Seacrest, Cowell, McPhee and Sanjaya

I came across this article on Fox News (hooray for my least favorite news source!). You gotta give it to American Idol – even when the season is over, it’s all drama, drama, drama…

Ryan Seacrest Says Judges Are Aging; McPhee Won’t Talk for Charity; and Simon Still Makes Sanjaya Sob

There is never a shortage of sensationalism when it comes to the past and present personalities on “American Idol.”

Pop Tarts caught up with Ryan Seacrest at Friday night’s Young Musicians Foundation gala founded by the late Merv Griffin, where he gave us the scoop fresh from the road of the hit reality show.

“I wouldn’t say that the judges are getting nastier, just older. And age is starting to show,” said Seacrest. “But nobody will be disappointed when it comes to seeing tears and tantrums and really bad singers. We’ve had some shockers this season, but at the same time we have been blown away by the actual talent. Fergie is going to be featured pretty heavily on the show, too; I can’t tell you how many times I have heard ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry.’”

As for his long-running rivalry with Simon Cowell, Ryan still thinks he is a cut above.

“Oh, I’m definitely winning, Simon can’t stand it,” he assured us. “He still isn’t over the Emmys hosting gig, and we just have to calm him down all the time. Poor Simon, he is even more irritated than in past seasons.”

Speaking of past seasons, it may be just as well that Katharine McPhee was runner-up in Season 4, as she is either too frightened or too “famous” to walk the red carpet or talk to the media at a charity event to raise funds for aspiring artists like she so recently was.

MORE after the jump!

Pop Tarts spotted a not-made-up McPhee entering the Beverly Hilton, but the second she spotted the snappers setting up, she whirled around and was gone. Our precious pop princess was only to be seen while performing late that night, even opting to eat dinner alone in her room.

On another sad note, It seems Simon’s constant cutting down of last season’s “American Idol” finalist Sanjaya Malakar is still hurting the songster. The shy teen sang his way to 7th place last year, baffling the judges and Simon in particular, who slammed him with every bad word in the book.

“I’m really glad the cameras weren’t around when I was alone in my room at night,” the pop prince told Pop Tarts. “It was pretty hard sometimes — some of the comments really got to me and it is still upsetting even now when I think about it.”

But now that Mr. Malakar has made an album and managed to take the trophies as the Teen Choice Favorite Reality Star and a FOX REALLY Favorite Loser, has he gone back to those three crooning critics to show off his success?

“Oh, no, I don’t have contact to the judges anymore, really,” he responded.

And now that the softly spoken 18-year-old has stirred up a Sanjaya spectacle and cemented his star as a household name, how is he handling the fame?

“It’s still weird when I walk down the street and people yell out and know who I am,” he said. “But I’m getting used to it; I like it a lot. But I’m still me — just young Sanjaya.”

However, it’s that very youth that has the “Idol” name on the negative side of the law. Malakar and last season’s golden girl Jordin Sparks toured with the rest of the top 10 last month, making sure to take a big bite of the Big Apple with five festive concerts.

But the rhythmic reality stars were only 17, and under New York law they were supposed to apply for a permit to perform to ensure protocol regarding child labor.

Pop Tarts has learned it was actually a fan who discovered the law-breaking, resulting in their travel team Touring 19 being touched by a fat $5,000+ fine.

Tags: idol, american, american idol, mcphee, katharine mcphee, ryan seacrest, simon cowell, sanjaya, sanjaya malakar