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By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "American Idol" finalist Michael Johns finished in the bottom three for the first time on Thursday, and in a surprising result ended up being eliminated from the TV talent competition when fans cast the fewest votes for his rendition of Aerosmith's "Dream On."

"I'm definitely surprised," said Johns, 29, this season's oldest finalist, adding that despite some of the judges' comments

that his choice of songs for the inspirational-themed show was not the best, he stood by his choice and it was not a bad song to go out on.

The singers' covers of inspirational songs were conceived as a tie-in with the hit show's annual fund-raiser "Idol Gives Back," which host Ryan Seacrest said had taken in over $60 million so far with donations continuing to come in.

This week's other two bottom finishers were Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson, both of whom have risked elimination in recent weeks. Over 31 million votes were cast, the highest this season.

The handsome Johns, a native of Perth, Australia who resides in Los Angeles, was not the only one shocked by the result, which brought boos from the audience during the live telecast. His family, as well as judge Paula Abdul, were shown slack-jawed at the announcement.

"There are a lot of surprised fans here and watching right now," Seacrest noted.

Highlights of this week's show included a performance by last season's winner, Jordin Sparks, as well as taped appearances by all three remaining major presidential candidates soliciting contributions to Idol Gives Back.

"American Idol" pits singers against one another in a months-long competition. Past winners including Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have gone on to music stardom.

The weekly show draws some 30 million viewers, making it the most-watched program on U.S. television.

The other remaining finalists are: Brooke White, 24; early fan favorite David Archuleta, 17; breakout "Idol" star David Cook, 25; Jason Castro, 20, and Kristy Lee Cook, 24.

The winner of "American Idol"'s seventh season will be announced during the live finale in May.

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Tom Ludlow (Reeves), he's busy setting up and then gunning down a Korean kidnapping ring, all at the behest of his slick superior (Forest Whitaker), a rising star in the department thanks to the antics of Ludlow's special unit.

Ludlow then has a tussle with his former partner (Terry Crews) and gets a visit from a smarmy internal affairs captain (Hugh Laurie), both of whom seem to think Ludlow's days on the force are numbered. When Ludlow's old backup is brutally murdered, his boss thinks it's a blessing in disguise and tells him to let the matter lie.

Of course, he doesn't, setting of on a twisted course for vengeance, which is a good long time coming because Ludlow is dense. It takes him an hour of screen time, some comically brutal violence and a half dozen bodies to figure out what anyone who's ever seen an episode of The Shield would guess right away. Do movie cops watch TV?

Ayer, who also wrote Training Day, obviously has a thing for black-hearted boys in blue, and Ellroy's a past master of the form (L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia). On paper Street Kings should be a bull's-eye, but the film double-crosses itself: one unnecessary plot twist too many, a bunch of eye-rolling lines the actors can't quite get their mouths around and too much time in the gutter when all the action's going on in the stars.

The 180—a Second Opinion: It's way too easy to guess what's going to happen, but Street Kings offers some surprises in how things happen. And the performances are solid throughout; get past the heartbreak you feel when you realize the film's not going to be great and you might be able to call it good.

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Spears guest starred as a lovestruck receptionist on the March 24 episode, which earned the series' highest ratings in the 18-49 demographic in its three seasons on the air. The appearance also garnered remarkably strong reviews for the troubled pop star. In the AP story, however, Harris was quoted as saying, "I'm in the minority that our show does not need stunt casting in order to succeed.... I worry that if they start Will & Grace-ing us too much, that the show will suffer." Now he tells EW.com that he would welcome Spears back — because he has "great faith" in the show's producers and writers. He also says, "My job description is to act, and I should really do just that."

At first, the AP stood by its story. "I respect his right to change his stance," said AP entertainment editor Jesse Washington, "but...Neil Patrick Harris told us unequivocally that he did not believe that Britney should be on the show." But by late Friday, April 11, the AP seemed to have changed its tune. "We're issuing a clarification to our story," Washington said in a statement. "Harris did not say that he opposed a return engagement for Spears, and our lede said that he did."

Harris' full statement appears after the jump.

addCredit("Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic")

"It seems that yesterday a writer took some quotes of mine and speculated an opinion about their intent. I write to you to set the record straight.

"As I have said all along, Britney did a great job on the show. She really did. In fact, we are all hoping that she returns rather soon to reprise her role as Abby. Look, that episode garnered our highest ratings of the season — I would never ignore or disrespect that fact. I am just very protective of our show, and its content. I have a high standard of quality, and hope to maintain it on every level. Television is big business, I understand that. I have great faith in our casting department, as well as [Twentieth Century Fox Television] and CBS, to find the appropriate person for every role on our show. I was remiss in speculating otherwise. My job description is to act, and I should really do just that.

"Britney Spears fits into our make-believe world very well — if she chose to return I can only imagine that Carter [Bays], Craig [Thomas], and the rest of the writers would create a humdinger of a storyline for her. We should be so lucky." (Additional reporting by Whitney Pastorek and Adam B. Vary)

Michael Johns is surprise "Idol" casualty

Street Kings E! Reviews by Alex Markerson

Neil Patrick Harris clarifies his Britney Spears remarks, AP then clarifies its story by Mandi Bierly