LOS ANGELES – Michael “Big Mike” Lynche made Kara DioGuardi cry and turned the rest of the “American Idol” judges giddy with a moving performance of “This Woman’s Work.”

Lynche, a mountain of a guy who lives up to his nickname, performed last among the eight male semifinalists Wednesday and emerged as the star of the Fox TV show.

“You come out with an incredibly difficult song to sing, and you 100 percent nailed it,” said Simon Cowell. “Not just the best performance of the night, it was the best performance of all these live shows so far.”

The eight female semifinalists performed Tuesday, with the top six vote-getters from the men’s and women’s groups to be announced Thursday.

Lynche, 26, of Astoria, N.Y., moved impressively from a quiet falsetto start to a booming finale, but it was as much the story behind the song as his range that touched DioGuardi. Lynche’s wife had a baby girl while he was in Los Angeles making the cut for “Idol.”

“It’s amazing. You were amazing,” DioGuardi said. “It’s your life right now, it’s your respect for your wife, what you’ve gone through. … It brought me to tears.”

The other contestants, who may have been glad they didn’t have to follow Lynche, picked up a mixture of praise and criticism.

Andrew Garcia, 24, Moreno Valley, Calif., had the roughest night, with his performance of “Genie in a Bottle” deemed pitchy by Jackson and dismissed by Cowell as “a little bit desperate.”

Casey James, 27, of Fort Worth, Texas, did better with “You’ll Think of Me,” which Ellen DeGeneres and Cowell said sounded “great” but struck Jackson as a safe choice.

Tim Urban scored with his version of “Hallelujah,” which is becoming an “American Idol” standard.

DeGeneres, noting she has been critical of the 20-year-old from Duncanville, Texas, jumped on the stage to give him a congratulatory hug and called his rendition “fantastic.”

“Todrick’s back!” was Jackson’s response to Todrick Hall’s performance of “Somebody to Love,” while Cowell said it was a mixed performance but may have saved Hall, 24, of Arlington, Texas, from elimination.

Alex Lambert’s version of “Trouble” drew mostly favorable critiques, including a highly creative offering from DeGeneres.

“You’re becoming a mushy banana. You’re ripening so fast,” she said. Translation: The 19-year-old from North Richland Hills, Texas, is getting better and better.

Aaron Kelley, with “I’m Already There,” showed he has the “makings of a great,” Jackson said, and Cowell lauded his emotional delivery — while dismissing DioGuardi’s contention the song about a man away from his family was too old for the 16-year-old from Sonestown, Pa.

Lee Dewyze, 23, of Mount Prospect, Ill., showed “there’s a star bubbling there” with his version of “Fireflies,” said DioGuardi, while Cowell said he was better than the performance but had a “great chance” of making the top 12.

If not, DeGeneres could set him up on a date as a consolation prize: She’s heard from several people with crushes on him, she said.

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Fox is a unit of News Corp.

___

On the Net:

http://www.americanidol.com

LOS ANGELES – Corey Haim’s story is sadly familiar in Hollywood: A teen talent who discovered drugs as he tasted his first success and whose personal problems increased as his star-power faded.

Haim died Wednesday at 38, another chapter in Hollywood’s tragic history of careers ravaged by drugs.

Brittany Murphy’s career was rebounding when she died at 31 in December from pneumonia and prescription drugs.

River Phoenix was 16 when he starred in “Stand By Me” and 23 when he died of a drug overdose outside a Hollywood nightclub.

Haim died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, His mother called paramedics after he collapsed while getting out of bed at his apartment.

Haim started working in TV commercials at 10 and was a big-screen heartthrob at 15. The star of 1987’s “The Lost Boys” discovered drugs while making that movie.

“I was working on ‘Lost Boys’ when I smoked my first joint,” he told the British tabloid The Sun in 1994. “I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack.”

Haim said he went into rehab and was put on prescription drugs. In 2007, he told ABC’s “Nightline” that drugs hurt his career.

“I wasn’t functional enough to work for anybody, even myself,” he said. “I wasn’t working.”

Haim had returned to the spotlight in recent years, appearing in the A&E reality TV show “The Two Coreys” with “Lost Boys” co-star Corey Feldman. The show was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Haim’s drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.

Haim was ill with flulike symptoms before his death, and police said he was taking over-the-counter and prescription medications.

An autopsy will determine his cause of death. There was no evidence of foul play.

“He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs,” police Sgt. William Mann said. “He has had a drug problem in the past.”

Feldman said he wept when he learned Haim had died.

“This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family, and best friend,” Feldman said in a statement.

Troy Searer, an executive producer of “The Two Coreys,” said Haim’s “heart and his potential were only outmatched by his demons.”

Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction-medicine specialist and star of VH1’s drug-treatment reality programs “Celebrity Rehab” and “Sober House,” said the lure of Hollywood attracts many potential addicts.

“There’s a higher incidence of addiction among celebrities,” he said. “It’s not the Hollywood-ness. It’s the fact that addicts show up in Hollywood and addicts are likely to die.”

Pinsky added: “Young Hollywood only reflects what’s going on in the culture at large.”

Jennifer Gimenez, an actress and recovering drug addict and alcoholic who appears on “Sober House,” said Hollywood’s ultra-competitive environment can lead some people to seek escape in substances.

“I don’t feel like Hollywood takes you down,” she said. “I just feel like it co-signs it a lot.”

Gimenez found success at 14 as a model and suddenly had to shoulder adult-sized responsibilities. Add the pressure of working in a competitive industry, and a person predisposed to addiction succumbs, she said.

Successful actors are not immune to the dangers of addiction. Heath Ledger was poised for superstardom when he overdosed in 2008 at age 28. He posthumously won the Oscar the following year for his work as the Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

Haim’s career outlook had been improving in recent months, and his neighbors told reporters the actor was looking healthier and getting stronger.

He had a role in the 2009 Jason Statham action flick “Crank 2: High Voltage” and was making appearances to support his new film “American Sunset,” billed on his Web site as the first film he had starred in “since he left the business on a sabbatical.”

Haim’s agent Mark Sterling and producers of “American Sunset” did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Searer said he last spoke to Haim about six months ago, when the actor “seemed incredibly positive.”

“He had done a few smaller films and things seemed to be on the upswing for him,” Searer said.

Haim, however, seemed sadly prophetic when he was interviewed by CNN’s Larry King in 2007, calling himself “a chronic relapser for the rest of my life.”

CONWAY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Last week, Sarah Killen had three Twitter followers.

This week, she has 20,000 — as well as a new iMac computer and offers to help pay for a dress and drinks for her wedding.

The unsuspecting rural Michigan woman has one out-of-work late-night talk show host to thank for her newfound online popularity — Conan O’Brien.

O’Brien decided last week to pick Killen as the only person he would follow on Twitter, turning the 19-year-old’s life upside down.

The deposed “Tonight Show” star whose exit deal with NBC barred him from TV appearances for several months, has taken to Twitter to reach the masses during his exile and has amassed more than a half-million followers.

But up until Friday, O’Brien had steadily increased his number of Twitter devotees without following the feeds of anybody else.

Enter Killen, who is finishing up her high school requirements, preparing to make the jump to college and getting married in September.

“I’ve decided to follow someone at random,” O’Brien’s posting read at 3:55 p.m. on Friday. “She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change.”

Boy, did it ever.

Immediately after O’Brien started following her, Killen — whose Twitter handle is “LovelyButton” — picked up followers at a rate of 150 per minute.

Then came the calls: Family, friends (actual and long-lost) and interview requests from Web sites, TV shows and radio stations.

She sleeps a few hours each night, has fallen woefully behind on her schoolwork and day-to-day activities such as laundry and rarely leaves the house.

“It’s totally nuts,” she said.

Until O’Brien plucked Killen from obscurity and turned her into an overnight Web celeb, she and fiance John Slowik Jr. lived a normal life, residing in the basement of a house in Conway Township, more than an hour’s drive west from Detroit.

It’s hard to say exactly what O’Brien’s motivation was — O’Brien spokesman Beau Benton had no comment on Wednesday — but it’s had a profound effect on Killen and her 21-year-old fiance.

The exposure has resulted in a brand-new iMac, which was bought for them by a Florida businessman.

A New York designer is donating a wedding dress, and someone else is sending wine for the nuptials.

Not bad for a couple who saved $30 for the wedding, hadn’t reserved a location and faced the prospect of not being able to afford a wedding dress.

“People are saying that I’m asking for gifts and stuff, and I’m not,” Killen said.

What she is asking of her newfound army of Twitter followers is to contribute to charity, including the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Still, Slowik says he’d love one more thing from the man who used to make them laugh nightly during his abbreviated “Tonight Show” run.

Slowik wants O’Brien to be his best man at the wedding.

Will he do it?

“I would hope so,” Killen said.

LOS ANGELES – Corey Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob whose career was blighted by drug abuse, has died. He was 38.

Haim died early Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.

“As he got out of bed, he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees,” Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. His mother called paramedics.

An autopsy will determine cause of death. There was no evidence of foul play, police Sgt. Michael Kammert said.

Haim, who gained attention for roles in “Lucas” and “The Lost Boys,” had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, police Sgt. William Mann said.

“He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs,” Mann said. “He has had a drug problem in the past.”

Haim was taken by ambulance to the hospital from an apartment in Los Angeles near Burbank.

His friend, Corey Feldman, said he wept when he heard the news.

“This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family and best friend,” he said in a statement. “We must all take this as a lesson in how we treat the people we share this world with while they are still here to make a difference.

“I hope the art Corey has left behind will be remembered as the passion of that for which he truly lived,” Feldman said.

Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to a British tabloid in 2004.

“I was working on ‘Lost Boys’ when I smoked my first joint,” he told The Sun. “I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack.”

Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took stimulants and sedatives.

“I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck,” he said.

In 2007, he told ABC’s “Nightline” that drugs hurt his career.

“I wasn’t functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn’t working,” he said.

The Toronto-born actor got his start in television commercials at 10 and developed a good reputation for his work in such films as 1985’s “Murphy’s Romance” and his portrayal of Liza Minnelli’s dying son in the 1985 television film “A Time to Live.”

His career peaked when he became a heartthrob with his roles in the 1986 movie “Lucas” and “The Lost Boys” in 1987 in which he battled vampires.

In later years, he made a few TV appearances and had several direct-to-video movies. He also had a handful of recent movies that have not yet been released.

In 1997, Haim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes.

His assets included a few thousand dollars in cash, clothing and royalty rights.

In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show “The Two Coreys” with Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Haim’s drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.

In a 2007 interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Haim called himself “a chronic relapser for the rest of my life.”

Jonnypro buzzed up: Obama decries waste, fraud in gov’t health system (AP)

16 seconds ago 2010-03-10T15:13:46-08:00

In “Remember Me,” Robert Pattinson has temporarily stepped away from “Twilight,” apparently in search of his “Five Easy Pieces” or “Rebel Without a Cause.”

When Pattinson’s character — a wayward, rebellious 21-year-old named Tyler Hawkins — meets who will quickly become his love interest — a fellow NYU student named Ally (Emilie de Ravin) — he informs her that his major is “undecided.”

“`Bout what?” she responds.

“Everything,” he says.

As a character-defining quote, it’s a long way from Marlon Brando’s “Whaddya got?” in “The Wild One.” Perhaps an earlier draft had him saying he’s getting a “Ph.D. in misanthropy.”

Pattinson may be on leave from the narcotic melodrama of “Twilight,” but he’s still in full-on brooding mode. The young actor has an unmistakable screen presence. However in “Remember Me,” he pours it on thickly and self-consciously.

With low eyes, sleeves rolled up just so and cigarette drooping artfully from his mouth, Tyler (like Edward Cullen) is a reluctant romantic. He quotes Gandhi in voiceover, makes love to Sigur Ros and (understandably) can’t be moved to laughter by “American Pie 2.”

His deepness runneth over.

“Remember Me” begins ominously with the Twin Towers lurking in view behind an elevated subway in 1991 Brooklyn. A woman is senselessly murdered while her young daughter watches.

When the film shifts 10 years later, the girl is Ally, whom Tyler meets through a rather preposterous revenge plot directed at her father (Chris Cooper), a New York police officer who roughed Tyler up.

Their meeting is orchestrated by Tyler’s roommate, Tate, played by Aiden Hall. But there will be no fan-created Team Tyler vs. Team Tate here. The roommate is an annoying chatterbox, whose comedic moments drag the film.

A sense of dread — hinted at by the movie’s title and intoned by Marcelo Zarvos‘ score — is carried though the film, which is set in the summer of 2001. Sudden spurts of violence punctuate the story.

Long before the big reveal ending, one begins to feel “Remember Me” is romanticizing — even fetishizing — tragedy. There’s a pretentious reveling in emotional scars and painful loss.

Tyler is the son of a high-powered attorney (Pierce Brosnan), an absent father to Tyler and his young sister, Caroline (Ruby Jerins). Some time earlier, Tyler’s older brother committed suicide — the hurtful event that has given Tyler much of his grimness.

Heaviness weighs on Ally and her father, too. Cooper is typecast as an uptight, overbearing father, but he’s predictably solid.

Brosnan is the highlight of the film, again proving — as he did in Roman Polanski’s recent “The Ghost Writer” — his character actor chops. Tucked stoically behind a suit, he ably sports a Brooklyn accent in believable, confrontational scenes with Pattinson.

Director Allen Coulter shows the same skill in creating atmosphere as he did in “Hollywoodland,” but the script by Will Fetters (his first) is uneven.

The most pleasing thing about “Remember Me” is its boldness. It may be affected, but “Remember Me” is at least aiming for an intriguing character study — a positive sign in the young career of Pattinson (who is also an executive producer).

He may very well grow into a less showy actor. For now, Tyler’s response to Ally when she tells him that she’s 19 is the most telling.

“I can do teens,” he says.

Yes, sir. You certainly can.

“Remember Me,” a Summit Entertainment release, is rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking. Running time: 113 minutes. Two stars out of four.

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Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:

G — General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG — Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 — Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R — Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17 — No one under 17 admitted.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After selling more than a million tickets to her last concert tour, Carrie Underwood is aiming higher this time.

Really high. She plans to fly over the audience, for starters.

“We’re kind of going for broke on this one just because I feel like it’s time,” Underwood said in an interview this week. “At this point, the only thing it’s about is putting on a great show and we’re going out with that in mind. I definitely think we have delivered.”

Underwood’s “Play On Tour” opens Thursday in Reading, Pa., with more than 50 dates in the United States and Canada planned through June.

The former “American Idol” winner, who turned 27 on Wednesday, wanted to follow the success of her third platinum-selling album, “Play On,” with something dynamite for her fans. She’s set a record with 11 straight No. 1 country singles and now feels she has a set list meaty enough to support something spectacular.

“As far as things getting bigger, it’s just that — the stage is bigger, there are more lights, there’s more tricks up our sleeve,” Underwood said. “We have a lot of moving parts on the stage. I kind of get to fly over the audience. It’s really cool. It’s just a lot of stuff. My band’s great, wardrobe’s great. It’s just more. It’s all of the bells and whistles and sprinkles on the cupcake.”

Underwood made 137 stops on her 2008 tour to support “Carnival Ride.” More than 1.2 million fans attended, putting her in elite company.

Her “Play On” proves her elite status as well. The album opened at No. 1 and has so far sold more than 1.3 million copies, bringing her to more than 11 million albums sold since 2005.

Those are all heady numbers, but as she’s grown more successful Underwood says she’s learned to let go of the statistics.

“I remember in the beginning it was like, ‘How many did I sell this week? How many people are going to be here?’” Underwood said. “It was all about numbers and to be honest now I don’t even look at anything because I’m happy. When I see numbers it either makes me happy or brings me down. I’d rather just be happy and leave it at that.”

Underwood is taking a similar Zen-like approach with planning her wedding to Mike Fisher of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Trying to plan a tour and wedding at the same time could be overwhelming, but Underwood’s not stressing. She’s more than happy to step aside when it comes to minutiae.

“Have you ever been to a wedding where you thought how awful the tablecloths were? Probably not,” Underwood said. “You probably don’t even remember the tablecloths. Why get stressed out about little things like that? But I do have a planner and she knows that she’s going to be making a lot of decisions on her own. If you give me choice A, B or C, I can pick one, but I don’t care.”

The couple got engaged shortly before Christmas and have set a date that they hope to keep private. Underwood says they haven’t even told family and friends in an effort to keep unwelcome cameras away.

“Not to say even anybody would care to show up, but just in case,” Underwood said. “Like anybody you deserve to get married and have a great day as people. I’m not going to be Carrie Underwood the entertainer walking down the aisle. I’m just Carrie and I’m going to marry Mike. I feel like that’s kind of a right everybody deserves to have.”

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On the Net:

http://www.carrieunderwoodofficial.com/

LOS ANGELES – The executive director of the film academy said Tuesday that Farrah Fawcett wasn’t included in the Academy Awards‘ In Memoriam segment because the actress was better known as a TV star.

It was a difficult decision for the committee that assembles the segment to omit Fawcett, said Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis, who added that he’s not surprised some fans and family members are upset.

Fawcett’s family issued a statement through a publicist Tuesday saying they were “deeply saddened” and “bereft with this exclusion of such an international icon who inspired so many for so many reasons.”

Davis said the academy committee debated about including Fawcett and Gene Barry, a longtime TV actor who died in December at age 90, in the memorial segment but ultimately omitted both.

Davis and his colleagues thought that while the two actors appeared in movies, they were better known for their “remarkable television work” and would be more appropriately honored by the television academy at the Emmy Awards.

The group “was kind of figuring that probably the Farrah Fawcett and Gene Barry omissions would be the ones we’d get the most comments on,” he said. He acknowledged that he “did get one letter about Miss Fawcett.”

The academy director said “an unusual number of extremely distinguished screenwriters” died this year, and the academy tried to honor many of them in the short memorial segment.

“In every category, you’re going to miss some wonderful people,” said Davis, who has helped assemble Oscar’s In Memoriam montage since it began in 1993.

When asked why Michael Jackson was included when actors were left out, Davis explained that Jackson had appeared in a popular theatrical film recently. Fawcett and Jackson both died on June 25.

“Think of all the blogging we would have gotten if we had left him out!” he said.

Still, he said he understands that the Fawcett and Barry omissions sting.

“There’s nothing you can say to people, particularly to family members, within a day or two of the show that helps at all,” Davis said. “They tend to be surprised and hurt, and we understand that and we’re sorry for it.”

___

On the Net:

Academy Awards, http://www.oscars.org

NEW YORK – From the start, David Letterman made sure the story of a $2 million shakedown attempt over his sex life was one he narrated himself.

It was the comic, not prosecutors, who broke the news of the case, which spurred him last fall to acknowledge affairs with women on his staff.

After former television producer Robert “Joe” Halderman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a blackmail attempt driven by debt and jealousy, Letterman seized the moment again. The late-night icon’s lawyers were at the courthouse with a statement from him, and he weighed in on his show with praise for prosecutors and police.

“It was handled professionally, skillfully and appropriately,” he said.

Letterman may be hoping the same is said of his own handling of the case, which at first dealt a blow to his image as a nice guy, if perhaps a little cranky.

Halderman, 52, pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny, acknowledging he threatened to destroy Letterman reputation by airing his workplace dalliances — using information authorities have said Halderman mined from the diary of a former girlfriend who had a relationship with Letterman.

The plea deal spares Halderman a potential 15 years in prison had he been convicted. He is due instead to get a six-month jail sentence and 1,000 hours of community service.

“I attempted to extort $2 million from David Letterman by threatening to disclose personal and private information about him, whether true or false,” he said in court Tuesday, apologizing to his ex-girlfriend and Letterman.

“I feel great remorse for what I have done,” he said.

The plea also spares Letterman the prospect of a trial that could have put his private life on display, though he defused much of Halderman’s potential bombshell last fall by revealing his affairs.

Halderman was a producer for CBS’ “48 Hours Mystery” when the case began; Letterman’s “Late Show” also is on CBS. CBS News said Halderman is no longer an employee but declined to specify whether he had quit or been fired.

Halderman acknowledged delivering the blackmail threat in September to Letterman’s driver, in the form of a faintly fictionalized screenplay outline about the comedian. He admitted Tuesday the supposed script was “just a thinly veiled threat to ruin Mr. Letterman if he did not pay me a lot of money.”

Defense attorney Gerald Shargel said Tuesday that Halderman “was both jealous and enraged” and under financial pressure. Halderman, who made about $214,000 in 2007, was struggling with money in the wake of a divorce, according to court papers filed by his ex-wife’s lawyers.

Under the plea agreement, Halderman must give prosecutors all copies of any diary entries, photos, screenplay notes or other materials he has concerning Letterman and must agree never to reveal the contents.

Outside court, Halderman repeated his apologies, declined interviews and said no more. He remains free on bail until his sentencing, set for May 4.

His plea came more than four months after Letterman announced the case in an Oct. 1 monologue on his show, stunning viewers and impressing critics, who called his alternately folksy and frank speech a masterful move to seize control of the story. He described his office affairs as “creepy” but said he felt he needed to protect the women involved and his family.

Letterman married girlfriend Regina Lasko last year. They began dating in 1986 and have a 6-year-old son.

Fans have more than stuck with him since the disclosures of his workplace affairs. His show averages 4.14 million viewers, up 6 percent from a year ago.

But now, after beating rival Conan O’Brien on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” Letterman is again facing Jay Leno, who returned to host “Tonight” last week after nine months’ absence. In past years, Leno consistently beat Letterman in the ratings.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. noted that Letterman had come to authorities knowing the case could expose his personal life.

“Mr. Letterman is a public figure, but like all New Yorkers he has a right to a certain degree of privacy in his public life,” said Vance, who took over the case from predecessor Robert Morgenthau in January.

Thomas buzzed up: Runaway Prius driver: Brakes were ‘almost burned’ (AP)

42 seconds ago 2010-03-10T03:14:24-08:00