Bravo has committed to a TV series about the life of “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul. “Hey Paula,” set to debut sometime later this year, will follow Abdul, 44, as she films a new season of “Idol,” works on “Bratz: The Movie” and develops her own perfume and cosmetics line. “It fits the Bravo mandate to show what’s going on in the culture of the moment,” said Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick. Besides showing the frenzy of life in Hollywood, “Hey Paula” will offer “an intimate glimpse at the real woman behind the headlines,” Zalaznick said. Bravo hasn’t decided whether that will include mention of Corey Clark, the 2003 “American Idol” contestant who accused Abdul of coaching him and initiating an affair. Fox cleared Abdul of any wrongdoing. “What we want it to be is the current Paula,” Zalaznick said. “We’re not a biographical or historical channel.” The pop culture network has hits with “Project Runway” and “Top Chef,” and announced today (Jan. 12) that the upcoming fifth season of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” will be its last. It previously aired a similar docu-series with comic Kathy Griffin, who mocks her life on “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.”
Seriously? Who is going to watch that? If that interview is any hint what her show is going to be like, I feel for the people who are working on the show.
Kelly Clarkson will make a guest appearance on country music star Reba McEntire’s hit CW sitcome later this month. The initial American Idol recently attended at event that honored McEntire and has made her admiration for the vertan singer well-known. Look for Clarkson to appear as a ditzy local TV station intern on the January 14 episode of the show.
I hope this episode gets killer ratings, so that The CW will realize what a mistake it made by barely bringing back Reba! So watch to help show them the errors of their way!!!
Top Idol on the top 200 album chart: Carrie. No. 6 last week, she shot to No. 4, selling 292,000 copies (up about 47% over the previous week. For purposes of comparison, overall album sales, in the week leading up to Christmas, were up 34%.). Her total is 4.59 million.
No. 2 Idol: Daughtry. His sales were up nearly 40%, 250,000 compared to 181,000, and he crossed the magic 1 million line in actual sales (1.04, to be exact, in a rounded-off kind of way). He also went down on the chart, from No. 7 to No. 8, but that won’t dampen the celebration. It’s Not Over looks like a multi-format radio hit, too.
No. 3 Idol: Taylor. He fell from 2 to 15 on the chart, and his sales dropped from 298,000 to 202,000. That approximately 32% drop would normally be in the acceptable range, but not in a week when overall sales were up 34%. If sales normalize in the next couple of weeks, he could be facing a massive plunge. On the other hand, he did top 500,000 in two weeks.
No. 4 Idol: Kellie. Held her own pretty well, taking only a slight chart drop (56 to 61) and selling 63,000, up from 45,000 the previous week. Total is 336,000.
No. 5 Idol: Fantasia. Serious fan base evaporation. The album fell from No. 19 to No. 63, selling 62,000, down about 53% from the first week. Total is 195,000, which is, in some form of consolation, better than Ruben’s total already.
No. 6 Idol: Clay. Dropped from 124 to 143 on the chart, but sold around 20% better, 23,000 compared to 19,000, and his total is 483,000, so close to half a million he can taste it. His Merry Christmas With Love album nearly equaled A Thousand Different Ways this week, selling 21,000 (22,000 the previous week; total 1.3 million).
And, sadly, there is no No. 7 Idol. Ruben dropped off the chart in the most painful way imaginable. He sold more than 50% more albums last week, a tad less than 14,800 compared to 9,700, but the No. 200 album on the chart sold 14,803! Ruben’s total stands at 181,000.
Is it wrong for me to take pleasure on the failure of Taylor, Fantasia and Ruben’s albums? I have a friend that I have argued with for years and told her that they do not have mass appeal…and I was right and she is wrong! My guys might go out early, but they last longer on the charts, ie Clay and Daugtry!!! You go boys!! Sorry Taylor your 15 minutes up, and after a few appearances on AI6 you will slowly disappear from the limelight. I also have a feeling that J-Records is going to quietly drop both Ruben and Fantasia shortly after the new year.
You know how Paula Abdul always jokes on American Idol that Simon stuffs his shirt, well now we know he doesn’t. I don’t know about you, but I liked it better when I didn’t know they were real…ewww.
The Off-Broadway revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Zipper Theatre welcomes two new actors Jan. 9: former "American Idol" contestant — and recent Wedding Singer star — Constantine Maroulis and Les Misérables’ Jayne Paterson. Maroulis and Paterson join Gay Marshall and Robert Cuccioli, who opened the production. A Brooklyn native, Constantine Maroulis is a graduate of both the Boston Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music. He trained as an apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and appeared as Roger in a tour of Rent. In addition to his performances on "American Idol," he has also been seen on "Law & Order: SVU" and in several independent films. Maroulis also played a recent engagement at the Public Theater’s Joe’s Pub as well as a stint in The Wedding Singer. The Zipper Theater is located in Manhattan at 336 West 37th Street. For more information visit 
