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Ryan blames Simon for ‘Idol’ ratings drop

When asked about the decline, reports Canada’s Globe and Mail, Seacrest replied, “Well, the knee-jerk reaction would be Simon.”
/ Source: msnbc.com

Ryan Seacrest says he knows why “American Idol” took a ratings hit this season. He says it’s Simon Cowell’s fault.

When asked about the decline, reports Canada’s Globe and Mail, Seacrest replied, “Well, the knee-jerk reaction would be Simon.”

Seacrest says there’s just too much of the acid-tongued judge: “Clearly there’s an over saturation of his character.” Seacrest pointed out that the ratings are still high, and addressed buzz that bosses want to change some of the “Idol” judges. “That’s clearly rumor,” he said. “I’m positive you can’t recreate the chemistry that we have with the group on ‘American Idol.’”

McPhee fans fight backIn other “American Idol” news, Katharine McPhee fans are outraged that the former contestant was treated rudely on a Washington D.C. radio station. Now the show’s DJ, Kane, is hitting back.

McPhee was interviewed by an intern named Ally on Hot 99.5’s The Kane Morning Show. The interview was supposed to be in the studio and the station had agreed that McPhee wouldn’t be asked any personal questions. But McPhee didn’t show up at the studio — handlers explained that her flight had been delayed — and one of the first questions the intern asked the 23-year-old singer was about her 42-year-old boyfriend. The intern asked if having a boyfriend who was so much older hurt or helped the relationship. An obviously irritated McPhee said she didn’t want to discuss her private life and the interview went downhill from there.

Angry fans deluged Kane with hate mail. “Maybe she should have been nicer and been live as she promised,” Kane replied to some of them.

The angry calls and e-mails kept coming, and Kane shot back a lengthy response.“I’m getting increasingly frustrated by e-mails from McPhee fans that don’t know the whole story and are writing me angry e-mails,” Kane wrote to them, scolding, “It makes Kat look bad when ever other word in your e-mail about how you thought we didn’t handle the interview professionally starts with an f---.”

He went on to describe in detail a scenario in which he said McPhee was pitched to the radio show on the condition that she appear live, that the appearance be pre-promoted, and that there would be no personal questions. He also challenged the excuses he was given for her failing to appear live — pointing out, for example, that the flights from L.A. to Washington weren’t delayed that morning.

“Slam us, go-head,” Kane wrote. “We agreed to have her on; we followed the rules. They didn’t tell the truth. Kat could have had a little more fun with Ally. She could have said, ‘You guys know you’re not supposed to ask me personal questions. What’s wrong with you?’ Rather, she just got mad.”

Notes from all over
Lindsay Lohan
has finally dumped Calum Best. The rehabbing star is “devastated” after she saw pics of her sometimes-sweetie partying with two hookers, reports the London Sun. “Lindsay hasn’t been returning any of (Best’s) calls since he got to America,” a source told the London Sun. “She knew Calum was no angel but she felt humiliated when she heard what he had been up to just as she checked herself into rehab.” ... Tyrese is not shy about his powers of seduction. “I’m definitely more talented than most of the guys I know,” the actor and R&B star told Elle. “A lot of guys who just want to have sex will sit with the same woman and try all night. I’m able to look at a woman, have a five-minute conversation with her, and tell if it’s a waste of time or not. I figure things out a lot faster.”  ... Jamie Lee Curtis says she failed as a mother because she often put her career first. “My daughter was not the priority,” the “True Lies” star tells Ladies Home Journal. “I would take jobs wherever I had to take them and I would work all the time. You can talk about working for the greater good of the family and all of the spin you want to put on it, and yet I was just following my mother at the expense of my daughter.” And she has harsh words for people who criticize celebs who adopt. “It’s just hateful,” she told the mag. “It’s just a hateful thing to say. It’s obscene to question motive. These are human beings helping other human beings. End of story.”

Jeannette Walls Delivers the Scoop Mondays through Thursdays on MSNBC.com