Osmonds return to stage after death of Marie's son

LAS VEGAS — Marie Osmond made a teary return to her Las Vegas Strip show Tuesday night, saying singing and faith are how she and her family are coping with the death of her 18-year-old son. Facing the family loss head-on, her brother Donny Osmond described his sister as a strong woman for simply showing up after her son Michael Bryan died of an apparent suicide less than two weeks ago. Bryan's funeral was held Monday in Provo, Utah. "I just think that we need to give a big round of applause to my sister for even coming onstage tonight," Donny Osmond said after the siblings' opening number. "Don't do that — I'm going to have to leave," Marie Osmond quipped as the Flamingo Las Vegas crowd roared in support of her. "God bless you all," she said. "The way Osmonds survive is we keep singing and that's what we want to do tonight. I know my son would want that." The Donny & Marie show resumed with an eager audience, overwhelmingly supportive of Marie through her songs, jokes and a dance-off against her brother — last season's winner of "Dancing With the Stars." Their sibling banter wasn't spared as they ribbed one another — and themselves — throughout the show about their ages, voices and fitness. "Thank you, papers, for putting in that I'm 50," Marie Osmond said. "The female F-word — '50.'" Marie Osmond said her 7-year-old daughter told her that she needed to laugh Tuesday night, so she told her a joke. "Why was the sand wet," the mother recalled. "Because the sea weed." She said her latest album of inspirational music album was dedicated to all her children, and sang an opera song dedicated to Bryan. "He's my angel," she said. Police in Los Angeles have said Bryan died Feb. 26 of an apparent suicide after jumping from the eighth floor of an apartment building. Autopsy and toxicology results are pending. Police say Bryan left a note but have provided no details about its contents. Bryan previously used his adoptive father's last name, Blosil, but Utah court records show his name was legally changed. At the end of the Osmonds' sentimental return, Marie Osmond cried as she struggled to sing her last line. "May God keep you in his tender care," Donny Osmond sang, before telling his sister: "You don't have to sing this part." "'Til he brings us together again," she sang. — AP