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American Idol cooked.

Last night's season finale was up about 1 million viewers from last year's, averaging 31.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research estimates.

Likewise, Tuesday's showdown show was a ratings improvement over last year's, with 27.1 million checking out David Cook and David Archuleta, compared to the 25.3 million who monitored the Jordin Sparks-Blake Lewis sing-off.

On last night's finale, Cook, 25, defeated early-season favorite Archuleta, 17, a win that came as a surprise to people unaware that, on DialIdol.com and in Vegas books, Cook had been the leading vote-getter for weeks.

FAME PICTURES

Madonna may not have given birth to son David, but that doesn't mean his delivery to her was pain-free. Not that the Material Mama seems to mind.

"Up until this time there wasn't an adoption law, so consequently I'm sort of the template or the role model, so to speak, for future adoptions," she told reporters of her challenging—emotionally and legally—adoption of the Malawi-born boy after screening I Am Because We Are, her documentary chronicling the ordeal, at the Cannes Film Festival.

"Hopefully after we get through this adoption, it will be easier for other people to adopt children...I'm happy to be the guinea pig."

Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie have still not formally been given permanent custody of the 2-year-old pending a final, perpetually delayed hearing in Lilongwe. But as hard as the adoption process has been, she said the payoff has more than made up for the unnatural rite of passage.

"Yes, it was painful and it was a big struggle and I didn't understand it. But in the end I rationalized that when a woman has a child and goes through natural childbirth, she suffers an enormous amount.

"So I sort of went through my own kind of birthing pains, dealing with the press on my front doorstep and accusing me of kidnapping or whatever you want to call it. In the end it made me stronger, so I can't complain."

BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM

The alleged other woman is finally talking.

Marie-Anne Thiébaud, 37, the longtime secretary and house manager at Shania Twain and Mutt Lange's estate in Switzerland, spoke to E! News exclusively today about her reputed role in the couple's headlines-grabbing breakup.

"I don't work for them anymore—I am retired," Thiébaud said by telephone from her home in Geneva.

"I know what you're ringing to ask me about. But when marriages break up, they break up for all sorts of complicated reasons—it's never just one reason. And those reasons should be kept private."

She continued: "If you're looking for a person that broke up a marriage, then you have the wrong person. I'm not that person."

Twain, 42, and Lange, a 59-year-old record producer, announced their split last week after 14 years of marriage. They have one son, 6-year-old Eja D'Angelo.

People magazine has reported that Thiébaud, once one of the country star's closest confidantes, and Lange have left their respective marriages for each other and are still in a relationship.

Thiébaud declined to comment any further on the reports, saying news outlets shouldn't "intrude into people's private lives."

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Martin Scorsese won't be jammin' after all.

The Oscar winner has pulled out from directing an authorized Bob Marley biopic (not to be confused with the Weinstein Co.'s unauthorized Bob Marley biopic), citing scheduling conflicts.

It's unclear exactly which pending project coincided with the Marley shoot, though Scorsese has a number of films on his plate, including Shutter Island, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, a possible Theodore Roosevelt biopic and a documentary on George Harrison.

Taking his place to chronicle the life and times of the reggae legend is Silence of the Lambs helmer, fellow Oscar winner and music video vet Jonathan Demme.

"I am thrilled and humbled by this extraordinary opportunity to participate in fashioning a motion picture that can serve as a worthy vessel for the spiritual and musical brilliance of Bob Marley," Demme said.

Despite the director shakeup, the untitled film is still expected to be released as planned on Feb. 6, 2010, marking the 65th anniversary of Marley's birth.

ODuran/Fame Pictures

With a face like that, who needs long, flowing, golden locks anyway, right?

Despite donning a bald cap for her new movie, My Sister's Keeper, Cameron Diaz's stunning self still shined through Wednesday while shooting scenes on the Santa Monica Pier with costars Abigail Breslin and Sofia Vassilieva.

The film centers on the relationship between a young girl battling leukemia (Vassilieva) and her sister (Breslin); Diaz plays their mother, who shaves her head in support of her ill daughter.

Proving that bald, in more ways than one, can indeed be beautiful.

"It’s really crazy, because it’s like you’ve just been working. You know, you go out on the stage every week and come back and rehearse and rehearse and rehearse and then just all these people, out of nowhere, are like 'David!' and stuff. It’s like, 'How do you know who I am?' It’s just bizarre, because it doesn’t seem real that so many people would freak out."

—American Idol runner-up David Archuleta telling Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM show Thursday morning about how surreal sudden fame can be, as evidenced by the autograph seekers hounding him Wednesday night

Nick Ut/AP Photo

Another prison break for Lane Garrison.

The incarcerated actor has been relocated yet again, E! News has learned exclusively. Less than three weeks after his last transfer to Corcoran State Prison, Garrison was moved on Wednesday to the medium-security California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, Calif.

This is his sixth facility—and seventh transfer—in 10 months. Corcoran, where Garrison was most recently housed, is the same facility Robert Downey Jr. lived in back in 1999.

Despite prison sources telling of "excellent behavior," the former Prison Break star was notified Wednesday afternoon that he was being moved immediately. According to a source inside the prison, "It was a surprise to him and a surprise to the other inmates."

Asked why Garrison has been moved so frequently, Department of Corrections spokesman Terry Thornton would only say, "It is very likely this is the place he will stay the longest."

The Tehachapi facility doesn't have a hospitable reputation. In April, all California state prisons were on lockdown after four officers were stabbed by two inmates at Tehachapi. Tehachapi was also the scene of a race riot in 2005 involving 480 black and Hispanic inmates.

Garrison, who turns 28 on Friday, was sentenced to 40 months in prison but is expected to be released early next year, due to reductions for good behavior.

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMAPress.com

Richard Dreyfuss is winging it...West Winging it, to be exact.

The Oscar winner is in final negotiations to play Vice President Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's latest political film opus, W, chronicling the ups and downs—though probably mostly downs—of the current administration.

Already on board the sure-to-be controversial film is Josh Brolin, who will play George W. Bush, Elizabeth Banks as first lady Laura Bush, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush, James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush, Ioan Gruffudd as Tony Blair and Thandie Newton as Condoleeza Rice.

The film begins shooting this month in Shreveport, La., and is set for release Oct. 17 in anticipation of Election Day. The DVD also has a release date set for January, the date Bush will leave office.

Timing is everything.

Ah, nothing like a little R&R to help prepare an embattled pop star face the paparazzi crush that comes with going out in public.

Back from her minivacation at Mel Gibson's house in Costa Rica, Britney Spears quickly made up for lost opportunities to spend her $1,500 weekly allowance (and more) with a little shopping excursion.

For about an hour on Wednesday, the "Gimme More" singer shopped at the Lisa Kline store on L.A.'s trendy Robertson Boulevard, picking out items from both the women's boutique and the kids' store across the street.

"She was with her assistant and bodyguard," an eyewitness tells E! News. "She was really nice, as usual, and she looks great."

Britney spent $4,900 in total. But how did her shopping bucks break down? Keep reading for the answer!

Keep Reading

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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are putting the fun back in fundraiser.

The civic-minded couple has confirmed plans to serve as honorary hosts for a fundraiser benefiting an athletic complex in the actress' hometown of Charleston, W. Va., next fall.

The benefit, dubbed Starry Starry Night, though sadly not in honor of the two stars, will take place Sept. 19 and is expected to raise $500,000 of the necessary $20 million-plus needed for the complex, which will house the basketball, swimming and volleyball programs for the University of Charleston.

Starstruck locals, deep-pocketed stalkers or otherwise well-intentioned patrons are also welcome to attend the 1,500-capacity bash, with $250 tickets going on sale to the general public July 1.