American Idol's Top 12 Gets First Three (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Good news or bad, we knew Tatiana Del Toro was going to be an emotional wreck.

She didn't disappoint on that front. But we bet thousands of fans ended up pretty bummed anyway as the results started rolling in—there's always a favorite who doesn't make it through.

In what may be the most intriguing of the stalwart series' season-eight format changes (certainly more intriguing than the addition of a fourth judge, anyway), the top guy and girl from last night's performance show—along with the next-highest vote getter—were admitted into American Idol's Top 12 Wednesday.

Also an improvement—instead of making the castoffs relive their low points, the trio who advanced provided the encore performances.

But for the real twist, check out who advanced, contrary to what our commenters predicted...

The fans seemed to love Anoop Desai, but about 20,000 more of the 24 million votes cast landed in Michael Sarver's camp instead.

The 27-year-old oil-rig roughneck defied judges' expectations by winning a spot in the Top 12 with his karaoke-ready rendition of Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be."

But don't count out Anoop Dogg just yet. He might not have to wake up from his present dream if he was the third-place finisher among the guys last night, or if the judges select him to compete in the March 5 Wild Card sing-off—and there's a very good possibility of that, considering how much they like him.

Meanwhile, last night's standouts, Alexis Grace, 21, and Danny Gokey, 28, sailed on through to the promised land.

Trying to milk the (lack of) suspense for all it was worth, Ryan Seacrest trotted out Danny and Tatiana at the same time, making us wonder for a second whether the front-runner was about to fall victim to the "I don't need to vote for him because everyone else is going to" trap. He didn't, though. Tatiana looked as if she was about to pass out but, like Anoop, there could be another last chance in her future.

The next group of 12—Megan Corkrey, Kris Allen, Mishavonna Henson, Matt Breitzke, Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud, Jasmine Murray, Kai Kalama, Jesse Langseth, Adam Lambert, Jeanine Vailes and Nick Mitchell—performs next Wednesday.

(Originally published Feb. 18, 2009 at 6:50 p.m. PT)

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Usher's wife checks out of Brazil hospital (AP)

SAO PAULO, Brazil – The wife of R&B singer Usher was released from a Sao Paulo hospital after spending 11 days recovering from a cardiac arrest she suffered shortly before undergoing plastic surgery.

A spokeswoman for the Sirio-Libanes Hospital said Wednesday that Tameka Raymond left the facility Monday night but declined to provide any details on Raymond's treatment at the family's request. The spokewoman spoke on condition of anonymity per hospital policy.

Representatives for Usher had no immediate comment.

Ellen Dastry, a spokeswoman for the doctor who was to perform the plastic surgery, said last week that Raymond suffered a cardiac arrest while being anesthetized ahead of a "simple liposuction" at Sao Paulo's Sao Rafael Hospital.

Raymond was revived in less than a minute with heart massage, and was placed in an induced coma before being taken to the intensive-care unit, said Dastry, spokeswoman for plastic surgeon Silvio Sterman.

She was then transferred to the posh and better-equipped Sirio-Libanes Hospital to recover.

Usher was supposed to perform at music mogul Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party, but backed out to come to Brazil to be with his wife.

The 30-year-old R&B star and his wife were married in August 2007. They have two young sons, 2-year-old Usher Raymond V and 2-month-old Naveid Ely Raymond.

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Coldplay and Duffy lead field on eve of BRITs (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – British band Coldplay and Welsh singer Duffy will be hoping to add to their Grammys success as they head the field at the 2009 BRITs on Wednesday night with four nominations apiece.

Organizers have highlighted the global impact of British music in 2008, underlined by a flurry of Grammys, the industry's most coveted honors, earlier this month.

In the wake of those awards, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger hailed "a great period for home-grown talent," telling the Sun newspaper:

"What's so refreshing is the different styles that have been recognized. Coldplay, Duffy, Adele and Radiohead make up an eclectic bunch, proving there's a lot of fresh British talent out there."

At the BRITs, Coldplay and Duffy are followed by Adele, indie pop band Scouting For Girls and alternative rockers Elbow, who all appear in three categories.

Coldplay are up for best British group and best British album, considered the most prestigious prize at the BRITs, for their multi-million selling record "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends."

The group is also competing for best British single and British live act.

The BRITs' recognition of Duffy, a relative unknown 12 months ago, caps a year during which her debut album "Rockferry" was Britain's top-selling record in 2008 and boasts worldwide sales of nearly 4.5 million copies.

She has been nominated for best album, best single for "Mercy," British female solo artist and British breakthrough act. The best British single award is chosen by live public vote on the night of the awards ceremony.

In the international categories, the same five artists are competing both for best international group and international album -- AC/DC, Fleet Foxes, the Killers, Kings of Leon and

MGMT.

Four other British acts -- Ting Tings, Radiohead, Girls Aloud, and Estelle -- land two nominations apiece in this year's BRITs list.

BRITs organizers have announced that Take That and Coldplay will appear at the awards ceremony on February 18th, joining Pet Shop Boys, U2, Kings of Leon, Duffy and Girls Aloud.

Hosting the event, held before an audience of over 10,000 people at London's Earls Court, will be Australian star Kylie Minogue.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Danny Gokey wows 'American Idol' judges (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Danny Gokey was proclaimed the "Hero" of "American Idol."

Three of the show's four judges heaped praise on the 28-year-old church music director from Milwaukee on Tuesday, following his rendition of the Mariah Carey tune "Hero" at the end of the Fox singing competition's first performance show of season eight.

"You are the hero, man," said Kara DioGuardi. "You give us all hope. You were great."

Gokey was the last to perform in a group of 12 singers out of the top 36 semifinalists. The judges directed their harshest criticism at Stephen Fowler, Casey Carlson and Stevie Wright, who Simon Cowell said had "zero" chance of advancing to the next round. The top three vote-getters will be revealed during Wednesday's live episode.

___

On the Net:

http://www.americanidol.com

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Jessica Simpson Avoids Split Pants With Skort (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Jessica Simpson took her Rascal Flatts opening act to Madison Square Garden last night, and it was a good news/bad news scenario.

According to Newsday, she remembered all her song lyrics, made no desperate dedications to Tony and didn't cry a single time—no Grand Rapids repeat here.

But it wasn't all positive. While she was smart enough to leave her high-waisted chili cookoff jeans at home, she had to go and ruin a seemingly harmless outfit by wearing something just as bad: a skort. Naturally, she explained this to the audience in an effortlessly elegant manner that has become her trademark:

"I've had times when my pants split right down the middle when I bent down to reach a note. That's why I'm wearing a skort—not a skirt, not a short—just so they wouldn't split."

At least she's...um, honest?

THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at www.eonline.com

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British pop singer M.I.A., who performed at the Grammy Awards last Sunday despite experiencing labor contractions, has given birth to a baby boy, she said on her MySpace page.

The unnamed baby was born on Wednesday, and is "healthy, fine, beautiful and the most amazing thing ever on this planet," according to her Web posting on Saturday.

The baby's father is musician Benjamin Brewer, son of Canadian liquor scion Edgar Bronfman, chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group. The location was not disclosed.

M.I.A., 31, whose real name is Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, was born in Britain but raised in Sri Lanka, where her father agitated for an independent Tamil state. She achieved fame with her second album "Kala," a cross-cultural mishmash of beats, slogans and lyrical drama. Her ubiquitous single "Paper Plane," which incorporates elements of an obscure Clash track, received a Grammy nomination for record of the year.

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Obama plans concert for Stevie Wonder (AP)

WASHINGTON – The White House is planning a concert this month to honor Stevie Wonder, whose music provided part of President Barack Obama's campaign soundtrack.

The White House says the president and first lady Michelle Obama will present Wonder a Library of Congress award on Feb. 25. The concert will be broadcast the next day on PBS as part of its "Performance at the White House" series.

The award-winning and chart-topping Wonder performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on the night Obama accepted his party's nomination. He also performed at a concert during the week of Obama's inauguration.

His song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" became a theme song during the campaign. Obama also used "Higher Ground" during campaign stops.

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