'Idol' odds 'n ends: Paula Abdul says Howard Stern "hates" 'Idol'

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>A lot of Idol alums were dishing their two cents on the rampant rumors that Howard Stern would be replacing Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul refused to sit herself out of the discussion. When TMZ caught up with her earlier today, she had a few things to say about her matter. Watch her comments below:

Paula's remark that Stern "hates the show" is pretty strong, but she's probably right. Countdown to Paula being bashed on his Siruis radio show in 3...2...1...

>Kelly Clarkson continued her streak of outspokenness when she subliminally dissed her record label, RCA Records, and the "men in suits" she's had to work with all these years at the opening night of her European tour. Watch her speak to fans candidly about the remaining two albums in her six-album contract below:




Kelly performed at the Manchester Apollo in Manchester, UK, on Sunday. She will next perform in concert tomorrow at O2 Birmingham Academy in Birmingham, UK.

>Jason Castro got some nice promotion for his upcoming debut album release, as his current single "Let's Just Fall In Love Again" is featured in Overstock.com's latest commercial. Watch the ad below:




Jason excitedly tweeted about the commercial. After releasing The Love Uncompromised - EP in January, Jason's self-titled album will be out April 13.

>Jordin Sparks was one of many female celebrities to strut her stuff on the catwalk at last night's Heart Truth's Red Dress Fashion Show in New York City in support of Heart Disease Awareness Month.

Jordin and her fellow female celebs were all decked out in red dresses to raise awareness for the special occasion.

Other celebrities to walk down the runway included Kristin Chenoweth, Kim Kardashian, Estelle, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Robin Roberts and Raven Symone among others.

>Kimberly Caldwell has been hitting the pavement in support of her forthcoming debut album Without Regret, and her appearances on HLN's The Joy Behar Show was just her latest venue to dish on all things pop culture. Watch her serve as a panelist in the following collection of clips from Monday's episode:




Joy Behar has been making the inclusion of Idol alums on her talk show a regular habit as of late, as Katharine McPhee will appear on the show tonight and Ayla Brown will tape a segment for Monday's episode.

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"Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special" airs on FOX

It was as if the clock was turned back to 2005 during FOX's primetime lineup this evening, as Carrie Underwood commanded the stage for a full two hours with her variety special "Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special."

Carrie took to the stage nearly a dozen times to perform songs from her latest album Play On including "Cowboy Casanova," "Temporary Home," "Songs Like This" and "Mama's Song" among others. Watch her perform "O Holy Night" below:

Carrie had many friends on to perform with her during the special, including Brad Paisley, Kristen Chenoweth, Christina Applegate and fellow Idol winner David Cook. Cook performed Carrie's favorite song on his album, "Lie." Watch the performance below:



Probably the biggest surprise during the special was the amount of camera time Carrie's funny bone got. She played matchmaker with her sister Stephanie, at which she kept finding the least plausible pairings like Johnny Depp and Jack Nicholson posers. Carrie also demanded her mother get off the stage when she attempted to do a Vegas-like number.

But the funniest segment of all was when Carrie kicked off the night showing flashbacks of how she was able to rise to stardom on Idol, which included bribing the judges with cash, dognapping Ryan Seacrest's pug named Simon, using a voodoo doll to get Constantine Maroulis kicked off the show and psyching out Bo Bice before the finale by saying things about his appearance.

One thing is apparent from this special - if Carrie ever decides to give up singing (which she should never do), she could carve out a career for herself in comedy.

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