“THE GIRL BLUE PROJECT” CONTINUES TO THRIVE IN L.A., Wired from MassAppealNews.com

LOS ANGELES – Knowing the issues teens face today, girls in particular, actress and playwright Marlow Wyatt has taken it upon herself to be proactive; rather than reactive. Wyatt, a Kansas City native, is the founder and director of “The Girl Blue Project” based in urban Los Angeles. By empowering teenage girls to value self worth, Wyatt has captured the love and respect of the L.A. community. Recently, Wyatt took time to discuss “The Girl Blue Project” and other issues with Mass Appeal editor Wayne Hodges. Their Q&A went as follows:

Hodges: Marlow, I must begin by saying I’m a big fan of your organization. The things you’re doing for the young women of Los Angeles are both noble and necessary. Can you talk a little bit about the inspiration behind “The Girl Blue Project?” How did you get started?

Marlow: Well, I’m old school and a stickler for education. I find it sad we don’t value education in this country like we used to. I started this program for teenage girls because as a woman I can relate to our struggles. “The Girl Blue Project” offers a wonderful curriculum that focuses on the mind, body and spirit. My students write every single day. They write poetry, stories, etc. I believe writing is so important because it forces us to think and exercise our minds.

Hodges: You mentioned writing as a major part of the curriculum. And I think that’s wonderful. But I’m also enamored with the courses you offer in performing arts. As an actress and writer, I know this is your passion. Can you shed some light on these programs?

Marlow: Yes, I’m an actress and writer. And the first thing I tell the ladies is you can’t know music without understanding math. So we spend a lot of time on mathematics. Yoga, self-awareness and life skill classes are also part of the curriculum.

Hodges: Marlow, it’s no secret fathers are missing from the home. This problem is certainly not exclusive to the urban community. But it’s a problem nonetheless. Do you get the sense many of your students are looking for father figures? Mainly those living in single parent homes.

Marlow: I wouldn’t say they’re looking for just fathers. I think they’re looking for adult figures. It takes more than mom and dad to raise a child. We need aunts, uncles and other responsible adults to step up too. The old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is very true.

Hodges: Can you take a moment to describe some of the drawbacks within the organization? I know you’re managing the program solo. Are you receiving enough family/community support?

Marlow: I don’t have any kids, but running this program requires a lot of emotional work. I only work this job in the Summer. The rest of the year I’m busy acting and writing plays. So, sometimes I get stretched a little thin. I certainly welcome more support. I find it irritating when parents drop off their kids just to get rid of them for a couple hours. I want to see more parents get involved. I believe we’ll accomplish much more that way.

Marlow Wyatt, an actress and playwright in Los Angeles, is the founder and director of “The Girl Blue Project.” To learn more about her organization, click here. She welcomes your comments at info@thegirlblueproject.org.

TEEN FUGITIVE ‘BAREFOOT BANDIT’ FINALLY CAUGHT IN BAHAMAS, the Associated Press

NASSAU, Bahamas – Bahamas police captured a teenage U.S. fugitive today, bringing to an end the “Barefoot Bandit’s” two-year flight from U.S. justice, a senior police official said. Colton Harris-Moore was arrested before dawn on northern Eleuthera island, the police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case. He said the suspect would soon be flown to Nassau, the capital, where the Royal Bahamas Police Force would be holding a news conference.

Island police have been searching for him since he allegedly crash-landed a stolen plane a week ago on nearby Great Abaco Island. Harris-Moore has been running from American law enforcement since escaping from a Washington state halfway house in 2008, gained fame and thousands of fans who admired his ability to evade arrest. He is suspected of stealing cars, boats and at least five planes. Island police picked up his trail in Eleuthera after recovering a 44-foot (13-meter) power boat stolen from a marina on Abaco, 40 miles (65 kilometers) to the north, where he was suspected in a string of burglaries.

Burglarly victims in Eleuthera told The Associated Press on Saturday they had little doubt the lanky, 6-foot, 5-inch fugitive was on the island. Ferry boat captain Freddie Grant said he was returning from Harbour Island in northern Eleuthera on Wednesday evening when he saw a tall, white teenager bathing or swimming in an inlet near the ferry landing. Ferry service employee Stan Pennerman also said he saw Harris-Moore lurking in the woods the same day. Neither man thought much of it until they noticed the next morning that somebody had damaged the ignition system on three of their boats.

A bar at the ferry landing was also burglarized Wednesday night by a thief who cut a screen to break in, dismantled a security light, and moved the television’s remote controls, said Denaldo Bain, the 30-year-old manager of Coakley’s International Sporting Lounge. “He was watching television. He was just chilling,” said Bain, who also said he saw the teenager in the inlet. Harris-Moore honed his skills as an outdoorsman while growing up in the woods of Camano Island in Puget Sound about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Seattle. After a troubled childhood, his first conviction, for possession of stolen property, came at age 12. Within a few months of turning 13, he had three more.

He was sentenced to nearly four years in juvenile detention after being caught in an unoccupied home in 2007, but he did well enough there that he was transferred to a group home, where he sneaked out of a window more than two years ago. He was dubbed the “Barefoot Bandit” for allegedly going shoeless during some crimes and once allegedly leaving behind chalk footprints as a calling card. He has become a folk hero to supporters, who have bought “Run, Colton, Run” T-shirts and written songs about his exploits. He has tens of thousands of followers on Facebook.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

16-YEAR-OLD SAILOR ALIVE AND WELL AS SHE CONTINUES HER TOUR, Wired from MSN.com

LOS ANGELES – A 16-year-old California girl who was feared lost at sea while sailing solo around the world has been found alive and well, adrift in the southern Indian Ocean as rescue boats head toward her damaged yacht, officials said. After 20 hours of silence, a search plane launched from Australia’s west coast made radio contact with Abby Sunderland on Friday in the frigid southern seas where her boat was repeatedly knocked down by huge waves and she lost satellite phone contact. Her family told TODAY’s Meredith Vieria that the wait for news was “tense.”

“They’re not enjoyable moments, of course, and your mind does play tricks with you,” said her father, Lawrence Sunderland, a shipwright who owns a yacht management company. He said the family was fortunate the search and rescue team acted as quickly as they did to find Abby. When the rescuers located her, they found her boat’s mast was broken — ruining satellite phone reception — and was dragging with the sail in the ocean, said search coordinator Mick Kinley, acting chief of the Australia Maritime Safety Authority that chartered a commercial jet for the search.

But the keel was intact, the yacht was not taking on water and Abby was equipped for the conditions, Kinley told reporters in Canberra, adding that “she sounds like she’s in good health.” This was a “testimony to her will to survive and deal with the situation,” Lawrence said on TODAY.

BOATS MAY REACH HER SATURDAY

A lifelong sailor, Abby had begun her journey trying to be the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop around the world and continued her trip after mechanical failures dashed that dream. Abby told searchers Friday that she was doing fine with a space heater and at least two weeks’ worth of food, said family spokesman William Bennett. Support team member Jeff Casher said the boat had gotten knocked on its side several times. The French regional administration on the island of Reunion, off Madagascar, said it had sent three boats in her direction and they were expected to reach her Saturday.

Friday’s communication with Abby was the first since satellite phone communications were lost early Thursday. She had made several broken calls to her family in Thousand Oaks, California, and reported her yacht was being tossed by 30-foot waves — as tall as a 3-story building. An hour after her last call ended, her emergency beacons began signaling. The observers aboard the search plane — a chartered Qantas Airbus A330 jet that left Perth early Friday — spoke with her by close-range VHF marine radio, western Australia state police spokesman Senior Sgt. Graham Clifford said.

He said the jet faced a 4,700-mile round trip from Perth to Sunderland’s boat, which is near the limit of its range. Qantas spokesman Tom Woodward said the airliner flew five hours out to sea to reach the area where the beacons were transmitting, then maneuvered for another hour before spotting the 40-foot yacht.

TEEN SUSPECT OFFERED $50,000 TO SURRENDER TO POLICE, the Associated Press

SEATTLE – An anonymous donor on Thursday offered $50,000 to a notorious 19-year-old burglar suspected of raiding vacation homes and businesses and stealing planes and boats around the Northwest — if he turns himself in within five days. Colton Harris-Moore has been on the run since April 2008, when he escaped from a group home south of Seattle, and authorities believe he’s responsible for dozens of break-ins in five Washington counties, British Columbia and Idaho. Police also believe he has taken four planes, luxury cars and power boats.

Everett bounty hunter Mike Rocha and Edmonds criminal defense attorney James Johanson announced the donor’s offer and declined to say anything about where the money came from. They insisted the offer is genuine: The money has been placed in Johanson’s trust account for his law firm, and ethical rules would prevent him from participating if it were a ruse to persuade Harris-Moore to surrender.

“The one message we’re trying to get out to Colton is, I know he’s tired of running from the law, and he’s probably afraid and he doesn’t know who to trust,” Johanson said. “His legal problems seem insurmountable, but these issues can be dealt with. It’s time to trust someone.” Johanson said he would represent Harris-Moore for free, if the teen so desired. Johanson said he didn’t know if Harris-Moore would be forced to use the bounty to pay restitution if he takes the money and is convicted.

According to an analysis by The Herald of Everett, the value of property that authorities believe Harris-Moore might have stolen, including boats and planes — some of which were severely damaged when they were crash-landed — is over $1.5 million. He earned the moniker “The Barefoot Bandit” by reportedly committing some of the crimes in his bare feet. Last fall, bare footprints were found at an airport hangar in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where a plane was stolen then crash-landed 260 miles to the west, near Granite Falls, Wash.

And in February, someone who broke into a grocery store in the San Juan Islands drew cartoonish, chalk-outline feet all over the floor. In March, a daylong search of Orcas Island by the FBI, dog teams and a helicopter failed to turn him up.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LEE DEWYZE UPSET CRYSTAL BOWERSOX TO BECOME ‘AMERICAN IDOL,’ by Gil Kaufman MTV

LOS ANGELES – They auditioned together in Chicago last summer, and they’ve become good buds in the nine months since. They’re both 24 years old and were vying to be the first Midwesterner to win the “American Idol” title. One, Ohioan Crystal Bowersox, was the odds-on favorite to win it all for most of season nine, while the other, low-key Illinois-bred Lee DeWyze, came on strong down the stretch and threatened to pull out an upset victory. On Wednesday night (May 26), when all the hoopla, oldies acts and teary goodbyes to departing judge Simon Cowell were finally said and done, it was DeWyze who emerged victorious in an “Idol” upset for the ages.

While Bowersox hugged him and looked loose and relaxed, DeWyze seemed gripped by nerves as he awaited word from host Ryan Seacrest. When the verdict was read, the former paint-store clerk and high school dropout with a musical dream bent over and looked like he was going to be sick. He was quickly swarmed by the top 12, emerging with a smile and the outburst: “Oh my God!” When Seacrest asked how it felt to be the new American Idol, DeWyze laughed nervously. “I don’t know! This is amazing. Thank you guys so much for everything. Thank you. Thank you,” he said breathlessly, gesturing to the crowd with tears in his eyes and then hugging Bowersox and telling her that he loved her.

“I’ve never been happier in my life,” he added before breaking into his coronation song, “Beautiful Day,” as a rain of sparks, confetti and lasers filled the air in the Nokia Theatre. It was an unlikely ending to an uneven season with what many considered the shallowest “Idol” talent pool in memory and which suffered from a nearly 10 percent decline in viewership — but is still the #1 show on TV. Season nine saw the addition of fourth judge Ellen DeGeneres, whose quips and twisted food metaphors sometimes fell flat, as well as the departure of Cowell, considered the heart and soul of the judging panel.

But before DeWyze could celebrate the realization of his long-sought musical dream, the two-hour show trotted out the usual assortment of time-fillers. The battling finalists first took the stage in burgundy Hogwarts-style school uniforms, which made sense a short time later as former Michael Jackson guitarist Orianthi shredded the opening licks to Alice Cooper’s season-appropriate summer anthem “School’s Out,” which the top 12 lip-synched alongside a kids’ choir with dead eyes and the Coop himself. Last year’s champ, Kris Allen, came by to sing his new ballad, “The Truth,” and one of the show’s biggest stars, Carrie Underwood, showed the newbies how it’s done with her sassy new single, the Kara DioGuardi co-written country rocker “Undo It.”

Third-place finisher Casey James got one of the most plum assignments of the night, singing Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” with accompaniment by none other than surprise guest Bret Michaels, making his first stage performance since a string of recent health crises including a heart scare and a nearly fatal brain hemorrhage. Some of this season’s castoffs got one more chance to shine, with shaky vocalist Siobhan Magnus teaming up with Teflon teen Aaron Kelly for the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love,” which featured a cameo from the living Gibb brothers, Robin and Barry.

Michael “Big Mike” Lynche hooked up with Michael McDonald for the Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It to the Streets,” while the top five girls joined Crystal for Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” which morphed into the grinding “Stronger.” Aguilera herself showed up halfway through and eased into her new piano ballad “You Lost Me,” which she sang while standing on a pedestal covered with light bulbs and wearing a black catsuit and spangly tights. The top 12 harmonized on Janet Jackson’s “Again,” with Ms. Jackson herself strutting out in flowing black Elvira dress and her new short hairdo to take center stage and sing the hushed balled “Nothing.” She later stripped off the dress to reveal a skintight black bodysuit for a strut through her signature hit “Nasty.

AMERICAN IDOL ELIMINATES CASEY JAMES FROM THE TOP 3, by Gil Kaufman (MTV)

LOS ANGELES – Nearly a year after their journey began, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox took one giant step closer to the promised land Wednesday night (May 19). The two singers, whose paths to next week’s season-nine “American Idol” finale at times felt preordained, survived Tuesday night’s 47 million votes as the sand ran out for Cool, Texas’ Casey James. The good ol’ boy with the Guess model looks and the bluesy bar-band style was pegged early on as eye candy by judge Kara DioGuardi — who made him take his shirt off at his audition — even as the panel frequently praised his earthy sound and guitar skills.

The focus on his sex appeal to the cougar set sometimes became annoying, but James never let it distract him from attempting to deliver solid, heartfelt performances week after week while trying to not seem annoyed by the constant jibes about his looks. In the end, as it often is for “Idol” finalists who flame out before the finish line, it came down to song choice, and James blew it by going with the obscure “OK, It’s Alright With Me” by Eric Hutchinson and just wasn’t able to do enough with the judges’ choice, John Mayer’s “Daughters.” His friends think he’s gonna be just fine, and James seemed all right with the result as well.

“I’m so thankful for the opportunity,” he said after host Ryan Seacrest delivered the bad news, a look of disappointment shining through his winning smile. “It’s been an amazing, amazing journey, and I’m just so honored that I’m here. It’s amazing.” Looking around at he big “Idol” stage one more time, James, bathed in hot-pink and blue lights, hugged and slapped hands with some screaming female fans and sang to his #1 supporter, DioGuardi, before lifting up a little girl from the audience and sitting her on his lap while singing a mostly solid version of “Daughters” again.

Just moments before, Seacrest had waved former paint-store clerk and high school rebel Lee DeWyze through, followed by Ohio booster Crystal Bowersox, who seemed confused at first and asked the host to clarify what was going on. “I’m safe?” she asked, dumbfounded. “I’m safe?” she said again before going over to DeWyze and surprising him with a full-body hug. And so, just like last year’s Kris Allen/ Adam Lambert showdown and the David Cook/ David Archuleta face-off the year before, the two early favorites, neither of whom ever hit the bottom three, will go head to head Tuesday for the “Idol” title.

The show featured a performance from gossip blogger Perez Hilton’s latest obsession, Travis Garland, whom he claimed is a better singer than Justin Timberlake. Speaking of eye candy, the boy-band-ready singer sang his bubblegum first single “Believe” accompanied by a trio of percussionists and a troupe of overly dramatic backup dancers. Running all over the stage and set, the former member of boy band NLT’s high, thin voice sometimes appeared to be swallowed up by the song’s techno-gospel arrangement.

There were no such problems for globetrotting teen wonder Justin Bieber, who easily hit his marks on the doo-wop ballad “U Smile” and then swaggered just so behind his signature mop-top ‘do as his male backup dancers shimmied all around him during his smash “Baby.” He even took a break near the end of the song to show off his skills behind the drum kit, ending with a flourish and a smile. The two-part “Idol” finale kicks off Tuesday when DeWyze and Bowersox will have one last chance to impress America before a winner is crowned the next night.

What did you think of Wednesday night’s elimination? Did you call it? Did Casey deserve to go home? Leave your comments below.

24-YEAR-OLD RIMA FAKIH IS CROWNED MISS USA 2010 IN VEGAS, the Associated Press

LAS VEGAS – A 24-year-old Arab American from Michigan beat out 50 other women to take the 2010 Miss USA title Sunday night, despite stumbling in her evening gown. Rima Fakih of Dearborn, Mich., won the pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip after strutting confidently in an orange and gold bikini, wearing a strapless white gown that resembled a wedding dress and saying health insurance should cover birth control pills. When asked how she felt about winning the crown, she said, “Ask me after I’ve had a pizza.”

Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant, told pageant organizers her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths. She moved to the United States as a baby and was raised in New York, where she attended a Catholic school. Her family moved to Michigan in 2003. Pageant officials said historical pageant records were not detailed enough to show whether Fakih was the first Arab American, Muslim or immigrant to win the Miss USA title. The pageant started in 1952 as a local bathing suit competition in Long Beach, Calif. Fakih told reporters she sold her car after graduating college in Michigan to help pay for her run in the Miss Michigan USA pageant.

She said she believed she had the title on Sunday after glancing at pageant owner Donald Trump as she awaited the results with the first runner-up, Miss Oklahoma USA Morgan Elizabeth Woolard. “That’s the same look that he gives them when he says, ‘You’re hired,’” on Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice,” she said. “She’s a great girl,” said Trump, who owns the pageant with NBC in a joint venture. In a moment that was replayed during the broadcast, Fakih nearly fell while finishing her walk in her gown because of the length of its train. But she made it without a spill and went on to win.

“I did it here, I better not do it at Miss Universe,” she said. “Modeling does help, after all.” Fakih replaces Miss USA 2009 Kristen Dalton and won a spot representing the United States this summer in the 2010 Miss Universe pageant. She also gets a one-year lease in a New York apartment with living expenses, an undisclosed salary, and various health, professional and beauty services. During the interview portion, Fakih was asked whether she thought birth control should be paid for by health insurance, and she said she believed it should because it’s costly. “I believe that birth control is just like every other medication even though it’s a controlled substance,” Fakih said.

Woolard handled the night’s toughest question, about Arizona’s new immigration law. Woolard said she supports the law, which requires police enforcing another law to verify a person’s immigration status if there’s “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country illegally. She said she’s against illegal immigration but is also against racial profiling. “I’m a huge believer in states’ rights. I think that’s what’s so wonderful about America,” Woolard said. “So I think it’s perfectly fine for Arizona to create that law.”

For more Miss USA coverage, please click the play arrow.

16-YEAR-OLD JESSICA WATSON SAILS THE WORLD IN 7 MONTHS, Wired from CNN

AUSTRALIA – Sixteen-year-old Jessica Watson has spent the past seven months in a self-imposed solitary confinement of sorts. For 210 days, the avid sailor skippered her 34-foot yacht, the Pink Lady, around the world, a feat few others, let alone teenagers, have accomplished. But on Saturday afternoon, her solo trip ended in dramatic fashion as tens of thousands of cheering spectators and hundreds of boats turned out to welcome her home to Australia’s Sydney Harbor, according to CNN affiliate Nine News. “I haven’t seen a person for almost seven months and suddenly there’s just people everywhere — you know, faces, so much color, so much noise, so much everything,” she told a news conference.

“All I’ve seen for so long is empty waves, so it was amazing and very overwhelming. At the same time, I achieved what I set out to.” That achievement — her team claims she’s the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world — is not without controversy. A storm over whether she’d bested Jesse Martin, a fellow Australian recognized in 1999 as the youngest to make the voyage at 18, came to a head on sailing news websites last week, centering not on her age — nor on whether she circumnavigated the globe — but on whether she had sailed far enough.

Sailing websites such as Sail-World.com reported last week that Watson’s route wasn’t long enough orthodromically — that is, by measuring the shortest distance from point to point on a route — to hit 21,600 nautical miles, the length of the equator. Watson’s team has said she had sailed about 23,000 nautical miles, though it hasn’t claimed the distance is orthodromic. Critics have said her logged distance includes zig-zags that yachts inevitably make, and those zig-zags do not count for orthodromic distance. The World Sailing Speed Record Council, which certified in 1999 that Martin was the youngest to make the trip, mandates 21,600 orthodromic nautical miles for round-the-world courses.

Watson’s team has responded that it wasn’t aiming for any WSSRC record, because the council has stopped recognizing the “youngest” category. Those who turned out to witness her arrival Saturday at Sydney’s Opera House weren’t fazed by the dispute. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called her “our newest Australian hero” minutes after she stepped off her pink-hulled sailboat and onto the pink carpet that well-wishers had rolled out for her, her legs still wobbly after so long at sea. And before she could pull up to the wharf, her vessel was practically swamped by hundreds of other boats in the harbor — all admirers wanting to participate in the momentous day.

Watson also shrugged off the controversy. “It’s not something that worries me because there always have been and there always will be some people who choose to not acknowledge the record, and for me it wasn’t ever actually about the record, so I’m not worried at all,” she said. Official record or not, her accomplishment is noteworthy. During the course of her journey, she battled 40-foot waves and six knockdowns, including one that knocked her yacht over to the point where her mast hit water. Her round-trip odyssey started in Sydney on October 18.

She spent the better part of the year traveling northeast through the South Pacific and across the equator, south to Cape Horn at the tip of South America, across the Atlantic Ocean to South Africa, through the Indian Ocean and around Southern Australia. But Watson was modest as she addressed spectators Saturday, taking issue with Rudd’s use of the word hero in describing her. “I’m an ordinary girl who believed in her dream,” she said.

MICHAEL LYNCHE GETS THE ‘BOOT’ ON AMERICAN IDOL, Wired from MSN.com

LOS ANGELES: There were no third chances for Michael Lynche on “American Idol” Wednesday night, as he became the latest contestant to be eliminated from the competition. It wasn’t the first time this season that the 26-year-old Florida native found himself at the short end of the voting stick. He had faced elimination five weeks ago before the judges decided to use their “Save” and call him back to the contest. Since that reprieve, Big Mike tried hard to prove that he was more than just a Ruben Studdard retread, but he found himself in the bottom three two weeks ago and landed in the bottom two last week.

It seemed only a matter of time before his roller coaster ride finally came to an end. In a relatively short period of time, Big Mike’s been up, down and now … finally out. If there’s one thing that Michael had going for him, it was his natural sense of showmanship. Of the remaining singers, he had the biggest, most extroverted onstage personality. Sure, Big Mike was at times overly theatrical behind the mic. But, as Simon put it, at least he gave “100 percent” when it was his turn to shine. The problem with Michael was not his silky smooth voice or his penchant for bringing things to church (much like Danny Gokey was prone to do last season).

Rather, at issue was his musical style. His decision to perform Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” Tuesday night completely confounded the judges, who were evidently expecting something less hokey and more R&B. It was a choice that left Simon to say, “It just doesn’t make sense.” In the end, Big Mike’s sound proved to be too passé: He seemed more Easy Listening than Top 40. Michael will surely go down as one of this season’s most likable personalities. But, given what we’ve already seen and heard from past “Idol” contestants (like Ruben and Taylor), at this late stage of the contest, viewers were clearly hungry for something new.

And so, we’re down to three. Here’s a breakdown of the remaining contestants:

1. Queen of the court: Despite suffering from comparatively disappointing performances the last two weeks, Crystal Bowersox is undoubtedly back at the top of the heap thanks to her confident, virtuoso turn on stage Tuesday night.  Her version of Kenny Loggins’ “I’m Alright” was a cut above what her fellow competitors were able to muster on what proved to be a disappointing movies-themed night. The key to her success was all about song choice. While the other singers went for more expected (and tacky) fare, Crystal opted for something that showed off her guitar-rockin’ cred. The result was the night’s most entertaining and accomplished performance. Ellen had it absolutely correct when she noted, “You actually took that song and made it better.” Crystal heads into next week as the heavy favorite. Her consistency and her clearly identifiable musical identity will serve her well and make her a formidable foe in the finale (where — let’s face it — she’s more than likely to land). The only problem is, I’m not entirely convinced she has the star power to become a chart-topper. But then again, I’m getting ahead of myself.

2. Under the gun: The judges have certainly done what they can to give the appearance of a close footrace between Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox. But, for this week at least, Lee hasn’t held up his end of the bargain. It wasn’t close at all Tuesday night. Simon and company were more than generous with his pitchy, unsteady rendition of “Kiss From a Rose.” It was amusing to see them tiptoe around what was clearly an underwhelming effort. That the judges didn’t come right out and pan the performance should tell you that they are angling for a Lee-Crystal showdown two weeks from now. When Lee is good, he’s got the vocal chops and the shy charisma to outshine even Crystal. But the problem is, you just never know when he’s going to bring his “A” game. All eyes will be on Lee next week to see if he’s actually capable of going the distance. If he turns up another listless, shaky performance, viewers should prepare themselves for one lopsided, boring finale. And given the way this the season has unfurled itself, that wouldn’t be entirely unexpected.

3. Hair today, gone tomorrow?: This late in the game, it’s certainly not a good thing that Casey James is still struggling to find his musical voice. But then again, that can happen when you’ve been beaten up repeatedly by the judges. And of late, there’s no one who’s been getting it worse than Casey. Tuesday night, Casey inexplicably chose to deliver a mandolin-soaked version of “Mrs. Robinson” that didn’t offer anything fresh or exciting. The low-key rendition didn’t come across as heartfelt or poignant. It was just perfunctory, as if Casey was more keen on the idea of presenting the song (with its obvious Kara-directed connotations) than actually devoting energy to his vocal delivery. Casey has seemed torn between being a bluesy rocker and a suffering acoustic strummer all season long. And as a result, his performances have been all over the place. Tuesday night, the Texan seemed mentally and artistically tired. Now’s not the time to pack it in, but to toughen up. Here’s hoping the well-tressed singer has got some fight in him. With the way he’s been able to survive these last few weeks, his many supporters aren’t ready to give up the ship.

It’s your turn to sound off. Did America get it right? Who should have been sent home?

MILEY CYRUS AND JUSTIN BIEBER GO ON DINNER DATE, Wired from US Magazine

HOLLYWOOD, CA – Hollywood’s newest young power couple? Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus went out to dinner together at Ari-Ya Sushi in West Hollywood Monday night. Not sighted: Cyrus’ beau and “Last Song” co-star Liam Hemsworth. (See photos on X17Online.com.) Bieber, 16, joked to X17 cameras that Cyrus, 17, is “having fun with me.”

Cyrus said she wasn’t “afraid” of receiving death threats from obsessed Bieber fans, as Kim Kardashian did after she spent time with the singer at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Why did the two get together? To discuss “a side project,” Cyrus said before hopping into a waiting car with Bieber and a few bodyguards.

Bieber has said he wouldn’t want to date Cyrus, calling her “not my type.” The feeling was mutual for Cyrus. “Bieber fever … I’m not necessarily a fan. I don’t listen to that kind of music. But my little sister was obsessed with him, and he actually gave her a shout-out on Twitter and I thought that was really sweet,” said Cyrus last March, referring to her 10-year-old sis, Noah.

For more on Miley Cyrus, click the play arrow.