Reality Check
'American Idol' voters boot Seattle teen

By Pamela Sitt
Seattle Times staff reporter

	Garfield High student Leah LaBelle was eliminated from the "American Idol" competition.
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Meantime, former Husky football player Matt Rogers is still in the game, despite what Simon said — "It was a second-rate Tom Jones performance. It was corny" — after Rogers sang Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle." More interesting to watch was the affable Rogers' introductory montage, in which he declared himself a Husky for life and professed a love of opera and children. Is it disconcerting to anyone else to see this guy tearing up a football field one minute and reclining in a candlelit bubble bath the next? Can we start calling him "The Purple Teddy Bear" now?

Model behavior?: When did "America's Next Top Model" turn into "Girls Gone Wild"? Shandi has sex! April has a crush! Yoanna has back fat! Oh, and then there's the nude girl-on-girl photo shoot. If you missed Tuesday's scandalous episode — you're forgiven, "American Idol" aired at the same time — you must catch the rerun tomorrow night (9 p.m., KSTW-TV). Uptight April gets axed, but first she drops this zinger during a steamy hot-tub scene: "These girls have been like monkeys in a cage. You drop big bananas inside, of course they're gonna peel 'em." A rerun of last week's clips show also airs tomorrow at 8 p.m. And, scouts for the next season of "America's Next Top Model" will be in Renton April 26. Visit www.upn.com for details.

She's baa-ack!: We thought we were rid of obnoxious Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth when The Donald fired her on NBC's "The Apprentice" two weeks ago. Wrong! After running around the talk-show circuit last week claiming another contestant called her the "n" word during filming — an allegation denied by Trump et al. — Omarosa now wants to host her own talk show and design a clothing line. Maybe she really does have a concussion.

Girls Gone Wild, Part 2: The women of "The Apprentice" know sex sells, but apparently they prefer not to get paid. Contestants Ereka Vetrini, Amy Henry, Krista Frank and Katrina Campins turned down Playboy's $1 million offer to pose nude, opting instead for a scantily clad spread in men's magazine FHM — for free. OK, so you have your morals, but where is your business sense?

Girls Gone Wild, Part 3: Only one episode into The WB's "High School Reunion," and already it's drama, drama, drama. Just as high-school sweethearts Gabe ("The Jock") and Denise ("The Ex") start to rekindle their romance on an overnight date, three sophomore vixens — two of them Gabe's former flames — show up at the beach house, all Charlie's Angels-like, to stir up trouble. "Crashing the reunion is going to be so much fun," says Amanda ("The Sophomore Tease"). "In high school, the senior girls hated us because we stole their men. Now we're coming back to do it again." This week: Gabe faces the women he scorned (9 p.m. Sunday, KTWB-TV).

	Kerry Carter of the Seattle Seahawks gets a home makeover on "Bachelor Pad."

Pretty in Pink: The Seahawks' Kerry Carter gets a home makeover on Saturday's premiere of "Bachelor Pad" (10 p.m., ABC Family). The rookie running back wanted something "masculine, but classy" for his new condo in Bellevue. Sounds peachy, only the interior designer is none other than Bobby Trendy! Carter, what were you thinking? Didn't you watch "The Anna Nicole Show"? "I was a little bit cautious," said Carter, 23, in a recent phone interview. "I don't want a lot of pink in here. That's all I was hoping."

Notes: Sugar Ray Leonard has signed on to NBC's "The Contender" as an adviser to 16 aspiring boxing hopefuls on the upcoming series by über-producer Mark Burnett ("The Apprentice"). The show also stars Sylvester Stallone. ... Jessica Simpson's sister, Ashlee Simpson, will star in a reality show on MTV tracking her fledgling recording career. Ashlee, 19, must not be as ditzy as her big sis — she's apparently figured out that the shortcut to pop stardom is not to have a successful record, but a hot reality show. The six-episode series will air this summer. ... "American Idol" reject William Hung will release a full-length record on KOCH/FUSE records on April 6. And yes, his infamous rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" makes the cut. Says a KOCH exec of Hung: "He is the new Elvis!" We're all shook up.

Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com

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