People.com and YouTube are unveiling a new channel on the video Web site dedicated to celebrity content provided by People.com. To kick off the channel, People.com and YouTube, along with cosmetics company Revlon, are launching a contest where one ”Red Carpet Reporter” will be picked to interview celebrities at a star-filled event in September.

They promise the winner “a whirlwind two days in Los Angeles” with hair and makeup by Revlon, a clothing allowance and  ”VIP entry into exclusive events,” according to a statement. And to wrap it all up, the winner has to work — on the glitzy Red Carpet, of course. Hey, it’s a tough job but somebody’s…  Ahh, you know the rest.

The initial contest kicks off on July 10 and runs through July 21. Contestants must submit a two- to four-minute video of them interviewing their family or friends. Ten finalists will be picked, and People.com and YouTube users will vote for a winner who will be announced on Aug. 27.

The new People.com celebrity YouTube channel, which will feature video, photos and star interviews, can be found at www.youtube.com/people. Submissions for the contest can be made at www.youtube.com/redcarpetreporter or www.people.com/youtube.

The video cuts snippets from the Boards’ song “The Songs I Didn’t Write” (oh, the glorious irony of it all) with clips from Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”, the title track from the group’s new album which is selling fast in the UK. The posting even claims the band thought they spotted Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin in the crowd at a gig last year when they performed the song, hence making the link between the two.

The allegation prompted Coldplay to issue a blunt denial, saying that “Viva La Vida” was actually written seven months before the night in question.

The blogosphere has been busy with reactions to the accusations, with what seems to be a slight majority accusing the Boards of a cheap publicity stunt. Still, it may have worked. More than 320,000 visits have been made to the Youtube posting to date, about 1,000 times the number of clicks on other Creaky Boards’ contributions.

But here we are, the top two “American Idol” finalists decided after four intense months, and yet the buzz following Wednesday night’s elimination show centered not around the impending David showdown, or on the ouster of Syesha Mercado, but an over-the-top performance by an “Idol” winner from four years ago.

Fantasia, the passionate, raspy-voiced single mother from North Carolina, to this day is arguably the edgiest “Idol” winner ever (Taylor Hicks and his premature head of gray hair don’t count). Tonight, however, she truly outdid herself, bursting onto the stage with a head of fire engine red hair and three backup dancers and delivering a high-energy performance of her song “Bore Me.”

The performance immediately sparked a lively debate on the Web over whether Fantasia was back to her magnetic self or had completely lost her mind.

“I loved it…it was FUN and CRAAAAZZZY! I was up dancing!” wrote one fan on the “Idol” forums, while another said: “What was all the screaming about? That’s talent? She’s lost it.”

Many viewers commented on Simon Cowell’s slack-jawed stare during Fantasia’s performance, saying he couldn’t have made his feelings any clearer.

On YouTube, where several versions of the performance were posted following the show, one viewer panned the performance, but admitted to being unable stop watching the video.

“For some strange reason beyond my own comprehension I can’t stop watching the vid!!! It’s like deep down inside I want to punish myself for all the mistakes I did in my life by watching this freakshow!”

Isn’t that what reality TV is all about?

For more on the elimination show, click here.

It appears Youtube decided to get in on the joke, featuring a similar link on its main page on Tuesday, which just happened to be April Fools’ Day. (The image on this blog is a rather arbitrary snap of Youtube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. Sorry, but our pictures archive did not feature Mr. Astley, although that may be about to change).

As many as 15 million people, among them me, have seen the flame-haired Briton strut his stuff as a result of the gag. Bloggers have written about being both irritated and impressed by the trick, but either way it has begun to spill over into the real world.

Astley’s record label has brought forward the re-release of his greatest hits by around two weeks to April 28 to try to cash in on the craze. Astley himself is not available to speak about it, although he did tell the LA Times recently how he found it ironic that a pop song which he himself describes as “pretty naff” has become a kind of cultural beacon, rather than a hit with an obvious political or social message.

If I am anything to go by, “rick-rolling” victims old enough to have been around in 1987, when the song was Britain’s biggest selling single, will be struggling to get the kitsch-yet-catchy tune out of their heads.