LOS ANGELES – “American Idol” viewers are saying adios to Karen Rodriguez.
The 21-year-old wannabe diva from New York, who crooned Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back” in English and Spanish, was revealed Thursday as the lowest viewer vote-getter.
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The judges decided against saving her following a last-chance performance of the Mariah Carey tune, “Hero.”
“It just felt great to at least have that one chance,” Rodriguez said after her swan song.
Haley Reinhart, the 20-year-old college student from Wheeling, Ill., who belted out Whitney Houston’s “I’m Your Baby Tonight” while smudging her lipstick, and Naima Adedapo, the 26-year-old dance instructor from Milwaukee who delivered a pitchy rendition of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” joined Rodriguez as the bottom three vote-getters.
Before the elimination, the top 12 finalists performed a mash-up of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”
The Black Eyed Peas later dedicated a performance of “Just Can’t Get Enough” to their “friends in Japan,” and last year’s “Idol” winner Lee DeWyze offered advice to this season’s brood after singing “Beautiful Like You.”
“Just remember why you tried out in the first place,” DeWyze said. “At the end of the day, no matter when you leave, you still love music, and you’re gonna keep doing it. You guys are fine no matter what happens.”
Sheen’s ‘Torpedo’ is picking up speed
LOS ANGELES – Charlie Sheen’s “Violent Torpedo of Truth” is growing. Sheen is adding a dozen more dates to his live show, now set to stretch into Canada and continue through May 3.
The outspoken actor announced his first two live performances last week on his Twitter account. Those shows in Detroit and Chicago sold out quickly.
Earlier this week, Sheen added five more dates. He tacked on a dozen more late Thursday, including stops in Toronto, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia.
De Niro’s a star … witness
NEW YORK – It’s a role moviegoers might not know that Robert De Niro plays: overseeing his painter father’s estate.
The Oscar-winning actor was a star witness Friday in the trial of former New York City art gallery director Leigh Morse. She’s charged with participating in a scam that counted Robert De Niro Sr.’s estate among its victims.
Her former boss, gallery owner Lawrence Salander, pleaded guilty last year to bilking about $120 million from De Niro’s father’s estate, John McEnroe and other clients.
Salander admitted he sold pieces he didn’t know and peddled bogus art investment opportunities.
The actor’s father was an abstract expressionist painter.
‘Sailor Moon’ relaunch in U.S.
PHILADELPHIA – Sailor Moon is setting sail for the U.S. after a six-year absence in print.
Kodansha USA Publishing LLC said Friday that it will release new deluxe editions centering on the iconic manga character that helped cement the Japanese comic art form with American readers in the late 1990s.
Out of print for six years, Naoko Takeuchi’s “Sailor Moon” will relaunch in September under the Kodansha Comics imprint. It will be accompanied by a two-volume prequel series titled “Codename: Sailor V,” the first time it will be in print in the U.S. In it, teenager Minako Aino will fight as Sailor V against the Dark Agency before discovering Sailor Moon.
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