French raid pirate ship, US seeks to freeze assets

MOMBASA, Kenya – The U.S. and its allies battled Somalia's pirates on two fronts Wednesday, with French forces seizing a bandit mother ship and Washington seeking to keep the marauders from their spoils. A U.S. freighter that escaped a pirate bombardment of gunshots and grenades steamed into Kenya's Mombasa port Thursday with an armed Navy guard.

One pirate issued a new threat to "slaughter" Americans, and Tuesday's assault on a second U.S. cargo ship, the Liberty Sun, underscored the outlaws' ability to act with impunity despite international naval operations against them and mounting concern worldwide over how to end the escalating attacks off the Horn of Africa.

Pirates bombarded the U.S.-flagged Liberty Sun with automatic weapons fire and rocket-propelled grenades, but its American crew of about 20 successfully blockaded themselves in the engine room and warded off the attack with evasive maneuvers.

The ship, carrying food aid for hungry Africans — including Somalis — was damaged "pretty badly" on its bridge, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record about the ship.

Windows were blown out and the crew had to put out a small fire, the official said, but they were still able to navigate. By the time the USS Bainbridge arrived five hours later, the pirates were gone.

Meanwhile, French naval forces launched an early-morning attack on a suspected pirate "mother ship" 550 miles east of Mombasa and seized 11 men, thwarting an attack on the Liberian cargo ship Safmarine Asia, the French Defense Ministry said. No one was injured.

The ministry said the vessel was a larger ship that pirates use to allow their tiny skiffs to operate hundreds of miles off the coast.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Prazuck said a French helicopter in the area heard a distress call from the Safmarine Asia. He described the seized ship as a small, noncommercial vessel carrying fuel, water and food supplies.

The 11 pirates, believed to be Somalis, were being held on the Nivose, a French frigate among the international fleet trying to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden.

France has been proactive against pirates for at least the past year, intervening to save three of its ships and spearheading a Europe-wide anti-piracy force called Atalanta. French politicians have sought to have other European countries take greater action against pirates.

Three Somali pirates in the French city of Rennes faced judicial investigation after being captured in a hostage rescue Friday. Several other pirates also have been in French custody since last year.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced new diplomatic efforts to freeze the pirates' assets and said the Obama administration will work with shippers and insurers to improve their defenses against pirates, part of a diplomatic initiative to thwart attacks on shipping.

"These pirates are criminals, they are armed gangs on the sea. And those plotting attacks must be stopped," Clinton said at the State Department.

Clinton did not call for military force, although she mentioned "going after" pirate bases in Somalia, as authorized by the U.N. several months ago.

She said it may be possible to stop boat-building companies from doing business with the pirates.

The measures outlined by Clinton are largely stopgap moves while the administration weighs more comprehensive diplomatic and military action.

She acknowledged it will be hard to find the pirates' assets. But she wants the U.S. and others to "explore ways to track and freeze" pirate ransom money and other funds used in purchases of new boats, weapons and communications equipment.

"We have noticed that the pirates are buying more and more sophisticated equipment, they're buying faster and more capable vessels, they are clearly using their ransom money for their benefit — both personally and on behalf of their piracy," she said. "We think we can begin to try and track and prevent that from happening."

Clinton said the administration will also call for immediate meetings of an international counterpiracy task force to expand naval coordination.

The U.S. plans to send an envoy to an April 23 conference on piracy in Brussels. The U.S. will also organize meetings with officials from Somalia's largely powerless transitional national government as well as regional leaders in its semiautonomous Puntland region to encourage them to do more to combat piracy.

Maritime experts say military force alone cannot solve the problem because the pirates operate in an area so vast as to render the flotilla of international warships largely ineffective. And with ships legally unable to carry arms in many ports, the world has struggled to end the scourge.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is the shortest route from Asia to Europe. More than 20,000 ships cross the vital sea lane every year. It is becoming more dangerous by the day.

In 2003, there were only 21 attacks in these waters. In less than four months this year, there have been 79 attacks, compared with 111 for all of 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Somali pirates are holding more than 280 foreign crewmen on 15 ships — at least 76 of those sailors captured in recent days.

On Wednesday, pirates released the Greek-owned cargo ship Titan and Greek authorities said all 24 crewmen were in good health. The ship was hijacked March 19.

The assault on the Liberty Sun delayed a reunion between freed American sea captain Richard Phillips and the 19 crewmen of the Maersk Alabama he helped save in an attempted hijacking last week. Phillips had planned to meet his crew in Mombasa and fly home with them Wednesday, but he was stuck on the Bainbridge when it was diverted to help the Liberty Sun.

The Liberty Sun arrived safely in Mombasa Wednesday night accompanied by a U.S. Navy vessel, according to the cargo ship's operator, New York-based Liberty Maritime Corp.

The company did not name the naval vessel, but it was likely the Bainbridge. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press about the matter said earlier that the Bainbridge was traveling with the Liberty Sun to port.

The Liberty Sun arrived in Mombasa early Thursday and the Bainbridge was expected soon.

The Alabama's crew left without Phillips Wednesday, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on a chartered plane.

"We are very happy to be going home," crewman William Rios of New York City said. But "we are disappointed to not be reuniting with the captain in Mombasa. He is a very brave man."

A pirate whose gang attacked the Liberty Sun claimed his group was targeting American ships and sailors.

"We will seek out the Americans, and if we capture them, we will slaughter them," said a 25-year-old pirate based in the Somali port of Harardhere who gave only his first name, Ismail.

"We will target their ships because we know their flags. Last night, an American-flagged ship escaped us by a whisker. We have showered them with rocket-propelled grenades," said Ismail, who did not take part in the Liberty Sun attack.

US foreclosures up 24 percent in 1st quarter

WASHINGTON – The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary break, according to data released Thursday.

The big unknown for the coming months, however, is President Barack Obama's plan to help up to 9 million borrowers avoid foreclosure through refinanced mortgages or modified loans. The Obama administration expects its plans to make a big dent in the foreclosure crisis. But it remains to be seen whether the lending industry will fully embrace it, despite $75 billion in incentive payments.

The faltering economy is causing the housing crisis to spread. Nationwide, nearly 804,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from January through March, up from about 650,000 in the same time period a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing firm.

In March, more than 340,000 properties were affected, up 17 percent from February and 46 percent from a year earlier.

Foreclosures "came back with a vengeance" last month and are likely to keep rising, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's senior vice president for marketing.

Nearly 191,000 properties completed the foreclosure process and were repossessed by banks in the quarter. While the number was down 13 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, it is expected to rise through the summer and then possibly taper off.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the big mortgage finance companies, together with many banks had temporarily halted foreclosures in advance of Obama's plan. Now armed with the details about which borrowers can qualify, the mortgage industry has begun foreclosing on ineligible borrowers.

The Treasury Department has signed contracts with six big loan servicing companies — including Citgroup, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. Many have already started processing loans as part of the government's "Making Home Affordable" plan.

"We need to get the long-term solutions for these folks," Shaun Donovan, Obama's housing secretary, said in an interview.

In the coming months, Donovan said, there are still likely to be increased foreclosures, especially from vacant houses, second homes and those owned by speculators. None of those properties will qualify for a loan modification. However, he remained optimistic that overall foreclosures could start to decrease this summer.

But even industry executives who emphatically support the plan emphasize that it's success isn't guaranteed.

"The effectiveness of the plan overall obviously is going to depend on the level of industry participation," said Paul Koches, general counsel of Ocwen Financial, which collects loan payments on subprime loans.

Many borrowers and consumer groups claim the modifications offered by the lending industry don't do enough to help cash-strapped homeowners, despite more than a year of public prodding from regulators. Fewer than half of loan modifications made at the end of last year actually reduced borrowers' payments by more than 10 percent, data released last month show.

Plus, the lending industry has been swamped by the unprecedented wave of calls from distressed borrowers. "You can't wave a magic wand and make the loans suddenly modified," Sharga said. "They're all individual transactions."

In RealtyTrac's report, Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida had the nation's top foreclosure rates. In Nevada, one in every 27 homes received a foreclosure filing, while the number was one in every 54 in Arizona. Rounding out the top 10 were Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, Utah and Oregon.

Woody Allen says American Apparel is harassing him

NEW YORK – Actor-director Woody Allen has fired back against American Apparel's effort to drag his personal life into a civil court case, saying the clothing company is harassing him.

Lawyers for the 73-year-old Allen filed new legal papers in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday. The papers say American Apparel isn't playing fair by trying to expose his family life, personal finances and career. They say it's a "scorched earth" approach.

Los Angeles-based American Apparel was put on the defensive after Allen sued the company last year for putting his image on its billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site.

A trial is scheduled to begin next month.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — A clothing company known for its racy ads is fighting a $10 million lawsuit brought by Woody Allen, arguing that it can't have damaged his reputation by using his image because the film director has already ruined it himself.

The 73-year-old Allen started the fight against American Apparel Inc. when he sued the company last year for using his image on the company's billboards in Hollywood and New York and on a Web site.

Allen, who does not endorse products in the United States, said he had not authorized the displays, which the Los Angeles-based company said were up for only a week.

Now the company plans to make Allen's relationships to actress Mia Farrow and her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn the focus of a trial scheduled to begin in federal court in Manhattan on May 18, according to the company's lawyer, Stuart Slotnick.

"Woody Allen expects $10 million for use of his image on billboards that were up and down in less than one week. I think Woody Allen overestimates the value of his image," Slotnick said.

"Certainly, our belief is that after the various sex scandals that Woody Allen has been associated with, corporate America's desire to have Woody Allen endorse their product is not what he may believe it is."

One billboard featured a frame from "Annie Hall," a film that won Allen a best-director Oscar. The image showed Allen dressed as a Hasidic Jew with a long beard and black hat and Yiddish text. The words "American Apparel" also were on the billboard.

Allen's lawsuit said the billboard falsely implied that Allen sponsored, endorsed or was associated with American Apparel.

Slotnick said it was not a cheap shot to bring up Allen's sex life in a lawsuit over the billboard and Internet ads.

"It's certainly relevant in assessing the value of an endorsement," he said, noting that Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps lost endorsement power after a photograph surfaced of him using marijuana.

Farrow starred in several of Allen's movies during a relationship with the director that ended in 1992, when she discovered he was having an affair with her oldest adopted daughter, then 22. Allen married Soon-Yi Previn in 1997.

During a bitter custody fight, Farrow accused Allen of sexually abusing their adopted daughter Dylan, 7. Allen was exonerated of the abuse charges, but Farrow won sole custody of the children.

Leslee Dart, a spokeswoman for Allen, said Friday that she does not believe Allen wants to comment on the litigation at this point.

American Apparel is known for its provocative ads of scantily dressed young models in tight-fitting and sometimes see-through garments.

Allen testified at a December deposition that he considered the company's advertising to be "sleazy" and "infantile."

Lawyers for American Apparel have complained that Allen has refused to turn over much of the information they have demanded to prepare for trial.

Among their demands were documents concerning any endorsement requests that were withdrawn after the sex scandal with Farrow and Previn became public.

The documents defined sex scandal as "your relationship with Soon-Yi Previn including the discovery ... (of) nude pictures you took of Soon-Yi Previn."

The lawyers also requested documents concerning Allen's public image and reputation, including his contention during his deposition that he was a "special kind of entity" or a "special taste."

Allen's attorneys said the request for documents related to the sex scandal and custody battle were "vexatious, oppressive, harassing" and not relevant.

Slotnick said he could not discuss whether there were any settlement talks under way but he hinted that the company may be open to avoiding a trial.

"All I can say is that the company has apologized for the use of Mr. Allen's image, however brief. And the company apologized if they offended Mr. Allen's sensibilities," he said.

Iranian group in Iraq part of high-stakes politics

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi government is stepping up efforts to pressure Iranian exiles into leaving the country, pushing an obscure group to the forefront of Baghdad's relations with Washington and the Obama administration's overtures to Iran.

At stake is whether Iraq can resolve the fate of 3,500 members of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran without damaging its ties to both the U.S. and Iran.

In recent weeks, leaders of the People's Mujahedeen, known by its Farsi initials MEK, claim the Iraqis blockaded their Camp Ashraf north of Baghdad, allowing in only limited food and water shipments.

And earlier this month, they say, the Iraqi guards prevented Iraqi surgeons from entering the camp to treat critically ill patients — although the Iraqis ultimately relented.

To outsiders, the MEK may seem a strange cult-like group that bans sex and family life — an image the MEK attributes to "demonization" by the Iranian government.

Both the U.S. and Iran consider it a terrorist organization.

The Iraqi government makes no secret it wants the MEK out of the country in order to improve relations with Iran.

"Remaining in Iraq is not an option," said national security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie. "They have existed in Iraq solely to overthrow the government of a neighbor, Iran. That past permissiveness is over."

Iran has pressed for years to close the camp, but the issue came to a head after Iraqi forces took over security for Camp Ashraf on Jan. 1, under the Iraq-U.S. security pact. The government gave the Americans assurances they would not force the exiles back to Iran, where some face prosecution.

U.S. officials in Baghdad have declined to comment publicly on the MEK issue.

But the U.S. has a stake in the issue because the U.S. military signed an agreement with the militia after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, promising members would be treated as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Al-Rubaie says that with Iraqis in control, the MEK is no longer protected by national laws or international conventions and must leave.

He dismisses claims of maltreatment and says Camp Ashraf residents are extremists who have been "brainwashed" by about 15-20 of their most militant leaders. The U.S. has tried to defuse the tensions but without much success.

The MEK has a long history in Iraq.

Founded by Iranian leftists, it opposed Iran's U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and took part in the 1979 Iranian revolution that brought the Islamic regime to power. Members were implicated in killings of Americans and the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran — reasons that put them on the U.S. terror list.

But their blend of Marxism and secular Islamism pitted them against the mullahs and they eventually settled in Iraq, where they fought alongside Saddam Hussein's forces during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

During Saddam's time, MEK members staged military parades at Camp Ashraf, marching in uniforms and flaunting an impressive arsenal, and carried out deadly raids into Iran to attack their sworn enemy — Tehran's clerical regime.

They transformed Camp Ashraf from a barren desert stretch in the heart of the volatile Diyala province and only 50 miles from the Iranian border into an oasis of well-kept gardens, sprouting water fountains and palm trees along marked-out streets.

The fenced-off 30-square-mile compound houses 3,418 residents, including 900 women. Men and women obey a strict regimen, sleep in segregated, barrack-style quarters, and are said almost to deify their Paris-based leader, Maryam Rajavi. The camp has mostly been off limits and the government rarely allows media visits.

Al-Rubaie says hundreds of the residents hold documents linking them to a third country. There are five U.S. citizens, 11 Canadians and some European and Australian dual nationals.

Baghdad has tried to get those countries to accept them, and promises MEK members Iranian passports, a one-way ticket to a third country and $1,000 in pocket money, al-Rubaie said.

But Camp Ashraf residents refuse to go.

"It's like somebody comes and tells you to leave the only home you've known for the past 20 years," said Mohammad Mohaddessin, a senior official at MEK's political wing in Paris.

The camp, he says, is a modern "city," with a museum, a cemetery, a bakery — even an "Ashraf Cola" factory. As for sex and family life, Ashraf residents "left this behind them voluntarily," Mohaddessin said.

MEK is now turning to supporters in Europe, where the European Parliament in January removed the organization from its terror list after a British court backed the group's claim to have renounced violence.

If all else fails, the MEK says it may take the Camp Ashraf case to an international tribunal at The Hague.

The Iraqi government says 261 residents were returned to Iran over the last two years and reported no persecution. Spokeswoman Dibeh Fakhr of Iraq's office of the International Red Cross — which visited the camp four times last year — says the last returnee went back to Iran in April 2008.

Although the MEK is no longer a military threat, "symbolically, it's very important for Iran that they are expelled," said Iranian analyst Saeed Leilaz. Washington's acquiescence would be an overture to Tehran and a "good start" for Iran and the U.S., he said.

For now, Iraq's stranglehold of Camp Ashraf has created a shortage of some commodities, including toothpaste, chlorine for water purification and generator fuel, said camp physician Hamid Gazaeri.

The camp's modest clinic is serviced by a few general practitioners, all Iranians living in Ashraf, and depends on regular visits by Iraqi specialists.

Cancer sufferer Fatemeh Alizadeh, one of five patients who waited for a week for surgery until Iraqi doctors were allowed back last Friday, can't imagine the camp closing.

"It would be a catastrophe," she said in a frail voice on the phone, speaking from her hospital bed. "I am not going anywhere."

Iran willing to build new relationship with US

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's president on Wednesday sent the clearest signal yet that the Islamic Republic wants warmer ties with the U.S., just one day after Washington spoke of new strategies to address the country's disputed nuclear program. Taken together, the developments indicate that the longtime adversaries are seeking ways to return to the negotiating table and ease a nearly 30-year-old diplomatic standoff.

President Barack Obama's administration has sought to start a dialogue with Iran — a departure from the Bush administration's tough talk.

Iran had mostly dismissed the overtures, continuing to take hard-line steps like putting an American journalist on trial on espionage allegations.

But in his speech Wednesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad changed his tone, saying that Iran was preparing new proposals aimed at breaking an impasse with the West over its nuclear program.

"The Iranian nation is a generous nation. It may forget the past and start a new era, but any country speaking on the basis of selfishness will get the same response the Iranian nation gave to Mr. Bush," Ahmadinejad told thousands in the southeastern city of Kerman.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed Ahmadinejad's comments during a meeting Wednesday with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

"With respect to the latest speeches and remarks out of Iran, we welcome dialogue," Clinton said. "We've been saying that we are looking to have an engagement with Iran, but we haven't seen anything that would amount to any kind of proposal at all."

She said the six nations trying to lure Iran back to the negotiating table would have more to say in the coming days. Those countries, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, asked Solana last week to invite Iran to a new round of talks.

Solana said Iran has not formally responded to the invitation, and he declined to comment on Ahmadinejad's remarks.

The U.S. government has declined to publicly discuss possible new strategies for dealing with Iran. The Obama administration said its immediate goal is to get Iran back to nuclear negotiations.

Though there have not been any concrete breakthroughs, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iranian affairs expert at New York's Syracuse University, said Ahmadinejad's comments were a "good omen."

"It certainly signals interest in engaging with the Obama administration," he said, adding that no terms had been set for possible talks.

Iran's uranium enrichment program has been the key point of contention. The Bush administration had insisted that Iran scrap enrichment before talks could begin — a demand Iran repeatedly rejected. On Wednesday, a senior official said the U.S. would be prepared to let Tehran continue enriching uranium at the current level for some time.

Uranium enrichment can be used to produce fuel for nuclear energy or nuclear weapons. The U.S. and some of its allies accuse Tehran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity.

There had been a few efforts in recent years to reach consensus, but they appeared to go nowhere.

Two years ago, Washington briefly softened its position, and its negotiating partners told Tehran that they could accept a continuation of enrichment for a limited time as they moved toward talks. But Iran insisted it be allowed to enrich as part of its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, ending the effort.

A decision by the U.S. to return to the negotiating table last year also did not bear fruit.

But Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said, "circumstances have changed" — an apparent reference to Obama's election and Iran's own progress in its nuclear program since talks with world powers last year.

Iran says it now controls the entire cycle for producing nuclear fuel — including extracting uranium ore and enriching it.

Ahmadinejad said Iran welcomes dialogue provided it is based on justice and respect, suggesting the West should not try to force it to halt enrichment.

"Today we are preparing a new package. Once it becomes ready, we will present that package (to you)," the president said. "It is a package that constitutes peace and justice throughout the globe and also respects other nations' rights." He didn't elaborate.

The U.S. and Iran broke off diplomatic ties after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by hard-line students. Relations became rockier under the Bush administration, which branded Iran part of an "Axis of Evil" along with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea.

Part of the softening could be tied to the June re-election bid by Ahmadinejad, whose popularity has been declining. His main opponent favors better ties with the United States.

It is unclear, however, whether Ahmadinejad even has the clout to build a new relationship with the U.S. Just last month, Iran's supreme leader — who has the final say on all state matters — abruptly dismissed Obama's offer for dialogue.

"After 30 years, this won't be a matter resolved in a month or two. Any negotiations on the nuclear issue with Iran will take at least one year to work out," Boroujerdi said.

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?