Kris Allen performs "Falling Slowly" on "American Idol" on Tuesday
Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

Mild-mannered Kris Allen has not exactly proven to be a risk-taker during his run on "American Idol." But on Tuesday night, the 23-year-old from Conway, Arkansas, set himself apart from the other finalists by going very contemporary on a night dedicated to songs from movies.

With a pleading look in his eyes and a spare arrangement, Allen performed a moving rendition of "Falling Slowly," the Oscar-winning waltz-like ballad from the sleeper 2007 indie flick "Once," the only song of the night to come from the 2000s. Like the scrappy songwriters behind the tune, Irish rock survivor Glen Hansard (the Frames) and former girlfriend and first-time actress Markéta Irglová, Allen has at times seemed like the underdog. But with the roll of the dice on a song that judge Kara DioGuardi feared many in the audience might not know, Allen delivered what she deemed one of his best moments to date on the show.

The choice of the song, one of the least likely Best Original Song winners in recent memory, really seemed to suit Allen. Guest-mentor director Quentin Tarantino said he could tell it was picked because the movie meant something to the singer. The tune originally appeared on the Frames' 2006 album, The Cost, which almost lost it an Oscar spot because of rules governing the nomination of songs that have previously been released. But given its central role in the touching story of a scrappy, heartbroken busker (Hansard) who meets his musical soul mate (Irglová) for a love affair that almost was, the song was allowed in the competition and won.

In fact, the acceptance speech by Irglová and Hansard made for one of the most moving moments in recent Oscar history, when host Jon Stewart brought Irglová — who had been cut off by the band due to time constraints — back out onto the stage after a commercial break to finish her speech. "This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold [an Oscar], it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible," Irglová said.

"And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are." Accompanied by acoustic guitar, restrained female backing vocalists and dramatic strings, Allen brought a soulful vibe to the song, navigating the tricky see-saw melody and hitting a keening falsetto note as he wrapped up the final line "Falling slowly sing your melody/ I'll sing along."

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• 'American Idol' In 60 Seconds

• "American Idol" Season 8: Live Performances

• Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
• Glen Hansard

Britney Spears
Photo: Wright/Beiny/WENN

After an attorney who claimed to represent Britney Spears tried to make a federal case out of her father, Jamie, taking control of Brit's affairs, a U.S. district judge decided Tuesday (February 26) that the case had no place with the feds. Attorney Jon Eardley fought the singer's temporary conservatorship, claiming it violated her civil rights and was a misappropriation of her finances, but Judge Philip S. Gutierrez said that because the probate court had already appointed an attorney for Britney, Sam Ingham, as she was "incapable of retaining her own counsel," Eardley had "no authority" and "acted improperly." Since Eardley did not challenge Ingham's appointment, Judge Gutierrez ruled, Eardley is not Britney's attorney and, as such, cannot remove the case, no matter what grounds. "Mr. Eardley fails to explain why he can bring this claim for her in the first instance," Gutierrez wrote. "He cannot." However, Gutierrez did not entirely rule in the conservatorship's favor — he chose not to reward attorney fees to Jamie Spears for his law firm's time spent on the issue of removing it to federal court, which means Britney has to foot the nearly $43,000 bill. ...

Miley Cyrus might be a pop singer, but she has country music in her blood. So it makes sense that the CMT Music Awards invited the tween queen and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, to host this year's ceremony in Nashville. The "Hannah Montana" star has some awards-show experience, having presented at the Grammys and Oscars this month. The pair will also perform at the April 14 show, alongside Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and others. ...

Will Amy Winehouse soon release her own clothing line, à la Gwen Stefani? Well, that's the claim several media outlets are making this week, but according to the singer's publicist, there's no deal in place just yet. According to several reports, Winehouse has been meeting with fashion and cosmetics experts, to help her with her line, which would reflect her distinctive style. But her publicist said that while Winehouse "has been approached by various clothing and makeup companies in the past year, no final decision has been made." ... According to The New York Times, Mario Lavandeira, better known to readers as Perez Hilton, is in negotiations with Warner Bros. Records to get his own imprint. Citing several anonymous "people associated with the talks," the Times reports that the blogger, who has made a habit of hyping little-known bands he likes, could be offered up an advance of $100,000 a year against 50 percent of profits generated by artists he discovers and releases through the label. ...

Not only did Frames singer Glen Hansard pick up an Oscar on Sunday night for Best Original Song (for "Falling Slowly" from "Once"), he got an ever bigger prize when a congratulatory text from fellow countryman Bono showed up on his phone. In an interview with Ireland's RTE radio, Hansard said, "What was really amazing for me was getting texts from family and friends. It was amazing beforehand, and then I got a text from Bono, and I was like, 'Ah, my God, that's just amazing.' For me it was just like getting a text off the King of the Tribe." According to reports, the message read, "A busker who plays the Oscars, that's the poetry." Hansard also revealed that he and singing partner Marketa Irglova plan to tour the U.S. in the next few months. ...

A comic book publisher has taken to the Internet to fire off allegations at My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. According to Hart Fisher, who has printed several comic books about some of the world's most notorious serial killers, Way has been dishonest about his own comic book dalliances and he has stolen some of Fisher's own words for some of My Chemical Romance's lyrics — although he wasn't specific. Fisher claims he met Way when he was just 16, then known as "Garry," and that he published Way's comic book "On Raven's Wings" on his Boneyard Press label. Fisher claims the characterization of Way's "The Umbrella Academy" series — published by Dark Horse Comics — as his first foray into comics is misleading. Dark Horse responded to the allegations, saying, "Hart published Gerard's first comics when Gerard was 15. ... [We] don't think we've ever said 'Umbrella Academy' is the first comic Gerard did." ...

Unknown 30-year-old actor Lathan McKay has been tapped to play late Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley in the upcoming biopic "Get Born Again." McKay, an Austin, Texas, native who looks eerily like Staley, was tapped for the role after meeting with journalist Adriana Rubio, who wrote the book on which the movie is based. According to a MySpace page for the movie, McKay has been working with a band called Motherweiser to hone his vocals for the movie. ...

The Sasquatch! Music Festival — which will be held May 24-26 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington — will feature headlining slots from a pair of alt-rock powerhouses, the Cure and R.E.M., as well as a landing of the Flaming Lips' U.F.O. Show and a debut of the band's years-in-the-making feature film, "Christmas on Mars." Also appearing at the festival will be: Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, M.I.A., Flight of the Conchords, the Breeders, the Hives, Built to Spill, Tegan & Sara, the National, the New Pornographers, the Kooks, Cold War Kids, Rogue Wave and Beirut. ...

There will be plenty of bands playing this year's South by Southwest festival in Austin in March, but if you can't get one of the coveted badges to gain entry to the always-packed showcases, you might want to wander down to the city's Waterloo Park for the free two-day festival, Mess With Texas. The outdoor fest with three stages will feature a headlining set by the Breeders, as well as shows by NOFX, Simian Mobile Disco, Islands, Kimya Dawson, Black Mountain, Yeasayer, F---ed Up, Lucero, Jay Reatard and Matt & Kim. There will also be comedy from Janeane Garofalo, Human Giant, Brian Posehn and Eugene Mirman. ...

Team Sleep, the side project of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, have parted ways with their management and their record company, but the band is taking the splits in stride. "[We're] not going to assume that records will be relevant in 2010," reads a statement from the band. "[We] don't know how we'll be interacting with people who like our band two years from now [when Team Sleep's sophomore disc is slated for release], and that is the most exciting and inspiring thing in the world. Hopefully, Team Sleep will be able to make a small contribution to music and the way bands operate." ... While there's no release date yet, Spiritualized have finished recording their next album, Songs in A and E. The LP boasts 18 songs, including "Death Take Your Fiddle," "You Lie You Cheat" and "Borrowed Your Gun." ...

This summer's first RockStar Energy Mayhem Tour hasn't even gotten under way, and already, one of the bands on the bill has pulled out. Sevendust, who were to join the likes of Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon, DragonForce, and Machine Head on the trek, won't be able to participate, as a result of "changes in their touring schedule." But the band "will be touring in full support of its forthcoming release Hope & Sorrow, Chapter VII," which features a guest appearance by Chris Daughtry.

2.25.08

Jamie Lynn Spears was photographed last month in Louisiana carrying a GED book, and now the pregnant 16-year-old has passed the high school equivalency exam and is thinking about college, a family friend told People magazine. The "Zoey 101" star passed the test about a month ago, scoring particularly well in reading comprehension. "She's already got her diploma," the friend said of Britney's younger sister. "She wants to take her ACT [college-entrance test]. She's not wasting any time. People don't know her. When she gets something in her head, she'll make it happen. Everybody is so supportive of her." ...

Lil Wayne was in a New York courtroom Monday morning (February 25), where he entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment on gun charges stemming from an arrest in July following his first major headlining gig in the city at the Beacon Theater. According to his lawyer, Stacey Richman, Wayne (born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) was arraigned on two felony charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Following the show at the Beacon, police searched Wayne's tour bus and arrested the rapper for criminal possession of a .40-caliber pistol. ...

Jay-Z has been all up in the headlines in recent days. First, he showed up at Madison Square Garden as a guest of Linkin Park on Friday night. Hov and his friends mashed it up once again on the songs "Encore" and "N---a What, N---a Who (Originator 99)." On Monday, he was at the center of more controversial news: New York's Daily News reported unsubstantiated talk that Jay and Nas are planning to release a duet LP called The Kings of Hip-Hop, for release through a Warner Music Group label, and also asserted that Jay will soon be launching a new label. Also on Monday, the New York Observer originally reported — erroneously — that hip-hop founding father Kool Herc (a.k.a. Clive Campbell) was suing Jay, developer Bruce Ratner and Barclays Bank for $5 billion, filing a "claim of lien" in property records that seeks slavery reparations; the three are associated through the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, New York, which is in the process of building more than 6,000 apartments and a new basketball arena in the NYC borough. Barclays owns the naming rights to the arena, and has been accused of having links with the slave trade; the bank has denied those claims, according to the report. The Observer later published a correction noting that the Clive Campbell who filed the suit was not in fact Kool Herc, but actually a Brooklyn activist with the same name. Campbell said in the claim, which was filed in October, that Ratner and Jay-Z worked "in concert" with Barclays and "profited from the African slave trade and continue to profit from these gains, through a conspiracy dating back hundreds of years and continue to date to oppress black people, enslave them, unlawfully deport them to all corners of the Earth," according to the report. Reached by MTV News on Monday, Jay-Z's rep had no comment on the Daily News and Observer stories. ...

The Oscars were a ratings dud. Viewership for Sunday's telecast was down 21 percent from last year, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen Media Research. The least-watched Oscars ceremony ever was in 2003 with 33 million viewers; Nielsen has no estimate yet on how many people watched, but based on ratings from the nation's biggest markets, the Oscars will be hard-pressed to avoid a record low. ... As the new honorary cultural ambassador for her home country of Barbados, Rihanna is already using her clout to do some good. According to People magazine, the singer is working with the international donor network DKMS to help find a bone-marrow donor for 41-year-old New Yorker Lisa Gershowitz Flynn, a mother of two young children who suffers from leukemia and has four to six weeks to find a donor. "When I heard about Lisa's plight, my heart broke," Rihanna told the magazine. "I said, 'I need to get the word out about Lisa right away.' " ...

A rep for Alicia Keys announced over the weekend that the singer/songwriter will have to postpone two U.K. tour dates this week, one in Glasgow and one in Manchester, after the Grammy winner's doctor ordered her to go on vocal rest. According to her publicist, Keys is suffering from laryngitis and will resume her tour after taking a few days off. ... Do all of DJ Khaled's friends happen to be hip-hop or R&B top dogs? The boisterous producer/record-spinner/self-promoter headlined the Winter Fest concert at New York's Nassau Coliseum on Friday night. After a T-Pain set (Pain brought out Fabolous as his special guest), Khaled brought out Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes and the Diplomats. Unfortunately, the show ended a little anticlimactically when another DJ had several miscues trying to get the music right for Jim Jones' "We Fly High." Snoop Dogg also performed earlier in the night. ...

On Friday, a California assemblywoman introduced a bill dubbed the "Donda West Law" that requires a health check before a person undergoes elective plastic surgery. The Associated Press reported that Democrat Wilmer Amina Carter was inspired by West's niece to propose the legislation. Carter said Dr. West's death — which occurred on November 10, a day after she underwent a number of plastic-surgery procedures — showed that patients should be required to get medical clearance before cosmetic surgery. Yolanda Anderson, Donda West's niece, said the late educator's son, Kanye, is enthusiastic about the bill. ...

Jimmy Kimmel got his revenge on longtime girlfriend Sarah Silverman on a special post-Oscars episode of his talk show Sunday night. In the wake of her hit viral video, "I'm F---ing Matt Damon," Kimmel unleashed his answer track, "I'm F---ing Ben Affleck," which not only featured the late-night talker cavorting topless with Damon's BFF, but was packed with a guest appearance from Brad Pitt as a FedEx guy, a drive-by kiss from Harrison Ford, and an all-star chorus, featuring Ashlee Simpson, Pete Wentz, Cameron Diaz, Josh Groban, Lance Bass, Benji and Joel Madden, Don Cheadle, Perry Farrell, Meat Loaf, Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse, Robin Williams, Huey Lewis, Joan Jett and Macy Gray. The video is available to stream at ABC.com. ...

It seems like the second weekend in August is just too juicy to ignore. Just weeks after the cancellation of the proposed New Jersey festival from the organizers of Lollapalooza and England's Reading Festival, another East Coast festival for August 9-10 was announced. The third-annual Virgin Mobile Festival will take place at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, just three hours from the Radiohead-headlined All Points West Festival that same weekend. The lineup for the Virgin Fest will be announced soon. ...

During As I Lay Dying's gig Sunday night in Australia, guitarist Nick Hipa was struck "in the head by an empty glass Maker's Mark bottle," he wrote in a statement. While the blow stunned and disoriented the rocker, he's doing fine. "Lucky for me the bottle was huge so it didn't break, and I have no need for stitches. I'm sorry we had to stop our set, but I was quite discombobulated for a good while, and more importantly the EMT dude wouldn't let me play because my head was bleeding quite a bit ... or some sort of mumbo jumbo like that."

The Deftones are looking to hit the studio in late March with producer Terry Date (Soundgarden, Pantera) and engineer Scott Olson (Deftones, Unearth) to begin tracking their forthcoming sixth studio album, Eros. ... The recently reunited Filter are planning a tentative May 13 release for their new album Anthems for the Damned. The track "Soldiers of Misfortune" is expected to serve as the first single from the release, and will hit the airwaves March 18. ... Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino has formed a new band called Magnetic Morning, with Swervedriver guitarist Adam Franklin. The band's self-titled EP, recorded with Claudius Mittendorfer, will be released on April 19. ...

Three Nine Inch Nails songs will be made available next week as premium downloadable content for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of "Rock Band," according to the game's developers. "March of the Pigs," "The Collector" and "The Perfect Drug" will be available individually and as part of a three-pack.

• Britney Spears
• Miley Cyrus
• U2
• Glen Hansard
• Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova