Vote for the Worst has raised $2500 for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society this year, but we'd like to do one more thing to help out. We're starting a charity auction with 6 great items that you can bid on where 100% of the proceeds will go to help the fight against cancer. To bid on the items, simply follow these links over to eBay, and bid generously to help an oustanding cause.



Bo Bice T-Shirt with Signed Catalog and CD
Steffi DiDomenicantonio Custom Made Autographed Bows
Taylor Hicks Signed T-Shirt
Mikalah Gordon 'My Job Is To Annoy You' Shirt From Her Time on Idol
Phuong Pham Hat From American Idol and Demo
Canadian Idol Autographs and Trading Cards

(We also had one more INCREDIBLE item that may be lost in the mail. We hope UPS can find it soon so we can put it up. We'll keep you posted if they can find it.)

The official VFTW caricatures are timeless works of art, and they are also up for auction! If you win the auction, you will own the one of a kind artwork, the only copy in existence, complete with a letter of authenticity. 100% of these profits will go to the artist, the very talented Laura Hawbaker. Bid on the caricatures at the links below:

Randy Jackson ● Simon Cowell ● Paula Abdul ● Danny Noriega ● Amy Davis ● Amanda Overmyer ● Kristy Lee Cook ● Brooke White ● Jason Castro ● David Archuleta

It's unlikely. But there's some hope! Next year, the hour long results shows are gone. But we do still have to sit through 30 minutes of crap to find out who goes home. Also, rumors are circulating that Simon Cowell knows the show needs a massive overhaul. At a recent staff meeting, Simon said, "Everything we do needs to be examined ... including the sets, the audition process, the choice of musical genres for the final weeks of competition and even how we handle the audience [for the live performances] and say goodbye to the people eliminated." Agreed. Fix the show. Simon allegedly wants Paula and Randy fired too (good call, though we'd miss Paula's drunken ramblings... and you need to fire yourself as well). Hey, it's a good start. Will this all happen? Probably not. The producers are idiots.

Vote for the Worst was the first source to tell you that Randy Jackson was senior vice president of A&R at MCA Records while Carly Smithson was signed there. Now Star Magazine picks up on it in their latest issue. They even have a quote from Randy, as told by an industry insider. Nice work, Star! Why is this still not a big deal? The producers shrugged off the "plant" story, and now look, 7 of the 8 remaining contestants are plants. If this story is shrugged off, Carly could actually end up with a record deal. We cannot let this happen. Keep spreading the word that the Carly-Randy connection is ridiculous and get as many Carly fans as you can to stop voting for her. Especially since it's hilarious that she tears up with even the mention of the bottom 3. She's nothing like VFTW champ Kristy who makes herself a name tag. Go Kristy! Boo Carly!

As if we don't hear enough diva music on the show, Randy Jackson reveals that Mariah Carey will be a mentor on this year's show. Does this mean a Mariah Carey theme week? That seems unfairly weighted toward David Archuleta and his melismatic, corny diva-isms. Though it would also mean a hilarious performance from Amanda. Or will it just be another "Music that Mariah likes" week like Gwen Stefani's VFTW victory train wreck week last year? Either way, a terrible week of awfulness is on the horizon, so we're happy either way. Randy is also asked about VFTW in the article and he says, "I don't even know what that's about. It's just more haters cashing in." Come on, dawg. Haters? Sounds a bit pitchy to us.

Just when we thought we'd never have to hear from the bumblebee hooker of melisma ever again after she was dropped from her record label, Randy Jackson has decided to resurrect Katharine McPhee's singing career by giving her a track on his upcoming album. The track is a duet with the misguided Elliott Yamin, who should be focusing on releasing another hit song and not doing crap like this. But here is the terrible song "Real Love". After listening to it, what's your comment? Thanks to MJ's Big Blog for the song leak.

Even though Yahoo and Reuters have finally picked up on the Carly Smithson debacle this week (the same story that we posted before Christmas and then again a week later... seriously, you guys should lurk here more often, you're way behind), no one else has picked up on the fact that Randy Jackson worked for MCA Records the same time Carly was there. Randy was the senior vice president of A&R. That's big stuff. Come on guys... we posted about that one back on January 28th. So who will be the first news outlet (besides us) to post about it? Go read up on it, but make sure to give us credit where credit is due. You're welcome. And as always, check back here early and often, as VFTW and the VFTW Forum are your premiere sources for the breaking Idol news that the producers don't want you to know.

The Carly Smithson plant debacle grows stronger by the day. We've done our research to find out something very interesting. Carly was signed to MCA records during the same time period that Randy Jackson was the senior vice president of A&R. Carly was at MCA in 1999. Randy started at MCA in 1998 and was there for 4 years. Should this mean an automatic disqualification for Carly? We think so! An American Idol wikipedia entry says that Thomas Lowe was disqualified last year " because it was publicized that he had been signed to BMG while Cowell was at the label, which is against Idol rules." If it is, we demand that Carly be disqualified. If it isn't against the rules, that's some shady, shady stuff going on. This plant definitely made it to the top 24 based on a prior connection with Randy, which should be completely unfair.