Idol Chatter: Courtney Love Will Not Replace Paula

Hard-living rocker Courtney Love tells Usmagazine.com that American Idol exec producer Nigel Lythgoe has inquired as to her availability to serve as a guest judge. What's more, a source tells that site that Lythgoe might like to see Love replace Paula Abdul as a full-time panelist, but a well-placed source at Fox tells TV Guide that such talk is entirely untrue, if not, I think, insane. (See Wednesday-afternoon update.)Abdul, meanwhile, dismisses recent disses/dissections of her behavior, telling TV's Extra, "I don't like to [drink alcohol]. I've never been drunk. I'm goofy enough, am I not?" (It's rhetorical.)In other Idol news, Season 5 finalist Katharine McPhee's debut CD is earning some good marks. New York Daily News critic Jim Farber, for one, says "the album's harder R&B beats give McPhee an edge she never had before," while her singing "shows more force and élan... than she did on the show." Pick up the Feb. 5 TV Guide for a full Q&A with Kat.