Poor American Idol winner Taylor Hicks was first humiliated by wearing a purple leisure suit on national television, and now Justin Timberlake is piling on the embarassment. After first saying Hicks can't sing, he follows up with a gentler "maybe he's gay" insinuation. Talk about a one-two punch to the gut.

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. Do you realize how much pressure it is to put on somebody all of a sudden? 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!' It's just too much pressure.

We decided to put things in perspective for you by publishing the above photo from the days when everyone thought Justin Timberlake was a lesbian.

Timberlake speculates on 'Idol's' sexual orientation [AP]

• Tiger Woods cleans up at the PGA, taking home the win and leaving only Jack Nicklaus standing in the way of becoming the world's greatest golf champ. [NYT]

• In Australia, health officials are pleading for more blood donations as supplies have reached a critical "36 hour" mark. Blood banks remain steadfast, however, in refusing to accept blood from gays. [Pink News]

• In New Mexico, the four individuals being held on charges of gay bashing an 18-year-old Edgewood man – to "scare him" straight – have been indicted on hate crime charges. [New Mexican]

• In New York, a judge rules for a Westchester cook who was fired when his employers found out he used to be a woman. The court found transgender people like Eric Buffong are covered under the state's human rights law — and thus Buffong can proceed with his $3 million lawsuit. [AP]

• In backtracking over his comments about American Idol Taylor Hicks, Justin Timberlake puts his foot in his mouth again with speculation Hicks could be gay. [AP]

• Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe isn't fazed by all the gay rumors: "I don't care what people are saying in that regard because it doesn't mean when I get in my car I worry about what's going to happen today or am I being followed. It's not embarrassing." Meanwhile, in that same interview, Thorpe – an Armani ambassador – didn't deny he is gay. [Pink News]

• And finally, in East Hampton comes this Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl sighting:

Ran into Lance Bass and his boyfriend, Reichen Lehmkuhl, in East Hampton on Saturday, August 19th around 3:15 pm. They were coming out of the Scoop store on Newton Lane. Lance was carrying a bag from the store, where he must have purchased some items. They ran into some other friends 2 girls and a guy across the street who it was obvious they knew. They were giving them directions to a party/event that night, before the two groups went their own way. Reichen looked hot in shorts and a white shirt with Ray Ban aviator glasses, while Lance was wearing jeans and sandals. They looked very happy and relaxed.

• Contestants are gettin' nekkid for the The Eurovision Song Contest, basically the European version of Idol. And we thought the drag queen from Bulgaria was fun. Why won't Ace and Chris Daughtry drop trou? No fair. Go look at the rest of the pics, delish. [Casual in Istanbul]

• In celebration of the release of the (admittedly really good) release of Liza with a Z, Liza Minnelli slurs her way through an interview with Larry King. Fret not if it doesn't make sense, it's not supposed to. [fourfour]

During an interview on Howard Stern's Sirius radio program, Simon Colwell predicted the three finalists for this season of American Idol:

"Let me tell you who's gonna be in the finals," Cowell said. "The bald-headed kid (Chris Daughtry) and the guy with gray hair (Taylor Hicks)."

A few minutes later, he added, "I think the top three will be the two I mentioned and Kellie Pickler."

While Simon is trying to portray himself as the all-knowing soothsayer of music competitions, we presume he can read the weekly reports on how many votes are cast for each contestant. So he would know who has been in the lead so far. It's not that fancy a prediction.

Although when we TiVo Idol, we do fast-forward through comments by "Uhhhhhh, it was alright for me" Randy Jackson and "Your light shines from within" Paula Abdul, and only watch Simon's snappy critiques--unless Paula is drunk/high, in which case we watch her comments over and over. Cracked-out Paula is the best. But Simon's opinions aren't inherently any more accurate than the other judges: remember, in the preliminary audition stages, he gave "no" votes to both Chris Daughtry and Taylor Hicks. Suddenly, he's changing his tune?...

Simon picks Idol finalists