Idol Worship: Blake Lewis' New Deal; Album To Feature Ben Gibbard?

First, an apology: With all the Grammy Awards shenanigans of the last week, we had to take a brief break from blogging. But as is the case in L.A. on Grammy weekend, you can't throw a rock without hitting an Idol, so it really wasn't much of a respite after all. Over four days, we saw Jennifer Hudson so regularly, you'd think we were besties. We also got to catch up with judges Kara Dioguardi, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, reconnect with Carrie Underwood, talk shop with Chris Daughtry and commiserate on the red carpet with Kimberly Caldwell and Justin Guarini. (Fortunately, Bikini Girl wasn't making the Grammy rounds, though she remained a hot topic.)  We'll dole out the goodies piecemeal this week, but first, some Blake Lewis news.

The season six runner-up has signed a new record deal with Tommy Boy Entertainment, the seminal dance/hip hop/electronic label whose catalog includes albums by Africa Bambaataa, Biz Markie and De La Soul. "I'm doing an electro-pop slash real-hip hop-influenced album," he told Billboard. "It's a great record already and we're only five songs into it. We're hoping to have it out for April, so I'm working my butt off."

Blake says there will be a "ton of guests" on the record, mostly Seattle vocalists, but he also has his sights on someone we didn't quite expect: Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie. Turns out, Blake's got a connection. "My manager Leslie Lewis is Jenny Lewis' sister, so it's all a community thing," he said. "I'm hoping to talk to him about it at the Grammys."

In the meantime, Blake, who was dropped by RCA after one album, is getting a kick out of watching the new season of American Idol, for the first time since his near win in 2007. And he's also commenting on it, as a special correspondent for his local FOX station. "It's comedy to me," he said. "Because with the audition episodes, I was there for 12 hours, and to see how they cut it into two cities in a one-hour show, I just laugh about it." -- Shirley Halperin