Ayla Brown advances on 'Idol'

Last night on ''American Idol," our girl Ayla made the cut. After she sang ''I Want You to Need Me" earlier this week, America was convinced it had to keep her. And so midway through the episode, Ayla Brown from Wrentham safely retired to the red room, wearing a red top to match the red couches.

Four other singers weren't as fortunate. Brenna Gethers, David Radford, Jose ''Sway" Penala, and Heather Cox had their last moments in the ''Idol" sun. They all said goodbye with dignity, except Brenna, who said, ''I'm ready to make some money."

Meanwhile, Paula and Simon have clearly made up. While the kids writhed in anxiety about their futures, the two judges were having a love fest.

MATTHEW GILBERT

Opponents of Canada's seal hunt have a powerful ally in their bid to end the annual slaughter: Paul McCartney, who took to the ice floes yesterday and frolicked with the doe-eyed pups before the harvest got under way. The former Beatle and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, (inset) arrived Wednesday night in this fishing community on Canada's Atlantic coast and landed a helicopter on the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The longtime animal-rights activists want to publicize the plight of the pups, which are clubbed to death on the frigid ice after being weaned from their mothers.

Busta Rhymes and his bodyguard have been sued by a fan who says the two men beat him after he asked for the rapper's autograph. Melvin Smith, 37, says in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court that Rhymes and Troy Green, both 33, ''maliciously assaulted, beat, pushed, and shoved him" outside the Corner Gourmet II deli near City Hall on Sept. 6. The beating, court papers say, caused a cut under Smith's right eye that required four stitches. Smith has been unable to work as a handyman because of neck and back injuries he also sustained, his lawyer said yesterday. Green was arrested Sept. 7 and charged with three misdemeanors. Rhymes has not been charged.

ABC's spy drama ''Alias," starring Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, will return April 19. The two-hour episode will feature the birth of Sydney's baby and the reappearance of love interest and fellow spy Michael Vaughn, played by Michael Vartan. Garner, 33, gave birth to a daughter, Violet, on Dec. 1. The baby is the first for Garner and her husband, Ben Affleck. ''Alias" is ending its five-year run this spring.

'Muchas gracias! I am humbled to be received in such fine and grand circumstances. . . . Wherever we go, our band is just being serenaded and the people are waving.' Bono, with U2 on a concert stop in Buenos Aires.

FROM WIRE REPORTS