Sorry. I’ve come down with a nasty case of food poisoning and have been more or less out of pocket the past 24 hours.

I still feel awful but I’m at least functioning now.

Associated Press did a profile on Ricky Minor, the bandleader.

Each week he oversees a staff of 45 musicians, arrangers and copyists. He was also instrumental in bringing some certified superstars to the “Idol” stage, including Prince, Mary J. Blige and Al Jarreau.

Here’s a small revelation Chris Sligh said during the media press conference: after his rendition of “Endless Love” was trashed a couple weeks ago, he considered dropping out. He asked the producers would he be able to stay on tour in the top 10 if he dropped out. They said no. So he stuck with it.

Ultimately, his heart wasn’t in it. He even said out right, he didn’t really want to win.

“I never came into this wanting to win it,” he told me. “I came from an indie alternative rock background. For me, I think winning ‘American Idol’ would have hurt what I was going for.” (Indeed, I think he’s taking cues from Chris Daughtry, who now readily says he’s glad he didn’t win in retrospect.) Tell me if I’m wrong but I think Chris is the first finalist to ever admit not wanting to win it.

He thought his take on the Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” wasn’t as bad as the judges said. “I really gave my best,” he said. “I admit it wasn’t a great performance this week but it wasn’t terrible.” He added, “That’s the competitive side of me that kicks in.”

And yes, he did win the $50 bet with Phil Stacey about getting voted off (and he did get his cash.) He said he didn’t know it was still live when he said that since Brandon and Stephanie’s farewell songs got cut off before it aired.

He also said he scaled back his mockery of the show after death threats popped up on his blog following his joke with Simon about Teletubbies and Il Divo. “I got scared,” he said.

He noted that he chose songs he liked or felt would challenge him and he wasn’t trying to appease the audience or the judges. “All six songs [he sang on the show] were risks one way or another. I felt like that was ignored [by the judges.]”

And he wished singers could use instruments and would allow original songs. He also wished he could blog during the show, which the producers wouldn’t allow.

He defended Sanjaya. “People underestimate Sanjaya… He has a good voice,” Chris said. “I think he gets a bum rap.”

And yes, I had to run off to interview Jerry Springer because he’s doing a speech tonight at Emory. And the man stays busy. He’s going to host “America’s Got Talent” and VH1 is doing a behind-the-scenes reality show on his talk show. (How meta!).

A little more than months after debuting at No. 1, Taylor Hicks’ self-titled CD has fallen off the top 200, despite the fact he’s on tour. It is clearly the fastest falling “Idol” winner CD in history and is unlikely to sell 1 million copies unless a miracle happens. (Trying to get airplay on AC stations won’t do him any good. He needs an appearance on “Oprah” or get played on “Grey’s Anatomy” stat!) He sold 3,400 copies last week, less than Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway,” which has been out for two years plus and has moved 5.7 million copies.

Here’s more info, courtesy of USA Today’s Idol Chatter.

Elliott Yamin’s CD is supposedly independently released paradoxically from Sony’s “indie distribution arm,” whatever that means. He debuted at a solid No. 3 with 90K sold, ahead of No. 4 Daughtry (76K, 2.04 total), who will be here three times in the next three months. He will be doing a free concert for Star 94 listeners at the Tabernacle this Saturday, the Loft April 6 and Star’s Starfest June 2.

Carrie drops to no. 15 (38K, 5.12 million total). Kat McPhee’s single “Over It” is gaining momentum on the top 40 chart and as a result, her CD moved up a bit to 73 from 74 and sold 11K, up from 10K. Her sales total: 270K.

Kellie Pickler is down to 6,700 in sales and 131 in the chart. Total: 478K

Fantasia dropped to 139 with 6,200 sold and 330K total.

Ruben is up to 217K with 1,500 sold and Clay sold 800 and is up to 506K.

Here’s the story that ran off page one of the print edition.

I interviewed David Bloomberg of foxesonidol.com, “Idol” vocal coach Debra Byrd, Tamyra Gray confidante Jerry Friday, season one contestant R.J. Helton and Catherine Dunne, hairstylist Richie Arpino and vocal coach to season five semifinalist Kinnik Sky.

Early favorite Chris Sligh lost his magic along the way and ended up on the short end of the “Idol” voting stick Wednesday night.

Based on people’s reactions Tuesday, this isn’t a grand shocker at all but a mild surprise.

For the fifth time, I predicted Haley Scarnato to leave. Yet she keeps on going. One of these days I’ll be right, dang it!

I thought Sanjaya might sneak a bottom three finish but Ryan, who wore a fake mohawk wig as an homage to Sanjaya at the opening, freed him early on.

Phil Stacey was the other one in the bottom three, another mild surprise given he got so much positive feedback (not from me) for his version of “Every Breath You Take.”

I enjoyed Gwen Stefani and enjoyed Chris Richardson as the bad-guy in the ever-cheesy Ford commercial.

We got to see Chris sing again and he did just fine. He even hugged everybody during the song and said, “You owe me 50 bucks!” to Phil.

Next week: Tony Bennett!

USA Today and Associated Press did big stories on Sanjaya today. That pony-hawk deal certainly helped.

I’m doing one, too, for tomorrow’s print edition. And I need some help. I need someone who can seriously defend Sanjaya’s skills, someone who is voting for him sincerely (and not ironically). I’d need you to call me at 404-526-5688 or email me at rho@ajc.com as soon as possible. My deadline is about 6 p.m. EST.

That wasn’t the grandest week we’ve ever seen. In fact, the only thing we’ll probably remember after the season is over is Sanjaya’s mohawk. But it wasn’t the worst either.

Thematically, it was songs or artists that inspired Gwen Stefani (that Fox was able to clear, of course). She was pretty as usual but pretty subdued, too, and not terribly interesting as a mentor.

So is this time for me to predict again for Haley’s departure? I’ll say yes. I might get it right - finally. If Sanjaya figured he could survive with the schtick of the mohawk, well, maybe. But he will be in the bottom three. I suspect Chris Sligh will make his first appearance there and might even be voted off. He could be the shocker early departure so far if enough “Haley is hot” fans keep her in the running.

My favorite? Jordin gets points for taking a chance and pulling it off and gets my top slot just ahead of Melinda and LaKisha. Gina did better than usual.

1- Jordin Sparks (No Doubt “Hey Baby”) - This is a high-risk song. Even Gwen was surprised but she said she did it more melodic. Indeed, Jordin does a wonderful job with the verses. The chorus isn’t quite there and is odd because the backup singers do the main part of it. I still like it. It’s cool and different. Randy: “That was a very very risky thing to do because it’s hard to do such stylized songs. But I gotta tell you. You could sing anything. That was brilliant.” Paula: “You’re hip and young. You celebrated it.” Simon: “I think you are probably the most improved constestant in the last few weeks. I’m seeing another side for you. It’s a bit copycat-ish.” “I wanted to do something fun and different,” Jordin said.

2-Melinda Doolittle (Donna Summers’ “Heaven Knows”) - I like the little hair fip and the disco-era dress. This is one of those big Donna songs that we don’t hear much anymore. It’s a great song choice for Melinda and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Randy: “The reason I called you a pro. You look at the words of the song, you interpret them, you sing with feeling. You are living the words. That was the bomb again!” Paula: “You have charisma from the word go.” Simon: “I don’t think this will be the best you were. Vocally, you were as usual outstanding. Hate the outfit.”

3-LaKisha Jones (Donna Summers’ “Last Dance”) - She has a colorful dress and looks younger than last week. It’s a fairly faithful version of Donna’s take. It’s solid, great, nothing I wouldn’t expect. Randy: “It’s good to see you rock it. I love the boots. You did that like a true fly diva.” Paula: “Donna Summer is not an easy song to start out with. You did her proud.” Simon: “Now you’re 30 years younger this week. Nice to see you do an uptempo song. It’s the LaKisha I loved three weeks ago. A great vocal.”

4- Gina Glocksen (Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand By You”) - This is a good song choice for her. I like what she’s wearing. She felt it. We felt it. I’m expecting positive comments. She’s never going to be my favorite but she deserves another week after this one. Randy: “I thought this was one of your best performances ever. You got that big ol’ voice.” Paula: “You are improving each week. It showed vulnerability and allowed you to soar with the vocals.” Simon: “It wasn’t one of your best performances. It was your best performance.”

5-Blake Lewis (Cure’s “Love Song”) - This is one of the Cure’s best songs. He’s toned down his hair and he seems to have gone all sexy/nightclub-ish with the vocal. He’s stronger in the chorus. He misses a note or two and it’s almost too languid toward the end. No beatboxing. I can’t say this was his best by any stretch. Randy: “It wasn’t my perfect song choice. You made the most of it.” Paula: “I loved what you did with the song. It was so cool. I think you’re taking risks and being original.” Simon: “Definitely the strongest guy in the competition that’s for sure. But you have to be careful. You’re in the Chris Daughtry zone of doing your own thing. You can’t become too indulgent. And a bit boring.”

6- Chris Richardson (No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”) - For the first time, Chris gets the catbird seat at the end with No Doubt’s biggest top 40 hit from a decade ago. She said she recalls he likes to do “vocal olympics.” She said she hopes he sticks to the melody. He has such a distinctive voice in this competition but it doesn’t work as well as Gwen’s for this song, especially the bridge. He does end relatively strong. Randy: “I like the little R&B ska. I liked your flavor on it. But I liked your choice. Don’t be afraid to sing the R&B side. Just believe.” Paula: “You’re good, just good.” Simon: “I think your song choice got you in trouble last week. This was a much better song. I quite liked the arrangement. I wasn’t crazy about the vocal. It was okay in bits. I think you struggled in the middle of the song. You have to pay more attention to your vocals.”

7- Phil Stacey (Police’s “Every Breath You Take”) - Gwen is pleasantly surprised. He takes an absolute classic and does an adequate job. Like Haley, I think his vocals are good but decidedly unmemorable. Randy: “I kind of liked that. It was a solid performance. You didn’t push it.” Paula: “It’s a good choice. There’s so much personality to your voice when you hit the chorus. The verses play it safe.” Simon: “I thought that was very good. Great choice of song. It’s the only time you actually are taking this seriously and doing well in this competition.”

8- Chris Sligh (Police’s “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”) - Gwen noted his timing was off during practice. This is not a big melody song. It’s a personality song and Sting was able to provide a sense of drama. Chris does okay but he’s not Sting and it failed to grab me. He looked a bit nervous. Randy: “It was a good song choice. The biggest problem is exactly what Gwen said. The band was in one tempo, you were at another. You were way ahead rushing.” Paula: “It becomes an eyesore for the audience. The audience wants to groove with you. Vocally, it was a good choice. You have to feel that beat.” Simon: “Forget pockets, timing, I thought it was a mess. It just didn’t feel right.” With the tight timing, the “Idol” theme tries to cut him off but Simon is having none of it. “It’s not the Oscars!” he says. But then he stops.

9-Sanjaya Malakar (No Doubt’s “Bathwater”) - Gwen tried so hard to be nice but the pity in her voice was apparent. “He got nervous, forgot some of the words,” she noted. “I feel for him. I think it’s going to be very difficult for him. He chose it so good luck for him.” I’m not familiar with this song, actually. Oh my gawd! That mohawk (or pony-hawk, as Ryan later calls it) is far more absurd than the one Nadia did a couple years ago. He sure likes to mess around with his hair, eh? It’s distracting but I still managed to catch him missing a word in the second verse. Gwen’s comment about him forgetting his words was quite predictive, eh? The whole performance is just so goofy I don’t know what to say! Randy: “I’m speechless every time. The hairdo is definitely interesting. At the end of the song, you reminded me that last note. You can actually sing if you just put it out there.” Paula: “If you had the gumption to just totally go for it. Then it would fit the wackiness of the mohawk.” Simon: “I presume there was no mirror in your dressing room tonight.” Then he gets to the point: “I genuinely don’t think it matters what we say. I think you are in your own universe if people like you, good luck!” So true!

10-Haley Scarnato (Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”) - Gwen thinks she overdoes it toward the end. We’ll see if she tones it down. She dresses quite conservatively but I like her hair. Vocally, she’s just generic. There isn’t enough texture there to make the song truly resonate. Randy: “It started a little rough, got better toward the end. You didn’t really grab me with that.” Paula: “It’s one of those songs that is beautiful that requires nothing but singing the melody and being vulnerable. It didn’t stay younger. You should aim to be contemporary.” Simon: “I think it was sweet but forgettable really. There was nothing to remember.”

CREDIT: Brett Mallard off Constantine’s myspace page

Constantine Maroulis, the season four finalist who never met a camera he didn’t want to caress, has nabbed a role on the soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” this summer for 13 weeks — playing an exaggerated version of himself. “He will be a more established pop star/producer/label owner. He will discover this girl Phoebe and want to make her a big star. He will get caught up in a love triangle.”

He was calling on behalf of Yahoo! He does an online TV show each week about the “Buzz” trends based on Yahoo searches on Idol.

“Idol has been very good to me and I love talking about the show,” he said. “To be a significant player in the history of the show means a lot to me.”

He calls this year’s crew “pretty lackluster” compared to seasons four and five, especially the guys. Who he thinks is going to win is the same as Nigel: Jordin Sparks. “She’s the most talented, the most diverse, the most powerful,” he said. “She’s cute and marketable. I bet she’ll have the most successful recording career.”

He thinks Sanjaya has a couple more weeks left in him. And he believes Blake is doing well out of default among the guys and Chris Sligh “has fallen off the map.”

Talking from his apartment in New York City, he was very personable and it certainly helped that we were talking about him.

And naturally, he’s working on a self-titled album, which he will release independently this June with Sony as his distributor. It will be rock-pop, radio songs with hooks. “This is the new age of the independent sector in music,” he ntoed. “I think everyone has a chance to become their own Clive Davis.”

He said he’s grown up with an entrepreneurship mentality, cutting lawns and shoveling snow. “You have to be your own business, create your own brand,” he noted.

The soap opera will play some of his songs. He will consider it great marketing.

Maroulis admits his career hasn’t skyrocketed since “Idol” but he feels he’s done some good quality work, including “The Wedding Singer” on Broadway. He was disappointed he couldn’t turn a sitcom idea with ABC and Kelsey Grammer into an actual show.

In recent years, “Idol” has shown relative restraint by running 30 minute results shows at this point in the season. That’s long enough for what is basically one bit of news. They only ran hour-long results shows toward the very end.

But sadly when it gets to the final eight, starting April 11, “Idol” will move to hour-long shows. I hate hour-long results shows. They drag on and on and on. Ugh.

Of course, the tight 30-minute time frames the past two weeks have meant no time for us to hear Stephanie or Brandon sing their farewells. Of course, the producers could tighten things up to ensure enough time but they just haven’t.

When the top 24 were announced, I noted that the South was (relatively) underrepresented compared to recent seasons. Only 7 of the 24 were from the region. But then looked what happened: 12 people were cut in the semifinals, NONE from the South. Brandon was cut among the first 12. So then it was suddenly 7 Southerners out of 11. Stephanie Edwards, believe it or not, was the first Southerner to be cut from the final 24.

The New York Times, go figure, made this observation.

I somehow missed it!

Of course, the “why is the South so good at generating singers” story has been done 1,000 times. So we hear the same reasons again. And heck, why should we complain?

“The South has the synchronicity of diverse and talented singers, combined with people who watch and vote for their favorite religiously,” said Kennedy, the host of “Reality Remix” on the Fox Reality channel and a former MTV host.

Taylor Hicks told the Times he believed that the South’s musical roots contributed to the success of the region’s contestants. “There are so many different styles of music down in the South you can draw from,” he said in a telephone interview. “There’s a lot of music to sing and a lot of time to sing it.

The top 10 “Idol” searches the past week (Stephanie Edwards was always near the bototm.) Searches don’t necessarilly correlate to talent or success but certainly good looks and controversy help. Nevertheless, Phil Stacey is the likeliest one to go next unless he really rocks it out Tuesday night. By the way, Yahoo is hooking me up with a phoner Tuesday morning with Constantine Maroulis, who is their “Idol” spokesman. (The “Idol” industrial complex has given jobs to former “Idol” folks. TV Guide has done it for Justin; Fox Reality with Mikalah and Matt Rogers; and Edy’s Ice Cream with Ace.)

1. Sanjaya Malakar

2. Haley Scarnato

3. Blake Lewis (up since last week)

4. Melinda Doolittle (down since last week)

5. Chris Richardson

6. Jordin Sparks

7. Gina Glocksen

8. Chris Sligh (up since last week)

9. LaKisha Jones (down since last week)

10. Phil Stacey

And here’s more commentary from Yahoo Buzz:

Is This Season Really Worse Than Last Season?

It comes up every year - complaints about how this season wasn’t as good as the last: The judges are meaner, the auditions are crueler, the “Idol” competitors are worse, the show has peaked, and it’s time for the FOX show to pack it in.

We have two words for you: Chicken Little. This same time last year, a perplexed audience said good-bye to Kevin Covais, wondering why the farewell had taken so long. Meanwhile, Kellie Pickler had the popular vote on Yahoo!, even though her talent wasn’t as pronounced as the others. (Sound familiar?)

True, this year’s crop doesn’t have the same drawing power on Yahoo! as last year’s. True, Kellie’s numbers during Week 11 were only slightly higher than Sanjaya, and Haley and Jordin have Katherine and Mandisa beat. However, most of the other Season 5 singers had established their personas and their following by Week 11, if their surging searches on Yahoo! were any indication.

“Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, on a print press conference today, said the songwriting competition is still on. He said there may not be time to do a TV special focused on the songwriter songs but he’s still pushing it. The producers are focused on the “Idol Gives Back” charity event April 24-25.

Lythgoe admits he hasn’t heard the first albums of Fantasia, Ruben or Taylor Hicks, though he liked Kelly Clarkson’s and Carrie Underwood’s. “It’s not my type of music,” he said. “I like more middle of the road stuff. When they leave us, they go to different ways. I like country. I have little time to listen to outside music. I’m constantly listening to music of that week and trying to get everything downloaded to get as wide a spectrum of choice as I can.”

And he’s modest about the “Idol” impact. “It doesn’t really mean anything in real life,” he said.

I asked him whether he was disappointed no country singer made it in the final 24. He didn’t really answer the question per se.

“I don’t think we know what we’re ending up with. The top 24 are chosen from what the judges believe are the correct ones. And then America brings them down to the top 12. We don’t have much say in it.”

Then I asked about the dropping ratings (about 10 percent since performances started compared to last year.)

“Even if we lost 50 percent, we’d be a top 3 program. I’m not really that worried. Everyone tells me it’s a great deal to due with daylight savings. [That hurts viewership by about 6 percent.] It affects the programs with the most ratings the highest. People are saying this is not our greatest year for talent. I don’t necessarily agree with them. We’ve got five or six of the best singers we’ve ever had in ‘American Idol.’ If it is a bad year in talent, we’ll find out the next few weeks. We do always watch a ratings fall of 3 to 4 percent in that area.”

He’s also a big fan of Jordin Sparks. “Jordin continues to surprise me to be frank. I’m watching her grow week in and week out. From this 17 year old I saw a number of years ago when she auditioned for ‘American Juniors,’ I’m watching a young lady come to fruition and a huge talent.” He noted that she’s jumping genres very well.

Overall, he thinks five or six can win it. “It’s an open race at the moment because people can cancel each other out,” he said.

Any changes to the format? “We think we are almost there for the format. Now it’s the talent and different genres of music, how well the host carries the show through, how well the judges speak, how well the mentor that week is. We are reliant on a lot of things to produce a good show or bad show. The format is pretty near set.”

His thoughts on Sanjaya: “He has become a lightning rod. This kid has guts. You have to applaud that.” He thinks little girls are voting for him, keeping him around though he’s been in the bottom two several times.

Like me, he dismissed the impact of votefortheworst.com: “It’s a bit like a fly buzzing around a car. When you get 30 million votes, whatever that web site does is not enough.”

He repeated from last year two themes he hasn’t been able to do yet: a Beatles or Eagles night.

No comment about the lawsuit against Mario Vazquez. (No surprise there.)

“American Idol’ fetches an average of $745K for a 30-second ad, according to a survey by Forbes.com. The show generates $30 million a week on average over 18 or so weeks from basic ad revenue.

Shows that skew younger tend to draw more cash per viewer. “24” brings in $344K per spot while “60 Minutes” takes in just $109K.

Newer shows that become hits are bargains. Take “Heroes,” at $126K per commercial. Or really expensive. “Six Degrees” in the fall took in $179K but fell far short of expectations. “Grey’s” is hotter than “Dancing” from a dollar standpoint (though “Dancing” airs more hours). “Dancing” draws $179K while “Grey’s” gets $281K.

Watch your DVR or VCR because “American Idol” is going to end at the odd time of 9:07 p.m., running 67 minutes tomorrow. This pushes “House” back a bit into the local news. It also happens to cut into the beginning of the “Dancing With the Stars” first results show on ABC. Coincidence? Doubtful!

Here’s a gofish link to the Sanjaya skit from SNL. It’s fairly funny even though Andy Samburg doesn’t quite nail Sanjaya’s whole persona.

And this blog item isn’t quite as meaty as the ones I posted over the weekend so feel free use those for your commenting Monday morning. Hopefully, I’ll have something fresh later Monday.

On a not-so-related topic for the handful of you who followed NBC’s “Idol” copycat “Grease: You’re the One That You Want,” it is cool that the two America selected for the Broadway show were not the obvious ones from the get go. America rejected the blond Sandy in favor of the brunette one Laura, who had been playing Sandy in Minnesota but is now going to Broadway. The more intriguing story is Max, an Arizona dude who looked more like Doody than Danny but ended up at the top thanks to his charm and vocal skills. He always had the feeling of being the underdog and that helped. He beat Austin, who had more traditional good looks, but his whole modus operandi was more “I just really really want it and I’ve worked dang hard to get here!” Emoting a sense that you’re even remotely desperate is not appealing.

Diana DeGarmo helped out Horizon Theatre Saturday night by taking part in its 9th annual Atlanta Stories fundraiser at the Georgia Tech hotel off Spring St. in Midtown. She worked with some actors and a playwright, who designed a mini-play based on her efforts to get on “American Idol” three years ago. After making it to the top 24, she was flying back to Atlanta with her mom. She was feeling deathly ill and airport security in Dallas felt given the recent SARS scare, they couldn’t let her on the connecting flight to Hartsfield. So in Texas, doctors discovered she needed an emergency appendectomy and since their luggage ended up going to Atlanta, her mom Brenda bought her an incredibly hideous dress at the hotel gift shop to wear on the plane post operation. Also, during the surgery, a fire alarm went off at the hospital, so she had to be wheeled out to the parking lot midway through the procedure!

Here’s a photo from the event I took. (That’s Dave FM’s Holly Firfer emceeing.) She’s much thinner than she was on the show. Thank eight performances a week on Broadway for that!

Although we were at the same table, Diana more or less ignored me. For whatever reason, I get a “stay away from me” vibe from her. I do know some of her diehard fans never forgave me for not being a full-on cheerleader for her cause in 2004. Check out the comments on her fan forum here and here. She must have taken that to heart though I have stated many times here I have absolutely no beef with her. She’s talented and so far, has parlayed her skills in the right way. Fortunately, her mom Brenda has always been friendly to me and she was in great spirits Saturday night.

With her “Hairspray” gig on Broadway over, Diana told the audience she’s working with Atlanta producers on a new album (no label yet.). Diana’s mom told me that the stalker from Australia Tanya Maree Quattrocchi is still harassing them a year later. Quattrocchi was arrested late last year after bombarding Diana with text messages and voicemails, impersonating her and trying to blackmail her. According to Australian press accounts, Quatrrocchi plead guilty in December but she has been free on bond and has continued to harass Diana, Brenda said. Ouatrocchi’s punishment is set for May 4 but Brenda is worried she’ll get no more than a slap on the wrist. Quattrocchi, Brenda added, to this day keeps tapping into their phone lines and hacking onto their computers. Crazy!

For the handful of you checking this on the weekend, here are a few tidbits to chew on:

The tabloids are proclaiming how thin Carrie Underwood has appeared lately. Has she fallen for the Hollywood “thin at all costs” pablum? Did you think he looked excessively skinny March 8 when she appeared on “Idol”? She definitely looks skinnier on tonight’s “Saturday Night Live” (featuring host Peyton Manning) but not Nicole Richie thin. She looked okay to me sizewise. While she’s never wowed me with personality, she’s got amazing vocals, a sweet, humble demeanor and killer songs.

She chooses her former No. 1 country hit “Before He Cheats” first. The song is climbing the top 40 charts but has long peaked on the country side, where her latest single “Wasted” just hit No. 3. She plays that single last right before the 1 a.m. hour. Also, during the SNL news break, Andy Samberg plays Sanjaya and sings an off-tune version of “You Really Got Me.” In the audience? Kristen Wiig playing Ashley, the crying gal. Next to her, Fred Armisen is crying, too. Then, the kicker: Dan Aykroyd bawling his eyes out!

CREDIT: www.laist.com

And given how relatively little publicity Elliott Yamin’s new release has gotten, he’s projected to sell 90,000 or so copies his first week, based on hitsdailydouble first-day projections. That’s very respectable and not that far off the mark of runner-up Kat McPhee’s first-week sales a couple months ago.

I also read this week’s TV Guide cover Q&A with Paula Abdul. She as usual said she’s never been drunk (not that she’s never had a drink) and she says she slurs her words and gets strange because she gets easily distracted by Randy and Simon’s shenanigans. It’ll be interesting when that reality show about her comes out. And she drinks either Diet Coke or sugar-free Red Bull during the show, not alcohol. Nobody ever asks her if she’s on any pain medication.

“Nobody, [including] my friends and my family, has seen me drinking, partying… ever,” Abdul told Entertainment Weekly. “Maybe somewhere I’m making a toast, but I’ve never been drunk in my whole life. I don’t do recreational drugs. I have the hardest job — mid-sentence I have to think of what I’m going to say, [and] sometimes I have to talk fast because I don’t want to be edited. I have to think about what I’m going to say because I might not particularly care for [a contestant’s] performance. How [can I express this] so they leave with a little bit of dignity and grace?”

It’ll be interesting to see her upcoming Bravo reality show “Hey Paula.”

For folks who were locked out of the soldout Daughtry show at the Loft (600 people max) on April 6, he will be back on June 2 for Star 94’s Starfest at the Arena at Gwinnett. (That’s about 140 times bigger). Starfest will feature Kat McPhee (“Over It”), too, along with Dashboard Confessional (“Stolen”) and Augustana, who have a top 40 single out “Boston.” Tickets go on sale March 31.

Daughtry’s “It’s Not Over” is currently No. 1 on the top 40 chart and the adult rock chart and top 10 in active rock as well as top 20 on the alternative chart. His single “Home” is already climbing up the pop charts as well. McPhee’s “Over It” is slowly moving up the top 40 chart and is now at No. 28. Carrie’s first big crossover hit “Before He Cheats” is now up to No. 21 on the top 40 charts, according to Mediabase 24/7. It was No. 1 ages ago on the country charts. She’s already got a fourth consecutive top 3 hit with “Wasted” on country.

Mute Math

Chris Sligh

The band Mute Math out of New Orleans is arguably one of the most obscure groups to have gotten a song promoted on “American Idol.” A few weeks back, top 10 finalist and Greenville, S.C. resident Chris Sligh sang the band’s tune “Typical.”

Now Mute Math is playing at the Variety Playhouse this Saturday. Sample their music at myspace.com. General admission tickets are available here at ticketmaster for $15 before fees.

I spoke with the lead singer Paul Meany Thursday. He said Sligh met the band eight months ago and told Darren King the drummer that he was about to audition for “American Idol” and promised to sing a Mute Math song if he made it to the finals. “They need to know about you!” he told Darren, who naturally said, “Yah, yah, whatever!” But in the end, Sligh helped them out!

“That was completely surreal,” Meany said. “I thought they only sung songs that were popular. We were in Europe at the time. I guess the irony was he was singing before millions of people. We were in some pub playing for 150.”

Mute Math, which mixes a blend of electronica and rock, is a classic post-Napster band. It started a myspace page a couple of years ago and began building a following through constant touring. they operate their own record label and totally bypasses the “big label” machine. They are hitting Atlanta probably a seventh or eighth time. (“I’ve lost count,” he said.).

This will be the band’s first appearance at Variety, which seats about 1,000. “I like them,” said Variety Playhouse promoter Brad Syna Thursday afternoon. “They’re a good band. The show is going to sell out.”

Ashley Ferl, the 13 year old gal who cried when Sanjaya sang (and not because she was in pain), was noticed by the producers during the dress rehearsal. So when she repeated her crying jag during the results show, they had the cameras ready for the closeup.

According to the Los Angeles Times, here is how it went down:

The family had tickets to attend a taping of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” which allowed them to attend a dress rehearsal of “5th Grader” or “Idol.” The mother and daughter found their way to the “Idol” rehearsal, where Ashley’s waterworks began. Producers summoned the two to a ringside seat at the final taping.

As for who she is backing, she said, “Sanjaya, Melinda [Doolittle], Gina and Jordin [Sparks].”

Stephanie Edwards, the 19 year old from Savannah voted off last night, told the print media she felt “I just lost myself” Tuesday. She said she should have picked a more upbeat song rather than a ballad and trying to compete so directly with LaKisha and Melinda.

I asked her whether there was more pressure this week because everyone was gunning for the top 10 so they could be on the “Idols Live!” tour this summer.

“It was definitely added pressure,” she told me. “You really want to make the top 10 so you can go on tour. People were more focused.”

And though she was bummed by not making the top 10, “I kind of look at the bright side. Maybe one day I’ll go on tour even if it’s not with American Idol when I put out my own record.”

And was she upset her “farewell” performance ended up being cut for time last night?

“I started crying toward the end of the song. That would hae been horrible for America to see that so I’m glad it was off camera,”

When asked if there was a side of her the “Idol” cameras never captured, she said, she has an “immature” side.

“I seemed really mature,” she said. “I think people may have thought I acted way older than I seem. People didn’t get to see the goofy fun side of me.”

And you can tell she’s been media-trained not to dis any of her colleagues: “I think everybody who got in the top 10 deserved to be there.” She wouldn’t even pick a favorite. She was surprised Chris Richardson was in the bottom two though she wasn’t surprised she was there given the judges’ lukewarm feedback Tuesday night.

Gwen Stefani will be the youngest person yet to be a “coach” on “American Idol.” (She’s 37.). The former No Doubt singer will perform her top 5 hit “The Sweet Escape” with Akon on Wednesday during the results show. She’s a sassy one so it should be interesting how constructive/tough she’ll be. The theme will be pop, a fairly broad genre.

Idol executive producer Ken Warwick told tvweek.com that the show is so swamped with logistics related to the upcoming charity event, they’ve had to put the songwriting competition on the backburner. That’s a bummer but you can tell “Idol” is pulling out the stops for this charity deal April 24-25.

Savannah’s Stephanie Edwards failed to distinguish herself (despite comparisons to Beyonce) and got the least votes. She’s the second one out and won’t be on the “Idols Live!” tour this summer (unless they change the rules or someone else drops out.)

I got that prediction correct. Chris Richardson was the other one in the bottom two. That’s a bit of a shocker. I had no clue his support was so soft after a solid performance Tuesday night.

Yahoo tries to parse out its searches to find answers for why the much tortured Sanjaya is still in the running. It says older women and the East Coast are helping him. Also, he’s getting support form Hawaii, where he spend a good deal of his formative years, according to this Yahoo story. Season three finalist Jasmine Trias probably lasted longer than she deserved but the Hawaiians helped her out big time.

And here’s a TV critic who’s going to vote for Sanjaya for “courage and moxie and class,” not his singing talent - or lack thereof.. Boy, that’s warped logic if I’ve ever heard it.

Here were the most abused contestants from past seasons:

Season one: Jim Verraros garnered tons of sympathy early on because his parents were deaf. But his singing wasn’t terribly good compared to his peers and Simon was rough on him. He was thankfully ousted the first week (with local boy E.J. Day, who was more mocked for his looks than his vocals.) I also saw him trip and fall during the “Idols live!” tour. Ouch! He actually came out of the closet and had a minor dance hit a couple years ago.

Nikki McKibbin, the “rocker” type from Texas with the red hair, ultimately got more abuse because she finished ahead of Tamyra Gray and finished third although she didn’t necessarily deserve it. She hasn’t ever released a full-fledged album despite her high finish, which says everything.

Season two:

Josh Gracin, the Marine who finished in fourth place, struggled in non-country genres and many believed he survived as long as he did simply because of his military status. But he got the last laugh: he’s been a popular mid-level country artist, with three top 10 hits.

Season three:

John Stevens, the red-headed kid, was just 16 when he brought his crooner stylings to “Idol” and finished in the top 6. Critics couldn’t stand him, feeling he was a one-note singer. He’s now at Berklee’s College of Music studying jazz vocals.

Season four:

* Scott Savol* was more mocked for his looks and his attitude than his singing, which actually wasn’t bad. He finished in the top 5, ahead of Constantine Maroulis, Anwar Robinson and Nadia Turner. I haven’t heard much from him since.

Season five

Kevin “Chicken Little” Covais was a dorky Long Island teen who was clearly out of his element compared to his peers and was voted out week two. He’s still going to school and will appear on Paris Bennett’s new CD rapping. (Yes, rapping.) Paris, by the way, gave him his nickname.’

Any other good candidates?