Was it too much ‘Idol’ worship?
Some “American Idol” losers bow out gracefully, putting on a good show of smiling and hugging their fellow contestants.
Not Chris Daughtry, who was surprisingly eliminated from the four finalists left on the Fox talent competition Wednesday night.
“It was definitely a gut-wrenching moment,” Daughtry said Thursday. “I wasn’t expecting it – not even a little bit.”
Many polls listed him as the front-runner.
“You hear all these people telling you, ‘You’re gonna win this thing,’ ” Daughtry says.
But there may have been too much of that, he adds, causing people to think he was safe.
The 26-year-old singer still has plenty of options. There’s this summer’s “Idol” tour, and he says he has heard rumors that the band Fuel wants him as its new frontman.
Daughtry – described by the previously ousted Paris Bennett as “so intense” – ducked a request to describe the remaining finalists, Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee.
He and McPhee were standing onstage Wednesday as the final two facing elimination when host Ryan Seacrest suddenly said Daughtry was going home.
Says Daughtry: “I thought he was building up to a ‘just kidding.’ “
On a shorter leash
Snoop Dogg has accepted responsibility for using “threatening words or behavior” in a brawl last month at London’s Heathrow Airport.
The 34-year-old rapper and five other men were arrested following a fracas after some of them were denied entry to British Airways’ first-class lounge. Seven officers were injured.
No further action will be taken, airport police said. But British Airways has banned him from future travel on the airline.
Kanye don’t walk
“Jesus Walks” rapper Kanye West is being sued for not returning a Mercedes-Benz after its lease expired in January.
The suit says said West’s Konman Entertainment leased a 2003 Mercedes G500 in September 2002. The luxury sport utility vehicle was not returned as scheduled and holdover fees were not paid, it says.
Wakin’ Whoopi
Whoopi Goldberg will join the growing ranks of radio voices this summer when she launches a live program, “Wake Up With Whoopi.”
“I’m going to be singing and dancing in my chair. I’m going to wake people up,” Goldberg says. “I want to have a good time in the morning, and I want everyone who wakes up with me to have a good time.”
It wasn’t announced what markets the Clear Channel show will be in when it debuts July 31.
Stern measures?
However, don’t look for Howard Stern back on free radio anytime soon.
Squelching rumors that he wants to have his uncensored Sirius Satellite Radio show syndicated for FM airwaves, Stern said: “I’m very flattered terrestrial radio can’t let go of me, but I would throw up if I had to go back.”
Stern, who signed a $500 million contract with pay-service Sirius, has seen his audience drop from 12 million listeners a day to 2 million.
Show her the money
Dave Chappelle says he’s still explaining to his wife why he left his Comedy Central show and walked away from a $50 million contract.
“She’s not mad at me, but don’t think you can walk away from $50 million and your wife is just going to be cool with it,” he said this week on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien.”
The birthday bunch
Composer Burt Bacharach is 78. Talk show host Tom Snyder is 70. Comedian George Carlin is 69. Actress Linda Dano (“Another World”) is 63. Singer Steve Winwood is 58. Country singer Kix Brooks (Brooks and Dunn) is 51. Actor Ving Rhames is 45. Actor Emilio Estevez is 44. Actress Vanessa Williams (“Soul Food”) is 43. Actor Jason Biggs (“American Pie”) is 28. Actor Malcolm David Kelley (“Lost”) is 14. Actors Sullivan and Sawyer Sweeten (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) are 11.