WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Sen.-elect Scott Brown said he'd like daughter Ayla to have another crack at "American Idol," where judge Simon Cowell once described her performance as robotic and empty.

The fledgling recording artist, a 21-year-old student at Boston College, made it to the show's final 16 singers in 2006.

Her father told ABC's "This Week" that Ayla was so new to it all back then that she had never put on makeup until she did "American Idol." He also said that Cowell's critique, while harsh, was on target.

The Republican lawmaker said having his daughter back as a contestant would be great for the program and would show people there's life after "American Idol."

'AVATAR' $6M AWAY FROM SINKING 'TITANIC'

NEW YORK — "Avatar" is on the cusp of toppling the domestic box-office record after leading all movies for a seventh straight week.

James Cameron's 3-D epic earned $30 million over the weekend, and its domestic total reached $594.5 million, according to studio estimates yesterday. That puts the film only about $6 million behind the domestic record set by Cameron's "Titanic" in 1998 with $600.8 million.

Earlier this week, the blockbuster passed "Titanic" for the worldwide box-office record. It has now crossed the $2 billion worldwide mark with $2.039 billion, easily beating the $1.8 billion made by "Titanic."

'HURT LOCKER' AN AWARDS-SEASON FAVORITE

LOS ANGELES — Kathryn Bigelow and "The Hurt Locker" became official awards-season front-runners Saturday after Bigelow won the top prize from the Directors Guild of America.

The 58-year-old filmmaker is the first woman to win the guild's top honor, which positions her and the film as virtual shoo-ins for the Academy Awards. The DGA boasts that its winner has gone on to win the directing Oscar all but six times since 1948, and more often than not, the film that wins the directing Oscar goes on to win best picture.

"This is the most incredible moment of my life," Bigelow said backstage. She downplayed her gender, saying, "I suppose I like to think of myself as a filmmaker."

BUNDCHEN SAYS BATHTUB BIRTH WAS EASY

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen says she gave birth to her son in a bathtub and that it didn't hurt a bit.

The wife of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady told Globo TV in an interview aired yesterday she wanted to be aware and calm during birth. So she decided to have her boy, Benjamin, at home on Dec. 8.

The model said she "didn't want to be drugged up" when she gave birth. To prepare, she said she did a lot of yoga and meditation.

Brady and Bundchen were married last February.

Benjamin is Bundchen's first child. Brady also has a 2-year-old son, Jack, with actress Bridget Moynahan.

— Advertiser News Services