Despite her ongoing feud with label head Clive Davis (which is far too tedious and retarded — on his part — for me to cover on this blog), the former Idol has moved forward with her new album, My December, most of which she wrote herself. You’ve probably heard the first single, “Never Again,” on the radio by now, but there are three new tracks that you can preview up at AOL Music:”Sober,” “Maybe,” and “Can I Have a Kiss.” They’re a slight deviation from the pre-packaged, teen-friendly pop tracks she’s put out on her previous albums — they’re more raw, and seem to be intensely personal — but I really like them, and I hope her album does well. The poll up at AOL Music has 75% of listeners voting “It’s awesome, love it” for the album, so hopefully it will.

Despite selling more albums than Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee was excluded from the celeb-studded Idol finale. While other folks from her season — Elliot Yamin, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry and BFF Kellie Pickler — were asked to perform on the finale, Katharine was not.

“Katharine called them herself, trying to get on the [finale],” says a source. “She’s really hurt.”

I can’t imagine why Kat was excluded. Her album’s debuted at #2 on the charts. She’s signed with 19 Entertainment. She was on People’s 50 Most Beautiful list. Why on earth wouldn’t they want her. Thoughts?

After spending five minutes dating Evan Ross, Kim Kardashian is back with NFLer Reggie Bush. [Bossip]

Paula Abdul found her purpose in life on American Idol. See and all this time I thought she’d found it in Vicodin. [Film.com]

Ooh, is Jen Aniston writing a tell-all? [popbytes]

Lindsay’s been drinking martinis since she was 13. [Celebslam]

Oops! He’s doing it again! K-Fed’s releasing another album. [Cele|bitchy]

David Hyde Pierce, who played Niles on Frasier, is gay. Someone call People magazine. [WWTDD]

Celine Dion and her daughter son pose for the cover of Hello! magazine. [ICYDK]

Les Deux is all like, “We didn’t serve booze to Lindsay Lohan. She just comes here to listen to the music.” [celebrity nation]

Nicole Richie gets into a fender-bender. [I'm Not Obsessed]

Just because a dress comes with a bottom half doesn’t mean Petra Nemcova has to use it. [Derek Hail]

No, not Sam Waterson. Fred Thompson, who has played D.A. Arthur Branch on basically every L&O series since 2002, is contemplating a run for the Republican primary. Thompson, who was a Tennessee senator from 1993-2003, is reportedly “testing the waters” by beginning to raise money and hire staff.

“He is entering the ‘testing the waters’ phase,” says a source. “It allows the senator to go out and gauge support.”

If he decides to move forward with the candidacy, he will likely announce by early July.

S. Epatha Merkerson for VP!!!

Did I mention how excited I am for this? They’re back, kids. Five years later, the cast of Real World Las Vegas is reunited. They’re still alcoholics, rage-aholics and total sluts. And that’s not even counting Trishelle. Enjoy the “trailer.”

MTV Reunited: The Real World Vegas - 28 Lays Later

Yeah, you read that right. Not Lindsay this time. Britney Spears, who recently released a letter to fans stating she had “hit rock bottom,” apparently has a little farther to fall still. On Sunday night, Britney had to be carried out of The Mondrian’s hotel bar after she was discovered puking uncontrollably in the bathroom. She told the staff: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Things aren’t going well for me at the moment.”

Says a source: “Britney was found slumped over the toilet bowl with make-up smeared over her face and her wig hanging off. She had a room booked at the hotel but was too ill to stay and was begging her bodyguard to take her home. She looked a real mess and was sitting on the floor with her head over the bowl throwing up. There was vomit down the front of her black dress and around her mouth. Britney was on her knees and must have been sick four or five times. She didn’t really seem with it.”

Britney also had to be helped out of the hotel because she couldn’t stand up on her own.

Interestingly, Lindsay Lohan also spent Sunday night drunk and puking. Maybe it’s time for Britney’s second rehab go-round, too.

Thanks to our trusty photo agencies, we have even more pictures of Lindsay Lohan in rehab. These are supposedly from her first day.

I guess Mattel is just hooking people up with their own Barbie doll left and right these days. This one is from a group called RBD, whom I’ve never even come close to hearing of, but evidently they’ve sold 12 million records in Brazil (where they speak Portuguese, thanks 6th grade International Relations class!). They were also on a show called Rebelde, which, loosely translated means “rebel” (there are also come connotations like “maker of soup”).

I also saw the group 3-6 Mafia has their own doll (I saw it on the hit MTV2 show The Real Adventures of HollyHood) so I guess I should be de-sensitized to this sort of thing but I remember the good old days where you had to look really blonde or be a ninja turtle to get your own doll.