Justin's "Idol" Observations

Thu., Aug. 17, 2006 5:15 PM PDT by Joal Ryan

Funny, Justin Timberlake doesn't look like Simon Cowell.

Nevertheless, the pip-up pop star offered a Cowell-esque critique of reigning American Idol champ Taylor Hicks in a new interview, noting the gray-haired crooner "can't carry a tune in a bucket."

The remark was published in Fashion Rocks, a magazine special from the publishers of Vogue.

In the interview, apparently conducted shortly after Idol's fifth-season finale in May, Timberlake refers to Hicks as "the guy who won," as in "the guy who won--people think he looks so normal, and he's so sweet, and he's so earnest, but he can't carry a tune in a bucket."

Other notable quotes:

"I despise it, and yet I'm completely fascinated."--Timberlake, the former boy-band star, summing up his conflicted Idol emotions. "If he has any skeletons whatsoever, if God forbid, he's gay, and all these people in Mississippi who voted for him are like, 'Oh, my God, I voted for a queer!'"--Timberlake, the native Tennessean, expressing compassion toward the under-pressure "guy who won," as well as a certain distrust of the Idol audience.

Timberlake, 25, is scheduled to take the stage Thursday night in Dallas. Hicks, 29, is due to be behind the mic with the Idol tour in Indianapolis. That should put about 900 miles between the two--not including the distance Timberlake is putting between himself and the Fashion Rocks piece.

On Thursday, publicist Ken Sunshine said Timberlake's comments were taken "out of context." When asked, he said he did not know in what context Timberlake discussed Hicks or Hicks' tune-carrying ability. But he was clear that Timberlake "meant no harm."

"He has great affection for anyone who puts himself out there," Sunshine said.

In a similar moment of clarification Thursday, Timberlake told MTV.com he did not endorse opiates in a recent interview with UK's Observer Music Monthly when he said, "Nicotine is more addictive than heroin."

"The press is gonna say what the press wants to say," Timberlake said in an explanation of how his words about nicotine, heroin and the ingestion thereof were extracted from a larger conversation.

"At the end of the day, who cares? The only thing I care about is that I can get my music out."

Timberlake's music, in the form of his new album FutureSex/LoveSounds, will be out Sept. 12. In the run-up to the release, Timberlake is scheduled to perform on the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 31, and play out a string of 13 sold-out club dates through Sept. 1.

According to Billboard, Timberlake will hit the road for a big-time, 100-date arena tour starting in January--or, around the time of the sixth-season debut of his favorite singing show.

Good thing there's TiVo.