The week that was

LADY GAGA: We've kissed a lot of frogs ourselves, but we got over Kermit when we hit first grade. Hot look, though.

CHRIS BROWN: The singer, who was sentenced to 180 days of labor for his assault on Rihanna, got started this week by shoveling, uh, compost out of horse stalls. How appropriate.

JON GOSSELIN: Kate now says she despises her soon-to-be-ex. So must his divorce lawyer. He dumped Jon, too.

Battle of the blond divas: Madonna vs. Lady Gaga

Madonna is still the queen of pop -- at least she was last weekend.

In a rare (and wacky) Saturday Night Live cameo, Madge had an on-camera cat fight with another blond pop star, Lady Gaga .

The women, who were playing guests on a fake music talk show, Deep House Dish, pulled each other's hair and even mouthed a few curse words. Gaga said she was hotter than the Material Girl, who shot back, ``What kind of name is Lady Gaga. It sounds like baby food.''

What we're checking out this week

TELEVISION

America sets forth on the search for its new idol this week. Is there another Adam Lambert , Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson out there? Some big changes await fans this season: American Idol will air three nights per week and crown its winner March 17. And no Paula -- you can bid adieu to her incoherent cheerleadering and welcome Ellen DeGeneres , who joins judges Simon , Randy and Kara . Idol debuts its ninth season at 8 p.m. Tuesday on WSVN-Fox 7 with a two-hour premiere followed by another two-hour show Wednesday. Expect much of the same audition fodder -- we'll have to endure the really bad singers for a couple of weeks til the competition really gets going in mid-February.

'Jon & Kate:' Stick a fork in it

it's really over. Or so we hope.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 , which in recent months had become just about as fun as watching Hulk and Linda Hogan duke it out in court, will stop filming new episodes next month.

Blame it on dad: Jon Gosselin threw a hissy fit after being written out of the TLC show and forbade filming of his brood of eight.

Year in Review | Pop music

The Year in Pop for 2009 might be remembered more for men behaving badly rather than artists behaving creatively. First, Chris Brown smacked around girlfriend Rihanna; then, Kanye West's arrogance (again) at MTV's VMAs and Adam Lambert's embarrassing lewdness at the American Music Awards had viewers gasping. But as always, there were a few standout performers.

TOP FIVE

1. The Black Eyed Peas: After Fergie's big solo success, the pop-hop supergroup rejoined forces and stormed 2009 with two of the year's most infectious hits, Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling. With a mix of melodic genius and street cred, the Peas are charismatic, eclectic and simply unstoppable.