Blake’s new CD “Audio Day Dream” is set to come out November 27. Pre sales are not yet available. I haven’t seen a release date yet for Jordin’s CD, which is tentatively called “Madamoiselle” on amazon.com.

According to the “Idol” web site:

Blake will be working with a diversity of producers on the album, including Sam Hollander & Sluggo (Gym Class Heroes, Boys Against Girls), JR Rotem (50 Cent, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Sean Kingston), Ryan Tedder (V. CENTRAL TO THE PROJECT), David Hodges (Evanescence), BT, Sean Hurley (Robin Thicke), and Mike Elizondo (Maroon 5, Eminem).

OK Magazine is reporting that Kat McPhee is engaged to her long-time boyfriend Nick Cokas.. She’s 23. He’s 42.

And don’t forget to check out “American Idol Rewind” this weekend, at 6 p.m. on WATL both tonight and tomorrow. It’s season two all over again and both Ruben and Clay have active roles in narration/intro sections. The Idol Web site folks are being lazy. I can’t find an updated Idol rewind site.

Simon Cowell earned an estimated $45 million last year, according to the Forbes top TV earners.. That ranked him at No. 3 behind top gal Oprah and Jerry Seinfeld, still raking in $60 million a year, mostly residuals and DVD sales.

Ryan Seacrest is ranked No. 16 with $14 million. Here’s some info..

The top 10 also includes Kiefer Sutherland, George Lopez (who just cashed in on a rich syndication deal), Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Donald Trump.

In the meantime, the “Idol” folks are now in Miami. The Miami Herald is choosing not to release the secret locale.. Should I when I get it for Atlanta?

Brace yourself Clay and Ruben fans. The syndicated weekly show “American Idol Rewind” is back, airing season two starting this weekend (6 p.m. on WATL-TV Saturdays and Sundays and at 5 p.m. Saturday on WGN-TV). They have fresh interviews with almost all the finalists and semifinalists— including Frenchie Davis and the biggest loser Corey Clark.

Ruben will be hosting and Clay will help out, too. This was a fun season, the one that solidified “Idol” as a true phenomenon and we’ll get to see Atlanta’s own Vanessa Olivarez, too! (I just spoke with her and will post another entry about her whereabouts.)

To refresh your memory, here’s the original Web site with the contestants.. I may do a phoner with Ruben and they’re checking on Clay’s availability.

And get out of the way, Kanye and 50 Cent. Reba’s on board! Reba McEntire’s “Duets” album just rocked the house with more than 300,000 in sales, fueled partly by her duet with Kelly Clarkson “Because of You.” Kanye fell to No. 2 and 50 Cent to No. 3.

Ken Barnes over at USA Today has been doing a season-by-season “revisionist Idol” vote and is now doing an “ultimate” Idol poll with 15 contestants: the six who won the “revisionist Idol” (Kelly, Clay, Fantasia, Bo, Elliott and Melinda), six runner ups in the polls (Tamyra, Kimberley, Diana, Carrie, Daughtry & Blake) and three displaced real winners (Ruben, Taylor and Jordin.) This should be fun. Take part here..

My top 10: Kelly, Fantasia, Taylor, Carrie, Ruben, Jordin, Bo, Clay, Daughtry, Elliott. It’s kind of fluid. On a different day, I might have moved the rankings around.

And look who has a job already: LaKisha Jones is going Broadway joining “The Color Purple” starting January 9, 2008. She will be a church soloist at all evening performances and Sofia during matinees, backing up Chaka Khan. Fantasia is set to leave as lead Jan. 6 and the show is seeking a replacement.

In the meantime, “Idol” is being really stingy about releasing info about the later audition dates. They are trying to avoid “groupies” or something like that, according to the Omaha World-Herald.. My publicist buddy, Alex Gillespie, who I’ve been working with since the beginning in 2002, has been deliberately vague about when or where the later Atlanta auditions are. All I know is it’s happening the week of October 8, not much more than that. As you know, I’m going to fish around for more info this week. This was not the case seasons two and three when I was freely given the locations and times and got plenty of access. Oh, well.

Kellie Pickler, who had been opening for the Brad Paisley tour (but not the date here in Atlanta), will be opening for Rascal Flatts. The incredibly popular country act will be headlining Philips Arena October 19. Ticket info here. Tix go on sale this Saturday with prices ranging from $51.75 to $67.75. Those are odd denominations, arent’ they?

And proving the worldwide appeal of “Idol” contestants, Daughtry is currently in Australia and Elliott is in the Phillipines.

In the United States, “American Idol,” despite occasional accusations of meanness, is considered the epitome of a “family” show that kids, parents and grandparents can watch together.

But in China, where “Idol’ style shows have flourished as well, the government is concerned by the tone of the shows.

Here’s an excerpt from [a Reuters story.]:

Friday’s move by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) was to further “resist vulgarity” in television programmes, the media watchdog said on its Web site (www.sarft.gov.cn) on Friday.

“Currently, some television talent shows have vulgar problems concerning the design, judges, performance of the contestants, which have damaged the media image and caused strong reactions from viewers,” it said in a statement.*

In the meantime, the “Idol” judges were in Dallas over the weekend for the later auditions. They are set to hit Atlanta the week of October 8 but as of now, are not planning to do any press conferences.

I spent Thursday in New York City, mostly visiting friends but I did get to attend “Good Morning America” with Reba McEntire singing Kelly’s “Because of You” to promote her Duets CD. (She later went to ‘The View’ and Sirius Satellite Radio.). Here she is on my cruddy camera, minus Kelly.

I also walked by Fantasia’s “The Color Purple” theater where she is prominently displayed. (I didn’t quite get as much “Idol” stuff out of this NYC trip compared to June, when I got to see Daughtry and have coffee with Tamyra Gray.)

And here’s a fun story about the summer ‘Idol” camp, courtesy of Blender magazine.

Here’s an excerpt:

For FremantleMedia, which coproduces the TV show, Idol Camp was a no-brainer. “We’re constantly inundated with requests from younger kids to interact with the brand,” says Keith Hindle, Fremantle’s executive vice president for licensing and the man who first proposed the camp. “You have to be 16 to try out for the show, but this is a place where kids can learn what it’s really like to be a performer.”

No matter which side of the Idol debate you’re on — landscape-shifting beacon of populism vs. festering cancer on the soul of civilization — there’s no denying the show’s track record. America’s Next Top Model has yet to launch an A-list catwalk career, and no Fortune 500 company has an Apprentice grad as its CEO. But American Idol mints genuine stars. For a generation of would-be chart-toppers, it’s become the quickest, surest route to pop success, open to every Tom, Dick and Sanjaya with a microphone and a dream.

*But how realistic are those dreams? Has Idol empowered fans to follow their hearts — or created a nation of hopelessly deluded young fame-hounds? “Of all the kids here, maybe two could make it past the first round,” says Jon Peter Lewis, a finalist on Idol’s season three and an instructor at the camp. “Plenty of them could be great backup singers. But these kids don’t want to be backup singers. They want to be stars.” *

CMT will be airing her new video for “So Small” 64 consecutive times Thursday morning from 6 to noon.

And if you want to re-live the Clay/Ruben year, “American Idol Rewind” starts the weekknd of Sept. 29. I’ll have more details on which stations are airing them soon. It’s been on two stations locally on both Saturday and Sudnay nights.

If you want to see some teasers for the Oct. 19 “Next Great American Band,” the kissing cousin to “American Idol,” the main web site has posted them here and here

And if you happen to catch Oprah, Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson will be on today. Also, Elliott will be on Rachael Ray tomorrow.

Plus, here’s the roughest review of the Idols Live tour I’ve seen from my old newspaper The Virginian Pilot in Norfolk, VA.

A sampling of this attempt at comparing the concert to a mass murder. Nice!

Many beloved songs by American artists were murdered during a show called the “American Idols Live” tour at the Hampton Coliseum Tuesday night.

Tunes by cherished musical acts including Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson and Labelle were slaughtered inside the venue as thousands looked on helplessly. Culprits included finalists from the popular FOX television show “American Idol”; weapons of choice including flat singing, wanton disregard for proper notes and keys, lifeless choreography and reckless vocal runs. Cheese and schmaltz were also used.

Security officers and police inside the arena did nothing to stop the massacre, despite the continual, piercing screams of young women and children who watched the tragedy unfold for several hours. Besides the songs, no one was seriously injured.

Simon told “Extra” that Ryan did okay in his first Emmy hosting gig. Simon gave Ryan 2.5 stars (presumably out of four).

“There were a few uncomfortable moments,” Simon told “Extra.” “We were expecting a two, so I’m going to give him a two-and-a-half. So he did better than expected.”

USA Today had a piece about the relationship between Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson.

“Honestly, she’s the light at the end of the tunnel,” Clarkson told the paper. “It’s good for every young singer to have somebody they can model their careers after.”

“It’s an odd but warm relationship,” says Chet Flippo, editorial director at CMT.com. “Kelly is Reba’s musical daughter. They’re completely without artifice together.”

Kelly first dueted with Reba in 2002 but bonded during a CMT special in February. This led to the duet of “Because of You,” which recently peaked at No. 2 on the country charts (briefly hitting No. 1 on the rolling 7-day Mediabase charts). And now Kelly is managed by Reba’s hubby.

Watch for Reba and Kelly on Oprah today at 4. And Elliott Yamin shows up on Rachael Ray tomorrow.

Kimberley Locke recently told Billboard she had talked to Clay and Ruben about a possible tour next year and she thought they were both receptive. Clay recently nixed the idea. Here is Locke’s clarification on her blog.. Bummer. I would have loved to have seen that!

I just wanted to clarify that recently during an interview regarding my “Christmas” album will Billboard, I was asked about any fellow Idols that I may speak with. I mentioned that I had spoken with only Clay and Ruben because I do try my best to keep in touch with them. I went on to say in that interview that I had spoken with them about a reunion concert tour idea and that Ruben and Clay were game for it because they told me they were. In fact, in my last conversation with Clay he suggested that my manager and agents contact his. They did. And they have spoken.

And in telling Billboard we were “in talks” and “Now it’s up to our agents and managers to book it,” I was being truthful in the information that I had received. I told Billboard I was “hopeful” that the tour would come together. (That didn’t get printed.) In no way did I imply that we were all committed to this tour idea. So contrary to Clay feeling “unfortunate,” that the story “found it’s way to the press unauthorized,” it was not “unauthorized.” It was put out there my me, who conceived the touring idea and called my friends for their involvement. If Clay had chosen to return my phone calls over the last two months, he would perhaps not feel as “unfortunate,” and he would have been made aware that I mentioned it to Billboard. I want to thank the fans of Clay and Ruben and my own who were positive and supportive of this idea, which again, was just an idea. It will now be put to rest.

Hmmm… notice a tone of unhappiness on Kimberley’s part that Clay hasn’t talked to her in a couple of months?

She also noted she’s almost down 40 lbs thanks to Jenny Craig and her single “Band of Gold” is now top 20 in the AC charts.

Oh, and she’s touring with Dave Koz this Christmas. So Kimberley is staying busy even without Ruben and Clay.

Although “Idol” won a minor Emmy last weekend, the show lost the big one for the fifth year in a row to “The Amazing Race” for best competitive reality program. Even having the show on Fox and placing Ryan Seacrest as the host didn’t make a difference karma wise. Not to say “The Amazing Race” doesn’t deserve it but the “Idol” producers must be flabbergasted at this point!

And how did you like Seacrest as host? I thought he was nowhere near the presence of Conan O’Brien a year ago but he made a few funny jokes. And he had to crack a gay joke, because well, that is the elephant in the room right? After coming on wearing a Tudors-era suit that looked suitably absurd, he said, “This looked a lot less gay on the rack,” he said. “Can I keep it?” The funniest moment was simply when he greeted Teri Hatcher, the gal he, um, dated that, um, one time, or something like that.

Oops. I accidentally posted a blank entry here. Here’s the news: Bo finally has a CD coming out called “See the Light” and it’s not on RCA. He never said RCA dropped him or vice versa. It now looks like he’s releasing his latest independently and it’s due out October 23.

His web site has some tidbits of info.

It’s not yet available for preorder on amazon.com but if you have a PC, you can do so at walmart.com.

You can hear Witness on his myspace page. It sounds more like the Southern rock he prefers over the pop-rock of “The Real Thing.”

His MySpace page says he’s also appearing October 11 at the Cumming Country Fair, the only scheduled concert. Last year, he had to cancel his appearance there because of health problems. Let’s hope he’ll be able to make it this time. Cumming is where his mom lives and he spent a few years in his childhood here in Atlanta. He now lives in Nashville.

Here are some details about the Cumming Country Fair.

Kelly Clarkson tickets for those who already purchased them at the now-cancelled Gwinnett Arena show can pick up new tickets as of 10 a.m. Friday, according to Ticketmaster.. There are some fan club pre-sales but for the rest of the world, tickets officially go onsale at noon Saturday. Seats are priced fairly modestly at $39.50 and prices are the same in the front row as the back row. She also appeared at a Coca-Cola/VitaminWater private function at Opera Sunday night. And she’ll be on Oprah next Wednesday (9/19) with Reba McEntire.

Earlier this week, someone emailed me to say a Howard Stern character named Eric the Midget is a huge fan of Diana DeGarmo and has been calling her mom Brenda asking Diana on a date. This Stern fan web site rang the alarm.

I called Diana and she confirmed that Eric has indeed called her mom but she’s never spoken to Eric on the phone. “I’ve met him a few times,” she said. “He’s a nice young man.” In other words, his so-called “stalking” is pretty mild compared to that Australian nut who has literally harassed Diana, her friends and family for nearly two years. The Australian authorities only gave that woman 150 hours of community service and she continues to break into Diana’s friends’ computer files and email systems and bug them. “I’m numb to it all,” she said.

Diana has otherwise kept busy making appearances at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame last weekend, an upcoming Otis Redding tribute in Macon, NASCAR races and concerts for the USO. No info on her next CD.

For some of the sixth season finalists, this is truly a farewell to “Idol” and the beginning of a new career. For others, it’s a farewell in the public spotlight period. For “Idol” tour organizers, this is a cash cow. And for the audience, it’s a mental souvenir, a way to pay homage to people we voted for (or didn’t) for months this past spring.

Having been to all six of these “Idols Live” tours in a row, I have to say this one was structured differently than the past ones when they would have each person do some solos, mix in a duet or trio, going from 10th to the winner. There was more use of instruments, more multiple combos, more modern songs and for one year only thanks to Blake, tons of beatboxing (none by Jordin). Despite the overall lack of star power that depressed attendance, the producers managed to take advantage of the strengths of the final 10 to pull off an entertaining show covering at least snippets of 37 songs over three hours (including a 30-minute intermission.)

They paired compatible people with some success. LaKisha and Melinda together, for instance, did some decent Motown while Chris Richardson and Blake beatboxed and rockers Gina and Chris Sligh covered Fall Out Boy. The Sanjaya-Melinda “Proud Mary” combo didn’t work out so well partly because Melinda lacks the Tina Turner aggression and Sanjaya is, well, Sanjaya.

As usual, staging was relatively spare but the “Idol” tour organizers added backup singers for the very first time instead of using backup tapes. And the light rigging was far more sophisticated, with four circular rigs that were lifted up and down depending on what lighting they wanted.

While the average attendance of the first 30 dates was just 63 percent vs. 93 percent-plus a year ago, the Gwinnett Arena was fairly full; I’d say it was about 90 percent. But a year ago, Atlanta was able to absorb two dates at the arena rather than one. So demand is way down. And ticket prices have edged up over the years. In fact, the higher-priced tickets were more expensive than the Sept. 22 concert here with Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello.

I hated the opener, “Let’s Get It Started” simply because the Black Eyed Peas annoy me. Fortunately, it was the only true “group sing” they did. At the end, they dispensed with the group sing (past years have featured songs such as “Living in America” and “Lean On Me”) and opted to have each person sing a clip of an earlier solo. It’s marginally less cheesy that way. Sure, the show had a fair share of cheese, including any time Sanjaya showed up or the “Lady Marmalade” trio of LaKisha, Gina and poor Haley. And we wouldn’t expect anything less from “American Idol.”

Anyway, here are my impressions of each of the contestants, from 10th to 1st.

Chris Sligh He got quite a bit of stage time and did a fine job with the least familiar song of the bunch, Mute Math’s “Typical.” And it’s true: he has improved his stage presence since “Idol.”

Haley Scarnato Bless her heart. She tries but she’s like a raindrop on a windshield after a summer thunderstorm and the hot sun hits it. After a minor sizzle, she evaporates from your mind. At least she has those amazing legs. She keeps them in jeans for much of the concert, then unveils them near the end during “Ain’t No Other Man” and I have to say, she has all the makings of a great go-go dancer. Gina Glocksen She impressed me more than she did on the show. She came across cool and confident without any attitude. Her take on Pink’s “Who Knew” was one of my favorites of the night though it helps that I do love that song. The closest past “Idol” she reminds me of is Ryan Starr and Gina is far better in all ways (except maybe Ryan’s belly button.)

Sanjaya Malakar He’s 17 years old and not quite ready for primetime vocally or in the dance department. Lucky for him he possesses a weird charisma that translated for a few fleeting moments, but other times, he was simply doing a bad imitation of Michael Jackson. As noted by other reviewers, his moonwalk is no better than any random person on a sidewalk. And yes, he did wield a mean tambourine during “Crazy.”

Chris Richardson This Virginia man got a lot of stage time and he landed in fifth place for a reason (tied with Phil, more or less, since they were eliminated at the same time). He’s got a decent voice, decent stage presence and does decent covers of songs like Maroon 5’s “This Love.” But is he exceptional? No. He’s clearly a nice guy, but it’s going to be a tough slog for him out in the real world.

Phil Stacey This guy has Ryan Seacrest-like charm in the sense he has the best hosting skills of this bunch. He is also the one most likely to namedrop Atlanta and try to get people to stand up or clap. His performance only solidified my conception of him in the spring: good voice, modest stage presence, better go country because that’s his own chance to break through a la Josh Gracin.

LaKisha Jones She didn’t touch “I Ain’t Telling You I’m Not Got Going” but opted for the equally difficult torch song “I Will Always Love You.” Sure, she more or less aped Whitney Houston’s version but wow, she did a stunning job nonetheless. Easily. this was the best vocal of the night.

Melinda Doolittle She excudes sweetness and light but she simply lacks that true personality to become a big star. We knew that already. I did enjoy her “(You Make Me Feel Like a ) Natural Woman” and giving the spotlight briefly to the female backup singer, an homage to her past.

Blake Lewis He did what he did on the show: beat box. A lot. Probably too much. Then again, his ability to create an a capella song with that looping device during “She Will Be Loved” was oddly mesmerizing to behold. And “You Give Love a Bad Name” is still great fun.

Jordin Sparks Our “Idol” winner did us proud. She is incredibly versatile and her vocals sounded amazing tonight. In fact, her versatility is her strength and her weakness. She sang a little R&B (“I Who Have Nothing”), singer-songwriter pop (“You Were Meant For Me”) country (“Broken Wing”) and rock (“Heartbreaker” and “Living on a Prayer”), all quite well. But who is Jordin Sparks? We’ll have to find out. Her dance steps are still clumsy but she’s improving little by little. For now, her charming, youthful, 100 watt smile and that eyebrow lift she makes warms our souls and makes us hope for great things.

I’m sitting in the exact same spot here at the Gwinnett Arena I did last August to kill time between the meet and greet (which was at 3) and the concert (which starts at 7.). It’s on the second level near the smoking area, out of harm’s way. Nobody bugs me here.

For the media meet and greet, the show producers typically brings out four or five contestants. They gave us Chris Sligh, who I already interviewed; Haley Scarnato (ditto); Gina Glocksen; and Chris Richardson. In other words, none of the top 5. Oh, well

I spoke with each of them for a few minutes and didn’t get anything earthshattering, not that I’d expect it.

Chris R. (above) did say that the turnout at Greensboro last night was poor. That’s probably because there was no hometown love this year in the form of Clay Aiken or Chris Daughtry. He also said he will be doing some beatboxing tonight with Blake, which should be amusing. He said he had beatboxed before but he purposely avoided doing so on the “Idol” show because he didn’t want to be a copycat.

Speaking of copycat, he said he has hung out with Justin Timberlake and almost ended up on Timbaland’s new album but he got onto “Idol” instead. (He and Timbaland both live in the Hampton Roads, Va. area.)

I asked Richardson about the VMAs. He missed Britney but saw Chris Brown. “He’s fantastic. He did a great job being as young as he is.” I agree!

Sligh (above), who wore a Boston Red Sox shirt (he’s been a fan since he was seven years old), said he regularly checks my blog and MJs blog and said he had posted a link to my interview Monday night and asked his fans to post comments. And he thanked me for the interview, noting that he’s had reporters who seem to troll web sites like Television Without Pity and conclude that everybody hates him. He said he literally had some reporter ask him why everyone hates him. (Hate him? Why Chris? Sanjaya is the one a lot of people hate!). And he said one reporter took his most negative quote out of a 15 minute interview and used it. I said that’s just part of the territory and the fortunate part of doing this blog is I can be far more comprehensive and provide more context.

I didn’t get much out of Gina Glocksen (above) beyond the fact there is so little drama backstage and everybody likes each other, yada yada. No shock there. She does look like she’s lost weight and seems quite personable. When I told her about the USA Today story noting that attendance is way down from past years, she said this tour is getting better reviews than past ones. That’s probably true although that didn’t really address the issue of lower attendance.

Haley was better looking in person than I thought she was on the show

“It doesn’t bug me,” said Haley (above), about the lower attendance numbers. “We made tour. That’s a blessing in itself. We get to go out and it doesn’t matter if it’s 10,000 or five.”

I had a contact at Marquis Jet, Lisa Senters, who provided me access to that company’s meet and greet with all ten contestants. I decided to use that as a venue to take pictures. I got shots of nine (except LaKisha, who didn’t show up for some reason to the meet and greet) while they signed, scattered throughout this blog entry. Sligh had a sign made saying he can’t talk, doctor’s orders, which was amusing. (Then again, he did talk to me, so he did technically defy the doc on that front.)

ABOVE: I forgot to have my flash on so this shot blurred. I should have taken another one.

After the signing, the Marquis Jet/NetJet folks got to mingle with the contestants with food and drink for a few minutes. Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks hung around the longest talking with the little kids. They were struck by Frances Mitchell, an adorable 7 year old from Atlanta who looks like Annie. They asked her to sing something and pretended to be the TV judges. She softly sang “My Favorite Things.” Melinda and Jordin then applauded like Paula. It was cute.

I spoke to Sanjaya for a few moments and asked him if he saw Chris Brown at the VMAs, who did a nifty Michael Jackson move during his set. Unlike Chris Richardson, Sanjaya hadn’t. He didn’t know about that. I then asked if he did the same and he just kinda grinned. I then told him Clay had sung “The Way You Make Me Feel,” too, which surprised him. I forgot to ask if his sister was around because she’s been at several tour dates.

“Extra” spoke to Simon Cowell today and he opened up about Britney Spears’ recent MTV VMA performance: “She stole the show whether you liked it or not…the only thing you heard about the following day was Britney Spears. It wasn’t the best performance. She wasn’t ready for it.”

On her wardrobe, Cowell states, “She missed the snake…it wasn’t a great outfit…I would have given her bigger shorts.”

Cowell’s advice to Britney is “Dump her friends….fire the stylist…be sensible…put her in rehearsal for four weeks, get her into the gym.” He adds, “When she’s on it, she’s incredible.”

About the single, “Gimme More,” Cowell says, “This was just an okay record.” Cowell jokes, “She should have said I’ll be back in an hour, I got a bit of a false start.”

Jennifer Hudson has nabbed a role in the “Sex & the City” film, an assistant to Carrie Bradshaw..

Anwar Robinson from season four has joined a national tour of “Rent.”. No Atlanta date is set.

Kimberley Locke, Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken are in talks to do a combo season two reunion tour next year. That would be quite cool and bring in an impressively diverse crowd. Locke gave the scoop to billboard.com. Locke is planning a Christmas CD, by the way.

I also heard Mandisa and George Huff are filming a Christmas special for Atlanta-based Gospel Music Channel in Nashville next week.

And Kelly Clarkson makes a questionable clothing choice during last week’s pre-game NFL kickoff show in Indianapolis. We heart you too, but not exactly a blouse to match the song, eh? At least she sounds great as always doing “Never Again.”

I spoke with 10th place finisher Chris Sligh last week by phone while he was in Portland, Maine in advance of Wednesday’s Idols Live concert at Gwinnett Arena.

He’s the first person to say he’s actually read this blog. With his own blogging and his MySpace page, I can tell he definitely spends a lot of time tooling around the Web. So that’s very cool.

He’s picked up a management company (Blanton, Harrell, Cooke & Corzine) now that 19 Entertainment has let him (and most of the others) go. It’s the same company that reps Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant. He hasn’t fully decided what route to take on a record label, be it a mainstream major label, a Christian label or an indie imprint (like Constantine and Elliott have done.)

He writes new songs constantly, even during the middle of the concert and almost missed a cue once because he was so immersed. Check out his myspace page for some of his demos.. He’s also written songs for Gina Glocksen and Jordin Sparks.

Sligh has worked hard to improve his stage presence, which he admitted was not his strong point on the show. He said he literally practices in the mirror and makes sure he’s exuding emotion while he sings so he connects with the audience. He is also set to lose more weight after gaining 100 pounds over two years. At 6’1”, he is down to about 240 (the tour has enabled him to lose about 15 pounds) and wants to drop to a healthier 200. He plans to hire a nutritionist and physical trainer when he and his wife move from Greenville, S.C. to Nashville in October. “I’m at a place in my career where I can afford things like a trainer,” he said.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: You’re about three-quarters done with the tour. How are you feeling?

Sligh: It’s a little bittersweet. All of us have made such great friendships. It will be tough to say goodbye at the end. At the same time, I’m ready to go into the studio and start working on the record and move on to the next phase of my life.

Q: How’s the songwriting?

Sligh: I’ve written a lot of stuff. I try to treat it the same way as if I were at home. I force myself to write every day. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s crap. Every day, I have three, sometimes four hours to write. I’ll record right through a concert. I go out for a number, have a 20-minute break, go back out, that type of thing. The other guys make fun of me.

We talked about how the tour has to truncate songs a bit and he said they took Mute Math’s “Typical” and trimmed it from 4 minutes 50 seconds to about 3 minutes 20 seconds. But relatively speaking, that’s not as bad as “Idol,” which trims songs to 90 to 100 seconds.

Sligh: “That was the toughest part of the show. As a songwriter, I study how other people put songs together. Cutting something to a minute and a half was like murder. I would sit with Bert [the arranger] and try to help him cut it down. But I couldn’t do it. I told him to cut it and I’ll sing it. Nigel and Ken (the executive producers) like big endings on songs. So I had to do that with “Trouble” although the actual song is pretty soft. [He sings the ending normally, then imitated what he had to do on the show.] They had me change it to a very Broadway-esque ending.

One week, he said he got clearance to do a Nirvana song, “Heart Shaped Box” but he felt it was wrong to snip that song to “Idol” length so he went with a DC Talk song instead. “You can’t cut Kurt Cobain in half and expect to get away with it.”

Q: What will your CD sound like?

Sligh: I’m very turned on by music that uses layers. Sonic layers. U2 is a huge influence. I like Coldplay, the Killers, stuff like that. Brit rock, stuff I write is very epic with big soaring choruses.

We then segued into talking about his blogging.: “I’ve always been a blogger and forum guy. I blogged about life. But now I’m trying to adapt since people now read my stuff and take every word and read into it. They are assuming I’m trying to say bad things about people. It’s a challenge not to come across as a complete tool.”

Q: You and Sanjaya seem so different. Do you get along?

Sligh: Sanjaya has become one of my best friends. People got on my case when I said he was annoying. People thought I was trashing him. But we’re together 24 hours a day for weeks. We all get annoying. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t say something and have it come across the way you necessarily want it to be.

Q: I also heard you’re the cousin of Terry Fator, that singing ventroliquist who won [NBC’s] “America’s Got Talent.”

Sligh: We’re second cousins. He’s my dad’s first cousin. I’ve been to family reunions with Terry and knew he was a ventroliquist. But holy cow, I didn’t know how good he was! He sounds just like the people he’s imitating! I heard Simon [Cowell, executive producer] called Terry and told him he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to that show.

We then address expectations for the 10th place person.: “That’s a position I’m glad to be in. I think coming in 10th place, nobody has ever gotten signed. Expectations will be very very low. I’m hoping that I can take people by surprise, be that stealth kid. I don’t think I’m going to be the biggest artist in the world. That’s not my expectation. My expectation is I don’t want to work a 9 to 5 job ever again.”

Q: Are you going to be a solo artist or be part of a band?

Sligh: I will be a solo artist with a band. I wont call myself Sligh and put a Sligh tattoo on my back. [He’s alluding to Daughtry, Chris Daughtry.] I’m going to be Chris Sligh and the Half Past Forever. That’s my old band. They’ll be my touring band.

He also offered his theory on Idol’s ability to sell records.: “Some people may agree or disagree but Idol is a great tool for publicity but it does not sell records. Look at Taylor and Kat. Everyone thought she’d be huge. To me, it’s not going to be Idol that sells. It’s the music. And obviously, my image is part of it. Idol opens doors but it’s up to you from there. You put out a bad album, you won’t sell.”

It took “American Idol” five years, but the show has finally taken home an Emmy.

During the Creative Emmy presentations Saturday night, which include mostly technical and minor categories, “Idol’ won for outstanding technical direction for its “Idol Gives Back” episode, which raised $76 million for children in the U.S. and Africa. The scene in which they had Elvis “come back to life” and duet with Celine Dion was a cool camera trick and was probably the key scene that got Idol the victory.

“Idol” usually polices YouTube to keep stuff off the site but it left the Celine-Elvis duet for kicks.. There was a body double used for the long shots. The Elvis footage is from a 1968 comeback special.

And here’s how it was done..

Until now, “Idol” had been nominated 22 times and lost 22 times.

CBS’s “The Amazing Race” has won the big category, outstanding realitiy competition program, every year since the category’s conception. Could “Idol Gives Back” give “Idol” the boost for the Emmy this year? Maybe. Even Ryan Seacrest said that could give the show the edge next Sunday when the major categories are presented.

For those who like to parse the details, the L.A. Times said there’s a question on whether the “Idol Gives Back” episode is a special or a regular show within a series. It had all the elements of a special and didn’t even have a competitive element in the end. Effectively, it’s competing in both categories that represent a regular series and a special. Should it? I don’t care but it does show that the “Idol” producers really wanted one.

And I’m experimenting and trying to embed a video of Carrie Underwood singing “Go Your Own Way” on the “Fashion Rocks” special that aired Friday night. Lindsey Buckingham accompanies her.

Tell if this works:

Courtesy of Idol Chatter, Carrie Underwood’s “So Small” debuts at No. 6 on the digital songs chart with 71,000 in sales. The song is knocking on the door of the top 10 on the country charts. “Wait For You” has sold 615K so far and 28K last week, ranking 29. It peaked at No. 4 on the airplay charts and is now starting to slide in airplay. And Daughtry’s “Over You’ cliimbs up to 54, with 19K in sales and 181K total. (It’s now up to No. 17 on the top 40 charts, moving up steadily). “Home” crosses the 1 milliion download number. “It’s Not Over” is up to 1.45 million and Carrie’s “Before He Cheats” has moved 1.77 million downloads. Jordin Sparks’ single “Tattoo” is now up to No. 58 on the top 40 airplay charts with 354 spins the past 7 days and only 12 stations spinning it (none in Atlanta.)

Top Billboard sales guy is Daughtry at No. 30, with 20K sold and 3.06 million total

Carrie: No. 46, 14K, 5.89 mil

Kelly: No. 52, 12K, 631K

Elliott: No. 64 10K 381K

Bucky No. 132: 5K, 266K

Mandisa No. 171, 4K, 40K

Kellie: No. 174, 4K, 621K

Fantasia, fell off the chart, 3,500, 467K

Kelly’s “Breakaway”: 5,200, 5.84 mil

Constantine: 1,700, 17K total

Kat, 900, 354K

Taylor, 300, 695K

Ruben, 300, 234K

Clay, 200, 517K

Paris, 200, 19K

Kimberley, 200, 15K

Ryan Seacrest is not only hosting the E! pre-Emmy red-carpet festivities, but he’ll also be hosting the awards show on Fox Sept. 16. The self-deprecating Dunwoody High School graduate —  who also hosts a morning radio show in Los Angeles, the American Top 40 radio countdown (heard on locally on Star 94), “American Idol,” E! network news and the upcoming Super Bowl entertainment festivities — actually found a few minutes to talk to the media this week:

Q: [the first few questions are mine] So you say you’re doing a song-and-dance routine?

Seacrest: Rodney — you know my training and background… We’re still fine tuning exactly how we’re going to pull that off. When I get back to L.A. after Charleston [f