Octuplets' mom says plans documentary series

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An American mother of newborn octuplets says she will do a documentary series following her babies until they are 18 years old, but the production company says it is still in "exclusive negotiations" for the deal.

Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to six boys and two girls in Los Angeles on January 26, said she would allow a television crew to film her family six times a year. The babies are only the second known set of octuplets born alive in the United States.

"It is official. I'm going to be doing a show, but it's not a reality show," Suleman told Life & Style magazine, adding that the series would be made by the British arm of independent production company Eyeworks.

"What I'm doing with this TV show is basically creating documentaries about the lives of my children. It's going to be an ongoing thing, and it will follow them from now until they are 18," she said.

Suleman said the show would be aired in Britain and then possibly the United States.

But Eyeworks Chief Executive Officer Reinout Oerlemans said in a statement on Wednesday that the company was still in "exclusive negotiations" with Suleman for "an unscripted format following the life of Nadya and her children."

"Nadya's story is a very unique and exciting one that needs to be told in the right manner," Oerlemans said. "We are confident that we are the right party to tell their story around the world."

Suleman became a lightning rod for public ridicule after it was learned that she was a divorced, jobless mother of six living with her parents on government assistance when she became pregnant with octuplets through in vitro fertilization.

Suleman -- nicknamed "Octomom" in the U.S. media -- has since moved into a new home with her children and the last of the octuplets was released from the hospital this week.

The Smoking Gun website, www.thesmokinggun.com, reported on Wednesday that Suleman has applied to trademark the name "Octomom." It posted online an application said to be made by Suleman to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

`Idol' judges save finalist from elimination

LOS ANGELES – A sequel has been greenlit for Matt Giraud on "American Idol."

The 23-year-old piano player from Kalamazoo, Mich., who crooned Bryan Adam's "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" from "Don Juan DeMarco" for his movie song performance Tuesday, received the fewest number of viewer votes Wednesday on the popular Fox singing competition. However, the judges decided to use their one-time power to save him from elimination.

"`Idol' history has been made!" host Ryan Seacrest exclaimed following the salvation.

With the other three judges excitedly gathered around him, Simon Cowell seemed to be foreshadowing Giraud's exit by telling him that his last-chance performance was not as "good as you were last night" and that Giraud did not "really have any chance of winning the competition." But Cowell relented and delivered Giraud's good news — and then some bad news.

"I wouldn't be so quick to congratulate him," he prattled as the other singers huddled around Giraud.

Cowell said because Giraud was rescued this week, two finalists will be dismissed after next week's disco-themed performances, as stipulated by the new rule introduced this earlier season. The other bottom vote-getters were 24-year-old mother of three Lil Rounds from Memphis, Tenn., and 22-year-old college student Anoop Desai from Chapel Hill, N.C.

"I thought I did a good job last night," Desai mused. "I was encouraged by the judges and everything."

Some members of the judging panel used Wednesday's episode to add their two cents after being denied the opportunity Tuesday. Jackson praised Danny Gokey, whose rendition of "Endless Love" he wasn't able to critique Tuesday, while Cowell complimented Kris Allen, whose "Falling Slowly" performance had previously been panned by Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.

"You know we didn't get a chance to talk last night," Cowell said. "Kris, you were brilliant."

After running eight minutes over last week, the show attempted — and failed — to end on time Tuesday by allowing only two judges to review a singer, but the competition still ran three minutes over schedule. On Tuesday, Jackson and DioGuardi reviewed Giraud, Desai and Allen. Cowell and Paula Abdul judged Rounds, Gokey, Allison Iraheta and Adam Lambert.

It wasn't just the judges who were talking back Wednesday. Seacrest offered Lambert, the over-the-top 27-year-old theater actor who sang "Born to Be Wild" from "Easy Rider" during Tuesday's performance episode, the chance to respond to Cowell's taunt from the night before that his edgy performance reminded him of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"I think that's a great movie," Lambert quipped. "I mean, did he mean it as an insult?