the frivolous

Seacrest Out-Of-It

In past "American Idol" seasons, viewers looked to Paula Abdul to supply the show's requisite loopy comedy and awkward moments. But now, with Paula gone, host Ryan Seacrest seems to have stepped into that buffoon role, exhibiting increasingly bizarre behavior all season long. Until this week, his oddest antics had occurred when sparring with Simon Cowell (seriously, the two of them have practically come to blows during their "witty" banter). But on Tuesday's Elvis Night episode, Ryan took his cray-cray shenanigans to a whole new level--or more specifically, a new low--thus setting the blogosphere and Twitterverse ablaze.

For instance, while Tim Urban (suddenly nicknamed "Turban" by Ryan) was performing "Can't Help Falling in Love," Ryan started slow-dancing in the aisles with a stocky male audience member, nearly throwing Tim off-track. The cameras never shot a close-up of this same-sex dancing duo, but Ryan later claimed that his partner had been Season 8 finalist Michael Sarver--a revelation that was met with a smattering of amused applause.

However, the next morning, a confused Michael Sarver tweeted that he hadn't actually attended the taping. (It turned out the beefy gentleman was a friend of contestant Lee Dewyze.) Reports from the scene later revealed that Ryan also danced a solo jig during Andrew Garcia's "Hound Dog" number and played air guitar to Lee's "A Little Less Conversation" performance on Tuesday.

Also, while interviewing guest mentor Adam Lambert--who had reassured skittish viewers, via his Twitter, that his stint on the show this week would be "beyond family-friendly"--Ryan tossed out some not-exactly-family-friendly double entendres. Most notable, and most icky, was the remark, "My tongue's not as talented as yours." Um, okay. Awkward.

But the weirdest Ryan incident had to be when he quite straightfacedly announced that next week's "Idol Gives Back" charity special would be co-hosted by his former cohort, Brian Dunkleman, who left "American Idol" after Season 1 and has since pretty much vanished into obscurity. The surprising news of Brian's return to the "Idol" stage elicited delighted gasps and cheers from the live studio audience...before Ryan revealed that he was just kidding. And no one laughed. Considering how Ryan's star has risen since he started hosting "Idol" on his own, while Brian's career has completely stalled, such a joke at Brian's expense seemed nasty and totally uncalled-for.

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