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Lynche doesn't make the cut on 'Idol'

Marque Lynche Jr.'s song for his mother was no match for a big-voiced teenage girl and a Macy Gray soundalike.

Lynche, son of former St. Petersburg Times columnist Michelle Lynche and a 1999 graduate of Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School, was not voted into the final round of American Idol on Wednesday night. His version of Wind Beneath My Wings didn't impress viewers as much as the efforts of Diana DeGarmo, 16, of Snellville, Ga., and Fantasia Barrino, 19, of High Point, N.C.

DeGarmo, who belted out I've Got the Music in Me, and Barrino, who turned Something to Talk About into vocal gymnastics, were the top two vote-getters in the first group of eight semifinalists. They advance to the final 12.

Lynche, 23, still could make the final round if he is chosen to return as a wild-card selection.

Cirque du Soleil has announced it will extend its run of the St. Petersburg engagement of Alegria, adding nine performances from March 10 to 14.

The show opens Feb. 19 in the Grand Chapiteau in the Tropicana Field parking lot. Tickets for the new shows $50-$70 for adults, discounts for others are available starting Sunday by calling toll-free 1-800-678-5440 and at www.cirquedusoleil.com

HURLEY, N.Y. - Art Garfunkel pleaded guilty to marijuana possession in upstate New York and paid $200 in fines.

The singer's attorney was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday but instead entered a guilty plea Feb. 4, the Daily Freeman of Kingston reported.

Garfunkel paid a $100 fine and $100 in costs, court officials said Wednesday. Garfunkel, 62, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after state police stopped his limousine for speeding Jan. 17 in Hurley, 55 miles southwest of Albany.

- NEW YORK - Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito is in a legal food fight with the people who say they financed his television restaurant and who are accusing him of mismanaging the eatery, which they say has lost more than a half million dollars.

A group called China Grill Management says in court papers that it put up more than $3-million so DiSpirito could open Rocco's on 22nd Street, an Italian restaurant that was the site of NBC's reality series The Restaurant.

- NEW YORK - Joseph Volpe, who as head of the Metropolitan Opera gave each listener the libretto at their seat and kept labor relations harmonious, will step down from the renowned company in 2006 after 14 years at the helm.

The Met's full board was notified Monday afternoon of Volpe's decision to retire in August 2006.

- The Simpsons will finally make it to the big screen, according to Variety, which says 20th Century Fox is going to make a movie of Matt Groening's animated brainchild. But studio reps wouldn't confirm a rumored 2006 release date.

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