American Idol

After opening for techno king Darude, the 27-year-old beat boxer spun at a spring break event in Clearwater, Fla. this weekend. He's the next Kelly Clarkson Samantha Ronson!

On a bright note, tix to see Blake did cost $20 more than Taylor Hicks' show in West Hollywood last week.

Craziness exploded in Hollywood last night -- and it all went down mere inches from our cameraman ... and some guy named Taylor Hicks.

The drama started after Taylor's show at the Roxy -- which the "American Idol" WINNER(?) performed in front of an audience of people who got their tickets for free because nobody would pay actual money for them.

The cops came, the cops helped a drunk chick, and then the cops got back in their car, flipped on the sirens and chased after something else. It was super intense, but we only caught bits of it ... because, for some completely unknown reason, our guy thought keeping the camera on Taylor Hicks would provide better material.

Even Taylor Hicks knew Taylor Hicks couldn't compete with that.

It's not a charity show, it's not a fundraiser ... Taylor Hicks concert tickets have now been reduced to a whopping $0.00 -- and it still hasn't sold out. Soul Patrol!

The season five "American Idol" winner was originally scheduled to perform at The Roxy on Sunset tomorrow night -- for $36.50 a ticket. But in the last few hours, a bunch of tickets wound up on goldstar.com -- a website which claims to offer ticket discounts because, "Not every show sells out, so instead of letting seats go empty, venues list them with us to sell to our members."

Now, instead of offering the usual half-price discount, Hicks tix are being given away for nothing ... nada .. zip ... zilch ... except an $8.75 service fee.

Still too much?

The A.I. castoffs rolled up to Apple in West Hollywood last night, and before they went inside, our cameras caught Carly cleaning "the fluff" off of Kim's butt.

That's what friends are for.

The folks over at "American Idol" have hit a XXX snag by upping the final 12 to 13 this year. Turns out the sequenced telephone number for contestant 13 is already in use -- by a phone sex company.

"A.I" only owns twelve numbers (1-866-IDOLS-01 through 1-866-IDOLS-12) -- the prescient porn company snatched up 1-866-IDOLS-13.

The "Idol" brass had to scramble -- they'll reveal the number for contestant 13 tonight.

Meanwhile, there's a whole bunch of hot-sounding ladies waiting for your call...

Simon was out at Beso for dinner with ex-GF Terri Seymour last night -- but they left in separate cars.

Just friends?

Fortunately for Cowell, the cop was a fan who fell for his old British charm and let him go without a ticket -- but not before stopping traffic to strike up a conversation about the other "American Idol" judges he's pulled over in the past. We're not kidding.

It seems like Simon even attempts to warn him about discussing such things on camera, but hey, it's Beverly Hills ... and nobody got hurt.

This pic shows the "American Idol" judge in the clutches of a Beverly Hills cop this afternoon. The PD told us it was a "non-event traffic stop" and no citation was issued.

We're thinking the violation was for putting a 4th judge on the show. It really sucks.

UPDATE: TMZ has learned that Simon didn't have his license and wasn't wearing his seat belt while being stopped. He was not cited.

Katrina Darrell (aka Bikini Girl from "American Idol") has finally found her true calling -- and it involves wearing a bikini.

Bikini Girl is starting to be booked for club appearances (a la K-Fed or Audrina) and is getting offers as high as $10k. Of course, there is one string attached -- she's got to show up in a bikini.

In a related story, there are tons of pictures on the Internet of girls in bikinis -- and they're free.

According to Katrina, we misidentified the "American Idol" reject as a contestant in a racetrack swimsuit contest and she wasn't having it.

Katrina, our apologies to you and your "cuter stomach."

Once again, our TMZ mole has successfully infiltrated the set of "American Idol", where the first twelve contestants were rehearsing for tonight's live performance.

The big scoop: Two wannabes are busting out Aretha Franklin jams -- it's on!!! No word if they're rocking an over-sized hat to match.

According to our mole, Anoop had to restart his song 4-5 times because the band kept messing up. Danny Gokey was the best (the crowd loved him) and Casey Carlson was the worst, with a "Sarah Palin-esque type performance full of winks and poses."

Here's the final rundown for tonight's ep:

Jackie Tohn: "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley

Ricky Braddy: "A Song For You" by Leon Russell

Alexis Grace: "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha Franklin

Brent Keith: "Hicktown" by Jason Aldean

Casey Carlson: "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by the Police

Jessica Langseth, a singer from Minneapolis, was busted a few years back on DUI. She pled guilty, spent four days in jail and was put on probation for two years -- more than enough time to master the art of bare-knuckled combat. Jessica's probation was cut short and she officially became a free woman last December.

Let's just hope there aren't any sharpened toothbrushes lying around the set. You know, for Simon's sake.