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From staff and wire reports

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Director Steven Soderbergh was nominated twice Monday as best director of 2000 for his films 'Erin Brockovich' and 'Traffic,' marking only the second double nomination in history by the Directors Guild of America. Other nominees for outstanding directorial achievement in feature film for 2000 at an event hosted by Steven Spielberg included directors Cameron Crowe for 'Almost Famous,' Ang Lee for 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' and Ridley Scott for 'Gladiator.'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Pop superstar Michael Bolton lost a U.S. Supreme Court bid Monday to overturn a $5.4 million jury verdict that his hit, 'Love Is a Wonderful Thing,' copied parts of a song by the legendary soul singers, the Isley Brothers. The high court without any comment or dissent rejected an appeal by Bolton, co-writer Andrew Goldmark and their record companies challenging the largest reported music infringement judgement involving a single song.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) -- "Soup's" on for up-and-comer actress-comedian Aisha Tyler.

Following a lengthy search for a new host of "Talk Soup," E! Entertainment Television has hired Tyler as the show's permanent anchor, beginning Friday. She's the first woman and first black to host E!'s long-running signature series.

Hal Sparks left the show in early 2000, and guest hosts, including Tyler, have appeared since.

Tyler also hosts "The Fifth Wheel," a syndicated follow-up to "Blind Date," which is being sold to stations this week at the TV industry's annual NATPE convention.

"I'm thrilled she's a woman, and I'm pleased she's African-American, but I'm most happy about the fact that she's a smart, funny person who will bring a lot to the show," said E! Networks president-CEO Mindy Herman.

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