Son Allegedly Hits Mom During 'Idol' Argument
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For Cory K. Favreau of Plattsburgh, N.Y., an argument over 'American Idol' with his mom may have gone a little too far.
TMZ obtained the book photo of Favreau, who is facing felony charges for allegedly striking his mother in the head with a sharp object hooked to a bicycle chain.
Apparently the mother and son were discussing 'Idol' -- while drinking, according to court records -- when the mother, Jan M. Chagnon, told Favreau that Katharine McPhee would have a successful career despite losing in the finale to Taylor Hicks. Favreau then allegedly stood up, made a nasty comment to his mom and then struck her with the aforementioned object attached to a bicycle chain.
Chagnon was treated and released at a nearby hospital. She did not want to press charges against her son.
Blast From Taylor's Past
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TMZ met up with an old acquaintance of season five's 'American Idol' Taylor Hicks. Emily Arnold is a close pal from Taylor's college, Auburn University, where the two met.
Arnold tells TMZ that prior to winning 'A.I.', Taylor was no stranger to Hollywood. Once Arnold moved to LA, Taylor would often visit her with one particular goal in mind - shopping his demo! Hicks would "rough it up in dumpy hotels" and drive rental cars around the City of Angles from record company to record company in hopes of being signed. One producer was rumored to be Quincy Jones.
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More 'American Idol' stories
Meat Loaf, Braxton and Hasselhoff among the lowlights
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Last night's 'American Idol' season finale did more than crown a new winner and attract one of the biggest audiences in TV history. It also produced some of prime time's most awkward moments.
TMZ has some of the lowlights.
KATHARINE AND THE LOAF
While other top 12 'Idols' performed with such amazing acts as Live, Al Jarreau and Burt Bacharach, McPhee got stuck with Meat Loaf. It's hard to imagine when producers asked the contestants who their own personal idols were, the words Meat and Loaf were uttered by Katharine.
Meat brought a dirty-old-man combination of Broadway and geriatrics to the performance, while Kat was left to fend for herself as Mr. Loaf and his hankie chased her around the stage.
TONI BRAXTON'S BRAIN FREEZE
The song 'In The Ghetto' was sung at one time by a guy named Elvis Presley. Ms. Braxton should look it up.
Her performance of the song left many viewers wondering if she knew any of the words. At points, when she was supposed to be singing, she would dip her head down, and riff, covering up the lack of lyrics.
Hopefully this wasn't a preview of what fans can expect from the diva when she takes up residency at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
'Idol's Season-Ending Misfires
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Last night's 'American Idol' season finale did more than crown a new winner and attract one of the biggest audiences in TV history. It also produced some of prime time's most awkward moments.
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McPhee's High School Spreads the Love
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The difference between growing up in a small town or a big city could have a profound effect on who is crowned the winner of 'American Idol.'
When Taylor Hicks visited his hometown of Birmingham, Ala. a few weeks ago, it seemed like everyone in town turned up to cheer on their local hero and 'Idol' favorite.
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Taylor Hicks' Jacket Power
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'American Idol's' Taylor Hicks rocked the judges during Tuesday night's finale and TMZ has the story behind his purple velvet jacket.
The jacket is by Dolce & Gabbana and retails for a whopping $1,648.
Taylor was with his stylist when he purchased the jacket from the trendy LA store Traffic. Sources tell TMZ that the moment Taylor tried the velvet number on, his comment was, "Okay, I feel it!" and instantly bought the jacket!
The white shirt Taylor wore under the jacket was an Ozwald Boateng shirt retailing for $205.
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'Idol' Reject Clark Peddles CD
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'American Idol's' Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee are on top of the world right now. But they shouldn't get too big for their britches just yet -- they could find themselves peddling CDs on the streets of LA just like one of their predecessors.
As Hicks and McPhee were filming Tuesday night's 'Idol' finale, just a few blocks away, 'Idol''s second-season finalist, Corey Clark, was outside a Coffee Bean on Sunset Boulevard selling his rock CD, titled 'Corey Clark.'
Daughtry Running Out on Fuel
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It's looking like Chris Daughtry isn't going to accept the rock band Fuel's offer to become their new lead singer.
The band offered Daughtry the gig 13 days ago after his surprise elimination from 'American Idol.' But TMZ has learned that Fuel isn't expecting a thumbs-up from Daughtry, and has started to look at other options.
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Daughtry signs autographs
'Idol' Set to Stomp the Competition
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'Idol' Finale Performances Revealed
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Star Catcher: 'American Idol'
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It looked like an 'AmericanI Idol' cast party Friday night at Hollywood hot spot Hyde. Ace Young, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin and Bucky Covington hit up the clubs this past weekend, doing a bit of posing for the cameras and enjoying their new-found fame.
The four 'Idol' castoffs had no trouble getting to the front of the line -- despite being 'Idol' runner-ups. Chris even took the time to sign a few autographs for fans.
Check out this 'American Idol' edition of Star Catcher.
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Photo Finish on 'Idol'
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The margin between being the next 'American Idol' and being forgotten is now more narrow than ever.
Just over 300,000 votes separated Elliott Yamin, who was voted off, and Taylor Hicks in the voting last night. And even as Paula Abdul openly wept for the loss of her favorite 'funky white boy', the message boards were ablaze with talk of next week's vote.
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Taylor Hicks PacMan
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'American Idol' frontrunner Taylor Hicks now has his own version of a classic video game. Thanks to his faithful Soul Patrol fans, you can now play 'Taylor Hicks PacMan.'
One member of Taylor's Soul Patrol has designed a unique version of the vintage chomper game, in which Taylor is featured as PacMan and the ghosts are the other 'Idol's. The object of the game is to gobble up as many votes as you can while avoiding the deadly grasp of other 'Idol's.
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How 'Idols' Choose Their Songs
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Song choice is critical when you're competing on 'American Idol'. Simon, Paula and Randy constantly bash 'Idols' based on their song selections alone. Now, TMZ has the lowdown on how the song selection process works -- and it's more involved than you would think.
'Idols' don't have a full range of songs to choose from. Instead, they're given a list of songs, and TMZ has seen the binder that the 'Idol's use in making their pivotal decisions. The list is a stapled packet almost one inch thick. Inside the packet are songs that are cleared by 'Idol's' legal team and by the artists themselves.
Daughtry Fans: We're Boycotting 'Idol'
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Ever since 'American Idol' favorite Chris Daughtry was voted off the show last week, attention has focused on which of the surviving contestants would win his fans' votes.
The answer: none of them.
Daughtry fans on 'A.I.' message boards say that now that their favorite has been eliminated, they plan on boycotting the 'Idol' voting entirely.
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Nick and Chris Confess
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On yesterday's episode of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' Ellen welcomed two of the most popular guys on the music scene: Nick Lachey and Chris Daughtry.
Nick talked about moving on with his life ("You just have to live your life"), while former 'American Idol' frontrunner Chris talked about getting ousted from the show ("It was like a knife went in my stomach").
Take a look at the clips and check your local listing for when 'Ellen' airs.
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