said he did receive “a lot of flak” for outlasting Hudson in 2004, but such befuddlement has receded with time.

“She’s obviously gone on to do much bigger and betting things and done fantastic for herself,” he said. “We were actually very close on the tour. I would say she’s one of my best friends from that show.” But he hasn’t heard from her recently and has been seeking a way to track her down while she’s busy winning Oscars and promoting “Spotlight.” (So, Jennifer, the folks at BWR public relations has his number if you want to catch up with him!)

-The Birmingham News talked to Taylor Hicks about his “Grease” gig, plus his new album. He finally explains why he chose his current deal with Artist to Market rather than a traditional label after RCA and he split.

“In today’s marketplace, having the control as the artist is key,” Hicks says. “I’m in control of where I spend my marketing dollars, who I want to record with, and in control of the companies I hire out. It allows me a really focused release. Basically, I am my own record label.”

He plans to write or co-writer almost everything on this album and will cross-promote by singing his single during the show. (How that will work is kind of strange to me but maybe he’ll have a song that relates to “Grease”?)

-David Archuleta is singing “God Bless America” tonight during the seventh inning stretch for the ACLS matchup between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox. I doubt that will be televised though someone will post the video on YouTube almost immediately.

People magazine apparently is the place for “American Idol” contestants to spill their guts. (Certainly it isn’t me!)

Kellie Pickler, whose latest CD debuted last week at No. 9 with 43,000 copies sold (compared to 79,000 for her first album but not a bad performance nowadays), suffered from a year-long depression, she told People.

[She] suffered severe reactions to anti-depressant pills after struggling with family problems and an emotional breakup from her boyfriend, hockey player Jordin Tootoo.

“Everything in my professional life seemed great,” says the former American Idol contestant, 22. “But in my personal life, I was just crumbling.”

Her dad had gone back to jail and she had to deal with her mom, subject of her song “I Wonder.” Her new boyfriend, Nashville songwriter Kyle Jacobs, had helped her balance her life again.

-Here’s a roundup of how songs performed this week in Radio & Records on radio:

Jordin Sparks Her single “One Step At a Time” peaked at No. 3 on the Top 40 chart, with Pink’s “So What” supplanting it this week on the “Radio & Records” chart. It’s now at No. 4 and Leona Lewis’ “Better in Time” will supplant it next week. Download chart places the song at 43 with 43K sold and 790K total. “No Air” has now sold 2.51 million copies. Her album sold 5K and 927K total. It’s going to be a slow slog to 1 million.

David Archuleta and his song “Crush” is losing momentum. He only gained 125 extra spings this week and his song slips back to 15 from 14. It’s now sold 633K in downloads and ranks No. 16.

Daughtry with “What About Now” edges up to No. 19 from 21 with a modest gain in airplay as well. He has sold 7K for the week and 4.24 million total.

David Cook and his coronation song “Time of My Life” is dropping slowly, down to 38 from 36. The song is still top 3 on the Q100 countdown list here locally and No. 71 nationally in downloads (933K total sold so far). His new song “Light On” is just starting to get radio airplay but debuts at No. 8 on the download chart, according to Idol Chatter with 109,000 copies sold.

Carrie Underwood breaks into the top 5 as usual with “Just a Dream” at No. 4 on the country chart. It sold 21K on the download chart and 250K total. “Carnival Ride” sold 9K and 2.36 mil total.

Bucky Covington continues to gain airplay but slips back to 17 from 16 with “I’ll Walk.”

Kellie Pickler moves up to No. 25 from 26 with “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.” It sold 9K and 95K total. Her likely next single (and guaranteed to be a bigger hit) “Best Days of Your Life” sold 8K.

Kristy Lee Cook gutted herself into the top 40 at No. 40 with “15 Minutes of Shame.” Her album in its third week sold just 2,500 copies and 16K total, falling off the Billboard top 200.

Josh Gracin is stuck at 48 with “Unbelievable (Ann Marie)”

Jennifer Hudson (who debuted at No. 2 on the album chart) holds at No. 6 on the urban chart with “Spotlight.” It remains at No. 1 on the urban AC chart. The new album boosted the single’s sales to 38 from 99 and 31K for the week and 177K total.

Taylor Hicks, dumped by J Records earlier this year, is set to release a new album via the indie route in February, 2009.

Hicks, going on a national tour of “Grease” to sing “Beauty School Dropout” as Teen Angel starting December 2, will be releasing the still-untitled album through the indie company Artist to Market with an assist from his own label, Modern Whomp Records, to “connect more directly with audiences,” according to [E! online.]http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b32785idolstaylorhicksgoes_indie.html)

Tommy Lee, Dolly Parton and Sinead O’Connor have used Artist to Market.

-Jennifer Hudson sold a very solid 225,000 copies of her album “Spotlight” her first week, more than Jordin Sparks did her first week and quite respectable, according to hitsdailydouble.

-David Archuleta has signed with Azoff Management but his dad Jeff will be comanager. Azoff also reps the Eagles, Christina Aguilera and Neil Diamond, according to [ew.com]http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/10/david-archuleta.html?xid=rss-hollywoodinsider-20081007-David%20Archuleta%20signs%20with%20Azoff%20Management). 19 Entertainment passed on him, as it did on several other runners up. As MJ noted, 19 Entertainment no longer reps any runners up.

-Elliott Yamin, who sold more than 50,000 copies of his Chr