want to select an option(with jquery) and show it in jquery autocomplete

want to select an option(with jquery) and show it in jquery autocomplete

Hi all.
 
I want to set an option using jquery. I did something like this. $('#item').val('some value in list');  When i use alert it shows the set value(new one). But its not changing on gui. I am using IE 8. NOTE: The value is changing if i click on the select and again clicking it somewhere else. The code is below.
 
 
  1. var $col= $(this).closest('tr').find('td');
                  $('#item :selected').val($col.eq(2).text());
                  $('#item :selected').text($col.eq(2).text());
                  $('#item :selected').attr('selected','selected');


Thanks & Regards.
 
Adeeb