FanHouse American Idol

Here's how it works, puckheads: Gain a Hilary Duff, lose a Kellie Pickler from the ranks of hockey girlfriend hotties. The former American Idol contestant (she's the one standing to the right of a disturbingly muscular Carrot Top) was dating Nashville Predators winger Jordin Tootoo, but she indirectly told a Chicago radio station last week that the couple was done. OK! Magazine reports today that Pickler not only told a Michigan concert audience that she and Tootoo had split up, but also gave him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty:

The 21-year-old singer confessed to the screaming crowd saying that her former boyfriend, Nashville Predator hockey player Jordin Tootoo, cheated on her. Joking to concertgoers, she said she hoped Jordin got his teeth knocked out during that night's game.

Please send well-wishes and support to Miss Pickler on her official MySpace page, where the Charlotte Observer reports all of Tootoo's photos have been removed.

Meanwhile...Jordin, dude: There are plenty of other former American Idol losers in the sea. Katharine McPhee. Diana DeGarmo. Personally, I've always been a Nikki McKibbin man myself.Sorry, No Photos
Previously on FanHouse:
Tootoo Loves Him Some Kellie Pickler T-Shirts

If you thought FanHouse was the place you could go to avoid American Idol hype today, well, you were wrong. We have to at least mention that Jordin Sparks, the daughter of former Giants and Cowboys cornerback Phillippi Sparks, won the show's sixth season last night.
If you care about the details of how she beat Blake Lewis, here you go:

In her showdown with Lewis, 25, on the evening of May 22, Sparks sang ``Fighter,'' by Christina Aguilera, ``A Broken Wing'' by Martina McBride and ``This is My Now,'' a song by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody that Lewis was also required to perform as his final effort.

Anyway, I've always been a Phillippi Sparks fan, mostly because I liked the way Pat Summerall pronounced his name when he was calling play-by-play on Giants and Cowboys games. Any time Sparks was in on a tackle, Summerall would say "Phillippi" in just the right combination of "Phillip" and "Felipe."
Anyone else remember that?

The Washington Nationals are all about the reality television genre. Robert Fick and Dmitri Young, for example, are big fans of American Idol. And they're none too pleased with Wednesday night's results. Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog got Fick's take on Idol vote, and on the current season in general:

"I just think it's the way she looks," he said of Melinda and her untimely exit. "Melinda was 29. I don't know. Melinda's the best singer, she is. But the way she looks, she doesn't look like the American Idol." Point being, he loves Idol. Been watching for years. I asked for his favorite contestant this season. "I liked Gina Glocksen the best," he said. "I thought she was good, and I thought she got screwed."

From the information I've obtained (which is my way of saying that I'll never admit that I watch even a little American Idol when in "reality", I'll watch a few songs between innings), half the finalists got screwed via "Sanjaya-mania", which basically means that not only did Gina get screwed, but the show has officially jumped the shark. Dmitri Young weighs in after the jump:

Grammy Award Winner Kelly Clarkson, who is kicking off her NASCAR spokeswoman duties this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, experienced a couple of shocks to her system today.

The first was a close call with her bladder during a ride-along with reigning Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson:

"I literally almost peed myself. It was scary. I didn't like today. Jimmie did a really good job driving it. I was just really scared. ... I almost got sick. I don't know how they do that over and over and over. I just felt like we were going to crash the whole time. I was probably making him nervous. I didn't scream or anything, so I wasn't that much of a wuss."

She was still reeling from the first jolt when she found out that fellow pop star Britney Spears had shaved her head.

"OK, are y'all kidding? Somebody just told me that out there, and I think that's a joke. She does not have a shaved head. Are you for real?"

No joke.

"Wow. Hey, Sinead O'Connor. Right on. She's bringing it back. She's Britney Spears. She can do whatever she wants. It will end up being cool. Somebody will start shaving their head; everybody will. I find that hard to believe until I see a picture."

Then she saw the picture.

"Well, she's still hot. So whatever. If you can pull that off, go for it. I like my hair, so I'm keeping it. ... That's crazy."

Clarkson's Daytona 500 Pick:

"I'm Kasey Kahne all the way. Those pretty blue eyes, whew!""

Well, there go NASCAR's matchmaking plans. Sounds like NASCAR's American Idol is already smitten.

American Idol is the most popular show on television, and it's the first episodes of each season -- the ones where we all get to laugh at guys like William Hung -- that get the highest ratings.

But American Idol can't hold a candle to the NFL. The AFC Championship Game easily beat the season premiere of American Idol in the ratings, and although final numbers haven't been crunched yet, the NFC Championship likely beat American Idol as well.

With 46.7 million viewers, it was the most-watched AFC championship since 1986, and the best in either conference since Dallas took on Green Bay in the January 1996 National Football Conference title game, Nielsen said.

At a time when World Series ratings are at a record low and NBA Finals ratings are even lower, the NFL has to be thrilled to know that Peyton Manning is more popular than Simon Cowell.