Kristy Lee Cook interviewed on "Christopher Closeup"

Kristy Lee Cook was interviewed by Tony Rossi the other day on his Sirius-XM radio show "Christopher Closeup," on which she discussed her love for horses and the "Kristy Lee Horse Heaven" foundation in addition to the role her faith has played in her music career. Listen to the interview and read a snippet of the conversation below:

TR: Kristy, when you were on American Idol you faced some challenging times. You were sick for several weeks. You had to endure some, what I thought, were unfair critiques from the judges. When you’re dealing with that kind of stuff, what got you through it mentally, emotionally, spiritually?

Kristy Lee Cook: It definitely was God helping me get through. That was a hard, hard thing to do and God made it easier for me. Everything happens for a reason and this is all part of His plan so no matter how hard it is, you’ve just got to keep going.

More excerpts from the interview are available on Rossi's blog, The Intersection. After all that she's been through since being signed and dropped by Arista Nashville, Kristy Lee really does come across as being a kind, caring human being here, and hopefully more people will view her in a favorable light after hearing about her philanthropic endeavors. To donate to Kristy Lee's cause, see KLCHorseHeaven.org.

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Keeping up with RJ Helton

Although it's hard to believe now, RJ Helton was just four places away from being named the first ever winner of American Idol back in 2002, as he placed fifth.

He started out recording inspirational music, as he released a Contemporary Christian album called Real Life in 2004, which sold roughly 20k copies and featured songs like "Even If," "Secrets" and "Come On Over," the latter two of which are currently on his official music MySpace page.

Back in October 2006, RJ came out to a SIRIUS radio station's morning show, saying he was no longer performing inspirational music because

"I can have a faith but can't be who I want to be. So a lot of it was just personal things I needed to overcome and just be proud of who I was. … Just because I am gay does not mean I can't love God."

RJ has most recently been participating in small Idol shows, as he performed at the Razz Room in San Francisco, Calif., back in August 2008 with fellow alums Trenyce and Julia DeMato, among others.

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Please note: IDOL LIVE's "keeping up with" weekly series will be put on hiatus beginning next week until further notice. Another series, called "flashback," will be installed in its place.

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Paula & 'Idol' execs not sharing holiday cheer

It looks like Paula is trying her hardest to make this season season of Idol her last as a judge. TMZ is reporting that Idol execs told Paula to tone down her loud chastising of them while making stops on her recent press junket to promote her jewelry.

The latest development according to the gossip site is that Paula was told to "put a lid on her feud" with the show's producers prior to her appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last night.

Things started to go sour publicly yesterday when Paula told Barbara Walters in an interview on Sirius' XM Radio that producers did not heed her warnings of the consequences of letting her crazed fan/stalker, Paula Goodspeed, make it to TV time on Idol. She said:

"It's fun for them to cause me stress. This was something that would make good television."

This caused a certain famous former producer to fire back, with Nigel Lythgoe telling People.com:

"The very fact that this happened, I'm really sad for her family. It happened about four weeks ago. For it to come back four weeks later, I'm really sad we're still talking about it."

Sure, Nigel. The only reason you're sad that it's still being discussed is because it makes you and your crew look bad. The longer it stays in the public domain, the worse things will be for Idol producers' reputations.

As a result of this latest Paulaversey, look for an announcement of Paula's intentions to leave the show to come midway into the eighth season. Considering all the times it seemed Paula was about to get the axe, it's kind of sad it had to happen this way.

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