"Brokenhearted" Night for Idol Finalist Didi Benami

AMERICAN IDOL Season 9 Top 10 chugged along. This week the show rode on the R&B/Soul train and there were a few surprises. It was like a roller coaster ride for some of the contestants, writes Sebastian Lee in the news website Malaysian Mirror.

It was a brokenhearted night for 23-year-old LA waitress Didi Benami who became the third finalist to reach the end of the road on Wednesday when she got the least amount of votes. She was in the bottom three with 20-year-old Tim Urban and 17-year-old Katie Stevens.

On Tuesday's competition show, the judges felt Didi (left) was "old-fashioned...off key" and didn't do justice to Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted."

While Randy Jackson thought she "didn't get it" with the song, Simon Cowell said "it was like swimming in jelly". Kara DioGuardi told her bluntly:  "It's overdone, girl. . .you lost your way."  And so it was.

Unlikely stayer Tim Urban, who was nicknamed "Teflon Tim", sang Anita Baker's "Sweet Love" without setting the house on fire. Randy said "it felt so pedestrian". Kara told Tim he "took the soul out of the song." A frustrated Simon Cowell told Tim sacastically: "It doesn't matter. You're going to smile, and they will vote for you, and you'll be back next week."

True enough, the Texas college student with the floppy-hairdo once again rode his luck and moved on to the next round. . .obviously smiling while tearful Didi bid farewell.

In her farewell performance, Didi sang Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" again and although Simon kindly said it was "far better" than her performance the night before, she didn't get the "save" vote from the judges.

Tsunami threatens the Pacific

Tsunami warnings were posted around the Pacific, including the US state of Hawaii, Japan and Russia following Saturday's massive earthquake of 8.8 magnitude that struck the Chilean coast early in the morning.

The quake is one of the world’s most powerful in a century, according to experts.

More than 300 people were reported killed as the powerful quake toppled buildings and triggered tsunamis that ravaged a port town and threatened Pacific coastlines as far away as Japan, according to a Reuters report.

Chile’s capital of Santiago, about 200 miles (320 km) north of the epicenter, was badly hit.

The international airport was closed for at least 24 hours as the quake destroyed passenger walkways and shook glass out of doors and windows, Reuters reported.

Prof Faces Murder Charge in University Shooting

Yet another shooting and more deaths. This time a woman biology professor was facing murder charges after three staff members were killed and three injured in a shooting spree at the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Saturday.

Amy Bishop (picture), dressed in jeans and a pink sweater, was seen being driven away by police after the incident. She was shaking her head in disbelief.

AFP reported that she murmured to local TV station WHNT-TV as she climbed into the vehicle: "It didn't happen. There's no way. They're still alive."

The shooting allegedly happened after Bishop discovered several months ago she had been denied tenure at the university, which would have secured her job in the biology faculty, according to AFP.

The three slain faculty members were identified as Gopi Polia, the chair of the biology department; Maria Ragland Davis, a professor of biotechnology; and Adriel Johnson, a professor of physiology.

In the first six weeks of this year alone several shootings have already been reported around the country.

Last month, eight people were killed in Virginia by a lone gunman. And in early January a disgruntled employee at a Missouri plant of Swiss power company ABB went on a rampage shooting dead three people and wounding five others, before killing himself.