‘Ugly Betty’ marathon counts down to 2007

This New Year’s Eve, things are getting ugly.

ABC Family will run an all-day marathon of ABC’s hit show “Ugly Betty,” starring America Ferrera as the intelligent and optimistic assistant of the head of Mode fashion magazine.

The marathon will help kick off ABC’s “Be Ugly “07” campaign, which asks Americans to emulate the bespectacled heroine and “be real, be smart, be passionate and be true to yourself” in the coming year.

The day kicks off at 9 a.m. EST with Betty landing the coveted job at Mode and meeting her womanizing boss Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) for the first time. Through the next eleven hours, fans can watch Betty find her groove at work, sometimes at the expense of her family’s needs, reconcile with her boyfriend Walter (Kevin Sussman) and deal with a trio of workplace backstabbers: Wilhelmina, Marc and Amanda (Vanessa Williams, Michael Urie and Becki Newton). The final episode of the marathon begins at 7 p.m. EST, ending with Betty torn between Walter and her co-worker Henry (Christopher Gorham).

And after all this activity, there’s still time to go out and party before the ball drops.

‘Idol’ Hicks settles for No. 2

Taylor Hicks’ album sold a lot of copies last week, but he couldn’t quite crack the top of the charts. Nor could he claim the title of best-selling “Idol” debut of 2006.

The “American Idol” winner’s debut moved 298,000 copies in its first week of release, a pretty strong debut. It was good enough for the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, behind rapper Young Jeezy’s “The Inspiration,” which sold 352,000 copies its first week.

Hicks is the second contestant from “Idol’s” 2006 season to see an album hit No. 2 in recent weeks. Daughtry, the band fronted by fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry, entered at No. 2 in late November. No “Idol” contestant who didn’t finish first or second has ever had as strong a debut.

Daughtry’s first-week numbers are even a little better than those of Hicks; the self-titled “Daughtry” moved 304,000 copies in week one and has since gone platinum (1 million units shipped); it sits at No. 7 this week.

It was a good week for other former “Idol” contestants as well. Carrie Underwood’s “Some Hearts,” which has now a quadruple-platinum seller, is one spot above Daughtry at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, and season three winner Fantasia’s self-titled second album is at No. 19.

Additionally, season two contestant Kimberley Locke is No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart with her rendition of “Jingle Bells,” and season three’s Jennifer Hudson is at No. 93 on the Pop 100 with “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” from the “Dreamgirls” soundtrack.