This is the mid-day roundup of “Idol” news. Sorry it’s a little late!

EW has learned that Clay Aiken will show up on a future episode of “America’s Next Top Model” in an acting challenge and serve as a gust judge. That should be a hoot!

Kelly Clarkson doesn’t do a huge number of print interviews. (I’ve never had an opportunity to do one.) But popeater managed to get some time with her. KellyFan should be thrilled by the details here. The most “tabloid-y” revelation is no, she’s not a lesbian. Did anyone ever think she was? (I guess so!)

Anyway, here’s a sampling Q&A:

Your last album, ‘My December,’ was quite a personal affair. How would you describe the new album, ‘All I Ever Wanted’?

It’s kind of like a roller coaster, because 1) I’m a woman, but 2) I love that ride through an album because it tells a story. But there’s some really fun stuff on here that I’ve never done before — like this one song I did with Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic called ‘If I Can’t Have You.’ It’s very like Eurythmics meets the Killers — very different for me. It’s a lot sexier. People think it’s so funny because they know I’m not that girl. Then there’s other stuff like ‘Cry,’ which is the most personal song on the album and is about betrayal. Anyway, [the album] is very personal and all over the place. All my albums always have been. I don’t know about you, but I get really pissed off when I buy an album and every song’s the same. I’m like, “Man, you just wasted my money. I could’ve just got one song.” Some artists complain about leaking a bit of the album with each song. I’m like, “That’s just forcing you to come out with better music.”