tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43430920565275231462024-03-13T11:23:58.878-07:00Celebs HomeMadong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-852646065764414912011-04-06T01:20:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:21:14.108-07:00A second celebrity dismissed from 'Dancing'<div align="center"><img alt="A second celebrity dismissed from 'Dancing'" src="http://hosted2.ap.org/CBImages/?media=photo&contentId=470fdc10a9899507e90e6a70670078c3&fmt=jpg&Role=Preview&reldt=2011-04-05T21:24:42GMT&authToken=eNoNy7ENwCAMBMCJLL2D8eOCYZAhEl3KFAyfXH9nvd2LFdLhUABqlSd3N%2bKeqZARLSQqKCuwxAfhBNiynP10uUCttL9%2f%2fiYTNw%3d%3d" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A second celebrity dismissed from 'Dancing'</div><a name='more'></a>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wendy Williams is saying goodbye to the "Dancing With the Stars" ballroom — and to the cross-country treks she made as she juggled taping her daily talk show in New York and performing on the dance show in Los Angeles.<br /><br />The TV host was dismissed Tuesday from "Dancing With the Stars" after coming into the episode in last place. She earned 15 points out of 30 the previous night for her foxtrot with professional partner Tony Dovolani.<br /><br />Williams said being on the show was "a wonderful opportunity" and she thanked the judges and her partner for teaching her how to dance.<br /><br />"Despite stereotypes, this is one black girl who can't even do the running man," Williams said.<br /><br />She struggled throughout her three weeks on the show, regularly landing near the bottom of the leaderboard. Judges' scores are combined with viewer votes to determine which couple is ousted each week.<br /><br />"The problem is it's not my personality in the competition, it's my feet," she said on Tuesday's episode. "If my personality were in the competition, I'd win!"<br /><br />Williams is the second contestant eliminated from the hit ABC show's 12th season. Radio host Mike Catherwood was dismissed last week.<br /><br />The results show also included musical performances by OneRepublic and Selena Gomez and the Scene.<br /><br />Returning to dance on Monday will be actors Kirstie Alley, Ralph Macchio and Chelsea Kane; athletes Hines Ward, Chris Jericho and Sugar Ray Leonard; singer Romeo; reality star Kendra Wilkinson and model Petra Nemcova.<br /><br />___<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-79344333682934471852011-04-06T01:19:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:20:26.353-07:00Cobain guitar sculpture dedicated in Washington<div align="center"><img alt="Cobain guitar sculpture" src="http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/ne/pressass/20110406/03/3980499691-cobain-guitar-sculpture-unveiled.jpg?x=130&y=129&q=75&wc=289&hc=288&xc=74&yc=1&sig=RHHNwRgDNK3Y2CUpMocYoA--" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cobain guitar sculpture</div><a name='more'></a>ABERDEEN, Washington (AP) — A sculpted guitar memorial to Kurt Cobain has been unveiled in a park in the Nirvana frontman's Washington state hometown.<br /><br />The dedication in Aberdeen on Tuesday marked the 17th anniversary of Cobain's suicide in Seattle. A diverse group of fans and Aberdeen residents, many born after Cobain's 1994 death, attended the ceremony.<br /><br />The sculpture was placed in a park near the Young Street bridge where Cobain spent time while growing up. The bridge attracts Cobain fans because it's mentioned in his song "Something in the Way."<br /><br />Besides the concrete guitar, there's a steel ribbon dangling in the air with lyrics from the Nirvana song "On a Plain" that say: "One more special message to go and then I'm done and I can go home."Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-14457167810688614992011-04-06T01:17:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:19:17.699-07:00Amy Poehler named Harvard's 'Class Day' speaker<div align="center"><img alt="Amy Poehler" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_J6bFVALZKDs/SjsBMbfVCfI/AAAAAAAAA9g/RIMVVxlnEV8/s400/will-arnett-amy-poehler-gap-ad.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Amy Poehler</div><a name='more'></a>CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard has announced that comedian and actress Amy Poehler has been selected as this year's "Senior Class Day" speaker.<br /><br />The school announced Tuesday that the Massachusetts native will address graduates and their families in Harvard Yard's Tercentenary Theatre on May 25.<br /><br />The annual ceremony is scheduled the day before commencement and is a chance for Harvard's senior class to socialize one last time before graduating.<br /><br />Poehler, a Boston College graduate, is known for her work on the late-night sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" and currently stars in the NBC comedy series "Parks and Recreation."Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-69550605014831304542011-04-06T01:16:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:17:41.568-07:00Kevin Spacey calls for arts funding in Congress<div align="center"><img alt="Kevin Spacey" src="http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/images/kevin_spacey.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kevin Spacey</div><a name='more'></a>WASHINGTON (AP) — Kevin Spacey performed some impromptu "street theater" Tuesday to ask Congress for continued funding of the National Endowment for the Arts amid calls for deep budget cuts.<br /><br />Spacey was supposed to testify in the House during a hearing that was canceled at the last minute for budget negotiations to avoid a government shutdown. Instead, he performed a version of his testimony for arts supporters.<br /><br />"Let's pretend," he said, introducing himself to a packed crowd that included a few lawmakers before reading his prepared testimony.<br /><br />The Academy Award-winning actor said a theater workshop led by the great actor Jack Lemmon when Spacey was 13 gave him a big boost into theater. When it came time to perform a scene for Lemmon, Spacey spoke in a shaky voice with little self-esteem.<br /><br />"Now that was a touch of terrific," Lemmon told Spacey.<br /><br />"He saw something in me — a potential — that even I hadn't recognized," Spacey said. "That moment shaped me, and it shaped my life."<br /><br />Spacey — who won Oscars for his roles in "American Beauty" and "The Usual Suspects" and was executive producer of last year's "The Social Network" — said he's worried fewer kids will have opportunities in the arts. Funding cuts in the 1990s and similar notions now threaten the grants provided by the arts endowment for local theaters and arts groups, he said.<br /><br />"To me, it is important just to absolutely embrace arts and culture and the creative industries and what they bring to our nation," Spacey told The Associated Press. "It is the single greatest export we exchange around the world."<br /><br />Alec Baldwin and Hill Harper of TV's "CSI: NY," who was a law school friend of President Barack Obama, spoke later on Capitol Hill, also urging lawmakers to shield the arts from drastic cuts.<br /><br />House Republicans have passed a $40 million cut this year to the relatively small $168 million annual budget of the arts endowment, though the cut is subject to Senate negotiations. Others want to cut off funding entirely in 2012, including Sarah Palin, who recently called such government spending "frivolous."<br /><br />Obama's proposed budget for 2012 calls for a $22 million reduction due to pressure to cut spending.<br /><br />Several state arts agencies also are facing severe cuts. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback called for eliminating the state arts commission but met resistance in the state Senate. Cuts have been proposed in Washington state and New Hampshire as well.<br /><br />Grants from arts agencies are used as leverage to draw donations from corporations and philanthropists for substantial projects. Spacey said an NEA grant is a "stamp of approval" for small arts groups.<br /><br />Robert Lynch, president of the lobbying group Americans for the Arts, said many new lawmakers in a rush to cut budgets fail to see the jobs and economic boost that arts organizations provide as small businesses. The $166 billion nonprofit arts sector includes 5.7 million jobs and generates nearly $30 billion in tax revenue, he said.<br /><br />"Without a lot of time to understand what this sector means and how it can contribute, it's lumped along with everything else that can be cut to make a smaller government," Lynch said, adding that many arts supporters have left Congress. Still, he said, "I'm one of the last optimists in Washington."<br /><br />The arts group plans to hold its first-ever White House briefing Tuesday to press for support from Obama's staff.<br /><br />Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, chairman of the House subcommittee that funds the arts, told supporters he believes a majority in Congress supports preserving funding. Still, some believe the government simply shouldn't fund the arts at all.<br /><br />Democratic Rep. James Moran of Virginia said the government is buying fighter jets that each cost as much as the annual budget of the National Endowment for the Arts. The F-22 costs $412 million each, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter costs $126 million each. The government is buying hundreds of them.<br /><br />"We are not a poor country. We are a wealthy country, but our real power comes from the power of our ideas," he said "This is not about saving money. This is ideological."<br /><br />Spacey also has publicly opposed a recently announced 30 percent cut to arts funding in Britain, where he serves as artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre. He said the cuts taking full effect by 2015 would devastate hundreds of arts groups.<br /><br />The British government should change its tax laws, Spacey said, and use the U.S. model of providing tax breaks for charitable donations to help fill the gap left by cuts in public funding.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-74550211502470667402011-04-06T01:15:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:16:39.168-07:00Bristol Palin earns $262K for teen pregnancy work<div align="center"><img alt="Bristol Palin" src="http://www.starzlife.com/files/2011/03/Bristol-Palin.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bristol Palin</div><a name='more'></a>ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Tax documents show unwed mother Bristol Palin earned more than $262,000 for her role in helping raise awareness for teen pregnancy prevention in 2009.<br /><br />The most recent data for The Candie's Foundation that's posted online by research firm GuideStar shows compensation at $262,500 for the now 20-year-old daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee.<br /><br />Bristol Palin was 18 when she was appointed as a teen ambassador for the New York-based foundation in 2009, months after giving birth to son, Tripp. She and the 2-year-old boy's father, Levi Johnston, are no longer together.<br /><br />Foundation officials did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday. But Palin family attorney John Tiemessen responded in an email but wouldn't comment about Palin's compensation.<br /><br />Palin, who still works for the foundation, told The Associated Press last year that girls would think twice about having sex if they knew how tough it is to be a mother. She said she "wasn't prepared at all" for the dramatic changes in her life since becoming a mom.<br /><br />"I don't think anyone realizes how difficult it really is until you actually have a screaming baby in your arms and you're up all night," Palin said.<br /><br />When she was first named to the ambassador role, Palin said in a statement she felt she could be a living example of the consequences of teen pregnancy.<br /><br />"If I can prevent even one girl from getting pregnant, I will feel a sense of accomplishment," she said at the time.<br /><br />Days after Sen. John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate in 2008, Bristol Palin's pregnancy was announced. Sarah Palin has not ruled out a run from president in 2012.<br /><br />The Candie's Foundation is a division of the apparel brand Candie's. It has been raising awareness about teen pregnancy since 2001.<br /><br />The blog Palingates first reported the compensation figure.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-83210551742764956632011-04-06T01:14:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:15:37.694-07:00Third 'Dark Knight' to film in Pittsburgh<div align="center"><img alt="Dark Knight" src="http://kingdion.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/the-dark-knight-9.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dark Knight</div><a name='more'></a>PITTSBURGH (AP) — Criminals beware, Batman will be on the beat this summer in Pittsburgh.<br /><br />Film director Christopher Nolan, who has helmed the two previous Batman films — starring Christian Bale as the caped crime fighter and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne — said Tuesday the Pennsylvania city will host filming for a third film for at least a month.<br /><br />"Pittsburgh is a beautiful city. We have been able to find everything we were looking for here and I am excited to spend the summer in Pittsburgh with our final installment of Batman," he said in a statement, adding that he finally settled on the city because of its architecture and diverse sampling of locations.<br /><br />Mayor Luke Ravensthahl said the decision was "another example of the growing film industry in our community and we will be rolling out the red carpet for them."<br /><br />The city is no stranger to film productions, having been the location for more than 100 film and television products since 1990, including "I Am Number Four" and Kevin Smith's "Zack & Miri Make A Porno."<br /><br />The Pittsburgh Film Office is a non-profit economic development agency that markets southwest Pennsylvania as a location for filming.<br /><br />"Film production means jobs for Pennsylvanians, it's as simple as that," Office director Dawn Keezer said. "A single film can mean millions of dollars and many local jobs. A franchise as prestigious as Batman opens our region up to an entirely new audience as filmmakers and studio executives experience southwestern Pennsylvania."<br /><br />She said filming could last between four and six weeks and will start in July. The film, "The Dark Knight Rises," is scheduled to be released in July 2012, and stars Bale, Gary Oldman, and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.<br /><br />The previous two films include "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight."Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-84909450263682614452011-04-06T01:13:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:14:38.149-07:00Rocker Vince Neil facing 2 misdemeanors in Vegas<div align="center"><img alt="Vince Neil" src="http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/vinceneiljersey.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Vince Neil</div><a name='more'></a>LAS VEGAS (AP) — Less than six weeks after being released from jail on a drunken driving charge, Motley Crue singer Vince Neil is facing two new misdemeanor charges in a Las Vegas casino showroom confrontation with an ex-girlfriend.<br /><br />Neil, 50, is accused of poking his finger into the chest of Alicia Jacobs in a casino comedy club late March 24, and of cursing and pointing or poking at Jacobs and her friends, John Katsilometes and Patricia McCrone.<br /><br />Neil's lawyer, David Chesnoff, said Neil intends to plead not guilty and fight the battery domestic violence and disorderly conduct charges. He's due May 2 in Las Vegas Justice Court.<br /><br />"There are two sides to every story, especially when there are issues surrounding relationships," Chesnoff said. "We are looking forward to a trial on the matter."<br /><br />Neil could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine on each charge.<br /><br />Jacobs, 39, a Las Vegas entertainment television reporter, showed police a bruise that she said came from the finger-poke.<br /><br />She said Tuesday she worries about being in the same room with Neil, with whom she told police she had a seven-month relationship that ended in early March.<br /><br />"His drinking frightens me," Jacobs told The Associated Press. "Complete strangers in the theater saw exactly what happened."<br /><br />Katsilometes, 45, an entertainment columnist for the Las Vegas Sun, published an account of the confrontation the next day. He branded Neil's brief entrance into the Hilton Las Vegas hotel's Shimmer Cabaret, the encounter, and Neil's swift exit "drive-by belligerence."<br /><br />Katsilometes said Neil cursed at him, Jacobs and McCrone. "He was obviously intent on venting in a swift, profane, two-syllable outburst," Katsilometes wrote. "I didn't believe he was out to cause bodily injury to me."<br /><br />He declined additional comment Tuesday, citing the criminal case.<br /><br />McCrone, 40, is publicist for her brother-in-law, the iconic Las Vegas crooner Wayne Newton. She said she wasn't injured when Neil poked her with his index finger. But she also wasn't surprised that Clark County District Attorney David Roger decided to file charges.<br /><br />"It was a big scene. There were a lot of witnesses," McCrone said. "I wasn't hurt, but it was a complete surprise. He definitely sought us out."<br /><br />Neil was freed from Clark County jail Feb. 25 after serving 10 days for driving drunk last June near the Las Vegas Strip.<br /><br />Neil also was fined $585 and ordered to serve 15 days on house arrest as part of a plea deal that avoided trial in the case. He didn't contest police accounts that he was driving drunk when he was stopped in his black Lamborghini late last June after leaving the Las Vegas Hilton.<br /><br />Neil is the front man for a four-member heavy metal band known for bad behavior, hard partying, famous girlfriends and hard-driving hits like "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood," both from the late 1980s. He also owns tattoo shops and two bars in Las Vegas. One is at the Hilton.<br /><br />The singer denied in an interview with AP just before his arrest last June that he used drugs or abused alcohol.<br /><br />"There's just a point in your life where you kind of stop. That's what happened with me," Neil said in an interview about a tell-all book. "There's other things in life than just drugs and alcohol."<br /><br />Neil had also pleaded guilty to drunken driving before, in a 1984 crash in California that killed his passenger, Nicholas Dingley, a 24-year-old drummer with the group Hanoi Rocks.<br /><br />Neil, then 25, wasn't injured. His conviction on manslaughter and drunken driving charges got him 20 days in jail, and he agreed to pay $2.5 million in restitution to victims.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-16334643592196191882011-04-06T01:12:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:13:31.544-07:00US school acquires Robert Frost's letters to pal<div align="center"><img alt="Robert Frost" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GbsEXgI3eqo/SwQ1DLcrbhI/AAAAAAAAAA8/8m0o0a__Fxo/s1600/fros.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Robert Frost</div><a name='more'></a>CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) — Writing from England as World War I got under way, Robert Frost was more worried about his personal finances than the threat of war.<br /><br />"This row was exciting at first. But it has lost some of its interest for us," the poet wrote to his friend Ernest Silver in August 1914, just weeks after Great Britain declared war on Germany. "Not that I think the Germans will come. I bet one of my little amateur bets that other day that not one of them would set foot in England."<br /><br />The letter is one of six recently donated to Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, where Frost taught for a year before moving to England in 1912. His reputation as a poet grew after the publication of his first book a year later, but Frost still worried about how he would provide for his family upon returning to the United States.<br /><br />"I wonder if I can count on your friendship to help me to some place where I can recoup. You know the kind of thing I should like — something in the English department, if possible, where I should have some energy to spare for my poetry," he wrote. "I can probably hang on another year if I have to, but there will be the more need in the end of my finding work because by that time I shall be in debt."<br /><br />In another letter dated Feb. 2, 1915, Frost said he was considering moving to Vermont or Maine to be near friends. "But money is really going to be short and we must go where we can go with a reasonable chance of making ends meet," he wrote.<br /><br />Frost, the celebrated New England poet known for such verse as "The Road Not Taken" and "The Gift Outright," met Silver at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, where Silver was the high school principal and Frost taught English. When Silver became the president of what was then known as Plymouth Normal School, he invited Frost to come teach education and psychology.<br /><br />But after a decade of teaching combined with unsuccessful farming, Frost's move to England marked his shift toward poetry as a vocation, said Alice Staples, librarian for the archives and special collections at Plymouth State. The letters come from a time in which Frost faced a choice not unlike the dilemma posed in 1916's "The Road Not Taken," she said.<br /><br />In England, Frost befriended other literary greats, including William Butler Yeats and Ezra Pound. In a May 7, 1913, letter, he described Yeats' manner as being "like that of a man in some dream he can't shake off," and called Pound "the dazzling youth who translates poetry from six languages."<br /><br />"Someone says he looks altogether too much like a poet to be a poet," Frost wrote of Pound. "He lives in Bohemia from hand to mouth but he goes simply everywhere in great society."<br /><br />Frost also described reading Yeats to students in Plymouth before meeting the poet overseas, a detail Plymouth State University President Sara Jayne Steen found particularly striking.<br /><br />"To think that he was bringing such a contemporary writer to the students and working with them, and then to think how exciting that must've been for him, to be in a position where he could meet and talk with the man he had just been teaching," Steen said.<br /><br />The letters, which have not been published before, were donated privately to the university, Steen said. To mark the 100th anniversary of Frost's time on campus, the school has set up a display including audio of Frost reading his poetry along with photos and other memorabilia.<br /><br />"There could hardly be anything more perfect in the centennial year of Robert Frost and Ernest Silver coming to Plymouth than to have the letters that were part of that correspondence come to us," Steen said.<br /><br />Frost returned to the U.S. in 1915. In addition to his connection to Plymouth, the letters also show how Frost's time in England solidified his identity as a New Englander, Staples said. (Frost was born in California but moved to New England as a child.)<br /><br />Though accustomed to New Hampshire's harsh winters, Frost complained that he'd rather be stuck in snow than the mud that surrounded him that spring in England.<br /><br />"My original theory was that mud here took the place of snow at home. It is worse than that. Mud here takes the place of everything at home. ... We had three hours sunshine last week a thing so remarkable that it set the ladies cooing over their tea, 'Don't you think the English is a much maligned climate?'"<br /><br />"I suppose the amount of it is that I am home-sick, and so not disposed to like anything foreign," he concluded. "Twenty-five years in New England have made very much of a damned Yankee of me."<br /><br />Frost, who won four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry, died in 1963.<br /><br />____<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://library.plymouth.edu/archives/collections/frost-and-silver-the-lettersMadong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-38784985282039145492011-04-06T01:11:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:12:32.576-07:00Angelina Jolie visits Libya-Tunisia border<div align="center"><img alt="Angelina Jolie " src="http://www.antara-sumbar.com/id/foto/berita/151010075111_angelina-jolie.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Angelina Jolie </div><a name='more'></a>TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Refugees who fled violence in Libya have welcomed an unusual visitor to their border camp in Tunisia — Angelina Jolie.<br /><br />The American actress visited on Tuesday in her role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.<br /><br />The UNHCR said in a statement that Jolie urged more international aid for the refugees, and the Jolie-Pitt Foundation had also made an "important donation" for the refugee operation.<br /><br />Jolie also praised the government of Tunisia for its generosity toward the refugees. Tunisia saw an uprising in January that overthrew a dictator and sparked revolts around the Arab world.<br /><br />UNHCR says more than 400,000 people have fled from Libya over the last month amid fighting between longtime rebels and leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-31079319870961351892011-04-06T01:08:00.000-07:002011-04-06T01:11:39.655-07:00Lady Gaga leads MTV's O Music Award nominations<div align="center"><img alt="Lady Gaga" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fy--lRX_TDo/TVfVP7HpC-I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/Pzr4e0pkicc/s1600/lady-gaga.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lady Gaga</div>NEW YORK (AP) — Lady Gaga and Tyler the Creator lead MTV's newly inaugurated O Music Awards with three nominations each.<br /><br />MTV announced Tuesday the categories and nominees for its new Web-based awards show, a celebration of digital music. Categories include best fan cover, most viral dance and best music hashtag meme.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Lady Gaga and rapper Tyler the Creator are among the nominees for most innovative artist and must-follow artist on Twitter. Lady Gaga is also nominated for favorite animated GIF, a kind of avatar. Tyler the Creator, of the much buzzed-about hip-hop group Odd Future, is also nominated for his remix of Lykke Li's "Follow Rivers."<br /><br />Winners will be decided by fan voting in social media, with the results shown in real-time. The awards will be presented in a live hour-long webcast April 28 on MTV websites and mobile apps.<br /><br />MTV, which is part of the Viacom-owned MTV Networks, hopes the show will do for digital music what its Video Music Awards, launched in 1984, did for the music video. As a reference to the rapidly shifting online world, even the "O'' in the OMAs is being left undefined and open to interpretation by viewers.<br /><br />"Some elements of this will be experimental," said Dermot McCormack, head of digital media at MTV Music Group. "If there is such a thing as a beta award show, this is it."<br /><br />Several of the awards will go to fans or even pets. Best animal performance is a category, with nominees like a parrot dancing to Willow Smith's song "Whip My Hair."<br /><br />Other categories fete the new epicenters of online music, such as best independent music blog, best music discovery service and best performance series. The latter features a group of nominees that pits acclaimed online series like NPR's "Tiny Desk Concerts" and La Blogotheque's "Take Away Shows" against MTV's own "Unplugged."<br /><br />"We're really launching a new franchise here, something that we're investing in," says Shannon Connolly, vice president of digital music strategy for MTV Music Group.<br /><br />Other nominated artists include Kanye West, the Flaming Lips, Nicki Minaj, Arcade Fire and Justin Bieber. Among the non-artist nominees are the comedy site Funny or Die, the music discovery service Pandora and Andy Samberg's comedy troupe, the Lonely Island.<br /><br />The network says success for the O Music Awards won't be assessed by ratings or view counts, but by its cultural influence.<br /><br />"We won't be judging by how many streams we do on several websites," says McCormack. "We will be judging it by how much we can affect the conversation around digital music in the lead-up and beyond."<br /><br />___<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://www.omusicawards.comMadong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-69271286565437060802011-03-31T07:49:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:51:49.188-07:00'Idol' finalists ignite Elton John classics<div align="center"><img alt="'Idol' finalists ignite Elton John classics " src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6n0KtG4Tm9E/TV8W21PFR3I/AAAAAAAADMg/5WQ0GcGNc6w/s400/elton-john.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Elton John</div><a name='more'></a><br />LOS ANGELES (AP) -- James Durbin literally lit up the "American Idol" stage.<br /><br />The flashy 22-year-old rocker from Santa Cruz, Calif., was accompanied by a flaming piano for "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" during an evening of Elton John classics on the Fox talent competition Wednesday. Jennifer Lopez told Durbin that she forgot it was a contest while he was wailing atop the red piano before it was set ablaze.<br /><br />"The one thing I was worried about was having a Pepsi moment," a hairsprayed Durbin revealed afterward, referencing Michael Jackson's noggin infamously catching on fire during the filming of a 1984 Pepsi commercial.<br /><br />Casey Abrams, the 20-year-old film camp counselor from Idyllwild, Calif., who was saved from elimination by the panel last week, impressed the judges with a tender rendition of "Your Song." Lopez told Abrams that she didn't lose any sleep over voting to use the one-time-only power to overturn viewers' votes, forcing two singers to be dismissed this week.<br /><br />"You sing different every time, and I love that about you because that shows you're a true artist," Steven Tyler said.<br /><br />A pair of singers gratified with their signature growls. Randy Jackson declared Scotty McCreery, the 17-year-old high school student from Garner, N.C., was "in the zone" following "Country Comfort," and proclaimed Haley Reinhart, the 20-year-old college student from Wheeling, Ill., had the night's best performance after closing with "Bennie and the Jets."<br /><br />"You sing sexy," Tyler told Reinhart.<br /><br />Jacob Lusk, the 23-year-old spa concierge from Compton, Calif., and Pia Toscano, the 22-year-old make-up artist from Howard Beach, N.Y., both received positive feedback from the judges despite respectively turning in yet another slow-tempo routine. Lusk gleamed with "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," and Toscano shined on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."<br /><br />"The notes take us to an otherworldly place," Lopez told Toscano.<br /><br />Naima Adedapo, the funky 26-year-old dance instructor from Milwaukee, didn't have Lopez or Jackson on her side for her reggae rendition of "I'm Still Standing." Lopez said she wasn't sure if that was the right song for Adeapo, while Jackson was more blunt in his assessment: He called it "kinda corny." Adedapo didn't seem fazed by their criticism.<br /><br />"What's for you is for you, and what's for me is for me," Adedapo responded.<br /><br />Jackson also wasn't raving about 16-year-old high school student Thia Megia of Mountain House, Calif., or 26-year-old singer-songwriter Paul McDonald of Nashville, Tenn. He proclaimed Megia's take on "Daniel" was "once again very safe," and cautioned McDonald to "allow yourself to go all the way" after the smiley singer performed a mellow "Rocket Man."<br /><br />Stefano Langone, the 21-year-old crooner from Kent, Wash., earned praise from the panel for connecting with the crowd on "Tiny Dancer," though Tyler noted that Langone often comes off as "Broadway." The Aerosmith frontman was kinder to Lauren Alaina, the 16-year-old high school student from Rossville, Ga., who was on fire with "Candle in the Wind."<br /><br />"You keep singing like that, and you'll be able to afford the rest of that dress," Tyler teased Alaina, who was sporting a glamorous cut-off gown.<br /><br />Two of the 11 finalists are scheduled to be eliminated Thursday.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Fox is a unit of News Corp.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://www.americanidol.comMadong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-26434619298276962472011-03-31T07:47:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:49:08.706-07:00Taylor Swift celebrates 20 million sales in London<div align="center"><img alt="Taylor Swift celebrates 20 million sales in London " src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kgRr7U_dtSE/S_P-uc5pfcI/AAAAAAAAACI/M1Wd0Vp3zIA/s1600/taylor_swift.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Taylor Swift</div><br />LONDON (AP) -- Taylor Swift ended her European tour on a celebratory note: Not only did she perform in front of thousands of fans, she got an honor for reaching the 20 million mark in worldwide album sales.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />A giddy Swift was given a plaque commemorating the milestone before her sold-out concert Wednesday night at the O2 Arena.<br /><br />"It's just sort of beyond my comprehension to get a plaque like that, and the fact the fans have done that much for me in such a short period of time is unreal, and I'm so excited and so thankful," she told The Associated Press after the presentation.<br /><br />The 21-year-old Grammy-winner released her latest multiplatinum effort, "Speak Now," last fall. It's just the third album of her young career.<br /><br />She launched an international tour this year that took her to Asia and Europe. It wrapped up with her London concert. She called the trek a "life-changing experience."<br /><br />"I couldn't think of a more perfect way to end this European run. I've gotten to experience just parts of the world I never thought I'd get to see, nonetheless play shows in and have the crowds singing the words back to me," she said.<br /><br />She spent much of her downtime sight-seeing - and shopping.<br /><br />"I got so much stuff; I don't know how I'm going to get it home with me," she said of one of her London antique shopping sprees.<br /><br />Swift is due to start her North American tour in Omaha, Neb., on May 27. She'll be in Las Vegas on Sunday for the Academy of Country Music awards, where she's set to perform. She's also up for four awards, including entertainer of the year.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://www.taylorswift.comMadong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-72261760780710897772011-03-31T07:43:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:46:42.368-07:00NBA probing Jay-Z's visit to Kentucky locker room<div align="center"><img alt="Jay-Z" src="http://portal.cbn.net.id/UserFiles/Image/cybertech/Tech%20Info/Mei10/jay-z.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jay-Z</div><br />NEW YORK (AP) -- An NBA spokesman confirms that the league is investigating Jay-Z's presence in Kentucky's locker room after the Wildcats clinched a Final Four berth.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The rapper visited the players after their victory over North Carolina on Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J, home of the Nets. Jay-Z is a part-owner of the team and attended the Nets' 120-116 loss at New York on Wednesday.<br /><br />NBA rules prohibit team personnel from having contact with players who are not yet draft eligible, and spokesman Tim Frank told the Associated Press the league is looking into it.<br /><br />The investigation was first reported by CBSSports.com.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-72363204345561530852011-03-31T07:41:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:43:27.266-07:00Judge Judy hospitalized for undisclosed ailment<div align="center"><img alt="Judge Judy" src="http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/judge-judy-400ds0620.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Judge Judy</div><br />LOS ANGELES (AP) -- TV's "Judge Judy" is hospitalized in Los Angeles for an undisclosed condition. A spokesman for 68-year-old Judy Sheindlin says the judge is "feeling much better" after being taken from her show taping by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Wednesday.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Publicist Gary Rosen says Sheindlin will be released from the hospital on Thursday.<br /><br />Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott confirmed that a female patient was taken from Sunset Bronson Studios to a local hospital after dispatchers received a 911 call about a medical emergency. She was admitted in serious condition.<br /><br />Sheindlin presides over small-claims cases on her syndicated show, "Judge Judy."<br /><br />Rosen says she will return to taping her show as scheduled on April 12.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-18572191426811597502011-03-31T07:37:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:40:40.418-07:00'Star Wars' creator Lucas says 3-D will rule films<div align="center"><img alt="Star Wars" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kuy-TILm2nU/TN3RRn9g9JI/AAAAAAAAAEk/-pYlkNWxqgg/s1600/StarWarsWallpaper1024.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Star Wars</div><br />LAS VEGAS (AP) -- "Star Wars" creator George Lucas predicts 3-D filmmaking eventually will take over at the movies the way color replaced black and white.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />But Lucas and fellow technology pioneers James Cameron, the maker of "Avatar," and DreamWorks Animation boss Jeffrey Katzenberg said Wednesday that digital filmmaking is only in its infancy and will bring vast improvements to how movies are made and seen.<br /><br />Digital technology in general is revolutionizing filmmaking the way sound did in the 1920s, Lucas said. The new digital 3-D craze has had hits and misses but should one day become the big-screen standard over 2-D presentation, he said.<br /><br />"So now when you're watching a movie and it's not in 3-D, it's like watching in black and white," Lucas told a crowd of theater owners at their CinemaCon convention. "It's a better way of looking at a film. ... I totally believe now that 3-D will completely take over just like color did."<br /><br />Lucas spoke at a digital-film panel alongside Cameron and Katzenberg. The hour-long discussion touched on new filmmaking tools, enhancements to theater sound, and how badly presented 3-D movies can sour audiences on digital 3-D films in general.<br /><br />Such bad 3-D experiences generally have resulted when studios took movies shot in only two dimensions and did hasty conversions to give them the illusion of depth so they could charge the extra few dollars that 3-D tickets cost.<br /><br />"You disappoint our audiences once, OK, great we fooled them. Do it twice, shame on us," said Katzenberg, who decided years ago that all DreamWorks Animation movies, such as last year's "How to Train Your Dragon" and this summer's "Kung Fu Panda 2," would be in 3-D.<br /><br />Cameron, who shot "Avatar" in 3-D and plans to do its two sequels that way also, is converting his blockbuster "Titanic" to 3-D for release next year. Lucas is doing the same with all six of his "Star Wars" films.<br /><br />Done properly, 2-D movies converted to 3-D can look fantastic, Cameron and Lucas said.<br /><br />Lucas drew hearty applause several times from theater owners when he told them that home systems or portable video devices will never replace the moviehouse as the best place to see films.<br /><br />"We have our third generation now of kids who are under 12 years old who have never seen 'Star Wars' on the big screen," Lucas said. "And I am betting a lot of people will go see a movie that they have seen on television a million times and they have the video at home, and they will go and see it because they want to see it in the theater in a social experience."<br /><br />Cameron waited for years to make "Avatar" until digital technology had caught up to the ideas in his head for the sci-fi epic about a struggle between greedy humans and noble aliens on a distant world.<br /><br />Now that the tools are there, filmmakers are confined only by their imaginations, Cameron said.<br /><br />"We're really at a point where if we can imagine it, we can create it," Cameron said. "There are no limitations now."Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-1317017886101416712011-03-31T07:30:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:35:33.762-07:00Belmondo to be honored at Cannes<div align="center"><img alt="Belmondo to be honored at Cannes " src="http://imstars.aufeminin.com/stars/fan/jean-paul-belmondo/jean-paul-belmondo-20050620-48446.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jean-Paul Belmondo </div><a name='more'></a><br />PARIS (AP) -- The Cannes Film Festival says it will hold a special tribute this year for Jean-Paul Belmondo, the one-time bad-boy of French New Wave cinema.<br /><br />Festival organizers said Wednesday the 77-year-old actor will attend the May 17 premiere of a documentary by Vincent Perrot and Jeff Domenech - "Belmondo, The Career" - followed by a dinner and party.<br /><br />Belmondo's breakthrough role came in Jean-Luc Godard's 1959 film "Breathless," in which he played a debonaire young crook fleeing the police. He went on to become one of France's most popular leading actors, starring in dozens of films and plays.<br /><br />The festival runs May 11-22 on the French Riviera.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-91207764824332332352011-03-31T07:27:00.001-07:002011-03-31T07:30:21.402-07:00Britney Spears sued for $10M over fragrance deal<div align="center"><img alt="Britney Spears" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UNZz5vcZ06E/TOK1winbzcI/AAAAAAAAAac/DqIWV-WHoYU/s1600/Biografi+Britney+Spears.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Britney Spears</div><a name='more'></a><br />LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A brand marketing company that brokered a deal for Britney Spears' fragrance line sued the singer and her father Wednesday, claiming the pair secured a new deal that stinks to the tune of more than $10 million.<br /><br />Brand Sense Partners LLC's lawsuit claims the pair renegotiated a royalties deal with cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden last year that cut them out of their 35 percent commission on the fragrance line.<br /><br />According to the lawsuit, the company first began working with the singer in 2003 and brokered the perfume deal in 2004.<br /><br />The lawsuit claims Spears and her father, Jamie, negotiated a new deal last year for the singer's newest perfume scent called Radiance. The lawsuit states the agreement directly between the singer and cosmetics company directly violates the original deal with Brand Sense.<br /><br />The marketing company is seeking more than $10 million and punitive damages and is asking a judge to rule that it is entitled to a 35 percent commission on all lines of Spears' perfumes created by Elizabeth Arden.<br /><br />Spears' publicist, Jeff Raymond, did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.<br /><br />The lawsuit was first reported Wednesday by celebrity website RadarOnline.com.<br /><br />Jamie Spears controls his daughter's financial affairs along with an attorney as part of a court-ordered conservatorship established in 2008 after a series of high-profile incidents of erratic behavior and hospitalizations.<br /><br />The conservatorship has generally granted Spears a form of legal immunity. Although she's been sued by former bodyguards and an ex-manager, a judge has so-far ruled that she cannot be deposed or ordered to testify.<br /><br />It has been a rocky week for Spears, who debuted her seventh studio album, "Femme Fatale," on Tuesday. She also announced a tour with Latin singer Enrique Iglesias, who said later on that he would be performing with the "Hold It Against Me" singer.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-62131315252846353552011-03-31T07:27:00.000-07:002011-03-31T07:30:14.681-07:00Britney Spears sued for $10M over fragrance deal<div align="center"><img alt="Britney Spears" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UNZz5vcZ06E/TOK1winbzcI/AAAAAAAAAac/DqIWV-WHoYU/s1600/Biografi+Britney+Spears.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Britney Spears</div><a name='more'></a><br />LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A brand marketing company that brokered a deal for Britney Spears' fragrance line sued the singer and her father Wednesday, claiming the pair secured a new deal that stinks to the tune of more than $10 million.<br /><br />Brand Sense Partners LLC's lawsuit claims the pair renegotiated a royalties deal with cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden last year that cut them out of their 35 percent commission on the fragrance line.<br /><br />According to the lawsuit, the company first began working with the singer in 2003 and brokered the perfume deal in 2004.<br /><br />The lawsuit claims Spears and her father, Jamie, negotiated a new deal last year for the singer's newest perfume scent called Radiance. The lawsuit states the agreement directly between the singer and cosmetics company directly violates the original deal with Brand Sense.<br /><br />The marketing company is seeking more than $10 million and punitive damages and is asking a judge to rule that it is entitled to a 35 percent commission on all lines of Spears' perfumes created by Elizabeth Arden.<br /><br />Spears' publicist, Jeff Raymond, did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.<br /><br />The lawsuit was first reported Wednesday by celebrity website RadarOnline.com.<br /><br />Jamie Spears controls his daughter's financial affairs along with an attorney as part of a court-ordered conservatorship established in 2008 after a series of high-profile incidents of erratic behavior and hospitalizations.<br /><br />The conservatorship has generally granted Spears a form of legal immunity. Although she's been sued by former bodyguards and an ex-manager, a judge has so-far ruled that she cannot be deposed or ordered to testify.<br /><br />It has been a rocky week for Spears, who debuted her seventh studio album, "Femme Fatale," on Tuesday. She also announced a tour with Latin singer Enrique Iglesias, who said later on that he would be performing with the "Hold It Against Me" singer.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-34215992252330292202011-03-30T07:36:00.000-07:002011-03-30T07:44:57.752-07:00Enrique Iglesias won't join Britney Spears on tour<div align="center"><img alt="Enrique Iglesias" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3ihO2w0DEs4/TN-riJY1U3I/AAAAAAAAACA/R0z6ZY0bnRI/s1600/Enrique_Iglesias_943416.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Enrique Iglesias</div><br />NEW YORK (AP) -- Enrique Iglesias won't be joining Britney Spears on an upcoming tour despite her announcement that he would.<br /><br />Spears said Tuesday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America" that the pair would be hitting the road together.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />Iglesias representative Gary Mantoosh said later in a statement to The Associated Press his client and Spears won't tour "despite initial reports based on formal discussions of the possible run."<br /><br />The statement says Iglesias "is very sorry for the confusion this might have caused to anyone." It says the Latin singer respects Spears and is a fan of her work.<br /><div align="center"><img alt=" Britney Spears " src="http://matanews.com/wp-content/uploads/britney_spears.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Britney Spears </div><br />Igelesias is on tour in Europe.<br /><br />Spears on Tuesday released her seventh album, "Femme Fatale." Her U.S. tour kicks off June 17 in Sacramento, Calif.<br /><br />A representative for the pop singer hasn't returned an email seeking comment.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://www.enriqueiglesias.com<br /><br />http://www.britneyspears.com/Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-26692176787172156812011-03-30T07:30:00.000-07:002011-03-30T07:34:55.380-07:00First celebrity bounced from ABC's 'Dancing'<div align="center"><img alt="First celebrity bounced from ABC's 'Dancing'" src="http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110325/capt.ad371c5f06ad40ec824545682f9994fe-4e376862d99949e6b0fd1329087caf85-0.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Radio host Mike Catherwood is the first celebrity voted off the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."<br /><br />Catherwood drew the lowest score when the audience vote was combined with the judges' tally on the hit ABC series, which launched its 12th season last week.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />His exit Tuesday leaves 10 contestants, including a high-scoring Ralph Macchio of "Karate Kid" fame. Others in the field are Kirstie Alley, talk-show host Wendy Williams, actress Chelsea Kane, singer Romeo, reality star Kendra Wilkinson, model Petra Nemcova and athletes Sugar Ray Leonard, Hines Ward and Chris Jericho.<br /><br />"Loveline" radio show co-host Catherwood was teased by "Dancing" host Tom Bergeron for joining the ranks of other past competitors, including David Hasselhoff, who were first out the door.<br /><br />"It puts me on the Mount Rushmore of terrible dancers," responded a good-natured Catherwood, who was paired with dancer Lacey Schwimmer. He said being on the show was "nothing but a pleasurable experience."<br /><br />Guest star Chris Brown sang during the results show, which followed an hourlong recap of the contestants' dances. Brown's performance of "Yeah 3X" from his new album "F.A.M.E." and the song "Forever" were drama-free, despite comments about him from Bergeron and dancer Cheryl Burke.<br /><br />In an interview Monday on Ryan Seacrest's radio show, Bergeron said that if he were asked by producers of "Dancing" to interview Brown he wouldn't agree to avoid any issues - an apparent reference to Brown's visit last week to ABC's "Good Morning America."<br /><br />The singer threw a destructive tantrum in his dressing room after he was asked on-air by the morning show's Robin Roberts about his beating of then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. He later apologized, saying he got upset and needed to "let out steam."<br /><br />Burke, who's paired this season with Jericho, told "Extra" she disagreed with the decision to invite Brown but the matter was out of her hands.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Online:<br /><br />http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-starsMadong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-4920389105102268902010-12-02T19:37:00.000-08:002010-12-02T19:40:10.256-08:00Bing Crosby's widow recovering after traffic crash<div align="center"><img alt="Kathryn Crosby" src="http://im.in.com/connect/images/profile/dec2009/Kathryn_Crosby_300.jpg" width="350" />Kathryn Crosby</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />RENO, Nev. - Bing Crosby's widow, Kathryn Crosby, is recovering after being flown to a hospital with major injuries following a deadly traffic crash last month in the Sierra Nevada.<br /><br />Kathryn Crosby, 77, was hurt and her husband, Maurice William Sullivan, 85, was killed in the Nov. 4 single-vehicle wreck on U.S. 50 east of Placerville, Calif., California Highway Patrol spokesman Dan Stark said Thursday.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Kathryn Crosby, who has homes in Genoa and Hillsborough, Calif., was flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.<br /><br />Hospital spokesman Dan Davis said Thursday the former actress is not currently listed as a patient.<br /><br />"This can mean either this patient is no longer here or they have chosen to keep their protected health information private and do not want it released," he said.<br /><br />Sullivan was westbound when his vehicle left the roadway, struck a large boulder and rolled many times, ejecting him, Start said. The cause of the crash has not been determined, and an investigation continues.<br /><br />"We may do some follow-up with her (Kathryn Crosby) to determine the events that led up to the accident," Stark said, adding he had no details on her injuries or update on her condition.<br /><br />Robert Bader, vice president of marketing and production for Bing Crosby Enterprises, said Thursday that Kathryn Crosby was "doing well" at a hospital, but he did not elaborate.<br /><br />Kathryn Crosby's family did not return phone calls seeking comment.<br /><br />She and the crooner, best known for "White Christmas" and the "road" movies he made with Bob Hope, were married for nearly 20 years before his 1977 death at age 74. She was his second wife.<br /><br />In recent years Kathryn Crosby has staged a cabaret act in which she sang Bing Crosby hits, and has appeared in a "Legendary Bing Crosby" documentary shown on PBS stations across the country.<br /><br />Bing Crosby was one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century, a huge star on stage, radio, movies and television. His recording of "White Christmas" was for decades the biggest-selling single of all time.<br /><br />Kathryn Crosby and Sullivan married in 2000.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-89460828228784153882010-12-02T19:30:00.000-08:002010-12-02T19:34:57.773-08:00Aretha Franklin: 'The Surgery Was Highly Successful'<div align="center"><img alt="Aretha Franklin" src="http://www.topnews.in/files/Aretha-Franklin.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Aretha Franklin</div>LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, had a successful surgery on Thursday and now has thanked her fans for their support and prayers as she underwent the procedure (for an undisclosed reason).<br /><a name='more'></a><br />"The surgery was highly successful," Aretha said in a statement to Access Hollywood following the procedure. "God is still in control. I had superb doctors and nurses whom were blessed by all the prayers of the city and the country. God bless you all for your prayers!"<br /><br />As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, on Wednesday night Aretha expressed her gratitude to fans and public officials not long after they held a prayer vigil for the singer in her hometown of Detroit.<br /><br />"Thanks to the City Council for their prayer vigil. And, many thanks to the City for their support. All prayers are good!" Aretha previously said in a statement to Access Hollywood.<br /><br />Last month Franklin announced that she was canceling all concert dates and personal appearances through May.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-76702724923543184142010-12-02T19:25:00.001-08:002010-12-02T19:30:29.267-08:00What Britney Spears Did Day of Abuse Scandal<div align="center"><img alt="Britney Spears" src="http://www.startrip.tv/britney-spears.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Britney Spears</div>Britney Spears put abuse rumors to rest when she visited beau Jason Trawick at work in L.A. Wednesday.<br /><br />Earlier that afternoon, the Spears' reps denied that Trawick, 38, beat the singer, calling reports by tabloid Star and RadarOnline "laughable" and "utterly false."<a name='more'></a><br />With her hair tucked under a fedora, Spears, 29, joined Trawick at the William Morris Endeavor Entertainment offices for a special screening of The Secretariat on behalf of Hathaway Sycamores, the largest provider for children's mental health services in L.A. County.<br /><br />"They were both very upbeat. They were smiling and seemed very happy to be there," Rob Myers, executive vice president of development at Hathaway-Sycamores, tells UsMagazine.com.<br /><br />After the couple greeted the families and introduced the film, "the buzz in the room was fantastic," Myers says. "The look on the children's faces was just priceless."<br /><br />And despite the allegations against him, Trawick showed little signs of worry during Spears' surprise appearance.<br /><br />"Jason was obviously having a tough day, but he kept his commitment to bring Britney in to the screening," a source tells Us. "He acted professional at all times despite the false story."<br /><br />"It's amazing that Star continues to try to defend their story by putting out more and more pieces of a fraudulent recording. Everyone knows it is not her," Spears' manager Larry Rudolph tells Us. "The more they put out, the more ridiculous they look. The lawyers are drawing up the legal papers right now; there will 100 percent be a lawsuit. We are suing."<br /><br />Added Spears: "Star Magazine, RadarOnline, Jason Alexander and the rest of you liars: Ya'll can kiss my lily white southern Louisiana ass!"Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-42949109573538466872010-12-02T19:19:00.001-08:002010-12-02T19:24:33.551-08:00Drummer says Jim Morrison never exposed himself<div align="center"><img alt="Jim Morrison" src="http://www.simplyartonline.net/jim_morrison.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jim Morrison</div>LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - On December 9, the Florida Clemency Board, on the urging of outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist and in its last meeting of the year, will consider pardoning Doors frontman Jim Morrison.<br /><br />Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure after a 1969 concert at Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami. The singer died two years later; he would have turned 67 on Wednesday, December 8.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />Fans of the band have long campaigned for a reversal or full-out dismissal of the charge, claiming Morrison never revealed any actual body parts.<br /><br />To get to the bottom of the matter, The Hollywood Reporter turned to Doors drummer John Densmore for his take on the night in question, and also discussed "When You're Strange," the Doors documentary narrated by Johnny Depp, which scored a Best Long Form Video Grammy nomination on Wednesday night.<br /><br />THR: Let's start with the night of March 1, 1969.<br /><br />John Densmore: Can I just make a statement? He didn't do it! I was there; if Jim had revealed the golden shaft, I would have known. There were hundreds of photographs taken and tons of cops and no evidence. Yeah, Jim was a drunk and a sensational, crazy guy, but he also was a great artist and I want him to be remembered for the art as well as the craziness. At the time, things were pretty political with the Vietnam War -- the whole country was polarized, not unlike today -- and he went to see Julian Beck and Judith Molina of The Living Theater and was inspired because they wore minimal clothes and were going up the aisles saying, "No passports, no pieces." It was pretty wild stuff. Jim tried to inject it in to the Miami concert, and he was inebriated, so it wasn't so successful. Musically, it was terrible, but politically, it was intriguing. So that was his motive and then it became this sensational, "get the hippie band that represents the counter culture!"<br /><br />THR: The request for clemency got a lot of media attention last month, why do you think there's so much passion for this issue?<br /><br />Densmore: Why is there such passion for any sort of gossipy, provocative sensual stuff? It sells! I'm not in Florida, so I don't know policies. I'm sure he's pleased at the ground swell -- everybody knows his name now. But in reading his statements, I get a genuine feeling that after seeing all the documentaries and reading everything about this, he, like me, thinks Jim didn't do it! It would be nice to straighten that out. Jim was charged with the wrong thing -- he was drunk and disorderly but he didn't whip it out.<br /><br />THR: How drunk what he?<br /><br />Densmore: Well, he wasn't fall down drunk. He was a guy that had a buzz and I know he was excited about what he thought he might inject. Of course, as per usual, we didn't know anything about it. During several songs, like "The End" and "When the Music's Over," there were long sections in which he'd do poetry or whatever he felt like doing. We knew that these areas were about improvisation and exploration. He started ranting about, "You're letting them push you around, what are you doing out there?" and you're, like, "Okay, here we go!"<br /><br />THR: So that was par for the course? Nothing particularly unusual about that night?<br /><br />Densmore: It was a little more than usual, certainly, it was rather confrontational. I was thinking about our name, which is based on a quote from William Blake, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." Well he's doing some serious cleansing, right?<br /><br />THR: What was the show like musically?<br /><br />Densmore: Disappointing, because Jim was ranting. I think we started the song "Touch Me" several times. We attempted and were like, "Okay, he's not following the lyrics. Let's try again." That was pretty frustrating. Also the promoter had to make some extra dough and had taken the chairs out and sold another couple thousand tickets. It was hot, stuffed, seething, you could feel the chaos. In retrospect, I could easily say we walked in with a feeling of, "Something's gonna happen here."<br /><br />THR: In a way that puts some culpability on the venue, not just the police?<br /><br />Densmore: It does. That night, the cops weren't against us at all, the country was. Every night, there was carnage from Vietnam and then there was the other side who was like, "America, love it or leave it. You're with us or against us."<br /><br />THR: What happened the next day? Did you guys discuss the events of the precious night?<br /><br />Densmore: No. Robbie and I had planned to go to Jamaica and then we were supposed to do a big tour, which was canceled entirely. We were down there and got word by phone that, "Crazy things were happening in the upper 48, come on home." And then of course we had to go through the trial.<br /><br />THR: What was that like?<br /><br />Densmore: Surreal. Ridiculous. Which is why is doing something that, in my opinion, is honorable. I suppose his naysayers will say he had a nice publicity take on the way out. Who cares? I like him cleaning the slate, cleansing the doors of perception.<br /><br />THR: Over the years, there's been some criticism of how the Doors have been portrayed on film, particularly the 1991 Oliver Stone movie, "The Doors." Do you agree with your bandmate Ray Manzarek that it's mostly a work of fiction? And are you happy that "When You're Strange," the doc narrated by Johnny Depp, got so much critical acclaim this past year?<br /><br />Densmore: I differ with Ray. The Oliver Stone movie was Oliver's take on the self-destructive parts, that tightrope walk. I wish it could have been more about the sixties. I'm pleased that "When You're Strange" has more of the times, Vietnam and all those struggles. But Val Kilmer was astounding. I appreciated that. I loved Oliver for giving it a go because he was in a bunker in Vietnam when it happened and he tried to figure it out later, and that's fabulous. But I'm happy that "When You're Strange" is an organic documentary. That's the real deal.Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4343092056527523146.post-92032903456361190502010-12-02T19:16:00.000-08:002010-12-02T19:19:43.322-08:00Glee's Lea Michele: "Fans Are Pissed" Over Finn and Rachel Split<div align="center"><img alt="Lea Michele" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/08/30/alg_lea_michele2.jpg" width="350" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lea Michele</div><a name='more'></a><br /><br />Lea Michele's keeping an eye out for grumpy Gleeks.<br /><br />After Tuesday night's episode of the quirky FOX comedy brought an end to fan-favorite couple Rachel and Finn (portrayed by Michele and Cory Monteith) the star, 24, has had some explaining to do.<br /><br />PHOTOS: Check out Glee's real-life couples<br /><br />"Fans are pissed!" she told UsMagazine.com Thursday as she was honored at Billboard's Fifth Annual Women in Music event. "I went up to [creator] Ryan [Murphy] and said, 'How could you do this?!' But I think if they're meant to be together, they will."<br /><br />As for her character's dalliance with bad boy Puck (Mark Salling) which ultimately led to the breakup, Michele hints the pair could lock lips again: "We'll have to find out!"<br /><br />The other hot topic at the forefront of the Broadway star's mind? The show's two Grammy nominations, including one for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for their cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'."<br /><br /><br />"Gosh, it's so awesome -- I can't wait," she told Us, adding that "it doesn't feel real yet."<br /><br />And though she just heard of the nods Thursday morning, prep work is underway. Said Michele, "I've already started thinking about what I'm going to wear!"Madong Arizonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04142372598647643689noreply@blogger.com0