According to Diana DeGarmo, runner-up in the 2004 American Idol, the Melbourne woman that stalked her was "trying to ruin my life ... [with] sadistic cruely."

Posing as a fan, the woman blackmailed and stalked DeGarmo.

In a statement to Victorian detectives witnessed by an FBI agent, DeGarmo said Tanya Maree Quattrocchi unleashed a "text message war," while also placing hundreds of phone calls and attacks on her email accounts earlier this year.

DeGarmo said she felt trapped by Quattrocchi who "terrorized me for almost five months of my life that I can never get back." The criminal pled guilty yesterday to a charge of blackmail and stalking.

The troubling events began when DeGarmo accepted Quattrocchi, who posed as a teenage girl from Minnesota, into her MySpace account in February. After replying to a series of questions about American Idol and her singing, DeGarmo was continually pursued by this supposed fan, as she asked for personal information before posing as the singer and tricking the site's server into supplying her password.

According to a police summary, between March and June, Quattrocchi rang DeGarmo 369 times and text-messaged her 570 times.

In April, Quattrocchi emailed the singer's producer pretending to be her and was given two of her unreleased songs she later threatened to release publicly if DeGarmo did not meet her online.

"No matter how many times I changed my passwords or tried to keep my information safe, she would always break back in," the American Idol finalist said of her stalker.
After Quattrocchi was arrested on June 30, she told police she knew DeGarmo wanted her to leave her alone, but did not believe she was a stalker. She said she never planned to release the songs; it was a ploy so DeGarmo would contact her.

Ryan Seacrest recently sat down with Access Hollywood.

He talked about American Idol returning to TV in January - and noted that despite five seasons of picking through the country's most talented and untalented pool, the sixth series will still be packed with drama.

"When we set out to audition the contestants this year I think some of us thought, what's gonna be left? We've done this for so many seasons and we were fulfilled," he said. "We saw plenty of naïve talent [and] we saw plenty of good talent, so it's gonna make for a very, very dynamic audition series."

Seacrest said this year he's gotten fairly good at spotting contestants who audition for the exposure despite a lack of talent. He also found, especially on the West Coast, a large number of candidates who were unaware they had singing deficiencies.

"I know in Seattle specifically we got tired of a few of these contestants that were just from another planet," he told a gathering of reporters Thursday. "We have been surprised this year that even those who we thought were putting us on we're really naïve and believed they were talented enough to make it to a second round of the show."

American Idol also came across a rather determined group of auditionees during try-outs.

"You will see some of the most aggressive contestants," Seacrest noted. "More so than ever, the contestants who came out to audition came out to win and will let nothing stand in their way."

But enough about the talent pool. Ryan weighed in on what we can expect from Judge Simon Cowell, too.

"He's become grumpier," Seacrest said. "It's strange because he's getting richer, but he's getting grumpier. It doesn't seem like it adds up."

When it comes to post-American Idol careers, a certain movie title comes to mind: From Justin to Kelly not only stands as the worst after-Idol decision ever, but the title perfectly sums up the divide between what can happen if things go terribly wrong or terrifically right.

MTV.com recently reported on the direction careers can take once FOX cameras top rolling.

Justin Guarani has had the most disastrous career of any former winner or runner-up since Idol began. Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson has arguably had the greatest, with her third album one of the most anticipated releases of 2007.

So what did Kelly do right and Justin do wrong? It's not easy to pinpoint, but it's safe to say translating American Idol fame into legitimate stardom is no easy task. Fortunately — with Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler and other Idol alumni attempting to launch careers this fall — those who have been there were willing to share some lessons learned.

American Idol advice
"Really stick to what got you to the finals," Guarini offered. "That's the most important thing. I think that at times with my first album, it was a little bit of 'throw it at the wall and see what sticks,' whereas I hope with these guys, they're going to stick with the sound that got them there."

Since parting ways with the management and record label associated with Idol, Guarini has juggled managers (including Jennifer Lopez mastermind Benny Medina) and publicists, something season-three finalist Jennifer Hudson cautioned against."You wanna have everything in place, make sure you've got your whole team together, because you're gonna need that support behind you," said Hudson, who is garnering Oscar buzz for her role in Dreamgirls after a slow start. "Just be ready, because it's gonna be crazy. You're gonna be thrown back out into the world, but you're not gonna be that same Jennifer that nobody knew."

Like Hudson, fellow season-three finalist Jon Peter Lewis failed to get a major-label contract right out of the gate (although Hudson just inked a deal with Clive Davis' Arista Records), but he's since self-released an album and is touring regularly.

"I would say that anybody from Idol, winner or loser, has to learn to take good advice," JPL said. "There's a lot of people who are gonna tell you a lot of things, and you gotta look past the B.S. and listen to people when they have a good thing to say."

Continue Reading...

We already knew that Elliott Yamin had a great voice.

Now, thanks to the fame he earned on American Idol, the singer has a great, new look as well.

On the show, Yamin mentioned that diabetes had rotted his teeth and he was left with a crooked smile as he belted out tunes that most fans gobbled up (just not enough to have him defeat eventual winner, Taylor Hicks).

"The next thing you know I got offers from dentists all over the country to fix my teeth for free," Elliott said.

And so it's been done. Yamin, who has just landed a new publishing deal with Sony, has many things to smile about in life. Including shiny new, beautiful teeth!

Following her performance at the Billboard Music Awards this week, Paris Bennett sat down with TeenMusic.com. Here's a summary of that interview:

TeenMusic: Did you go on the American Idol tour after the show was over?
Paris: I went on the tour this summer and now I'm getting ready for a promotional tour coming up on my own. We're all kind of on our own now and separated and I'm kind of sad but I get a chance to see them all. Lisa and me are best friends so I get to see her and [Kevin Covais] when I got to New York. I get to see everybody at least once or twice a month. I miss them all. That was my new family.

TeenMusic: Where are you from?
Paris: Fayetteville, Georgia. My family is still there.

TeenMusic: What's coming up next for you?
Paris: I have my new album coming out which is called "Princess P." My first single is "Dreamin'" coming out next week. The album comes out in February. We haven't done a video yet but we're getting ready. Basically, it's about my American Idol experience, my life before and life after. I'm co-writing it. This being my first album, I'm co-writing with Ray Issac, a new guy. I have a producer doing writing with me.

TeenMusic: Holiday Plans?
Paris: For Christmas, I'll be on the Disney cruise. Me and Bianca Ryan are performing on the cruise and my family is going to come and join me on the cruise. Disney has their own island. We're going to go to St. Lucia and it is fabulous. I only have to sing one day on the cruise so I'm going to get some rest and chill out.

TeenMusic: One thing you want for Christmas?
Paris: You know, Reggie Bush but I don't think...[laughs]. I really want is a Playstation 3 but I'm waiting to see what's in the box and under the tree for me.

TeenMusic: Who are you rooting for for the awards? Or, who do you wish was nominated?
Paris: I'm not sure of all the nominees but Fergie should be nominated and All American Rejects for sure. Okay Go really needs one for video. Ciara, Chris Brown and Ne-Yo.

TeenMusic: Who were you listening to as a teen?
Paris: Gladys Knight, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Holiday, Etta James. I'm a little person with an old soul so I go way back, Aretha Franklin.

TeenMusic: Who do you wish you could spend a day in Vegas with?Paris: Gladys Knight, just being in her presence is all I really want. I would do anything to hang out with Gladys Knight. She's my favorite.TeenMusic: Message to your fans?
Paris: Keep dreaming, be you.

At the premiere for Dreamgirls last night, Jennifer Hudson more than held her own on the red carpet. She stood out, even, among other stars such as Beyonce.

Co-star Jamie Foxx said:"We are now watching a star – Jennifer Hudson – that's being born ..."

Amen.

As December 12 and the release date for his new album nears, we're receiving more information on songs Taylor Hicks will be covering.

The American Idol Season Five champ will tackle tunes written by Bryan Adams, Rob Thomas and Marvin Gaye on his upcoming self-titled effort.

Here are a few selections from the upcoming CD:

• "Ain't That Peculiar," originally performed by Gaye
• "Wherever I Lay My Hat," written by Gaye
• "Dream Myself Awake," by Thomas

"Soul Thing" and "The Deal" were both written by Hicks and released on his second independent album before he tried out for the FOX show.

One ... two ... three ... four ... five.

No, we're not counting how many albums Chris Daughtry has sold (that would be A LOT more than five).

But we did almost run out of fingers on one hand for the number of trophies Carrie Underwood took home last night at the Billboard Music Awards. The American Idol victor won for Country Album of the Year and Country Artist of the Year.

Paula Abdul presented at the show.

We've shown your Clay Aiken yukking it up on stage and Chris Daughty rocking out on a similar platform.

One place the American Idol Picture of the Day has not taken fans, however? DisneyWorld. We figured it was time to change that.

Below, Kevin Covais, Mandisa, Paris Bennett and Ace Young all take in the sights. Among them, of course, was a certain happy, silly dog. He's quite goofy, if we do say so ourselves.

Katharine McPhee isn't in Kansas anymore - or, to be more precise, she isn't singing the beloved tune, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," anymore.

It's part of an image makeover the American Idol runner-up is excited about.

"It's a really great thing," McPhee told MTV.com. "Love that song, it's been a great run, but it's time to put it down."

In fact, when McPhee's record label announced plans to include her signature song from Idol on her upcoming debut album, the singer replied in the negative, saying it didn't fit in with the album.

During her run, critics implied McPhee's greatest downfall was overconfidence, but her strong sense of self is also her greatest strength, as the 22-year-old Los Angeles native sets out to transition that fame into a career.

"The one thing you learn about American Idol is that you have to be really tough," McPhee said. "You learn how to be a powerful businesswoman right away, and I have gotten really strong about what I want and what I don't. And, for me, it's fun because it's me against all the guys."

What McPhee doesn't want is to be rushed. While debut Idol albums are typically released at the end of the same year as the finalists' season and subsequent tour, she's been vocal about pushing her LP to 2007.

The release date for Katharine's debut looks to be January 30.

"The most important thing is making it the record that is really me," McPhee said. "I think people didn't know what I was going to be. Was I going to be the Celine Dion, the Barbra [Streisand] or the Pussycat Dolls?"

McPhee insisted she's the same "classy Katharine" she was on Idol, but called the new tunes a sort of combination of the three.

"With everything I had to deal with [during the tour] with my voice being down, a broken foot and all of that stuff, it was nice to take time to really think about what I wanted to do," she said. "I was getting submitted a lot of songs that just weren't right and I didn't think I could make them mine, so it's been taking a little bit more time.

So now we've been building the songs like how you would if you were making a record if you weren't on 'Idol' and you would take five months. It's been a cool creative experience for me. I'm really a songwriter and I'm learning from the best people in the business."

Continue Reading...