"I'm still glad I did it!" she exclaimed.

[left, Ashley Ferl and mom Stacy at the American Idol auditions]

I spoke to Ashley this morning - the Riverside, California teen who gained national fame two and half years ago for her tearful reaction to seeing season six contestant Sanjaya Malakar perform live during Top 11 week on "American Idol." 

In April she turned 16, which made her eligible to audition for the show. Despite having no true singing experience she went for it!

"I just kind of practiced in my room and that's about it," she told me this morning.

In a conference call with reporters Jake admitted to being a, "god fearing man" and hit us with this declaration,

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt, you know, shall God strike me down with lightning... if I am mistaken and he did not tell me that."

I have to admit Jake did make quite the case for himself when he repeatedly made it clear that Wes, a country singer from Austin, TX, told him he went on the show to further his career, and that he had a girlfriend named Laurel waiting for him back home. Laurel is the same girl who also dated "The Bachelor's" Brad Womack. 

"I know 100 percent that he [Wes] and Laurel are together. They were together during the show. Brad introduced them." Jake revealed.

"NYC Prep" aired its second episode last night where cupcakes were the hot topic du jour. Not really -- but between Sebastian, Taylor and Kelli's obviously forced love triangle and PC's, "whoa is me... I'm single" rants, not much else was going on in the show.

The series seems completely flat when you compare it to Bravo's fantastic drama fueled "Real Housewives" franchise. I don't know... maybe it's because I'm not a teenager anymore that these kids' lives just seem lame and boring. I like little Sebastian and his crazy hair, mean girl Jessie and even PC (who they are trying to make out to be the bad boy of the show). Although, to me he's more Jack from "Will and Grace" than Dylan from "Beverly Hills 90210"... if you catch my drift. They just need to lose the other three girls. Perhaps bring in a few Jersey teens in to shake things up and rattle some tables.

Last night was like sensory overload. After yet another doctor appointment (someone please figure out what's wrong with me soon!) I was not allowed to go to the gym. So, I arrived home at 6 PM with nothing to do. Fortunately, my TV was calling my name with tons of goodies. "Weeds" was on at 7 PM on Showtime  I ponder - do we want Nancy with the evil mayor slash drug lord or should she and Andy, brother-in-law of dead husband, hook up? I can't decide.

"Nurse Jackie" followed at 7:30 PM. How can Jackie be cheating on that adorable, hunky and might I add younger (Go Edie Falco!) husband with the balding pharmacist guy!? I don't get it.

Then it was two hours of "The Bachelorette" on ABC, which was by far the MOST craptastic episode ever. Fans of the show will get that joke. Jillian goes on her hometown dates. I decided I need to marry into Kiptyn's family who clearly have some moolah. She zips through three other hometown dates in record time. At this point it's 8:50 PM and I'm wondering how they will fill the next hour and ten minutes. Then pilot Jake returns to stalk Jillian in Austin.

This morning I was up early doing back to radio interviews with stations across the country to talk about the latest news and the impact Michael had in people's lives. The one question that kept coming up was, "What are your best memories of growing up to Michael Jackson or covering him over the years?"

Two stories came to mind.

There is an inescapable question mark as to the ethics and balance of Michael Jackson that goes with him to his grave. It is most assuredly not what Michael had in mind when he set out to be pop music's "P.T. Barnum", the man in the middle of the circus.

Although, let's be real, anyone who reportedly invites a gossip tabloid to shoot him in a hyperbaric chamber courts the bizarre.

I was the last person to get Michael Jackson to go on camera. Technically, it was his last interview as I asked some questions and he answered them, but its not one I'd choose to hang my hat on.  Michael was alternately petrified and obsessed with my camera. He loved the small HD handheld 24P size camera and demanded to know where he could get one. But, before the cameras got rolling, while sitting in the small kitchen of his temporary Irish countryside cottage, Michael asked, "Is 5 minutes ok?"

I'm sure at one point in my life someone probably asked me what I wanted to do for a living and I mostly likely said, "Wouldn't it be great if someone would pay me to watch TV all day?"  Who could have guessed that one day they would?!

I've always been a TV addict -- ever since I can remember. My mom would plop me in front of "Sesame Street" as a toddler where I would sit mesmerized by Cookie Monster and Big Bird. Later, as a pre-teen I would fight with my brothers about watching "The Brady Bunch." They wanted to watch "M*A*S*H" so I would steal the dials off the living room TV so they couldn't change the channel. I could not miss a minute of the wholesome family fun that Greg, Peter, Jan, Cindy, Bobby and, of course... Marcia, Marcia, Marcia cooked up. 

Not surprisingly, David blamed most of his bad behavior on the editing, claiming what we saw was only, "1 percent of me as a person and that 1 percent was the bad part of David Good."

If that's the case, I'd hate to see the other 99 percent of David Good. I don't think he really did the best job of convincing reporters on the call that he wasn't that angry guy. The only thing I believe is that he regrets how he acted now having watched it back. He says, "I was very upset with myself the way I behaved. I thought I brought a lot more to the show than that. I had to call my grandparents and apologize after the show aired." 

While the ratings for NBC's revamp of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!" continue to be unimpressive, the media coverage of the Heidi and Spencer debacle continues.

I watched the first episode of the show and found myself gagging as they were eating live bugs and rat tails. Its train wreck TV at its best but even I can't stomach the creepy crawly stuff. I have no idea why anyone would want to put themselves through this nightmare. I know they are giving money to their chosen charities but these celebs have got to be getting paid to do this!

 
Now viewers may not be tuning into the show in droves, but they are interested in reading about the drama online courtesy of Heidi and Spencer. As it stands now, "The Hills" stars have quit "ten or twenty times," according to Angela Shelton, the first celebrity eliminated from the show on Thursday night.
 
Their fate will be determined on Monday night's episode whether or not they will be allowed to return to the show, again. Angela believes her fellow celebs will allow them back without holding a grudge, but as for her, she is done with the duo.
 
"I don't think they should be able to go back at all," Shelton told reporters in a conference call on Friday. "I think he [Spencer] is very unhinged. I'm trying to figure out how he passed the pysch evaluation and by what margin."

This is something I have never done in any season until this year, but I made it very clear I was an Adam Lambert fan from the start. I normally try and stay objective, but Adam and I just bonded instantly when we met. Seeing him perform with KISS was such a rush. I'm disappointed he didn't win, but I'm not surprised. America just wasn't ready for someone so outside the box.

In the end, I think it's better he didn't become the American Idol. Kris Allen didn't ooze star quality like Adam and I think he needed the title to succeed in the limelight. Adam will be successful no matter what and I think it's better for him not to be tied down to a long contract (like I'm sure that the winner signs).

Here is a look back at some of my favorite moments with the contestants and the judges:

Meeting Adam for the first time. He just walked in and owned the room and I was blown away by how sweet and kind he was. I could not believe when I asked him if he Googled himself (to see what people were saying about him) that he admitted he did!