A writer over at realitytvworld read the latest Us magazine so we don’t have to. Us provides diet “secrets” of the likes of Taylor Hicks, Jennifer Hudson and cover gal Carrie Underwood. Yes, that’s what I get to feed you all as we count down: 17 days until season six!

Wow. Carrie Underwood is growing up. Not only is her CD still going strong after more than a year ((It’s No. 4 this week, pushing her sales to 4.6 million!), but she is now dating a Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo.

Here’s a link to a Fort Worth Telegram story about it.

Excerpt:

In an article in Wednesday’s Journal Gazette/Times-Courier of Charleston, Ill., Romo told the sports editor of his hometown paper that no, he’s not dating Dallas diva Jessica Simpson, but he is seeing Underwood, the 2005 American Idol and emerging country music star.

And again, I’m crediting the Idol Chatter blog for sales totals in the week leading up to Christmas. There are seven Idols on the chart this week which is impressive.

Chris Daughtry remains in the top 10 at No. 8, with another 250K sold, pushing him just over 1 million copies sold before the New Year! Wow! His single “It’s Not Over” continues to rock as well.

Taylor Hicks dropped sharply from No. 2 to No. 15 with 202K sold, hitting 500K in two weeks. That’s respectable but it’s clear he’s not going to sell as many copies as Daughtry.

Kellie brought in another 63K, dropping from 56 to 61, with a grand total of 336K.

Shockingly, Kellie outsold the second week of Fantasia, who saw sales droop 53% and her position on the chart drop from 19 to 63. She sold 62K for a grand total of 195K.

Clay;’s album dropped from 124 to 143, moving 24K. That means 483K so he’s guaranteed a half million next week. His Christmas CD from a couple years ago brought in 21K for 1.3 million total.

Ruben fell off the Top 200, selling 14,800, three copies short of making the top 200. He has now sold 181K.

Back from New York from vacation, I stopped by the office briefly before I had to go to Augusta to help with James Brown coverage. RCA Records sent us the Kat McPhee song list along with a bunch of glam shots of Kat. What these titles actually mean in terms of what they sound like, we’re not sure yet though the spelling of “your” and “ur” generally means it’s an R&B song.

1. Love Story (written by Nate Hills, James Washington, Corte Ellis) Produced by Danja

2. Over It (Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Ruth-Anne Cunningham) Produced by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg

3. Open Toes (Nate Hills, James Washington, The Clutch; Balewa Muhammad & Candice Nelson, Katharine McPhee) Produced by Danja.

4. Home (Kara DioGuardi) Produced by Marti Frederiksen & Kara DioGuardi

5. Not Ur Girl (Nate Hills, James Washington, Corte Ellis, Katharine McPhee) Produced by Danja

6. Each Other (Nate Hills, James Washingotn, Corte Ellis) Produced by Danja

7. Dangerous (Nate Hills, James Washington, Corte Ellis) Produced by Danja

8. Ordinary World (Walter Afanasieff, Emanuel Kiriakou, Lindy Robbins) Produced by Walter Afanasieff & Emanuel Kiriakou. (Definitely not the Duran Duran song.)

9. Do What You Do (Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, James Fauntleroy II, Makeba Riddick, Rob Knox) Produced by The Underdogs

10. Better Off Alone (Austin Carroll, Susan Marshall) Produced by Emanuel Kiriakou

11. Neglected (Nate Hills, James Washington, Kara DioGuardi, Balewa Muhammad, Katharine McPhee) Produced by Danja

12. Everywhere I Go (Babyface, Ernest “Bishop Young Don” Dixon) Produced by Babyface.

Back from New York from vacation, I stopped by the office briefly before I had to go to Augusta to help with James Brown coverage. RCA Records sent us the Kat McPhee song list along with a bunch of glam shots of Kat. What these titles actually mean in terms of what they sound like, we’re not sure yet though the spelling of “your” and “ur” generally means it’s an R&B song.

1. Love Story (written by Nate Hills, James Washington, Corte Ellis) Produced by Danja

2. Over It (Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Ruth-Anne Cunningham) Produced by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg

3. Open Toes (Nate Hills, James Washington, The Clutch; Balewa Muhammad & Candice Nelson, Katharine McPhee) Produced by Danja.

4. Home (Kara DioGuardi) Produced by Marti Frederiksen & Kara DioGuardi

5. Not Ur Girl (Nate Hills, James Washington, Corte Ellis, Katharine McPhee) Produced by Danja

6. Each Other (Nate Hills, James Washingotn, Corte Ellis) Produced by Danja

7. Dangerous (Nate Hills, James Washington, Corte Ellis) Produced by Danja

8. Ordinary World (Walter Afanasieff, Emanuel Kiriakou, Lindy Robbins) Produced by Walter Afanasieff & Emanuel Kiriakou. (Definitely not the Duran Duran song.)

9. Do What You Do (Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas, James Fauntleroy II, Makeba Riddick, Rob Knox) Produced by The Underdogs

10. Better Off Alone (Austin Carroll, Susan Marshall) Produced by Emanuel Kiriakou

11. Neglected (Nate Hills, James Washington, Kara DioGuardi, Balewa Muhammad, Katharine McPhee) Produced by Danja

12. Everywhere I Go (Babyface, Ernest “Bishop Young Don” Dixon) Produced by Babyface.

Clay is on Days of Our Lives today at 1 p.m. on NBC. He taped his appearance in October.

I earlier reported Taylor (No. 2 debut, 298K), Carrie (No. 6, 199K, 4.19 mil total), Fantasia (No. 19, 133K) and Chris (No. 7, 181K, 795K total) stats. Here are some more, courtesy of the man with the SoundScan stats, Ken Barnes at Idol Chatter, plus additional stats I gleaned off Mediabase 24/7 radio airplay. While radio airplay doesn’t correlate as strongly to sales anymore, they still matter to a significant degree in terms of keeping a record in the public’s eye.

Kellie Pickler keeps chugging along, moving up to 52 from 56 and another 45K sold. She’s now sold a respectable 274K. Clay is up to 119 from 124 with 19K sold and 460K total. He’ll reach 500K but not much more than that at this stage with no radio airplay and no major tour forthcoming. Ruben, even with a No. 1 R&B AC single, looks like he’s in trouble, ranked at No. 192 and 9,700 sold for a total of 166K. It’ll be interesting to see what his second single will be (if there is even a second single) to help revive his sales hopes.

On the singles chart (according to Mediabase 24/7), Daughtry’s “It’s Not Over” (in less than a month) jumps to No. 27 on the top 40 charts, No. 19 on Hot AC, No. 28 on active rock, No. 47 on alternative and No. 22 on mainstream rock charts. Top 40 is clearly embracing the song and it’s on a trajectory for an easy top 10. Star 94 has given it 29 spins in the past week while Q100 has given it 34 in its first week out on that station. It’s a far better song than, say, “The Real Thing,” Bo Bice’s single, which cracked the top 20 earlier this year. If the momentum keeps up, Daughtry’s CD will see its sales fly well past 1.5 million by March and two million by June.

Taylor doesn’t have a single out for some odd reason. I guess there’s no place to place his music. He’s getting seriously zero airplay from his current CD—not a single track from his CD was traced at all on any radio station that Mediabase 24/7 keeps up with the past week. And that’s probably hurt his first-week sales and may mean he will have trouble selling much more than 1 million copies. Will his label find a home for one of his songs somewhere? I think “Runaround” could go to AC and Hot AC.

Kellie’s single “Red High Heels” edges up to No. 19 on the country chart from 20, with 1,734 spins, up from 1,601 a week earlier. The single has been out about three months and has a passable chance of going top 10. She’s the third Idol to hit the top 20 on the country chart after Carrie and Josh Gracin. Kicks played it 13 times, down from 16 a week earlier and has spun it 155 times since Sept. 12. If the single keeps gaining strength, 400K is not out of the question for her. And its success virtually guarantees the label will support a second single.

Fantasia’s “Hood Boy” moves up to 24 from 27 on the urban charts (963 spins, up from 916 a week earlier) and 52 from 62 on rhtyhmic top 40 (that’s like 95.5/The Beat). It’s showing steady progress and could go top 10. V-103 played it 13 times, down from 20 a week earlier (112 total spins since October 30). Hot 107.9 played it only twice. If the single builds, Fantasia’s sales won’t drop off the way Clay’s and Ruben’s have. I expect she’ll get a second single and video.

Ruben’s single “Change Me” has been spun 12 times by 102.5 and 4 times by V-103 the past week. V-103 has played it about 200 times since July while 102.5 has done the same since August. The song peaked out on the urban charts a few weeks ago at No. 30 and is down to 42. He is still at No. 1 on the less influential urban AC charts (1628 spins vs. 1613 a week earlier).