Adam Lambert returns to American Idol

 

Yes, Glambert is returning to the Idol stage as a guest. Only thing is we don't know when.

Adam tweeted, "Yes, I have been booked on Idol! Can't reveal the date yet but it's a ways off ... So excited."

Well, yes, Adam, us too.

For purely selfish reasons I'm glad Adam's not appearing right away. I'll be away on vacation next week and may not be able to watch Idol, so I would have been awfully disappointed if his guest slot was coming up then.

(That's Adam in his appearance on MuchOnDemand in a MuchMusic photo.)

More Bachelor rumours (potential spoilers below)

I've already reported on Vienna's ex-husband spilling to the tabloids, so it hardly seems fair to ignore Tenley's ex-spouse doing the same.  

Police officer Ryan Natividad is warning that Tenley, a 25-year-old college admissions staffer who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif., is not as sweet as she appears.

"Tenley is a great actress, a master of manipulation," Ryan told The Hollywood Gossip blog.

He also claims she is infatuated with being famous and "plays the victim, like a broken record," which includes her claim that Ryan cheated on her, which he denies.

There's been no response so far from Tenley or Bachelor host Chris Harrison that I can see.

But it may be a moot point if the persistent spoilers floating around are correct and Jake Pavelka does indeed choose Vienna.

Another theory is that Jake chooses neither and instead goes back to Ali, the bachelorette who left the show for her job.

There were rumours on the web last week that Jake and Ali were seen looking cosy after The Women Tell All special.

The only way to find out for sure is to watch Monday on Citytv. The finale airs from 8 to 10 p.m., with the After the Final Rose special from 10 to 11.

My tentative plan at the moment is to blog live throughout the three hours, which involves a little bit of set-up with our web desk. I'll let you know for sure Monday during the day if that's what I'm doing.

Simon Cowell: the engagement's on?

We had Simon Cowell's spokesperson insisting last week he's not engaged, Simon's girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy telling RadarOnline that they are and now Us Weekly is weighing in.   

The magazine said on its website Friday afternoon that Cowell is engaged, quoting multiple insiders.

A representative for Cowell told Us that "Simon does not discuss his private life" when asked for comment, which is not the same as saying no.

Simon's relationship status is not the be-all and end-all, but if he is engaged I wonder why he would have had his publicist deny it last week.

It's not that I begrudge the man some privacy, but when you're as famous as he is it's hard to keep that sort of thing under wraps, particularly after a TV interview in which Simon declared that Mezhgan was "the one" got people talking. Well, that and the big diamond ring she was wearing.

(Mezhgan and Simon in Beverly Hills in a photo from metro.co.uk)

A cheerful group of American Idol castoffs (spoiler alert)

If you're saving Thursday's Idol results show to view later, you don't want to be reading this post.

I was one of the dozens of bloggers and journalists on the phone today with the four people who were voted off Idol after this first week of performances. And seriously, what a cheery upbeat bunch.

I realize nobody wants to get on the phone with the media after elimination and spout sour grapes, but Janell Wheeler especially was like a ray of sunshine on a dreary winter day.   

Janell, 24, who lives in Tampa, Fla., (right) said she had a feeling on Thursday she was going to be voted off, but "I'm doing good. I'm doing better than people would think."

For one thing, she's proud of the way she handled herself when Ryan Seacrest gave her the bad news.

"Several of the girls texted me and said, 'Janell, you had so much poise. You were a class act.' "

She also feels she sang "What About Love" better Thursday than she had on the performance show.

"I don't know how I could have a better experience than I did," she added. "I have no hard feelings. I'm so supportive of everyone else in the cast. I think I'm going to go on and be part of this family for a very long time. I'm so happy to have represented America even if it was just for one week."   

All four of the castoffs are planning to pursue careers in music. Janell hopes to leave her mark on country music and head to Nashville. Ashley Rodriguez, 22, of Chelsea, Maine, (right) vowed that "America will get to see me again." Joe Munoz, 20, of Huntington Park, Calif., would like to record pop music but also get into musical theatre and television. He mentioned a couple of Canadians, Michael Buble and Celine Dion, as artists he admires.

Tyler Grady, 20, of Nazareth, Penn., dropped the name of his band, Wailing Waters, so often it got kind of comical. He hopes to record an album with the band and hopes fans who appreciated him on Idol will transfer their allegiance to the group.

Tyler was keen to emphasize that he's not bitter about his Idol experience. When he commented on Thursday's show that he didn't get much constructive criticism from the judges, he wasn't disrespecting them, he said, just standing up for himself.   

A lot of the questions for him during the conference call had to do with seemingly conflicting advice from the judges, praising his '70s vibe during Hollywood Week but then attacking it during the performance show.

Tyler (right) was adamant he wouldn't have changed his style had he lasted another week, although he might have picked a more modern rock song to sing (his Wednesday choice was the Guess Who's "American Woman.")

"You do need to stick to your guns as a performer. You have to be true to yourself. Honesty as a performer is everything," he said. 

"There's no better school for the entertainment industry than American Idol," he added. "We literally had the best of the best, as far as the band, backup singers, the production crew..."

All of the contestants mentioned some of the stresses of the experience. Tyler said it was stressful performing on television (I never got a chance to ask him to expand on that). Janell mentioned the difficulty of getting used to the stage and the way the band sounded in that environment. Ashley mentioned how nervous everyone had been performing live on TV for the first time. Joe (below right) mentioned how nervewracking it was standing onstage with Tim Urban, waiting to learn which one of them would be eliminated.   

"I was blocking myself from even listening because I didn't want to get more nervous than I already was."

There were lots of questions about the judges' critiques, which some observers have described as harsher than usual.

"I think a lot of people thought they would be a little lenient considering it was our first live show, but it turns out they were coming throwing punches.... I wouldn't say they were too hard, but definitely we could have used a little love from them," said Ashley. "At the end of the day, I love them all. They've played such a huge role in this experience for me."

It certainly sounded like the good outweighed the bad, even for the short time the four of them got to be on the show.

Janell talked about the friends she's made from being on the show and the fact the experience has encouraged her to devote her life to music. 

"Idol has given me a little taste of the dream and I'm willing to work hard for it," said Ashley. She said the top 24 photo shoot was one of her favourite experiences - "It was just super glamorous" - and also mentioned working with Ricky Minor and the band, the wonderful fans she's gained and friendships with girls like Janell and Michelle Delamor.

She said she has no regrets, a statement echoed by Joe. "I've been pretty comfortable with all the decisions I've made. I'm pretty happy with what I did. I'm pretty proud of myself," he said.

American Idol alum in hot water

You all remember Chikezie Eze from Season 7 of American Idol, don't you? I do, because I liked his singing.   

MTV News says he was arrested in Beverly Hills Thursday night at a Neiman Marcus store on felony identity-theft charges.

Chikezie, 24, was detained after a suspect used "fraudulent means" to pay for a purchase, Beverly Hills police told MTV.

It wasn't specified what the "fraudulent means" were.

Chikezie was released on $50,000 (U.S.) bail on Friday.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - a slight correction

In my recap of Thursday's Survivor episode I wrote that Parvati called Jerri "a big old cougar." In fact, I see by reading Jeff Probst's blog today that she actually called Jerri a "bitter old cougar," which is even funnier (although as a member of the cougar demographic I think I'm going to side with Jerri in this battle, that and I can't stand Parvati). 

You can read Jeff's blog post here.

Simon Cowell's "fiancee" speaks up

I slept in today, so my colleague Malene Arpe beat me to this story, but Simon Cowell's girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy has reportedly told RadarOnline that they are engaged, last week's denials notwithstanding.

You can read Malene's report here.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Beware the pretty ones (spoiler alert)

(Colby socks it to Boston Rob during the immunity/reward challenge in a CBS photo by Robert Voets.) 

Part of the joy of watching Survivor from the comfort of your couch, in your warm dry clothes, with your pizza slice (or whatever) in front of you, is second-guessing the contestants.

What I was thinking Thursday night as I watched the Villains tribe give Randy the heave-ho was, "You idiots! Why didn't you get rid of Parvati?"

It's true that Randy was doing his best to save his own skin as he worked his way around camp trying to convince others to vote for Parvati, but the guy had a point.

"Parvati's a threat right now. She's going to be trouble when she meets up with her old friends James, Cirie and Amanda (on the Heroes tribe)," he said.

It certainly sounded like there was a chance that Randy's warnings were being heeded. 

Tyson told Rob that Parvati is dangerous.

"Every time I'm around her I just want to punch her in the face," declared Jerri (who Parvati later called a "big old cougar," though not to her face).

And Coach actually quoted Martin Luther King Jr. with something about "the greatest measure of a man is the way he rises in controversy and challenge," adding, "I dare to dream that Randy's going to wake up in this camp tomorrow. While I still have a brain cell in this game I will fight for him."

But in the end, Randy's teammates did what they always do in these situations, swallow their doubts and vote sheeplike for whoever the stronger players tell them to. 

So grumpy old man Randy took his leave, throwing his buff in the fire as he went and declaring later that he hoped his ouster came back to haunt the tribe.

Host Jeff Probst warned them as they prepared to leave tribal council that "if you don't get your camp life together, it will catch up to you and you will be coming back to tribal."

Things weren't that much more rosy at the Heroes camp.

Tom made nice with James, despite what he termed his "nasty, brutish bullying" of Stephenie the week before, as he and Colby tried to regroup and find a way to outsmart the other alliances.

JT tried to drive a wedge between Cirie and Candice by lying to Cirie that Candice didn't fully trust her (how come all the Heroes I was rooting for, like JT and James, are turning into Villains?).

I don't know whether Rupert was right about the tribe bonding over their group effort to catch a couple more chickens, but something enabled the Heroes to run roughshod over the Villains in the immunity/reward challenge, a sumo wrestling-type contest with players knocking each other off a platform into a pit of mud.

Villain after Villain got knocked off his or her feet. Coach thought he'd defeated Rupert, but when his hit was disqualified because he'd used his arm instead of those cushion-like things they were holding, he actually gave Jeff the finger.

As usual, after the debacle, Tyson had the best quote: "I guess they must have all eaten steroid sandwiches right before the challenge. They were all crazy-eyed. It was almost scary to look into their faces, not that it was intimidating; I was worried for their sanity."

And really, how can I add to that verbiage?

Next week could be interesting. Coach appears to have a freak-out and is seen with tears streaming down his face, and Rob decides he should get rid of Russell. Russell's alliance with Parvati, complete with snuggling in the tent at bedtime, had Rob worried enough in Thursday's episode to warn Russell about her, which led Russell to get annoyed and hide the camp's machete while Rob was sleeping.  

So it looks like there's a showdown coming between what I would consider the game's two strongest players. Mind you, having watched Survivor: Samoa, I wouldn't count Russell out just yet.

American Idol: Really America? (spoiler alert)

It's a funny old world. After a couple of dismal American Idol performance nights, I thought I had a handle on who was most likely to go home Thursday night. But it just goes to show you what a mug's game it is to try to divine the mind of the Idol voter.   

My picks for bottom two guys had been Tim Urban and Todrick Hall, and for girls it was Lacey Brown and Haeley Vaughn.

Safe, safe, safe and safe.

Tim was at least called to the spot of shame on the stage with Ryan Seacrest, but he made it through over, huh? Joe Munoz? 

It's not that Joe was setting my world on fire, but people, he was at least hitting most of the notes, which is more than I can say for Tim. 

I guess Ellen DeGeneres was being prescient when she told Tim on Wednesday he might skate through for being adorable (although even that is debatable to my mind).

Tyler Grady's ouster was a bit of a surprise as well, not because I thought he was good on Wednesday, just because I thought other people were worse.

And even though the average age of the Idol audience is supposed to be on the rise, I'm guessing there's still a sizable voting bloc that's never heard of the Guess Who or even Jim Morrison. Tough break, Tyler.

(That's Tyler in a Fox photo by Michael Becker.)

Actually it was kind of amusing to see him refuse to do the good sport thing and get a little pissy when Ryan asked him for a comment. "I felt I didn't get much constructive criticism," he said, "and what they (the judges) did tell me was a little too late."

And didn't Ashley Rodriguez (seen in another Michael Becker photo) look like she wanted to slap Ryan when he asked for her comment?   

"Well, what do you think?" asked Ryan. 

"Well, I'm going to sing a song," she snapped back. If only she'd shown some of that fire in her performance on Tuesday.

The other female who got the heave-ho was Janell Wheeler, another surprise for me: not because she was great, but because others were worse in my humble opinion. But then again, when she reprised "What About Love," I was thinking it was the right decision after all.

If I heard Ryan correctly there were more than 24 million votes cast.

Luckily, last night, we also had Season 8 finalist Allison Iraheta and winner Kris Allen there to show the newbies how it's done. Allison sang her new song "Scars" and Kris performed The Beatles' "Let it Be" while scenes of his trip to Haiti were shown on a screen behind him. Ryan said the song will be available on iTunes with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to earthquake relief. 

Now a couple of asides.

Does Kara DioGuardi's husband always show up at shows or was he just there to keep the silliness about Kara's supposed crush on Casey James going?

And you want to know one of the reasons why I'm going to miss Simon Cowell so much next year? He was the only judge with enough guts to actually answer when Ryan asked which of the contestants standing next to him would be going home.

The other judges all waffled when asked to choose one of a pair.

Asked whether Tyler or Alex Lambert would get the hook, Simon replied, "Based on the vocals I think, Tyler, it's over." And seconds later it was. 

So there we have it. Week one down and a brutal week it was. Let's hope next week's performances are better. 

In the meantime, if you check the blog around 6 p.m. Friday I hope to have interviews posted with the four contestants who got the boot Thursday. The conference call is scheduled between 4 and 5 p.m.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Stephenie's out but not down

Stephenie LaGrossa might have been the second person voted off Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, but she's holding her head up.

"It was upsetting to go that early.... There was nothing I could do," she said in a phone interview on Thursday.

"I’m happy. I think I came off with class. I never stooped to James's level. He came off like a total ass basically.

"It is what it is. I don’t regret anything."

You may recall that last week, James, Stephenie's teammate on the Heroes tribe, blamed her for the loss of the immunity challenge and got in her face about it at tribal council, to the point that Tom and Colby both came to Stephenie's defence.

I asked Stephenie if she'd seen James since the episode was filmed. She had, at the Survivor 10-year anniversary party.

"He was cordial. He bought my fiance a drink. I hung out with him for a moment, but I don’t see us ever being like best friends."

The fiance of whom she speaks is Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick. And with a wedding to plan in Napa, spring training at attend in Florida and a restaurant to run in Philly, it's not like Stephenie has time to sit around and fret about Survivor anyway.

This was her third time playing the game. She was also on Survivor: Palau, where she was the 10th person voted out, and Survivor: Guatemala, where she was runner-up.

"I always said if I ever get the opportunity, no ifs, ands or buts, I want to go back... I love the show. I love to compete."

You can understand why her friends and family had doubts, however. The competition is both physically and mentally gruelling.

"The challenges are very physical. There's the lack of food. You lose your strength," she said, pointing to the example of Boston Rob, who passed out on last week's episode.

"You might think you're tough as nails, but you don’t know how it's going to affect you. Maybe you didn’t drink enough and you're out cold.

"I’m fortunate that being on there three times in a row I never had serious injury."

True, her shoulder was dislocated and she's going to need surgery, but she points out she never broke anything or got a tropical disease.

"I mean it’s easy to watch from the couch, clean, with a full belly and say, 'What are they crying about those freakin' babies?' It's really much more difficult out there than you see on TV.

"Everyone I talk with says, 'Why the hell would you want to do it?' You cannot explain it to anyone. You cannot even explain how bad it is. The only people who understand it are the people who went on the show. There's such a bond with them because they went through the same experience."

But not a strong enough bond, unfortunately, to keep her from being voted off.

Stephenie thinks that had something to do with her not being based on L.A. where a lot of the other former castaways live and not going to Survivor social functions.

"I brought it to the attention of the producers. They swore to me it won’t be a problem, but that's not the case at all. The exact people I thought were aligned are the exact people that are aligned and probably will go to the end," she said.

She's referring to former players on Survivor: Micronesia, which included James, Parvati, Cirie and Amanda.

She'd like to see either Tom or Colby win, especially Colby because "Colby hasn't won yet," but they're both "just good people."

Would she ever go back a fourth time?

She can't rule it out completely, but seeing as she's getting married and planning to start a family, "I feel like I'm blessed I've come out of it healthy, so maybe I should just leave it at that."

Besides, she's in talks about possible roles on two different TV shows, although she can't say anything about them.

So it looks like Stephenie's surviving just fine without Survivor.

Don't forget to watch Heroes vs. Villains tonight at 8 p.m. on Global TV.