Back to picking through bits and pieces, mostly from other blogs and such:

Kimberley Locke is taping an episode of “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” in which she’ll sing a snippet of her cover of “Band of Gold.” Constantine is set to show up, too, probably to sing a Queen song. This bit is from Idol Chatter.. Plus, Kellie Pickler’s USO tour in Baghdad in December is chronicled by Great American Country Feb. 16 at 9.

USA Today’s download numbers feature four songs by Daughtry, four by Carrie and two by Jordin (“Tattoo” is up to 1.15 mil and “No Air” up to 175k.) On album sales, Daughtry was top seller with 21K and 3.71 mil total. Carrie’s “Carnival Ride” sold 20K and 1.79 mil total while “Some Hearts” sold 11K, up to 6.23 mil. Jordin is at 49, selling 12K and 461K total. She’s a month from 500K at this pace. Blake’s “Break Anotha” has stalled on the charts around 40 and his album sold just 4K last week and 255K total.

Other sales: Kelly’s Breakaway is at 5.94 million and sold 3,700 copies compared to 2,200 copies of “My December.” (746k); Kellie sold 2,900, 709K total; Elliot, 1,600, 489K; Bucky, 1,200, 321K, Fantasia, 700, 504K, Mandisa, 700, 69K, Bo, 500, 38K; Kat, 300, 366K; Clay, 200, 523K; Ruben, 100, 236K; Constantine, 100, 24K, Taylor, 100, 700K, Kimberlely, 100, 18K, Paris, 100, 21K.

Ratings this week continue to lag far behind year-ago figures. On Tuesday, 28.2 million watched the Omaha auditions, down 17 percent from the comparable episode in 2007. Wednesday’s season-low 25.5 million or so is down about 20 percent. Comparably, traffic on this blog year over year is down so far by about 35%. I’m not sure how much of that has to do with being on this old template or losing a few of our buds to exile, but it’s probably simply lowered interest in the show period. But that doesn’t mean this will become a “Dance War” blog anytime soon!

Cecil Frot-Coutaz, the executive producer for “Idol” we seldom hear from, spoke with the National Association of Televisoin Program Executives conference and pooh-poohed the ratings dropoff, in this NYT piece.. But if I were them, I’d be concerned. The hope is the final 12 are so fascinating, the show will be able to show some growth in March. We’ll see. The fact is, the show is old enough that people who have decided to move on to other shows are going to be tough to bring back in and the pool of potential newbies to replace them is not so great.

Oh-and did anybody catch MTV’s “Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew” this past Saturday? It’s actually kind of fun. There’s even a crew who are on old-school roller skates! Sadly, the show had auditions in Atlanta and the only Southern reps are from Florida. The same thing happened with “So You Think You Can Dance.” None of the top 20 were from Atlanta despite the fact auditions were held here. The bottom line seems to be that Atlanta creates better singers than dancers!

Sorry to be late on this. I was doing trivia night at the Local. My friend Jim and I were using our “bar bucks” from a previous miracle second place finish. Although we started well (3rd place at halftime), we fell apart in the second half and ended up in dead last among 21 teams. Our last attempt to salvage ourselves failed when we couldn’t come up with the two James Michener novels titled after foreign countries. (I got “Poland,” missed “Mexico.” Jim had no clue.)

This was actually a pretty darn entertaining hour. They showed another high number of good singers (nine) and that clueless “American Juniors” alum inadvertently provided some of the most sublimely funny moments this season. My favorites: Ilsy, Brittany, Suzanne and especially Robbie.

And we won’t soon forgot the first gal, memorably known now as the burping butcher, Shannon Broughton of Okeechobee, Fla.. She will also be known as the over-singer after that excruciating first note of Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby.” (Then again, Janis’s version isn’t markedly different at the start.) “I had a late night last night. You just made me feel a lot worse,” Simon. “That was like the Hungarian Janis Joplin.” She then started singing another song. “It sounds like you’re eating while you sing,” he said. “Your mouth is doing weird weird things.” Paula said: “You have melody problems.” “Wow, I’ve never had somebody tell me I sing bad before,” Shannon said. “This is crazy to me.” “Most people don’t actually know what they’re talking about. That’s why you have to meet people like me,” Simon said. She’s in shock, genuine shock. Her mom’s in more shock before. “She never heard no before,” said Paula, who is about as mean as we’ve ever seen her (relatively speaking.)

Robbie Carrico, one of the spoiiler 24, from Melbourne, Calif. has style, panache, and a great voice. “You got a nice voice. It was kinda cool,” Randy said. Simon’s on the fence but says yes. I liked him a lot more than Randy or Simon. Go Robbie!

After the commercial break, a cavalcade of unnamed crappy singers beckon. Then there’s gypsy music singer Ghaleb Emachah from Miami, who isn’t half bad but not great either. He ruins the upper end of Marc Anthony and it’s over. “I’d like you if I was drunk,” Simon said. “Sober, I don’t think it works.” Paula says the strong accent is problematic, then gets annoyed by Simon. Randy says yes. Wow! Simon says no. Paula is acting odd, then says yes and hugs him. Huh? How did this guy make it?

Best pal combo: Corliss Smith of Jacksonville first. She’s not quite there in the looks department but has a quality voice, working over Randy. Brittany Wescott is better, much better. She’s radiant. She sings to Simon, who even claps along! Both make it!

Fantasia story alert: Suzanne Toon, 21, of Clearwater, Fl., had a daughter two years earlier and is a single mom. She’s a bit rusty and teary-eyed. “I’m sick of struggling,” she said. She has something about her that’s special. “A seductive voice,” Randy said.

Jasmine “remember her?” Trias callback: Ramiele Malubay of Miramar, Fl. wants to be the first Asian-American “Idol” and actually has a good voice. “You are a fine singer and fine performer,” Paula said. “I don’t think you’re a contemporary singer. I think you’re more like a hotel singer,” Simon said. (It’s nice to see the mean Simon for a change.) Despite a no from Simon, she makes it through. She is yet another Spoiler 24 we may be seeing again. I liked her, didn’t love her.

Sob story: Syesha Mercado has a drug-addicted dad recently out of rehab. She’s also a spoiler 24! She has a fine voice and a vibrant personality. But I agree with Simon that she seems a bit overwrought. And she does “Think” by Aretha Franklin as several prior contestants have done (Kat, Diana, LaKisha and Fantasia, for instance.) I feel like I’ve seen it before. Oh, well.

Natashia Blach works “At Last.” (Shouldn’t that song be retired?). Ilsy Lorena Pinot is amazing! What a smile! I love her!

Wow. Nine good singers in 40 minutes? That’s got to be a record.

Ben Hausbach is abysmal. Carroy Bethea is, as Simon said, over the top. Grant Rhea sounds like a gal. Fabienne Hyppolite was plain annoying. Ditto with nasally Richard Valles doing Rascal Flatts.

Then there’s an “American Juniors” flashback, not that anybody even watched that show. (I didn’t.) Simon sarcastically says he loved that show to the contestant Julie Dubela, who was a top 20 finalist from that show. She doesn’t have a clue that he’s being sarcastic. In fact, she even demonstrates the song she sang on “American Juniors” to the other contestants. Hilarious and frightening at once! She’s got some polish but it feels very stage theater. “Have you ever been called precocious?” Simon asked. “What does that mean?” she said. “Overrehearsed, overdramatic,” Simon said. She does the desperate second song while they are talking. Simon suggests she become an actress. “It’s over,” he says. Wow. SImon’s rough! “Overindulged,” he adds after she leaves. The producers are classic by showing her singing “Rainy Days and Mondays” from “American Juniors.” That was one of my favorite audition bits ever!

The final guy makes a ridiculous entrance. Brandon Black of Pompano Beach does “I’ll Make Love To You” then cuts to an original: “I’m the next American Idol.” This is one of those absurdist auditions. “The audition was verging on desperation,” Simon said. “The weird wig. The horrible dialogue. The terrible singing.” Simon and Randy leave. B-bye.

Only 17 made it through Miami, the least of the six cities so far. The final tally now is we’ve seen 48 of the 142 Hollywood-bound contestants and 10 of the 24 supposed finalists. Atlanta is the last city next Tuesday. Based on what we heard, they condensed auditions to just one day here and Randy, Paula and Simon saw fewer than 50 people. That’s not a good thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if fewer than 20 people made it through from our fine city. We’ll see in six days!

TMZ reports that season two winner Ruben Studdard today sued a marketing company for breach of contract..

But today, I’ll focus on season one winner Kelly Clarkson, who visited Q100 studios this morning, flying in from Nashville, then flying right back. Q100 just moved to a bigger signal so the Bert Show is bringing in big stars. Others this week include Ne-Yo and Nick Lachey.

ABOVE: I had about 15 seconds with her and I babbled something about doing an “Idol” blog to her and she politely said something like, “And the season just started!” That was the extent of that!

Over five-plus years, I’ve seen Kelly in concert three times but have never met her in person. So Q100 was nice enough to give me the chance. The Bert Show interviewed her for an hour so pretty much everything I could think of asking was asked and then some.

She was chatty Cathy, openly willing to answer any question and even when it got too invasive, she took no offense. She was chipper and looked great, even sans makeup. Besides her predilection for a certain curse word, she also likes to say the word “weird.” But she’s no longer using the phrase “Cool beans!”

Some random topics she brought up:

Her speaking voice: “I never leave voicemails. It’s the worst talking voice ever… I sound like a goober!”

Potty mouth: she admits she curses too much from her days as a cocktail waitress. In fact, she drops the s-bomb once during the conversation, then a few more times playing “Rock Band.” Bert had to use the “dump” button so that didn’t end up on air.

Avoiding Los Angeles: “I haven’t lived there. I’ve worked there so much that I practically live there. I moved my studios to Nashville… Everyone is trying to climb that fame ladder. It’s weird! It’s Halloween constantly. I can’t stay there. My best friend lives there… I grew up in the country. It’s weird. [In L.A.,] you don’t have yards.” She owns a 60-acre pad outside Burleson, Texas and uses that as a break from the fame game. She’ll be getting horses and has a barn.

Recluse? “When I’m working, I’m a social bird. I love going out. When I’m home, I don’t see anyone.”

New management: “It took five years for me to get the right circle of people. My new management [Reba’s folks] are so like me. It’s perfect. They’re very low key.”

On Reba McEntire, who she is now touring with: “I’m such a nerd. I’m such a fan. I’ve been a fan of hers since I was a kid. It’s just fun. She has such a distincct voice. She know show to dial back the country so when we sing together, it sounds so great.”

On Reba singing her songs!: “It’s trippy! She’s, like, smiling. ‘You’re so singing my song! It’s such a weird thing!”

They play the “40 Year Old Virgin” moment when Steve Carell’s character yelps “Kelly Clarkson” while getting his chest waxed, one of the funniest moments in the film and totally adlibbed. Jeff Dauler suggested she put that on her voicemail since she hates her own voice. “I’m an idiot!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

When asked about the Clive Davis tension, she never denied it. (How could she? She talked about it in multiple publications.) But she said she didn’t fight directly with Clive in every case, that it’s not like they talk every day. And she said tension is normal between artist and management, which is true. She said she had battles with “Breakaway” being too dark, too. “It’s important for any artist to put your foot down. You know what you want to sound like. It’s your face, your voice.”

The question of why “My December” tanked relative to “Breakaway” was kind of skirted. We could pinpoint a lot of reasons in this blog though it was probably a combination of lack of label support and somewhat weaker, less melodic songs, even if the tone wasn’t all that different.

ABOVE: Kelly tries out “Rock Band” for the first time, managing to finish Foo Fighters’ “Learning to Fly” on her first try. She picked drums because vocals would be boring for her. “I want to do something I suck at!” she said beforehand. She almost lost midway through but figured it out and got better. She bragged that she was a “Guitar Hero” killer and planned to buy “Rock Band” for her bus as soon as possible.

ABOVE: Danny Chapman, an “Idol” fan since season two and an Emory freshman, co-hosts the Fox-sponsored Idol party Tuesday night. CREDIT: Rodney Ho

Fox has commissioned a bunch of college campus parties across the country in audition cities. Locally, they picked one of the smaller schools, Emory University. I was invited and figured it might be interesting to see how many folks would show up.

Demographically, “Idol” has been aging so this modest marketing move makes sense because they are trying to get this younger demo excited this season after last year’s lackluster crew.

The turnout was respectable: about 60 Emory students. Not surprisingly, about 50 were female. I watched the show with the students. Two of them hosted the hour, giving away caps, “Idol” bouncy balls and “Idol” sweatshirts. They did a bunch of “Idol” trivia which most of you readers would find insultingly easy (“Who won the first American Idol?” “Name the top 3 last season.”). Toward the end, when they ran out of questions, I jumped up on stage (to promote this blog, of course) and asked three questions which I figured somebody would know: “Which American Idol finalist is on ‘Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.’ ” A guy knew that one (Jessica Sierra.). The second: “Who starred in ‘The Color Purple’ on Broadway?” Yes, someone knew Fantasia. But I stumped them with “What’s Ryan Seacrest’s hometown?” Atlanta would have been acceptable but nobody had a clue.

Anyway, on to the actual show. Two observations: Poor Paula Abdul seems to be back to her early-season wacked-out ways. She got there late and must have been sleep deprived because she hiccuped, slept, spun around in the chair, clapped like a seal and even yelled “Touchdown!” It was like Paula’s greatest judging hits in one show!

Second, “Idol” actually showed good singers, lots of them, while relegating most of the bad ones to montages. Or maybe those Midwesterners lacked a certain delusional quality and/or Vegas-like flair. Still, it was nice to see both an arm wrestler and a pro wrestler! (Both female!)

Paula’s plane was late so the odd sight of Randy and Simon started the episode. (Proving I’ve been watching this show forever, I recall the time Paula missed the Atlanta auditions season two back in the fall of 2002.)

For Chris Bernheisel, this is the biggest “life alternating change” in his life. And he’s a big Kelly Clarkson fan and gave Simon pictures of him with Kelly. Then he proceeds to kill off “Since U Been Gone.” Simon likes the sucking up but said “the singing was not good enough.” Shockingly, Simon was not mean! Then he auditions to be the local reporter to be at the red carpet finale. Simon promises Fox 42 Omaha will help him out!

Jason Rich, a good looking farmer from Stout, Iowa, starts a Keith Whitley song but forgets the words three times. Finally, he gets it right the fourth time. Simon is shockingly patient with the poor guy who actually has a good voice and decent presence. He doesn’t appear to have made the final 24.

Then a sequence of folks who couldn’t remember the lyrics, plus Paula’s arrival.

Arm wrestler Rachael Wicker is pretty with muscle (Simon was too wimpy to face off against him but she strong-arms Paula.) I agree with Simon. She sings real old. She’s 23 but feels like a latter-day Faith Hill. Blehh. I’m surprised she even got two yesses.

Former pro wrestler Sarah “Lady Morgue” Whitaker of Council Bluffs, IA with the evil laugh is possibly the most pitiful singer of the night. Shockingly, she left in good spirits. Even the wrestlers are polite!

In what might have been a rigged bit, Simon invited Ryan to swap with Paula. Samantha Sidley, an adorably cute singer from Los Angeles, did a lovely Norah Jones but was clearly nervous. “I like your voice but I think you need to work on your self confidence and stop spinning around the mark,” Ryan said in his first-ever judge critique. Paula comes in, agreeing with Ryan that she could use more “showmanship.” All four say yes.

Other good singers: Elizabeth Erkert is solid with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” (“I am America’s Next Top Model,” she accidentally proclaims.) A Fantasia look and soundalike Denise Jackson from Madison, WI is solid. Michael Sanfilippo does a fine Stevie Wonder.

Sob story alert: Angelica Puente of Kenosha, WI moved out of her house because she had difficulties with her family as a teen. But she still loves her dad, who paid for her to come to “Idol” auditions. Awww…. When I heard she was going to do Celine Dion, I braced for a bad voice but in reality, she wasn’t half bad and hit her notes. She could use a little more stage presence and personality. I’m surprised she gets through!

Mohawked David Cook(right), of Tulsa, one of the possible final 24, pops up singing a stylish “Living on a Prayer” much better than Jordin did last year. Great voice, not sure about his personality. “Work on some persona,” Randy said.

Johnny Escamilla, “one of the weirdest guys you’d ever meet,” is possibly the strangest dancers ever doing “Shout,” Otis Day edition. Where did he get that sparkly jacket? B-bye Johnny!

Fortunately, they end with a decent singer: Leo Marlowe of Charlotte IA, who does a sophisticated take on Donny Hathaway’s “A Song For You.” Didn’t Elliott Yamin sing that song, too? He’s through and we’re on to Miami!

We actually saw 9 out of 19 of the Hollywood bound. Mike S was nice enough to do the tracking: 39 out of 125 and 8 out of the rumored final 24 so proportionally, that’as about right. We’ve now been through seven hours, so that’s an average of 5.5 good singers per hour. With three more hours, that means we’ll see 17 more good singers and probably half of the rumored final 24.

This is an exceedingly quiet day on the “Idol” trail.

I watched “Idol Rewind” over the weekend for the final group of four in the semifinals. The voters picked Josh Gracin and Corey Clark for what folks thought was the top 10 (but ultimately would be the top 12.). Talk about polar opposites. The first “rocker” ever on “Idol,” Patrick Lake of Athens, almost made the cut but came in third that day. Chip Days from Atlanta, who did R&B, wasn’t half bad but also failed to make it past this round. There was a lot of confrontations with the judges you don’t see anymore. Juanita Barber, who I had completely forgotten about, was a complete jerk about it when the judges complained how bad her “What About the Children” was (and believe me, it was bad.). Rickey.org offers up the confrontation..

Justin Guarini blogs, too..

Paula Abdul taped her music video over the weekend and she was exceedingly late but she was, Perez Hilton likes to say, “a hot mess.” We’ll be seeing the video during the pre-Super Bowl party.

It appears Jordin Sparks’ “Tattoo” is peaking at No. 6 on the top 40 charts while her second single “No Air” appears to be heading to top 10 territory too as it jumps into the top 40.

TMZ caught a shot of Ryan looking a bit heavier than he has in the past and being suitably snarky about it..

Congratulations Derek Kuipers of Atlanta, who wins a Blake Lewis CD and autographed poster for his 11 year old who, according to Kuipers, “spent 3 months walking around the house in sweater vests and untucked shirts beat boxing everything from lunch orders to weekend recaps.”

Carrie Underwood’s latest video “All American Girl” is out. Check out Carrie in a brunette wig and in several different costumes, including a football uniform, a waitress, a flight attendant, a cheereleader, a pageant winner, a newscaster, a teacher, a chef, a fashion designer, a vet, a doc, a politican, a cop, an astronaut, a firefighter, an artist and a bride, to name a few. The song is now at No. 12 on the country charts.

In other Carrie news, she will be performing at the Grammy’s. No surprise there!

Carrie Underwood’s latest video “All American Girl” is out. Check out Carrie in a brunette wig and in several different costumes, including a football uniform, a waitress, a flight attendant, a cheereleader, a pageant winner, a newscaster, a teacher, a chef, a fashion designer, a vet, a doc, a politican, a cop, an astronaut, a firefighter, an artist and a bride, to name a few. The song is now at No. 12 on the country charts.

In other Carrie news, she will be performing at the Grammy’s. No surprise there!

ABOVE: Diana picks a song on the jukebox at the Nashville house. CREDIT: Ron Jaffe

Below is part of the story I wrote for the print edition, plus extra info about Diana I gleaned from my 30-minute interview with her earlier this month. I enjoyed the pilot episode, especially watching Dee Snider looking for coffee in the mansion and bitching that he needed his caffeine. And Diana in that episode showed plenty of confidence after sizing up the competition. “I’ve been doing this [singing] since I was five,” she told the cameras. “For John Rich [the country artist and producer] to believe in me, I won’t let him down. I’m going to take this baby all the way!”

Snellville’s own Diana DeGarmo, at age 20, is already a reality show vet thanks to her time as runner up on “American Idol” four years ago.

But after a brief pop career and a successful stint doing Broadway musicals in 2006, she spent last year trying to find a new path. When she heard CMT was pitching a show called “Gone Country” in which non-country singers try their hand becoming country stars, she was intrigued.

And her two weeks in Nashville truly inspired her.

“It was the craziest thing,” she said. “I didn’t realize I’d have such a change of heart. I grew up loving country and had gotten away from it. I missed it. A little lightbulb went off inside my head. It re-sparked something, an old flame that was already there.”

The show, which debuts tonight at 8 and 10, blends elements of “Surreal Life” and “Idol.” A group of celebrities of varying star wattage are placed in an outrageously large house with copious amounts of alcohol, given visually entertaining things to do (cleaning horse poop, skeet shooting on Gretchen Wilson’s ranch) and compete to put together a country song to be performed in a concert at a honky-tonk venue. The winner gets to record the song with country artist and producer John Rich.

Taped in November, Rich gathered DeGarmo, former Atlantan Bobby Brown, Julio Iglesias Jr., singer Sisqo (“Thong Song”), Dee Snider of Twisted Sister (“We’re Not Gonna Take It”), Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady) and Carnie Wilson (Wilson Phillips).

For DeGarmo, this show was more than just a publicity ploy or quick paycheck. It’s her entry into Nashville where she’s now spending time recording music for an upcoming album, that will skew in country-pop. “I’m turning 21 in a few months, which is scary,” she said. “I really truly believe I found my identity with country music.” In promos after the first episode, DeGarmo is seen crying, saying “I want to be a country singer more than anything in the world.”

Here’s extra stuff gleaned from my notes:

Diana said she may try out acting in a movie this summer and is doing voiceover work for the Georgia Aquarium as well as work on that new album.

She said she had no idea show the cast was until she arrived. “I was just hoping it wouldn’t be Vanilla Ice,” she said. But when she saw her fellow celebs, she said she thought the competition “would be fierce!”

Her take on Carnie Wilson: “What you see is what you get. She’s that crazy aunt who’ll take you to a party.”

Julio Iglesias Jr.: “I knew his father’s music. He’s huge overseas.”

Sisqo: “Like me, people only know him for one thing. But he’s really talented.”

Dee Snider: “I was kind of intimdated. He has kids my age. We joked around. I called hiim Big D and he called me Little D.”

Maureen McCormick: “She’s a sweet sweet person. She enjoys life fully.”

Bobby Brown: “He has his demons but he’s a soft, sweeet soul. He was definitely into the country music.”

The bond between Maureen and Bobby Brown: “They’re the new odd couple. Opposites attract! They both have such jaded pasts. They really bonded over that — and the cigarettes. Makes great TV.”

Her response to Simon’s recent comments that Diana is not “current” or even “relevant.”

“The thing with that, I was 16 when I was the show. At that time, we were singing a lot of old school stuff. They made us sing Elton John and Barry Manilow. How current is that?” So she figures Simon’s image of her is stuck in the past. “He just loves me,” she joked later. “He just won’t admit it!”

Her reaction to Ruben and Taylor losing their record contracts: “I totally feel their pain! The record industry is really funky. People aren’t making money. Labels aren’t into artist development anymore. We Idol folks were catapulted from zero to hero in 2.5 seconds. They expect you to be the full package, this model, shining pop star. But you’re still getting your bearings.”

Her favorite reality shows: Bravo’s “Project Runway” and guilty pleasure “Girls Next Door” on E! (I didn’t see that latter one coming!) She also is friends with Casey, who is on Bravo’s “Make Me a Supermodel.”

Her thoughts on Jordin Sparks: “I’m really proud of her, holding it down for the young kids! She didn’t get as much flak about her age as I did because when you see her, you don’t necessarily think she’s that young. I unfortunately looked as young as I really was.”

Her own songwriting skills: “I’m no Diane Warren by any means. I’ve been writing for myself for a long time but it’s very intimidating to perform them. You are completely exposed. I’ve never had the chance or courage to perform my own stuff.” She worked with two veteran Nashville songwriters to put her song together for the show. “At first, I was a little scared, but once we got the band together and the song together, we made a really, really great song.”

And if you enjoyed Renaldo Lupez’s “We’re Brothers Forever,” Atlanta band the Brilliant Inventions’ singer Eliot Bronson does a lovely acoustic version of the song. The band happens to be playing at Red Light Cafe this Saturday. More info here.. This is what I call smart promotions!

Finally, my colleague Wendell Brock reports that box office receipts nosedived after Fantasia left “The Color Purple” earlier this month and the show will shut down Feb. 24 on Broadway. Bummer for LaKisha Jones, who had just joined the cast!

I’m not going to spoil it for you if this is accurate but Joes Place already has 22 of the 24 semifinalists supposedly leaked. You can read it here if you dare.. There is at least one Atlantan on the list and I’ve met her. Plus, a Brittenum twin told me she’d be the winner. And a former Atlanta resident is on the list, too, who I’ve talked about, um, very very recently. Plus, some Irish gal who’s gotten a bit of press, too.

Fox held a phone press conference with Ryan Seacrest yesterday to promote his involvement in the pre-show red carpet at the Super Bowl Feb. 3. Seacrest will interview celebs before the game.

Seacrest is a big football fan and actually played the game throughout his childhood.

I started playing for the Atlanta Colts, the Pop Warner league. I was really young. I played at Peachtree Junior High, offensive guard. Went to Dunwood High School as a strong safety. I actually played the state semifinal senior year in Valdosta, Georgia. I did grow up … believe it or not, it sounds crazy — in the weight room training for the season or out on the field after school.

What was your playing weight?

My junior year in high school. I was second string, started as a senior. I was a stocky kid wearing husky. I weighed 170 and was short. Then I lost some weight, gained some speed.

I called his mom Connie for photos of him from his football days but she said Ryan already asked for those photos and she mailed them to his office in Los Angeles. Sadly, she didn’t have any duplicates readily available for us to post.

Connie said she always worried about her son getting hurt in high school and was relieved when he escaped unscathed. “I think he really gets a kick out of doing the Super Bowl,” she said. “He can talk the talk. He knows the lingo.”

He wouldn’t say who he was rooting for but his best football memory is wearing a Refrigerator Perry jersey as a kid back in the mid-1980s.

And he has yet to see the Paula Abdul/Randy Jackson video that will debut that day for her song “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” But she did debut the song on his show a few days ago.

“She’s not nervous. She’s elated. She brought the single to me a couple of days ago and we premiered it. I had 200 calls in a row supporting her, thrilled she was releasing a record. More than that, I’m very much looking forward to Randy Jackson dance. She is choreographing Randy. I’m being serious. He’s been training. He’s been doing some sort of private pilates, it’s so demanding.

We also got final ratings for the third ep of “Idol” Tuesday. The show, according to final numbers, drew only 29.3 million. I’m using “only” figuratively but that’s down 10 percent from a year ago, about the same percentage as the dropoff of last Tuesday’s ep. The rather dull Wednesday night episode drew a preliminary figure of 26.8 million, down a whopping 20 percent from a year ago.

And how about this for an idea who’s time probably shouldn’t have come: Idol Chatter reports that Wal-Mart and iTunes will release four compilation volumes of “Idol” alums who never released any major albums. The first volume, out Feb. 5, features Jon Peter Lewis (eighth place, season three), Stevie Scott (semifinalist, season five—photo included— ring a bell?), Ryan Starr (7th place, season one) and A.J. Tabaldo (semfinalist, season six). I vaguely remember Stevie and A.J. but just barely. And I’m supposedly an expert on this stuff.

And volume two supposedly has four more semifinalists: Alaina Alexander, Rudy Cardenas, Patrick Hall and a dude I thought deserved to make the final 12 season five, Gedeon McKinney (remember him in the photo?)

Finally, Ken Barnes over at Idol Chatter also got the sales numbers for Carly Hennessy’s album: 2,400 copies and 26,000 copies of her two singles. He also tracks downloads and Jordin’s “Tattoo” is at 1.1 million and her second single “No Air” is already up to 139,000. In terms of CD sales, the record industry hit a low in the January doldrums with Daughtry the top “Idol” seller with 19K sold and 3.69 million copies and Carrie’s “Carnival Ride” at 19K, too, with 1.76 million sold. Her first CD sold another 10K and is now at a whopping 6.22 million. Jordin’s CD is now up to 449K after selling another 12K. Others include Kelly’s Breakaway (5.96 mil) and My December (744K), Kellie at 706K, Elliott at 488K, Bucky at 320K, Fantasia at 503K, Mandisa at 69K, Bo at 38K, Kat at 366K, Clay at 522K, Ruben at 236K, Constantine at 24K, Taylor at 700K, Kimberley at 18K and Paris at 21K.

And I’m watching a Zaxby’s commercials featuring… Diana DeGarmo. “You have to lick your fingers when eating wings,” she says. “Don’t waste it on the napkin. Just use what God gave ya. It’s your own in-house napkin system.” Melinda did one, too.

Sadly, the “Idol” producers didn’t show us much that was good from South Carolina. Jefferey Lampkin is probably the only one I’ll remember by the Hollywood round of the four we saw who got the Golden Ticket (and one of the four was Jefferey’s not-as-good sister.) And why didn’t the Air Force gal get through? Huh?

Instead of starting with good singers like last night, the puppet masters opt for “characters.” First up is afro-man Raysharde Henderson of Atlanta (first Atlantan we’ve seen so far!), who compares himself to Clay Aiken. He’s just over the top and as noted by Paula, theatrical. It’s a no.

Then there’s the rather unpleasant-looking waitress DeAnna Prevatte from Kellie Pickler’s hometown Albermarle, N.C.. She’s rather intense, but not in a good way. “I like the anger and the passion,” Simon said, but it’s a no.

The Idol fans: awww… it’s love. Crystal Ortiz and Randy Stark of Abilene met through the “Idol” message forums where he supposedly doles advice about the audition process. They were clearly put there for back story, not talent. She’s actually not as bad as he is but he got more airtime. “That was a horrible audition,” Simon said. “The good news is you found each other.”

Sibling hallelulah!: Michelle and Jefferey Lampkin!! They are actually pretty good and possess a lot of spirit, especially Jefferey. “You were the bomb,” Randy said to Jefferey. Randy says yes to only Jeffery. Paula says yes to both. Simon, shockingly, says yes to both, too. He said he couldn’t split them up. What sweet tea did Simon drink in Charleston????

Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” is the unfortunate “group” song.

Gimme an A!: Cheerleader Amy Flynn tries to channel Christina Aguilera, a risky move, after a speech about, like, abstinence, like, totally. She’s, like, cute and has an interesting, raspy voice. She’s just different enough to cut through. “This isn’t going to be quite so thumbs up, Amy. I personally thought the song was too big for you,” Simon said. “A lot of people are going to find you annoying. You are very confident and I don’t think you’re as good as you think you are.” She’s through!

zzzz…: London Weidberg, 24, from Charleston, is a professional singer and she’s not bad. Kinda dull. “You have a nice tone to your voice but not the best song,” Randy said. “There are thousands of singers like you,” Simon said. “I didn’t hear anything unique.” I agree with Simon.

Fly, Lindsey, fly!: Air Force C-17 pilot Lyndsey Goodman is the latest back story. She’s gorgeous and is in the military. Can she sing, too? She could use some work but she has potential after doing a pleasant “Black Velvet.” “I liked it. Had a couple of pitch things,” Randy said. “I’m concerned your nerves,” Paula said. “It held you back.” “I think you are a very good cabaret singer. I don’t think you are a contemporary recording artist,” Simon said. She got ousted! I’m shocked! Oh, well…

Queen of Delusion: Aretha Codner, named after Aretha Franklin, says she’s as good as Fantasia. She goes for Whitney — big mistake. She’s decent but clearly not good enough. She misses some big notes, too. “The funny blue dress. the huge belt, the screaming. It didn’t work and the singing was terrible,” Simon said. “It is amazing,” she said. “I stop crowds.” “You mean the crowds disappear?” Simon said. “Come on. You seriously murdered the Whitney Houston song.” “No… I thought I did a great job,” she said.

King of Delusion: Joshua Bosin of Beaufort S.C. goes all Jennifer Holliday on us —if she were a guy and really awful. “This show is faked and rigged,” he complained. “My talent is too big for this competition to hold,” he later proclaimed.

Tara Smith comes by and sucks. So do a bunch of others. Oliver Highman, 27, of Cornelius, is a new daddy whose wife had a baby the first day of auditions. He makes it to day two. I can’t get past the fact he looks like a Merrill Lynch stockbroker. And his voice is all over the place. He gets a no but he does show off his baby. And he takes the rejection just fine because, heck, he’s a dad!

In the end, 23 made it through. We only saw four Hollywood-bound folks. We also saw 9 “no’s.” So 106 contestants are off to Hollywood after four cities. We’ve seen 30 of them. (Mike S— tell me if I got that off-the-top-of-my-head count correct!)

A couple of my sources tell me Michael Johns, the Australian dude, used to live in Atlanta under the name Michael Lee. M. Shawn Arnold, who is Holly Firfer’s husband, said he used to play the Buckhead bar circuit (Tin Roof, CJ’s Landing) with Johns. He usually played with Hank Barbee, a local musician. Johns was the lead singer for a local band named Film, Arnold wrote me in an email. Johns, as noted, was part of a band calld the Rising and was under the Madonna imprint Maverick Records. So let’s hope he makes the top 24. Based on what we saw in the audition, he certainly has a solid chance.

There is also some bitterness between former members of the band Film and Michael, according to this 2003 Creative Loafing story..

Chris Daughtry in 2005 semifinals sang a pretty decent version of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.” So now, two years later, he is opening for Bon Jovi, who just added a second show at Philips Arena. Talk about a band with incredible staying power! Bon Jovi just added a second show at Phillips. They will be here April 30/May 1. Tickets for the second concert go on sale this Saturday. The April 30 date appears to be sold out! Wow!

And there are photos all over the Web of Clay Aiken as Robin in Spamalot on Broadway. I’m sorry to say this but he looks a bit like… um… Carrot Top.

Here’s a photo gallery from Broadway World..

And more here at tmz.com.

Here’s Clay on “The View” Tuesday promoting Spamalot.

Here’s the ad for Spamalot featuring Clay:

It’s kind of nice to have only one hour of auditions but it also means we see even fewer of the good singers. In fact, we caught just six of the 31 who made it to Hollywood from San Diego. We also saw 10 bad singers. So we’ve seen and heard 16 of the 83 who have made it through after three cities. Of the six good ones, I liked Tetiana, Michael Johns and Samantha the best. Carly was good but she really is too professional for my taste. Been there, done that. Maybe the whole WSJ story thing colored my impression. You can see why the “Idol” producers left that out but it is kind of lame that only those of us who read and write these blogs know about her background.

Arrogant? But good: Tetiana Ostapowych of Venice, Calif. is stunningly beautiful, looks a bit like the receptionist in “Ugly Betty.” Her voice is lovely but Simon says she is only good, not great. “Obnoxious,” Simon said.

Heartwarming story #1: Perrie Cataldo of Phoenix is a single dad with a four-year-old son whose mom died in a nasty, unspecified way in 2005. He’s got some presence and his take of Boyz II Men is a bit over-boiled with the vibratto but he’s certainly good enough for Hollywood.

Michael Johns, 28, of Los Angeles (originally from Australia) has the looks and the pipes to make it to the top 50. In fact, if the spoiler page is correct, he is.

Wow! Three good singers to start off. This must mean a lot of bad ones to come.

Here they come: Marat Hayrapetyan wears an absurdly frilly white shirt. Christopher Mitchell is no Ace Young. Tehilla Lauder just kind of slays them with vibratto. Then there’s the copycat Mariah Carey lover. Valerie Reyes has some of Carey’s breathiness and vibratto but none of her vocal strength or tone. Then the high notes come and breaks glasses across the country. “The only resemblance to Mariah Carey is Mariah Carey’s CD left out in the sun for a year, then trying to play it,” Simon said.

Then the gimmicky singers—Joseph (dressed in a Mexican poncho) & Juanita Mejia (doing a mime deal). Joseph actually wasn’t half bad but a gimmick is a gimmick. Monique Gibson ruins a Whitney song, then dared to try Mariah. Ugh! Then her friend Christopher Brown also screws up Whitney and wouldn’t shut up. He gets escorted out, thank God.

Love thy Simon: Samantha Musa is a Simon obsessive and her sis sits on his lap while she does Aretha Franklin. She’s a beaut and she’s actually a good singer. “I thought it was a great audition,” says Simon.

Try, try again: Then there’s the “idiot” who did the Statue of Liberty in season five and came back. Blake Boshnack of Long Beach, N.Y., who has tried out 11 times, did a decent, almost desperate “Stand By Me” and the judges didn’t stand by him at all. Simon tried to get Paula to say no and she wouldn’t say it.

Alexandria Ruiz got a no. Sarah Long was incomprehensible and was compared to William Hung (“The biggest insult ever,” she said.) Then a bunch of no-name sad folks. Fan-holding, shy Alberto (“Singing is the ultimate rebuilding of my soul”) Hurtado looks like a nightmare in the making before he even sang. And his biographical song was indeed horrid. “The most depressing song in my life,” Simon said.

Dreadlocked Aaron “Leave Me Alone” Garrett was dismal.

Emotional story alert: David Archuletta is a man who has had partial “vocal paralysis” and does John Mayer reasonably well but isn’t quite good enough. He might get a sympathy vote. “You have a really good voice at 16,” Randy said. “I think you have a nice tone, mature for your young age,” Paula said. “I agree with Paula and Randy. A great choice of song,” Simon said. Yup, he got the sympathy vote. (According to MJ’s site, he won Star Search when he was 12.)

They end with Carly Hennessy (who is called Smithson, her husband’s name, on the show). She auditioned in Vegas season five but couldn’t get a visa. She was also the source of the Wall Street Journal story about a singer MCA spent $2.2 million on and she sold only a few hundred CDs. This latter info was not included to the audience. Anyway, she’s back and quite nervous. She also added a monstrous tattoo on her right arm since 2005, probably influenced by her tattoo shop owner/hubby (who has tattoos on his face!) Vocally, she’s a pro and it shows. “That wasn’t as good as two years ago,” Simon said. I thought it was okay but she didn’t move me at all.

Good news: with only one hour, they didn’t bother with the “group” sing.

And here’s Kellie Pickler on Ellen DeGeneres performing her third single “Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind.” Thank you DJ Slim for your work on taping it! For once, Kellie keeps her pups in check. She looks great! This song is skirting the top 20 and it’s not half bad!