By Marian Liu, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Feb. 20--Over the past two weeks, fans of "American Idol" have learned three things about Saratoga resident Paul Kim.

By Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Jan. 25--PASADENA -- Increasingly in an era of Internet rumor, Web blogs and viral videos, the publicity machine of the TV world has had to deal as much with damage control as with promotion.

"American Idol" judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul say they're no crueler than usual this year, and that people who audition should know what they're going to get.

Off-key pop idol William Hung has something new to crow about: he's being crowned "Artichoke King" in the small city that calls itself "artichoke capital of the world."

"American Idol" judge Paula Abdul dodged questions about a review that Fox said found no evidence that she had an affair with a former contestant, instead chatting up co-hosts Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson on the upcoming season.