”THE VOICE” NAMES TOP THREE FINALISTS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kat Perkins’ luck in earning the instant Twitter save on “The Voice” ran out last night. Christina Grimmie snagged the save instead of Perkins. They were both on Adam Levine’s team. Perkins had been saved twice before by the instant Twitter vote. Jake Worthington from Team Blake and Josh Kaufman from Team Usher were voted into the finals. Kristen Merlin was eliminated, which means Shakira has no one from her team in the finals. Ed Sheeran will be a guest performer on next week’s finals.
NEW “IDOL” AND JENNIFER NETTLES WILL PERFORM MEMORIAL DAY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four days after the new “American Idol” is named, that person already has a high-profile gig booked. He or she will sing the national anthem at the national Memorial Day concert in Washington on May 25. Jena Irene, Alex Preston or Caleb Johnson will be declared the winner on May 21. Jennifer Nettles also has been added to the Memorial Day concert lineup, which includes Danielle Bradbery from “The Voice” and singer Jackie Evancho.
CLAY AIKEN WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR N.C. CONGRESSIONAL SEAT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — It took a week after the votes were cast. But “American Idol” singer Clay Aiken has won the Democratic primary for a North Carolina congressional seat. The final, though unofficial, count in the race was posted yesterday — a day after the race took an odd twist when Aiken’s opponent, Keith Crisco, died in an accidental fall at his home. Crisco’s campaign manager says Crisco was planning to concede to Aiken yesterday, but didn’t get to because of his death. The outcome means Aiken will face Republican incumbent Renee Ellmers in November. Aiken faces an uphill fight, since the district is heavily in the GOP column.
MUSIC AUCTION FEATURES MJ, LADY GAGA ITEMS
NEW YORK (AP) — Some stuff that belonged to Michael Jackson will be among the items sold off at a high-end auction in New York. Among the items up for the bid-fest by Julien’s Auctions include lyrics to the hits “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.” Some of Jackson’s performance outfits will also be auctioned off. Speaking of outfits, a flight suit worn by Lady Gaga will be sold off to the highest bidder. She is also donating a Rolls Royce for bids, with the proceeds going to the MusiCares charity.
BLONDIE SINGER SUPPORTING JAZZ ARTIST ARRESTED IN HOFFMAN OD PROBE
NEW YORK (AP) — We haven’t heard much musically from Deborah Harry lately. But a judge in New York has heard from the Blondie singer. She and bandmate Chris Stein are offering support for the jazz artist arrested in the wake of the drug overdose death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. The letters praise sideman Robert Vineberg as “an asset to New York’s culture.” Police say Vineberg told them he was friendly with the actor — and had occasionally sold him heroin. But Vineberg insists that he hadn’t seen him since October. Hoffman died in February.
ALBUM COVER DESIGNER H.R. GIGER DIES
BERLIN (AP) — The day that Emerson, Lake and Palmer released a deluxe edition of their “Brain Salad Surgery” album, the man who designed the creepy cover art died. Swiss artist H.R. Giger died Monday after suffering injuries from a fall at the age of 74, according to staff at his museum in Switzerland. Giger also designed the cover of Debbie Harry’s “Koo Koo” album. He won an Oscar for special effects for creating the alien in the original “Alien” movie.