There has been a lot of buzz surrounding Ryan Seacrest and his abnormal behavoir this season, especially over the course of the past few weeks. Now the latest shoe to drop is Crystal Bowersox's accusation that she was "betrayed" by Ryan in reference to a story that TMZ broke over the weekend regarding her nearly quitting the show a few weeks ago.
Michelle Ruiz of ABCNews.com actually wrote an extensive piece on Ryan's antics, which cited a radio interview Season 9 semifinalist and early favorite Katelyn Epperly did with an Des Moines, Iowa-based station in which she made a text message sent from Crystal public. Per the article:
Epperley told the radio show that after she texted her friend Bowersox about her reported crisis, Bowersox responded with a text of her own, saying, "I'm fine…betrayed by Seacrest!"
Yikes. I'm guessing tonight we will hear Ryan and Crystal attempt to do some damage control, maybe in the form of a subtle conversation in the vein of "Oh I'm so happy to be here, I had a rough time a few weeks ago but I'm glad we were able to work things out blah blah blah..." Either way, Ryan's behavior is not going unnoticed, and whether it has to do with an attempt at boosting ratings during this awful season or maybe perhaps Ryan has finally caught a case of Simon's boredom, people will continue to talk about it until Ryan lays off the caffeine and gets some sleep.
Maybe the new TV king has finally reached his limit.
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Blake Lewis began making the rounds in support of his forthcoming album, Heartbreak On Vinyl, beginning with an appearance on New York City's FOX affiliate morning program, Good Day New York, on Mon., Aug. 3. On the show, Blake spoke with its co-hosts and performed the album's first single, "Sad Song." Watch Blake's performance below:
Blake said the album is about the death of the physical medium of music, and it will additionally be available to purchase on vinyl records. The album will be out on Tues., Oct. 6.
>David Archuleta posted his latest blog entry from his tour with Demi Lovato on his official Ning site on Tues., Aug. 4. A snippet from the entry is found below:
After the Pittsburgh show, we had the North Carolina show, and then went down to Florida! The state where I was born and lived my first 6 years of life haha. We had a day off there, and so I got to spend it with some friends who are amazing people! I also got to spend time with my Grandparents! I love them. My grandparents were actually able to come to all 3 of our shows in Florida, and it was so great. I honestly don't remember the last time I was able to spend that much time with them, so I'm really grateful for it.
Arch also talked about some second cousins he did not know existed until he did research and ended up inviting them to his show, and ended the blog entry by encouraging his fans to research up on their families to see if they had any relatives they did not know about.
>Jordin Sparks spoke with ABC News about her new album, Battlefield, in addition to her thoughts on Chris Brown and Paula Abdul. Watch the interview below:
Jordin should get points just for speaking to Darius Brown while getting her nails done. That must take some talent.
>Amid all the Paula mania that happened this week, the controversy raised by Ju'Not Joyner got two more voices to contribute to the discussion. Ayla Brown, a semifinalist on the show's fifth season, told ABCNews.com:
"A few weeks in, when I was rehearsing, Ken and Nigel came in and said, 'You know, we knew you were pretty but we really didn't know you could sing this well,'" Brown said. "It made me think that I was on the show, and some people are put on the show, just to get ratings."
Similarly, Justin Buckles, a former production coordinator for Idol, said that the way the show's contestants are treated "is slave labor and I am not afraid to say it."
>Daughtry's highly anticipated AOL Sessions were uploaded to AOL Music last week. Watch the entire set below, starting with "No Surprise."
Other songs performed during the set include "Possum Kingdom," "Every Time You Turn Around," "Home" and "Ghost of Me." In addition to the performances, the band participated in a Q&A session.
A cloud of controversy has surrounded Paula this week, with rumors swirling that she blew up during talks of her contract with Idol producers, which is set to expire at the end of this season. Tonight she opens up to Cynthia McFadden on ABC's late night news magazine Nightline, on which she dishes on a host of topics including Kara as the fourth judge, her medical history and whether or not anyone could ever replace her as a judge.
Watch a clip of Paula talking about how she found out about Kara being added as a fourth judge below:
A snippet from the conversation about Paula's future as a judge on the show can be read below:
"This is my last season under contract," she told "Nightline" in an exclusive interview. "I love the show, I do. I love what I do on the show and I'm loving it more this season than ever."
And whatever the future holds, don't count her out.
"Don't bet against me," she said, "because the most powerful kryptonite I possess is the connection with the people."
Now, this is not the first time ABC News has tried to inject itself into an Idol controversy. Back in 2005, ABC's Martin Bashir interviewed Season 2 expelled contestant Corey Clark about his charges that Paula had a romantic relationship with him while he was on the show in 2003. The charges were denied by Paula and a FOX internal investigation turned up nothing, leaving Corey to look like an idiot that just was interested in peddling his album release.
This left ABC News with a black eye, so it is interesting that it has taken until now for the organization to go after one of its chief rivals. This time around it is not as cutthroat, though, as Paula is directly involved in the report and will obviously defend herself when some of the more controversial questions are lunged at her.
Paula's interview will air on Nightline tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET.
Jennifer Hudson took part in ABC News' "50 States in 50 Days" event this morning as she performed a set at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Good Morning America. One fan even camped out overnight to wait for the doors to open at 6:30 a.m. this morning. But it was not just Jennifer's singing that got people talking. Take this story, for instance, from CelebTV.com about how Diane Sawyer & crew admired Jennifer's $5,000 engagement ring.
Watch video of Jennifer singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" here. (Photo courtesy of Washingtonian.com).
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