American Idol host Ryan Seacrest put it best himself on last night’s show: “Idol history has been made!”

Matt Giraud — a 23-year-old piano player from Kalamazoo, Mich. — was voted off the show by fans for his rendition of Bryan Adam’s “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”

But the judges shocked all when they decided to use their one-time power to save him from elimination.

According to a show attendee, Giraud shed a few tears when he was told he would remain on the show, as the other contestants sprinted across the stage to hug him and congratulate him.

Contestant Adam Lambert was the first to give him a hug, with Kris Allen following it up with a few hugs himself. Giraud seemed pretty “overwhelmed and emotional,” the attendee tells Usmagazine.com.

What does this mean for the show next week?

Two finalists will be dismissed after performing disco-themed numbers.

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Bauer Griffin

Fame

YouTube marvel Susan Boyle, the Scottish singing sensation who last weekend stunned the judges of the Britain’s Got Talent TV show – including cynical Simon Cowell – has hit American shores.

In what was billed as her “first U.S. performance,” Boyle responded to CBS’s The Early Show hosts Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith’s request that she sing and reprised her signature “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical Les Miserables – and, after rendering it a capella, not only nailed it, but won accolades from Broadway’s Patti LuPone, who first introduced the song in 1985.

GO HERE TO WATCH HER SING ON YOU TUBE.

“Susan,” said LuPone, speaking over the phone on the Early Show, “you’ve got pluck, girl.”

Boyle, 47, said from her home in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland, that when she was younger people made fun of her. Now, the reaction is anything but that. “Everyone wishes me very well,” she says. As for the international reaction, especially online, Boyle modestly admitted, “It hasn’t maybe sunk in yet.”

What turned Boyle’s world around was her Britain’s Got Talent appearance. After her entrance triggered snickers and patronizing comments – especially when the dowdy and slightly jumpy Boyle said she wanted to be the next Elaine Paige, a petite blonde British stage musical star – Boyle picked up the microphone and magically delivered “I Dreamed a Dream.” (more…)

Katie Holmes‘ brother-in-law has passed away.

Joseph Jeffrey Fretti — the 48-year-old husband of Holmes’ older sister Tamera — has died unexpectedly of heart failure.

According to Radaronline.com he was found dead by a family friend Sunday in the Sarasota, Fla., home of his mother Shirley. He had taken his two young children to visit his 76-year-old mother.

Fretti was the owner of a funeral home in Holmes’ hometown of Toledo, Ohio.

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