Celeb Gossip

Spears turns herself in to L.A. police

2007-10-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears is no stranger to being photographed, but it's not often she has her fingerprints taken at the same time.

On Monday night, Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said.

Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said.

"She was fine, cooperative," Lopez said. "She did her business and came out."

Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she left the station, she told KCAL-TV that all went smoothly.

"They were nice," she said of police. She told the station she was wearing the sunglasses because she had pinkeye.

The charges stem from an Aug. 6 wreck during which paparazzi filmed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City parking lot. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.

The owner of the other car, Kim Robard-Rifkin, filed a police report three days later.

Spears had been ordered to report for booking ahead of an Oct. 25 court appearance.

She has been spending considerable time dealing with legal issues lately. On Oct. 1, a court commissioner ordered her to temporarily relinquish custody of her two young sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline, citing concerns over Spears' drug and alcohol use.

She was in court last week to appeal the order and was granted one overnight stay a week with her boys, but the visits must be monitored.

Lindsay Lohan files counter suit in 2005 car crash case

2007-10-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Washington, Oct 16 : Rehabbed actress Lindsay Lohan has filed a counter suit against the man who charged her with negligence in the 2005 car crash case, blaming him for the mishap.

The complainant Raymundo Ortega, who was involved in the crash, had accused Lohan of being drunk when she rammed her Mercedes into his van on October 5th that year.

Ortega has also sued Lohan for 200,000 dollars in damages.

Exactly a month ago, a judge rejected Lohan’s plea to dismiss Raymond Ortega’s suit completely, reports E! Online.

Lohan has filed her own suit against Ortega in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging Ortega and his unidentified team of defendants for causing the accident.

The 21-year-old is seeking 75,000 dollars for the cost of the repairs to her black Mercedes-Benz and cash renting other vehicles and to cover her hospital expenses

The starlet’s court papers say that Ortega is using the drunken-driving accusation ‘to force a settlement’.

A report filed by the California Highway Patrol on the day of the accident backs Lohan's claims and said that along with alcohol, Ortega was also to blame for the incident.

In her new court papers, Lohan said that when she was heading north at the permitted speed limit of 30 mph, Ortega made an illegal U-turn in front of her.

A trial for both lawsuits has been set for Apr. 7, 2008. (ANI)

Ryan Gosling on 'Lars and the Real Girl'

2007-10-15T08:55:00.003-07:00

Memo to Gene Wilder: If you are reading this, contact Ryan Gosling. The 26-year-old Canadian actor nominated this year for his haunting turn as a strung-out schoolteacher in "Half Nelson" really wants to work with you. His dream, he says, is "just to work with (Wilder) in any way."

Wilder's name comes up, along with James Stewart's, at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Gosling is supporting his latest movie, "Lars and the Real Girl," which opens Friday. In it, he plays the title character, a withdrawn and socially awkward young man, fearful of human interaction and yet craving it, who orders an anatomically correct sex doll over the Internet and introduces her to everyone as his new girlfriend, Bianca. That may sound like the premise of a dirty joke, but as the tiny, snowbound town heeds a doctor's advice to humor Lars' delusion and welcomes Bianca into their community, the drama that develops is the farthest thing from that.

"It's like 'The Velveteen Rabbit' or something," Gosling observes. "It kind of reminded me of 'Harvey,' too, which was one of my favorite films as a kid. When I read it, I thought, 'Oh, that's 'Harvey.' "

But while the story brought to mind James Stewart and one of his signature roles, that of Elwood P. Dowd, the small-town drunk who pals around with an 8-foot-tall invisible rabbit, there was only one living person that Gosling thought could do Lars justice - and his name was not Ryan Gosling.

"Gene Wilder is like my Marlon Brando. I just think that he completely redefined acting for me," Gosling says, noting that one of his favorite Wilder movies is Woody Allen's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex," in which Wilder's character, like Lars, finds love with an inappropriate partner.

"When I read (the script), the whole time I was reading it, I thought, 'I wish Gene Wilder could do this.' I just thought that this was something only he could do and obviously he wasn't going to do it, so it was mine, my attempt at something in the vicinity of what he would do. In trying to, I might have failed horribly, but if you're going to idolize somebody, I think he's the guy."

It was not hard for Gosling to burrow inside the character, feeling a kinship with him that leaped off the pages of "Six Feet Under" scribe Nancy Oliver's screenplay. "I identify with Lars more than with any other character I've ever played," he confesses. "I feel that awkward, too. I feel a separation between who I think I am, who I actually am and how I'm perceived to be. It's hard to truly connect with people. He wants to connect, but he doesn't feel that he has the tools to do it. I don't think it's just me. I think there's a little bit of Lars in all of us."

Paul Schneider, who plays Lars' brother Gus, would reduce him to helpless laughter with his improvisations, ruining takes. ("He knows that he could be less funny to help you, but once he's got you, he'll push it," Gosling says. "He'll put you on the ropes.") The actor had no such difficulties with Bianca, whom he found to be a generous collaborator.

"I found it quite relaxing in the end to work on scenes with her, because she has a very calming presence," he says. "We formed a bond, in a weird way, because it was just her and I. When they said, 'Action!' - it was just the two of us. I bonded to her and I would kind of cling to her for moral support in scenes."

Next up for Gosling is the role of the grieving, vengeful father in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-seller "The Lovely Bones." After that, he hopes to direct his first feature, on location in Africa. Moved by a visit to Chad, where he shot documentary footage of Darfur refugee camps, he is developing a drama about child soldiers in northern Uganda, called "The Lord's Resistance."

"Making movies is all I know how to do," he says. "I've been doing this since I was a kid. The only way that I can really collaborate with anybody is with film."

Perhaps surprisingly for someone who has forged such a serious career with an emphasis on high-quality projects, Gosling did not always look at it this way. He began training as a dancer as a child, mainly as a way to get out of school, and caught his first break at 13 in 1993 when, along with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell, he became a Mouseketeer on "The Mickey Mouse Club." He turned to acting when he realized that it offered a more promising career path than dancing, and he took whatever job came his way. He was miserable.

"When I was a kid, nobody in my family did what they loved to do for a living. It didn't even occur to me that you could, so I never thought of it that way," he says.

He credits his mother and writer-director Henry Bean for changing the course of his career. It was his mom who suggested that he quit taking jobs for money, since he was so unhappy, and concentrate on finding something that would give him satisfaction.

He started looking more closely at scripts, and when a friend was auditioning for Bean's "The Believer," a stunning character portrait of a neo-Nazi skinhead who is actually Jewish, he realized that the role was something he could do. He got the part, garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination (he won the award this year for "Half Nelson") and changed the course of his career.

"Acting was a job, and then I did 'The Believer' and it was not a job at that point," he says. "I would have done it for free. I never had that feeling before. (Henry Bean) gift wrapped me a career. I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for that film."

He knows where he is now. He is grateful for the career that he has been able to build and for opportunities like "Lars and the Real Girl," even if he felt a lot of pressure making the movie, much of it self-imposed. "It's the kind of script that you dream about as an actor," he says. "You read so much stuff that's so recycled and you break your neck trying to find something in it. Then there's this; it's marinating in originality. All you can do is try to live up to its expectations."

Eric Clapton Releases His Autobiography

2007-10-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK — Back in the 1960s, when London graffiti proclaimed "Clapton is God," the brilliant British guitarist was descending into a personal hell. Eric Clapton traded a heroin addiction for alcoholism, suffered disastrous love affairs, contemplated suicide while armed with a bottle of vodka, a gram of blow and a shotgun.

The guitar deity has long since surrendered to a higher power; at 62, Clapton has 20 years of sobriety, a happy marriage and three young daughters. It's a good time to consider an extraordinary life, as the rock Hall of Famer does with "Clapton: The Autobiography."

Unlike many rock star efforts, this one includes no Zeppelin-esque tales of debauched groupies or ghostwritten revisions of musical and personal history. Clapton delivers a brutally honest and unsparing look at his life, near-death and recovery, interspersed with tales from an unparalleled music career.

Clapton, sipping a bottle of water in an office at National Public Radio before doing a radio show, said he deliberately shied away from the usual type of celebrity memoir.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin, to do that," Clapton explains. "I don't even know what that means, to be honest with you. Celebrity has lost whatever meaning it did have. I really tried to find out for myself where I'd been."

Initially, Clapton planned to sit down for a series of interviews about his life, leaving a collaborator to handle the tweaking and organization. But a perusal of the first manuscript led the guitarist to get more hands-on.

"I realized this was not what I wanted to do at all," Clapton says. "So I rewrote that, and then I thought, `I'll have to write this myself.'"

Clapton's six-string inspiration, Robert Johnson, sang of a single hellhound on his trail; Clapton had a whole pack nipping at his heels until a second trip through rehab changed his life in 1987. Johnson was dead by age 27, and there was a time when Clapton was convinced his life wouldn't last much beyond that.

"I entertained that notion when I was young and I was trying to identify with those guys," Clapton says of Johnson and other legendary bluesmen. "That is kind of a built-in fantasy that goes along with addiction, a way of justifying my need to get stoned: `Well, that's what my heroes did.'"

Through it all, Clapton created an indelible musical legacy that spanned genres while inspiring generations. The autobiography's chapter titles provide a roadmap through his life's work:

"The Yardbirds."

"Cream."

"Blind Faith."

"Derek and the Dominos."

Clapton, from his early days with the John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, quickly assumed a position in the center of the music universe. He hung out with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, jammed with Muddy Waters and Duane Allman, influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan, Derek Trucks and untold thousands of other guitarists.

He confesses, without embarrassment, that he can't remember all of what happened.

"My memory of the late '60s right through the early '80s is severely hampered," Clapton says. "I wrote from what I could remember, and I needed nudging, too."

Clapton's book is not totally devoid of tabloid-worthy material. He recounts how Mick Jagger once stole his girlfriend — an Italian model — setting off homicidal fantasies in the late 1980s.

"I went on a rampage, mentally," Clapton recalls. "I wanted to kill him. I spent quite a long time plotting ways to undermine or just do away with (him) — the kind of mad fantasies a drunk in recovery can have."

He also delves into his romance with Pattie Boyd, who wound up with Clapton after her split with Beatle George Harrison. Their star-crossed affair made her the muse for some of Clapton's most memorable songs, including "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight," before the romance gave way to recriminations.

Clapton recalled a recent Sunday morning trip to his local grocery store, where Boyd's new memoir, "Wonderful Tonight," was excerpted in the British press. The page one headline jumped out as he grabbed the paper: "ERIC CLAPTON'S DRINKING KILLED MY MARRIAGE."

"The headline editor chose to castigate me quite strongly," Clapton says with more than a touch of British understatement. "I'm in the local shop, and I'm thinking, 'Are the neighbors watching me read?'"

Clapton greets his guest alone, without an entourage or stylists or publicists. He wears glasses, and his hearing is failing. His hair is cut short, with a bristle of beard rising from his face. In a T-shirt and jeans, Clapton is unpretentious and open — reflective in one instant, laughing in the next.

In his writing, he referred to diaries that he'd kept during the '80s. The musings, squirreled away in an attic for years, brought back painful memories. Clapton recalled that most of his writing came with a pen in one hand and a drink in the other.

"I was having delusions of grandeur," he says with a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought I had something worth saying. That's what drink can do — give a deluded view of my self-importance.

"So once I got fueled up on my amount of alcohol for the day, it would have been easy for me to devote of couple of hours writing down mad thoughts. These days, I don't think I would give myself the time."

These days, his time is otherwise occupied. Besides family life, Clapton remains involved with the Crossroads treatment center that he founded nearly a decade ago in Antigua — a huge benefit concert was held this past summer. And while he plans to cut back on live shows, Clapton has no plans for retirement.

"I can't stop touring, and I won't," he says emphatically. "I believe I have a responsibility to play for people."

Over the decades, Clapton has seen an assortment of friends and colleagues die, from Jimi Hendrix to George Harrison, from Duane Allman to Bob Marley, from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Muddy Waters. Asked how he managed to survive, Clapton has a ready answer.

"I've always assumed it was really because I hadn't gotten my act together," he replies, laughing loudly. "Maybe I'd better not get it too good, because then it will be time for me to check out.

"I'm glad it worked out that way. I still don't feel like I've got it right. I'm still working on my sound."

What? Eric Clapton is still working on hitting the right notes?

"Yeah," he replies, his laugh filling the room. "Still trying to get the right amp."

Julia Roberts is content with life

2007-10-14T10:18:00.001-07:00

The Oscar winner said that she is the most ‘proud wife and mother of three amazing kids’, and that she owes it all to her hubby, without whom she will be very lonely.

Actress Julia Roberts has claimed that she has all that she ‘could ever ask for.’

The Oscar winner, who welcomed her third child three months ago, said that she is the most ‘proud wife and mother of three amazing kids’, and that she owes it all to her hubby Danny Moder, without whom she will be very lonely.

“More than anything I am just the most proud wife and mother to three of the most amazing children,. And the widening of my life, and my hips, is really just the true gift of my husband Danny (Moder), who I would be so lonely without,’ People Magazine quoted her, as saying at the American Cinematheque event that honoured the actress.

Presenting her with an award, Denzel Washington showered praise on the actress saying that she does everything ‘extraordinary well’.

“You do an extraordinary job, extraordinarily well. (You) said the line in the Bruce Springsteen song 'Thunder Road' where the Boss says, 'You ain't a beauty, but you're all right.' Well Julia, beauty may fade, may fade, but all right lasts forever,’ he said.

Twice-Oscar winner Tom Hanks also hailed Roberts’ role as a wife and a mother.

"Knowledge that no matter how good of shape you are in, no matter how good of a haircut you are sporting, Julia Roberts is, at the end of the day, going home to a husband way better looking than you will ever be,’ Hanks said.

"Everybody loves Julia, everybody, everybody," he added.

Small victory for Britney in child custody battle

2007-10-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Washington, Oct 12: Britney Spears has notched a small victory in her child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline, by winning the modified visitation rules, that allow her two sons to spend the night with her once a week, as long as they are accompanied by a court-sanctioned monitor.

Spears made her first court appearance on Oct 11, pleading with a Los Angeles judge to be granted more time with her two sons.

Spears` attorney had filed an emergency motion on Oct 10 seeking to expand the singer`s visitation rights. Mark Vincent Kaplan, the lawyer for Kevin Federline, said he "voluntarily agreed" to allow the elongated visit but refused to offer any other specifics.

The ‘Toxic’ singer made an in-person appeal two hours after Los Angeles Court Commissioner Scott Gordon initially refused to change the custody arrangements. Spears spent an hour answering the judge`s questions, following which Gordon apparently had a change of heart, as reported.

Under Gordon`s current order, Spears is required to have a monitor with her at all times when she is in the presence of her sons. If the supervisor determines that any behaviour Spears exhibits endanger her children or be simply inappropriate, her visits may be cut short.

Both Spears and Federline must appear in court together at a further hearing on October 26, Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said. Gordon, who had earlier deemed Spears a "habitual, frequent and continuous user" of alcohol and controlled substances, temporarily stripped her of custody last week after she failed to abide by his terms, including submitting to random drug testing and showing proof of a California driver`s license.

Since then, Spears has passed both drug tests and her driver`s license exam and was counting on that to expand her visitation rights.

Jennifer-lopez:-yes-she's-pregnant

2007-10-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Lopez has kept her glossy pink lips sealed during recent public appearances, dancing around questions from interviewers wanting to know if she's singing for two.

But her bump speaks loud and clear.

After Lopez made an appearance on MTV's "Total Request Live" on October 8 to promote her new CD, "Brave," cohost Damien Fahey told Us that her condition was obvious.

"I've been around a lot of pregnant women. She walked around like a pregnant woman, sat like a pregnant woman, and stood like a pregnant woman," he says. "If I were a betting man, I'd definitely bet she was pregnant."

Indeed, Us has confirmed from multiple sources that Lopez is about four months pregnant with her first child. Or children -- a source tells Us Lopez's mother, Guadalupe, 61, "is proudly telling people she's having twins."

The 38-year-old singer-actress, who has long expressed her desire to have both career and kids, is ecstatic about the news.

"It's a dream come true," a Lopez source tells Us. "She and Marc are over the moon."

Pregnancy news is especially sweet for Lopez, whom insiders believed was unable to carry a child at all. "[Conceiving] was a struggle for her," says a source.

Seconds another, "This pregnancy is a miracle."

Anthony, 39, who has three children from prior relationships, has been equally eager to expand his brood.

When Anthony was recently asked to imagine his response to his wife being pregnant, he said, "It's going to be me in handcuffs, because I will run down the street, screaming like a madman."

For more details on J.Lo's pregnancy, check out the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.

Pam Anderson marries Paris Hilton's ex

2007-10-08T09:33:00.001-07:00

Pamela Anderson has wed Paris Hilton's [Images] sex tape partner Rick Salomon, just days after denying that she was planning to tie the knot again.

Anderson and Salomon, who have been friends for over 15 years, exchanged vows on October 6 at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas [Images] in front of a small gathering that included Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas and magician Hans Klok.

The wedding took place in between two magic shows and the Baywatch beauty immediately got back to work and broke the news on the show.

'Hello, I just got married... I did, I'm distracted. It's a big day. A big day at the office,' People magazine quoted her, as saying.

Last week, reports of the mum of two planning to walk down the aisle for the third time were rife after Salmon and she applied for a marriage license.

A source revealed that that the actress and Salomon are 'head over heels in love'.

'They are head over heels in love. They are really close. They have a relationship already and they have the license,' the source said.

'Rick is always with her. He's backstage when she does her show all the time,' another source added.

Spearheading trouble

2007-10-08T09:28:00.001-07:00

Britney Spears faces bankruptcy, and may even lose the custody of her dogs

Pop diva Britney Spears is in trouble again — this time she’s facing bankruptcy. After spending over one-third of her fortune, the Toxic pop star has very little money left to pay for her own counselling and drug-testing, (ordered by a US court), before she could claim custody of her two children. “People are very worried about Britney because she is running out of money.

Her perfume didn’t do well. She has no cash flow coming in and she’s spending money like water,” one of her friends told the US media.

Moreover, Spears, who lost custody of her sons last week, is also on the verge of losing the custody of her dogs.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has urged her former husband Kevin Federline to take away the animals from her.

For the sake of your children and the animals who are at risk while in Ms Spears’ custody, we hope that you will do the right and best thing for all involved and pursue a custody order for the animals so that your sons can continue to have the company of the animals they’ve grown to adore,” PETA President Ingrid E Newkirk reportedly wrote to Federline.

Lindsay is out after Rehabilitation

2007-10-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

Lindsay Lohan, the ‘Mean Girls’ star who was undergoing exclusive detoxification since August has reportedly checked out of the Cirque Lodge Treatment Centre in Utah on Friday.

Her father, Michael Lohan, was seen carrying her suitcases as she left the clinic. "I will be there in her life as best I can but from here on she's going to have a lot of decisions to make on her own," he said. "Now that she is going out into the world, I can only hope for the best."

A source revealed that she had extended her stay at least once, and may return for outpatient treatment.

Lindsay's mother, Dina said she was proud of her daughter. "She's moving ahead with her life. Things were getting out of control. She took action. She took responsibility. She really needed to heal."

Rehabilitation of the actress also involved a reunion with her estranged father. Lindsay, who had been at odds with her father, was due to spend five days with him at a remote lodge in the Utah Mountains as part of her recovery.

The Dad-daughter had reportedly met twice while LiLo was at the Utah center, during her third stint of rehab this year. In early September, People’s magazine reported that the actress had recently seen her dad for the first time since he was released from prison in March.

Only two weeks after leaving a rehab centre, the 21-year-old actress was arrested on July 24 this year for drunken driving and suspicion of drug possession following a wild car chase through Santa Monica, Calif.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one day in jail; 10 hours of community work and to complete a drug-treatment program. LiLo, on probation for 36 months, is required to complete an 18-month alcohol-education program.

She has also been fined hundreds of dollars in fines and has been ordered to visit a morgue and talk to victims of drunken drivers. She will not have to stand trial.

Resuming work, the actress is to start filming ‘Dare to Love Me’ in Los Angeles on Oct. 15.

"Lindsay will start her life over," said a source. "She's gotten rid of the people around her who were bad influences."

Prince William and Kate dating again

2007-10-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

London: For the first time since their break-up this summer, Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton were caught dating in public as the couple enjoyed an alcohol-fuelled night out at their favourite club, Boujis.

A happy-looking Kate and a rather bleary-looking William walked out of the South Kensington club hand in hand at early morning hours on Friday but bumbed straight into awaiting paparazzi.

Cameras flashed and the duo was snapped together for the first time since their split up in April, though romance rekindled between them just six weeks later.

Until now they have gone to great lengths to avoid being seen in public together. But the couple allowed themselves to be snapped by the paparazzi going home in the same car — a move which is bound to fuel speculation about their future.

William, second in line to the crown, and Miss Middleton arrived separately at the club after Kate had dined with some of her friends at Brinkley's restaurant in Fulham. They had arranged to meet at Boujis at around 11 pm in what appeared to be a very boozy night.

Nothing they do is left to chance — if they are feeling relaxed enough to be seen enjoying a night out together, royal observers feel that they may be being more open about their relationship.

The pair, both 25, were keen to keep the relationship under wraps ever since romance between them resurfaced.

In August 2007, after meeting up at a party in Oxfordshire thrown by mutual friends, Kate and William decided to go on holiday together to the isolated island of Desroches — the moments they described as "the best ever".

The couple enjoyed a week of complete privacy on the island in the Seychelles. They booked out almost the whole Indian Ocean Island resort at a cost of £20,000 so as to keep the outing a secret.

Britney’s Loss, Their Gain

2007-10-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

AFTER years of being fodder for the celebrity press, Britney Spears’s train wreck of a story hit a news high this past Monday when a judge with less tolerance for her antics than the public took away custody, at least temporarily, of her two young sons. The stern ruling lent her saga a dose of poignancy. For all her recent bizarre, unexplainable behavior, Ms. Spears is now a mother in danger of losing permanent custody of her two toddlers, age 2 and 1.

But the latest installment also showed that the attention paid to this long-running public drama has become a force of its own — one that sells magazines and music, increases Web traffic and gives obscure characters their minutes of fame.

Who won and who lost in the latest twists of the Britney story?

A Gusher for the Web

When it comes to traffic, “Britney is Old Faithful,” said Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ.com, one of the top gossip Web sites, adding that both page views and unique visitors spike when an item on her appears, though he declined to give exact figures. Since the custody ruling Monday, which was followed by an order that allows Ms. Spears monitored visits every other day, the site has run numerous updates, some as brief as a video of Ms. Spears making a left turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway.

The site heaps ridicule upon Ms. Spears — mimicking her “y’all” in most items that track her comings and goings, including when she checked into a Beverly Hills hotel the day she turned over her children, smiling and causing a paparazzi commotion.

Mr. Levin said interest in Ms. Spears outweighed that of any other celebrity among TMZ’s users. “There are people who love her and there are people who think she’s a train wreck,” he said, “and everybody wonders how it’s going to end.”

Yesterday’s News

TMZ.com and other paparazzi sites like X17online.com have owned the story; certainly they were able to move faster than celebrity magazines. Neither Us Weekly nor People, which arrive on newsstands Wednesday and Thursday, gave over its cover this week to the Spears story, citing the saturation of news already available.

But a competitor in the crowded celebrity glossy field, OK!, did play the story big on the cover (with the headline “Goodbye Mommy”), in no small part because of the fond memory of a summer cover, “Britney’s Meltdown,” which was OK!’s best-selling issue ever, at 1.2 million copies (compared with recent average sales of about 930,000), the magazine’s representatives said.

No. 3 With a Bullet

Staying in the public eye, even scandalously, has generated a high amount of interest in Ms. Spears’s artistic comeback. Despite her lethargic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, derided by critics and viewers, her single “Gimme More” is selling strongly. It has been the No. 1 singles download on iTunes and sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week on sale on digital services. Largely as a result of those sales, the song pole-vaulted from No. 68 to No. 3 in the week ending Sunday, Sept. 30, on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, which tracks sales, radio airplay and other types of demand.

Ms. Spears's record company released a video of "Gimme More'' on Friday, which quickly moved into the top five downloads on iTunes.

Is controversy good for sales? Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s director of charts, said the strong sales of “Gimme More” reflected pent-up demand since the single only recently became available after weeks of radio play. He and others in the music industry said it remained to be seen how all the attention Ms. Spears is getting for her personal life will affect sales of the album, which, they noted, must appeal musically if it is to sell well.

But one way her personal troubles are undermining a comeback is the time they take away from her ability to promote her music. “Without a doubt, her personal life has prevented her from keeping the focus on the video, the song and everything that should accompany the release of a worldwide superstar’s record,” Jeff Rabhan said.

Michael Pagnotta, a music manager and publicist who most recently represented the Olsen twins, said Ms. Spears, who has hired and fired numerous publicists, managers and lawyers, risks irreversible damage to her career. “There’s a tipping point and she’s close to it,” he said. “Michael Jackson found this out.”

Sympathy for Ex-Devil

Kevin Federline, Ms. Spears’s former husband, who at one point was one of her backup dancers, was the subject not long ago of much derision for his own questionable behavior.

AFTER years of being fodder for the celebrity press, Britney Spears’s train wreck of a story hit a news high this past Monday when a judge with less tolerance for her antics than the public took away custody, at least temporarily, of her two young sons. The stern ruling lent her saga a dose of poignancy. For all her recent bizarre, unexplainable behavior, Ms. Spears is now a mother in danger of losing permanent custody of her two toddlers, age 2 and 1.

But the latest installment also showed that the attention paid to this long-running public drama has become a force of its own — one that sells magazines and music, increases Web traffic and gives obscure characters their minutes of fame.

Who won and who lost in the latest twists of the Britney story?

A Gusher for the Web

When it comes to traffic, “Britney is Old Faithful,” said Harvey Levin, the managing editor of TMZ.com, one of the top gossip Web sites, adding that both page views and unique visitors spike when an item on her appears, though he declined to give exact figures. Since the custody ruling Monday, which was followed by an order that allows Ms. Spears monitored visits every other day, the site has run numerous updates, some as brief as a video of Ms. Spears making a left turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway.

The site heaps ridicule upon Ms. Spears — mimicking her “y’all” in most items that track her comings and goings, including when she checked into a Beverly Hills hotel the day she turned over her children, smiling and causing a paparazzi commotion.

Mr. Levin said interest in Ms. Spears outweighed that of any other celebrity among TMZ’s users. “There are people who love her and there are people who think she’s a train wreck,” he said, “and everybody wonders how it’s going to end.”

Yesterday’s News

TMZ.com and other paparazzi sites like X17online.com have owned the story; certainly they were able to move faster than celebrity magazines. Neither Us Weekly nor People, which arrive on newsstands Wednesday and Thursday, gave over its cover this week to the Spears story, citing the saturation of news already available.

But a competitor in the crowded celebrity glossy field, OK!, did play the story big on the cover (with the headline “Goodbye Mommy”), in no small part because of the fond memory of a summer cover, “Britney’s Meltdown,” which was OK!’s best-selling issue ever, at 1.2 million copies (compared with recent average sales of about 930,000), the magazine’s representatives said.

No. 3 With a Bullet

Staying in the public eye, even scandalously, has generated a high amount of interest in Ms. Spears’s artistic comeback. Despite her lethargic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, derided by critics and viewers, her single “Gimme More” is selling strongly. It has been the No. 1 singles download on iTunes and sold more than 179,000 copies in its first week on sale on digital services. Largely as a result of those sales, the song pole-vaulted from No. 68 to No. 3 in the week ending Sunday, Sept. 30, on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, which tracks sales, radio airplay and other types of demand.

Ms. Spears's record company released a video of "Gimme More'' on Friday, which quickly moved into the top five downloads on iTunes.

Is controversy good for sales? Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s director of charts, said the strong sales of “Gimme More” reflected pent-up demand since the single only recently became available after weeks of radio play. He and others in the music industry said it remained to be seen how all the attention Ms. Spears is getting for her personal life will affect sales of the album, which, they noted, must appeal musically if it is to sell well.

But one way her personal troubles are undermining a comeback is the time they take away from her ability to promote her music. “Without a doubt, her personal life has prevented her from keeping the focus on the video, the song and everything that should accompany the release of a worldwide superstar’s record,” Jeff Rabhan said.

Michael Pagnotta, a music manager and publicist who most recently represented the Olsen twins, said Ms. Spears, who has hired and fired numerous publicists, managers and lawyers, risks irreversible damage to her career. “There’s a tipping point and she’s close to it,” he said. “Michael Jackson found this out.”

Sympathy for Ex-Devil

Kevin Federline, Ms. Spears’s former husband, who at one point was one of her backup dancers, was the subject not long ago of much derision for his own questionable behavior.

After the judge in the custody case declared Ms. Spears a habitual user of drugs and alcohol and ordered regular testing, Mr. Federline is looking like the responsible parent. Some instant polls on the Web show that many people favor him for full custody.

Right after Ms. Spears’s MTV appearance, Chris Crocker, a fan (above right), made a two-minute video for YouTube in which he rails against Ms. Spears’s detractors while sobbing. The “Leave Britney Alone!” video has become one of the site’s most viewed entries of all time, with more than 10.8 million viewers, and Mr. Crocker is making appearances on national talk shows.

A former bodyguard, Tony Barretto, who worked for Ms. Spears from March to May, hired the media-savvy lawyer Gloria Allred to inject himself into the custody case (and onto television news shows), by reporting that he had seen Ms. Spears snorting cocaine at a nightclub and driving unsafely with the kids, among other transgressions. On Wednesday, Mr. Barretto met with officials from the Department of Children and Family Services for about two hours and asked for an investigation of Ms. Spears’s behavior.

Ms. Allred said her client, the father of two young children, was motivated by concern over the well-being of Ms. Spears’ children, not personal gain.

The New Social Workers?

It appears that the 24/7 coverage of Ms. Spears worked to her disadvantage in recent days. TMZ says lawyers for Mr. Federline subpoenaed one of its videos showing the pop star driving with her children last weekend without a valid license, in direct violation of an order by the judge presiding over the custody case.

Janice Min, editor in chief of US Weekly, said, “I’m not sure that the change in custody would have occurred so quickly had the press not actually been so closely following her role as a mother.”

Mr. Levin of TMZ said Ms. Spears needed “a wake-up call.”

“It’s not a frivolous story anymore,” he said. “This is a woman who loves her kids who doesn’t have her kids. It’s now taken tragic elements.”

Lindsay took tango lessons in rehab

2007-10-06T07:59:00.001-07:00

Lohan began learning the dance form before checking into the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah in July this year.

Actress Lindsay Lohan was kept on her toes during her stint in rehab - for the actress learnt the tango dance there.

Lohan began learning the dance form before checking into the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Utah in July this year.

The 21-year-old star’s stint in rehab, however, did not come in the way of her dance classes, for her Los Angeles-based dance teacher, Gloria Otero regularly flew in to teach her.

Otero revealed that he visited the rehab facility every weekend to teach ‘the Mean Girls’ star how to tango and has admitted that she has become a great dancer.

"I have been going to Utah for the past three weeks. We practice on Fridays and Saturdays. It's been really good working with her... She has become a great dancer," Contactmusic quoted Otero, as telling In Touch Weekly magazine.

Kylie’s ‘suit’ably catty

2007-10-05T09:37:00.001-07:00

Kylie Minogue will be seen in a figure-hugging black latex catsuit in her next video

Pop princess Kylie Minogue has turned into a drag queen for her latest video after trawling London's ultra camp scene for inspiration .

She has been on a series of nights out to London clubs and befriended a gang of outrageous cross-dressers .

In her most shocking shoot ever, Kylie glams it up in a latex black catsuit, poisonous red lips, and big blonde curly hair. An insider at the shoot at Shepperton Studios in London last Friday said: "It's just visually amazing. It's like nothing you've ever seen Kylie do before .

Kylie vamps it up in a black latex catsuit that's so tight and figure-hugging , you can clearly see the shape of her bum. And it looks great. Then she writhes on the floor provocatively and cavorts on a grand piano."

The new look comes after her stylist William Baker said it would be a good idea to make her new video "more authentic" . So, ever the professional, Kylie hit the drag clubs with gusto and instantly hit it off with queens Tasty Tim and Princess Julia.

They've been giving Kylie advice on what to wear, how to strut down the stage and how to pout. Kylie also took advice from her pal Boy George, who designed the famous B-Rude baggy pant outfit for her Showgirls tour and is a regular on the drag circuit. Kylie's album X will be out on November 26.

Longoria: 'I'm too square for sex tape'

2007-10-03T09:26:00.001-07:00

Eva Longoria has denied that she has ever made a sex tape with her new husband Tony Parker, and has insisted that they are "too square" to film themselves in bed together.

The Desperate Housewives actress was rumoured to have appeared in a home-made movie with her basketball player partner.

But she has claimed that the only sex tape she has ever starred in is a spoof that she shot with comedian Perry Hilton for a website.

Longoria said: "Everybody was calling me (when the story broke) going, 'Oh my God...'.

"We never made a tape... We're very square, boring people."

She said of the spoof film: "It's like the non-sex video because we don't have sex... It's so funny... Tony thought it was so freakin' hilarious... But it's a skit."

Should Britney Lose Custody?

2007-10-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

The February 2006 photo of Britney Spears steering her SUV out of a Starbucks parking lot in Malibu, Calif., with her infant son, Sean Preston, slumped on her lap was the first sign for many of us that the young mom might not be ready for parenthood. By the time a Los Angeles judge temporarily stripped the pop singer of custody of Sean, now 2, and Jayden James, 1, on Monday, Spears had provided dozens more images that suggest she is unable to care for two young children. From her impromptu head-shaving to her trips to rehab to her recent listless shuffle around the MTV Video Music Awards stage, Spears, 26, seems incapable of taking care of herself. Today she and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, will face a judge to determine the next step in this increasingly ugly custody battle.

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The judge, L.A. Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, didn't make public his reasons for separating Spears from her sons Monday, but family law experts say such a dramatic move is rare. "A change of custody is very difficult," says Muriel Savikas, a divorce mediator and child psychologist in Manhattan Beach, Calif. "The courts don't normally do that without some real concerns about safety."

The judge had ordered Spears to submit to twice-weekly drug and alcohol testing, undergo co-counseling with Federline and receive parent coaching. Spears' lawyer, Sorrell Trope, told People magazine the judge revoked custody after Spears failed to take a random drug test and provide a valid California driver's license. "That might do it, but probably not," says Orange County divorce attorney Jeffrey Lalloway. "California policy is to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents." (Trope was unavailable for comment). The ruling came after Spears' former bodyguard told the court and the Today show that he had seen her doing drugs, and it also followed Spears being charged with a hit-and-run and driving without a valid license for allegedly crashing into a parked car in August.

Celebrities enjoy — and sometimes suffer — their own unique version of justice. The press and public intensely scrutinize their cases and the best attorneys money can buy litigate them. Judges, meanwhile, may see an opportunity to make an example of a celebrity in trouble, as L.A. Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer apparently did in ensuring that Paris Hilton serve an atypical 23-day jail sentence for driving with a suspended a license. So is Spears and Federline's judge looking to make a statement about neglectful parenting? Odds are he's just being exceedingly cautious, says Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Hofstra University.

The worst case scenario for this judge is that Federline says his children are being harmed while in Spears' custody, the judge ignores the allegations and something happens to the kids, Grossman says. "Then everyone's going look to the judge and say why didn't you do something? We all knew she was on this downward spiral. We saw the pictures, we saw her performance on the VMAs, we all knew she was a terrible mother."

Spears is certainly not the first celebrity to be captured in a sub-par performance as a parent. Alec Baldwin recently called his 11-year-old daughter a "thoughtless little pig" in a voice mail; David Hasselhoff's 17-year-old daughter videotaped him lounging drunk on the floor of his Las Vegas hotel room, rambling and trying to eat a hamburger; and Michael Jackson dangled his child out a window to show off to fans. Baldwin's custody case is still pending but the other two men have retained custody of their children.

Spears, ultimately, may do the same. The fact that the judge took away custody as of 12 noon today, and scheduled a hearing for 1:30pm the same day suggests he isn't trying to separate this family permanently. "This is just a wakeup call for Britney," says Grossman, "to send a message to her that this is real, that you could really lose your kids because of the way you're behaving." Whether the wake-up call will be effective isn't certain. Spears' first stop after turning over her sons two days early on Monday was to a Bel-Air tanning salon.

Book a hotel room to spend night with Chelsy, cops to Harry

2007-10-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

LONDON: Sleuths protecting Prince Harry have asked him to book a hotel room if he fancies a bit of royal rumpty with girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

The reason: The protection officers say the Zimbabwean blonde's student dig in the rundown Hyde Park area near the University of Leeds is "unsafe" for the 23-year-old Prince to stay in overnight.

"There's no way Harry will ever be properly protected there. Officers will have no control over the comings and goings. He's been told a hotel is the best option," the 'News of the World' reported here today, quoting a source as saying.

Davy, who relocated to Britain to study law at Leeds, has recently moved into the student accommodation instead of opting to splash out on a luxury flat. She is sharing the dig, costing 55 pounds every week, with three of her mates.

Prince Harry has already got a taste of student life when he visited his girlfriend recently - by tucking into her homemade Spaghetti Bolognese.

In fact, the 21-year-old's decision to opt for a student accommodation followed reports that the girlfriend of Harry's brother Prince William was having a flutter over their love affair.

According to an earlier report published in the British tabloid, Kate Middleton fears that if she becomes a member of the Royal Family in future, she would not be able to match up to the expectations of snotty courtiers.

"Kate is just from a very normal middle-class family who have done exceptionally well for themselves. They don't live on a huge estate or have titles before their names," an unnamed friend was quoted as saying.

"It's one thing having an on-off relationship with Wills, it's quite another thing becoming Queen," another friend said.

Shilpa Shetty faces the music in Berlin

2007-10-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 1, 2007: (Berlin):

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is in Berlin, promoting her new musical Miss Bollywood.

At the press conference organized on Friday, she laughed and denied reports that she was arrested at immigration in India.

"You know I'm sometimes quite amused by the press because I was not arrested, and I went on the net and people were calling me and they were asking me if I was okay, and I was like, what's happened, I've just come to Berlin, I've just landed here, and they were like, we heard you got arrested.

"No, I was questioned at the airport because of that entire thing that happened with Richard, and the High Court had already quashed the case," said Shilpa Shetty, Actress.

In April Gere publicly kissed Shetty at an AIDS awareness event in India, sparking an outcry among conservative Hindus, who claimed they had violated the country's strict anti-obscenity laws.

A regional court issued arrest warrants against Gere and barred Shetty from leaving the country. The order was soon overturned by the Supreme Court.

"I just met him as a matter of fact, very recently at the Toronto Film Festival, and he was there to receive the One By One Difference Award, and it was my great privilege to give it to him, and we'd spoken, we just laughed about it, it's all okay now, he's a very good man," she said.

Shetty spoke to the press in Germany about the musical Miss Bollywood which opens this weekend in Berlin, Shetty plays the musical's lead role.

Pammie to wed Paris' tape partner?

2007-10-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

The wedding is reportedly set to take place in Las Vegas, where the couple applied.

Reports that Pamela Anderson is heading for her third walk down the aisle have gathered storm after the actress applied for a marriage licence.

The man in question is Rick Salomon - Paris Hilton’s partner in her infamous sex-tape ‘One Night in Paris’.

Anderson and Solomon applied for, and were granted, a licence to wed.

The wedding is reportedly set to take place in Las Vegas, where the couple applied.

According to Access Hollywood, the news that the pair had gotten the licence was confirmed by their Las Vegas affiliate KVBC.

A source reveals that a marriage may very well be on the cards, for the former ‘Baywatch’ babe and her beau have been inseparable in Vegas, where has been performing with magician Hans Klok at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

"Rick is always with her. He's backstage when she does her show all the time," People quoted the source, as saying.

Anderson had earlier revealed to host Ellen DeGeneres that she was dating a new mystery man, who she fell in love with while paying off a poker debt with sexual favours.

"I paid off a poker debt with sexual favors, and I fell in love. It's so romantic. It's romance," she said.

However, she added at the time: "I'm not really engaged. I don't know what I am. We may never get that far. We're in love."

Anderson has previously been married to rockers Tommy Lee and Kid Rock, while Solomon was married to Shannen Doherty.

Oprah leads all the way

2007-09-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

Oprah Winfrey tops the list of highest paid stars on US television

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has topped a list of the highest paid stars on US television, earning £130 million between June 2006 and June 2007.

Coming in at a distant second was American Idol judge Simon Cowell, who pulled in £22.5 million thanks to the show and other projects.

The third spot on the list went to Judith Sheindlin, who raked in £15 million for her own syndicated court show, Judge Judy, reports the Daily Mail.
According to the list in the US issue of TV Guide magazine, the top five was rounded off by CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric and Scrubs star Zach Braff, who earned £7.5 million, and £3.15 million respectively.

The top five highest paid stars

1. Oprah Winfrey (The Oprah Winfrey Show): £130 mn
2. Simon Cowell (American Idol): £22.5 mn
3. Judge Sheindlin (Judge Judy): £15 mn
4. Katie Couric (CBS Evening News Anchor): £7.5 mn
5. Zach Braff (Scrubs): £3.15 mn

Oprah's pulling in over $700K a day

2007-09-29T09:02:00.001-07:00

OPRAH still makes a boatload of money — more like a cruise shipload. The Queen of Daytime reeled in $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007, a new Forbes.com salary survey shows.

That's more than $700,000 a day.

Winfrey accumulated cash from her daytime show, her satellite radio program, women's service magazine and the Broadway show The Color Purple, which she produced. She also has stakes in Dr. Phil McGraw's and Rachael Ray's syndicated shows.

Meanwhile, she's producing two reality-TV programs, a move that's sure to help her maintain her stronghold in the industry.

No surprise, Winfrey proteges McGraw and Ray appear on the list, at No. 7 and No. 13, respectively.

Jerry Seinfeld, who pulled in $60 million in the same period from sales of reruns of his hit show, standup gigs and commercial endorsements, is No. 2.

The list includes other usual suspects such as Regis Philbin, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Matt Lauer and Donald Trump, who continues to make money hand over hair with The Apprentice.

Along with Winfrey, the ladies proved they're an entertainment force to be reckoned with. Today co-anchor and former View member Meredith Vieira nabbed the No. 20 slot with $10 million; Diane Sawyer is No. 19 with $12 million; Barbara Walters, also with $12 million, is No. 18.

Additionally, Ellen DeGeneres, with the help of her daytime show and American Express paychecks, earned $15 million. Katie Couric left the Today show for the CBS Evening News and earned $15 million for her troubles.

And still going strong, Judge Judy Sheindlin is paid $30 million.

American Idol boss Simon Cowell comes in at No. 3 with $45 million thanks to his reality juggernaut which includes Idol, America's Got Talent and Celebrity Duets.

Jolie slams US spending in Iraq

2007-09-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

The UN goodwill ambassador insisted that an entire UNICEF appeal for educational needs would cost only as much as eight hours’ spending in Iraq - and would help benefit 150,000 children.

Angelina Jolie has slammed the US government for spending millions on military operations in Iraq, insisting that the same would have been better utilised on education.

Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, an event organised by Bill Clinton to address the most pressing global concerns, Jolie urged the world to "priorities in order".

The UN goodwill ambassador insisted that an entire UNICEF appeal for educational needs would cost only as much as eight hours’ spending in Iraq - and would help benefit 150,000 children.

"The entire appeal equals about eight hours of current spending in Iraq. So just a few hours would send 150,000 children to school," Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

"Nothing wins more hearts and minds and nothing gives more freedom than education; and nothing is a better deterrent for conflict than an educated child," she added.

Beckhams top overrated list

2007-09-28T09:27:00.001-07:00

Friday, 28 September , 2007, 09:36

London : Celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham have topped a list to find out the most overrated people, places and things.

The poll was conducted by Radar magazine and the Beckhams came on top ahead of cupcakes, Botox and Brad Pitt, reports contactmusic.com.

The magazine called soccer star David "overpaid" and his wife Victoria "a pointless collection of body parts".

Others on the list include: blogging, sex with virgins, cocaine, Keira Knightley, Pilates, Ronald Reagan, The Dalai Lama, Jake Gyllenhaal and hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy".

Madge’s hands finally showing her age

2007-09-27T09:07:00.001-07:00

The pop diva, who was spotted at London's Cecconi's restaurant, has maintained her youthful physique by vigorous exercise and careful diet.

Pop star Madonna might be able to give women half her age a run for their money in the body department, but her wrinkled and vein-ravaged hands are showing that age is taking its toll on her.

The pop diva, who was spotted at London's Cecconi's restaurant, has maintained her youthful physique by vigorous exercise and careful diet.

However, all the exercises won’t help her stay young, say plastic surgeons who revealed that hand skin is particularly susceptible to losing its plumpness over time and it is one of the parts of the body which reveal a person's age, reports the Daily Mail.

The 49-year-old star is planning to launch another world tour to mark her 50th birthday in August next year.

Madonna was recently in news for walking out of her 25-year deal with Warner Music and signing a 100 million dollar contract with tour promoter Live Nation.

Halle Berry receives racist death threats to her unborn baby

2007-09-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

26 September 2007 - Halle Berry has received racist death threats to her unborn baby.

The Oscar-winning beauty - who recently announced she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Gabriel Aubry - has been forced to hire security guards after allegedly receiving several disturbing letters from an anonymous writer.

One note warned she and her child would be "cut into hundreds of pieces".

A source close to the actress - who has a white father and an African-American mother - told Britain's Daily Mirror: "Halle does not normally use security but she has taken on a couple of guys to make sure."

In 2002, Halle became the first woman of American African descent to win a best actress Oscar for her role in 'Monster's Ball'.

Despite the upsetting threats, Halle is enjoying her pregnancy, and her boyfriend Gabriel has revealed she is craving pickles and bread.

The 32-year-old model told People magazine: "She does crave pickles. And any bread. Doesn't matter, as long as it's salt and pickles."

Gabriel - who met 41-year-old Halle while shooting a Versace advert in November 2005 - also said he was pampering the mom-to-be.

He revealed: "She loves foot massages. I do all of that stuff."

George Clooney May Be Charged Over Motorcycle Crash

2007-09-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

Lucky to be alive, Hollywood actor George Clooney could face dangerous driving charges in connection with the motorcycle crash he and his girlfriend were involved in on Friday.

According to Weehawken Police Sergeant Sean Kelly, Clooney might have caused his New Jersey accident by attempting to pass a car which tried to take a right hand turn from the left lane.

"It's a he-said, she-said right now, but you can't pass on the right in Weehawken or anywhere in Jersey," Kelly said.

"If he was passing on the right, that's a moving violation," Hudson County Prosecutor Ed Defazio said yesterday.

While the Mazda driver, identified as Sciancaledore, 27, insists it was Clooney’s fault, the actor’s publicist said "The car signaled left. George was riding to the right. The driver decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped George."

Sciancalepore was fined for not having his registration with him at the time of the accident, Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz said.

Clooney and his girlfriend, Sarah Larson, who was with him on the motorcycle at the time of the accident, were rushed to the Palisades Medical Center, across the Hudson River from Manhattan and released after being treated. The 46-year-old star suffered a fractured rib while his 28-year-old girlfriend, a former reality TV contestant and cocktail waitress, broke at least two tows.

"He was treated for a hairline fracture of a rib and road rash," Clooney’s spokesman Stan Rosenfield said, adding that "it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal." Other than that, Clooney is doing fine but according to sources from his entourage, he’s worried that the crash brought his girlfriend in the spotlight.

''What pains George more is how this whole thing will bring a lot of attention to his relationship with Sarah,'' a source was quoted by Chicago Sun Times as saying.

The two who met earlier this year in Las Vegas at the premier of Clooney’s "Ocean’s Thirteen," have been spotted together at the Venice Film Festival, earlier this month.

''George was attracted to Sarah right away, not just because she's great looking, but she shares his 'take-no-prisoners' sense of humor,'' the source added. ''She's not intimidated by that whole fame thing and isn't impressed by that. In itself, that's a turn-on for guys like George who constantly have to be on their guard against women who have an agenda.''

Spears ex-bodyguard opens the lid on her troubled life

2007-09-23T04:08:00.001-07:00

London, Sept 23: Britney Spear’s former bodyguard Tony Barretto, who served as a secret witness in the singer’s ongoing custody battle with ex-hubby Kevin Federline, has opened the lid on her troubled life.

After Barretto's testimony last week, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon declared Britney as a 'habitual, frequent and continuous' user of drink and drugs, and ordered her to undergo random testing to get shared custody of her children.

Talking about his three-month stint as the singer’s bodyguard, Barretto said that within days of starting work with the singer, he realised that his duty was more about taking care of her kids.

“I was surprised to find how much the job involved looking after her kids,” the Daily Mail quoted Barretto as saying.

“She was always passing the kids along to us. If they were happy, she was happy. If they weren't happy, she was passing them on to the nanny or the security staff.

“She'd tell me, “We're going for a tan. Can you take the baby?” And then she'd walk off. She wouldn't really ask me; she'd just leave,” he added.

The 27-year-old also revealed some disturbing traits and bizarre behaviour the singer displayed.

“There was a time when I thought she was going to hurt the kids,” he said.

“She sent the nanny home. She sent her best friend and personal assistant, Alli Sims, home. Britney hates to be alone, so this was worrying. One of the bodyguards who had been with her longest said she was beginning to shut down as she had just before she shaved her head.”

“He said she'd been talking about suicide then, and this was the same. Britney was sobbing. She screamed.”

“(Sensing danger, his colleague said) ‘I'm worried about the kids. Don't let her go swimming with them.”

'Shocked, I asked, “Is she going to drown them?” He said, “I don't know.” I started to cry. How am I supposed to protect someone like that,” he said.

Barretto also spoke about a rehabbed Spears’ habitual drug and alcohol use.

“The first time she was at Teddy's nightclub in Hollywood in April, in a private booth. She asked me to hold the curtains up around it. After 20 minutes I looked over my shoulder, and she was snorting something out of her hand with a straw,” he said.

“One night I opened the restroom door after she'd been in there half an hour, and saw her snorting from a straw again.”

“She'd sneak out of the house on her own without security. Sometimes she'd be gone till the next morning. It was an unspoken subject, just as nobody ever asked her about drugs.”

“She was supposed to be sober after rehab, but she loved her Jack Daniels and Coke.”

“She'd always drink it in a Styrofoam cup, so nobody could see what she was drinking. 'I'd order for her, and the waitress would hand me the drink. Britney would walk upstairs to a private restroom to drink it.”

“She'd have a pint glass filled with Jack Daniels and Coke. I hated it, because we had to go up and down those stairs all night so she could drink in secret.”

An emotional entanglement with rock ‘wildman’ Howie Day, who Britney had met in rehab, also sent her berserk.

“She was, in my opinion, close to an overdose,” said Barretto.

Spears fired Barretto in May this year, for not picking up her hat, after she asked him three times.

George Clooney Hurt in Motorcycle Crash

2007-09-22T08:44:00.001-07:00

WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (AP) — George Clooney and a companion were injured on Friday when their motorcycle collided with a car on a narrow road across the Hudson River from New York City.

Clooney suffered a broken rib and scrapes while his passenger, Sarah Larson, broke her foot in the 3:30 p.m. collision. The two were treated at Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen and released, Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said.

"He's doing fine," Rosenfield said. "He has a broken rib, it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal."

Clooney and Larson were traveling north and sped up to pass on the right of a 1999 Mazda Millenia that was preparing to make a right turn, said Weehawken police Sgt. Sean Kelly. Both were wearing helmets.

It wasn't known whether the Mazda's driver, whose identity was not immediately released, used a turn signal, Kelly said. The accident was under investigation.

"It's a he-said, she-said right now, but you can't pass on the right in Weehawken or anywhere in Jersey," Kelly said.

Rosenfield said the accident occurred when the vehicle signaled a left-hand turn, but turned right and struck Clooney's motorcycle.

"The car signaled left. George was riding to the right. The driver decided to make an abrupt right turn and clipped George," he said.

The 46-year-old actor was in the New York area to film the dark comedy "Burn After Reading," co-starring Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand.

Clooney's recovery shouldn't interrupt the production's schedule, Rosenfield said.

Clooney's latest film, "Michael Clayton," will be released next month. He and Larson have been spotted together at several film festivals and movie premieres in recent weeks.

Britney Spears charged over car smash

2007-09-22T08:36:00.001-07:00

NEW YORK: Pop diva Britney Spears was charged over a hit-and-run incident and for driving without a valid Californian licence, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Attorney's office has said.

The 25-year-old pop singer was caught on film dusting off a stationary vehicle on August six before she headed off. Following a complaint by the owner of the dented car, police decided to press the two charges against her, media reported on Saturday, quoting spokesperson Frank Mateljan as saying.

He said that Spears was notified of the charges by a letter and a hearing has been set for October ten. If she's convicted of the misdemeanour charges, the pop star could face up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.

The charges came days after a judge had ordered Spears to undergo random drug and alcohol tests twice a week in her child custody case with her former husband. He had also ordered both of them to undergo a parenting class.

It may be mentioned that the pop star had also been dropped by her management firm in the wake of her pathetic performance at a Las Vegas show recently.

"It saddens us to confirm media reports that we have terminated our professional relationship with Britney Spears. We have represented Britney for the past month. We believe Britney is enormously talented and has made a terrific record."

"But current circumstances have prevented us from doing our job. We wish Britney the best," her manager and owner of The Firm, Jeff Kwatinetz, was quoted as saying.

Brad Pitt turns outlaw in 'Assassination of Jesse James'

2007-09-21T09:37:00.001-07:00

Toronto, Sept. 21 (AP): While news about Jesse James crawled its way across 19th century America _ compared to today's lightning-fast Internet _ the tone was uncannily comparable to today's celebrity coverage, Brad Pitt found in reading those old accounts.

``I will say, I was surprised to see how tabloid journalism was alive and well even then and operating in the same way, just sensationalizing a complete fabrication of untruths,'' said Brad Pitt, who stars as the legendary outlaw in ``The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.''

``There's just more of it today. There's more of it in quantity, but the execution's the same. In that day, when you only had a newspaper to get your information, that would have been the extent of it. But it doesn't seem to have changed at all,'' Pitt told The Associated Press at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Pitt and Angelina Jolie, stars of the 2005 hit ``Mr. and Mrs. Smith,'' have been the quarry of celebrity photographers and the object of incessant tabloid gossip since they hooked up amid the breakup of Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston. A media vigil preceded the birth of their daughter in Namibia last year, and crowds swelled during the Toronto festival everywhere they went.

In the late 1800s, James was able to move anonymously through America under a series of aliases, but his notoriety was unparalleled. James' image as a Robin Hood-style bandit of the people _ a myth he helped perpetuate himself _ had made him a folk hero to the public and a demon to the railroads.

Based on Ron Hansen's novel, ``Assassination of Jesse James'' dissects the James myth to present a charismatic man in the last year of his life, as his sense of security crumbles and he is overwhelmed by paranoia that associates are selling him out to the law.

Into James' inner circle comes young idolator Ford (Casey Affleck), who has grown up on romanticized stories of the outlaw's deeds. Initially an intimate, Ford later becomes an object of scorn for Pitt's increasingly unpredictable James.

Ford eventually feels compelled to become James' executioner, coming to believe it's almost a civic duty.

``I don't know what led to his idea, the need to destroy the very thing that he worshipped, but that's certainly what's going on here. You have a demoralized boy, a boy who's subject to humiliation, and in his quiet hours has this lust for the Jesse James celebrity, the Jesse James phenomenon,'' said Pitt, 43.

``Then at the point where he meets Jesse James, meets his idol, and his idol spurns him, it becomes that thing, needing to destroy the thing you love to become equal with it again.''

At two hours, 40 minutes, ``Assassination of Jesse James,'' which opens Friday, is a challenging tale, yet one that has drawn praise for the lyrical melancholy of its 19th century landscapes and for the key performances. The film earned the best-actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for Pitt, a previous supporting-actor Academy Awards nominee for ``Twelve Monkeys'' who could be in contention for a lead-actor Oscar this time.

The celebrity mystique that surrounds Pitt meshed well with the mythic nature of James, said Andrew Dominik, director of ``Assassination of Jesse James.''

``It was the sort of part that you could cast a movie star in and it would make sense,'' Dominik said. ``It wouldn't be miscasting Brad, who you never really feel like you know on-screen. He's always retained kind of an essential mystery. He's not a person people really identify with. He's more of an object to them. They aspire to be him, but they don't really identify with him.

``Those were really good qualities for Jesse. They're both enigmatic and charismatic.''

Pitt first caught widespread notice in a scene-stealing role in 1991's ``Thelma & Louise'' and went on to star in such films as ``Legends of the Fall,'' ``Spy Game,'' ``Troy'' and last year's acclaimed ``Babel,'' co-starring Cate Blanchett.

Blanchett and Pitt reunite for next year's ``The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'' Pitt's third film with David Fincher, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's story about a man who is born old and ages backward toward infancy.

``He's just so open. He's a great player. Brad loves a good idea and a good conversation, and I think that extends to acting, really,'' Blanchett said. ``I think he's got a really good nose for what works, and I think people will be blown away by him in `Benjamin Button.'''

Pitt now is shooting the Coen brothers' dark comedy ``Burn After Reading'' with George Clooney, his partner in crime in ``Ocean's Eleven'' and its two sequels.

While Pitt looks for roles that offer fresh dramatic possibilities, finding good work companions such as Clooney has become crucial in his job choices.

``As I get older, it's the company I keep,'' Pitt said. ``It means something to me to have these friends out here and people I respect ... Most of the movie is spent when the camera's not rolling, and to work with these interesting people is really the most important thing to me.''

With his production company Plan B, Pitt also is active as a producer whose credits include Jolie's recent drama ``A Mighty Heart.'' (He also was a producer on ``Assassination of Jesse James.'')

Pitt jokes that the advantage of today's celebrity culture is that people are not carrying six-shooters around the way they did in James' day. Even so, as a new father, Pitt is mindful of the potential dangers that come with fame.

Along with their biological daughter, Pitt and Jolie have three children she adopted from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

``It's something that I want to be aware of and be cautious about, especially with the family, that everybody's protected,'' Pitt said. ``I mean it's rare, but there are imbalanced people out there. I've had break-ins in the house ... I've had some of these abnormal incidents that can be a bit frightening.''

When Pitt or Jolie is working, the other takes time off to tend the children, who travel with them wherever they are filming.

``We just take turns and make sure we keep the family together,'' Pitt said.

Pitt is quick to acknowledge reporters' questions about his and Jolie's plans for more children.

``We're not done. They say, any plans for a fifth? And I say, `And a sixth, and a seventh, and an eighth, and a ninth.' That's my answer. ...

``We also made a 9-foot-wide bed'' (nearly 3 meters wide) that can fit him, Jolie and all four children, Pitt said. ``Just big enough. One more and we'll have to go to 11 feet.''

Brad Pitt turns outlaw in 'Assassination of Jesse James'

2007-09-21T09:31:00.001-07:00

Britney on a lawyer switching spree

2007-09-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

Spears’ divorce attorney Laura Wasser stepped down on Sep 17, on the grounds that the singer was a 'problem client,’ following which she hired attorney Melvin Goldsman on Sep 19

It seems that Britney Spears is a habitual lawyer switcher, for she is set to fire the new legal counsel again, after just a day on the job.

Spears’ divorce attorney Laura Wasser stepped down on Sep 17, on the grounds that the singer was a 'problem client,’ following which she hired attorney Melvin Goldsman on Sep 19.

But the ‘Toxic’ singer is considering firing Goldsman, according to high-profile lawyer Sorrell Trope, who claims that he has been chosen as Spears’ new lawyer in Spears’ complicated custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Trope's office revealed that the firm was in the process of being retained by Spears.

"Yes, it's true Ms. Spears quit Melvin Goldsman's firm, but we haven't been officially retained yet. The paperwork has not been signed, and it has to have our firm's, Goldsman's and Ms. Spears' signatures. I anticipate it will be signed [Wednesday],” E! Online quoted Trope, as saying.

Meanwhile, in the latest court hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon ordered Spears to undergo twice-weekly random drugs testing.

Gordon said that based on evidence presented, he considered Spears to be a "habitual, frequent and continuous" user of controlled substances.

Miller touched by poem given by blind man

2007-09-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

London, : Actress Sienna Miller was so touched by an old poem "Desiderata" given by a blind man in Guatemala that she got it engraved on an amulet that she carries with her all the time.
Miller admitted that she was initially shocked when the blind man asked her to take the poem saying it was all about her, reports contactmusic.com. But when she read the words she was shocked because she realised he was right.

She said: "He said, 'It's for you...' I was, like, okay, what is this?'

"The poem features the lines, 'You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe in unfolding as it should'."

Britney Faces Drug Testing & Parenting Evaluations

2007-09-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Spears must prove she’s a fit mother to keep her kids

Britney Spears gets to keep her kids, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, but she’s got to jump through some hoops to keep them.

Court documents released today from Monday’s hearing reveal a host of rules Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline must follow.

Here are the facts in a nutshell:

All hearings will continue as closed hearings.

"Each party is ordered to serve and file an Income and Expense Declaration... within ten days of this date."

Attorneys for Spears and Federline have been "unsuccessful" in agreeing on a Child Custody Evaluator. Federline's attorney submitted a list of potential evaluators and now Spears' attorney has 24 hours to come up with three of her own, and the Court will now decide.

”The Court declines to modify the existing custodial timeshare.”

Neither party can take the kids out of the state, without prior written consent of the other parent or prior order of the Court.

If they do take the kids out of state, they have to provide a full itinerary of the trip complete with addresses, phone number and travel arrangements.

"Each party is restrained from making derogatory remarks about the other party and the other party's family or significant other, either directly or indirectly to the minor children, and from allowing anyone else to do so. This includes any person employed by the parties."

Both Spears and Federline are ordered to complete a "PARENTING WITHOUT CONFLICT" program and verify their completion of said course to the Court.

"Each party is restrained from using corporal punishment with the minor children and from allowing anyone else to do so."

Spears and Federline are both ordered "to engage in joint co-parenting counseling", which they'll split the cost of. If they can't agree on a therapist for this, the Court will assign them one.

"Neither party shall consume alcohol, or other non-prescription controlled substance" within 12 hrs of having custody of the kids.

Spears and Federline need to alert one another within 48 hours if they change the status of their employees who handle the kids; they have 24 hours to report any NEW hires.

Any employee on either side who has charge of the kids must hold a valid certification in Red Cross Infant and Child CPR and Basic First Aid.

Spears is ordered to meet with a parenting coach at least eight hours a week, who will observe her interacting with the kids and evaluate her skills.

The parenting coach will file a written progress report on Oct. 22 and appear in court Nov. 26.

Spears is ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week. "Based on the Evidence presented, the Court finds that there is a habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol by the Petitioner (Spears)."

The results of this testing will go directly to the Court and WILL NOT be released.

The next court date is Nov. 26 at 8:30 a.m.

"What the El" Editorial:

It is quite obvious from all of these stipulations by the court that the judge suspects she’s not a fit mother but there's not enough evidence to do something drastic like take the kids away.

This is a “give her enough rope to hang herself” situation.

She screws up even in the tiniest way, and those kids are going to live with K-Fed.

I’m glad she and Kevin have to take parenting classes!

I’m sad that she’s probably “on something” but maybe forcing her to undergo drug testing will clear her head enough to see that she’s completely screwing up her life and her career!

Dave Grohl Hates Courtney Love

2007-09-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl hates Courtney Love more than anyone in the world.

The former Nirvana drummer - who has publicly feuded with Kurt Cobain's widow in the past, even previously calling her an "ugly f***ing b***h" live on stage - insists there is no one else he detests more.

Grohl said: "There are a lot of people that I've been angry with in my life, but the one that's most noted in Courtney. So it's pretty obvious to me that those correlations are going to pop up every now and again. I still remain little secretive about it all."

In new song 'Let It Die' - on the Foo Fighters latest album 'Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace' - Grohl sings the line "A simple man and his blushing bride/Intravenous, intertwined", an apparent reference to Love and his Nirvana bandmate Cobain, who suffered from heroin addiction before
committing suicide in 1994.

Grohl also revealed now he is a father, to daughter Violet, he is not afraid to write ballads instead of hard rock songs.

He said: "Violet's the light at the end of my tunnel. I'm not afraid to write anything anymore. A lot of that has to do with the big picture - having a child and realising that life's too short to be afraid of a f**king piano ballad."

Play it again, Blunt

2007-09-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

James Blunt will be in Toronto October 1 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne St. For tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.ca.

ALBUM REVIEW: All The Lost Souls - Rating 3 stars

Poor, poor James Blunt.

The pretty-boy British singer- songwriter must be feeling terribly anxious with the release of his sophomore album.

How does one live up to You're Beautiful -- one of the most simultaneously loved and reviled hits of 2006? How does one prove the success of their first album wasn't a fluke?

Well, by writing and recording an album that's very similar to the first, of course.

All the Lost Souls has all the Blunt trademarks that made Back to Bedlam the tremendous success that it was in 2005 and 2006. It has Blunt's unmistakably high (but not quite falsetto) voice, conveying a certain sensitivity that makes some women swoon. It has a sweet folky pop sensibility with songs like Shine On, which is sure to make certain listeners smile, turn up the volume and sing along. And then there are the few naughty bits that seem oddly out of place, but will fool fans into thinking they're listening to something edgier.

It's innocuous and fairly bland stuff, but also melodic and, at times, kind of catchy.

The opening track, 1973, is hard to ignore, with it easy touch-step beat (perfect for living room dancing) and its repetitive lyrics about the good times once had at a club. (The song was reportedly inspired by a club Blunt frequented while living and writing music in Ibiza.)

I'll Take Everything is another track that manages to stand out from the uniform sound on most of the other tracks. Blunt seems to be singing with legitimate conviction about getting the most out of life (did success bring with it an existential crisis, perhaps?).

Annie breaks out of the background tendencies of other songs on the album, but on closer listen, the lyrics appear to be just plain mean. The song is about a woman who has dreamed of being a famous star, but who will only make it into the spotlight by way of Blunt singing about her. And, just to insult her further, he sings, "But the walls came tumbling down down. Will you go down on me?" Not nice.

Blunt's sophomore effort is sure to satisfy his fans. And it will likely get significant pop radio play.

But, with the exception of a couple of songs, All the Lost Souls sounds like the product of someone on mood-stabilizers who is going through the motions of making another hit album.

Spears may not get her kids’ custody

2007-09-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears is reportedly close to losing the custody of her two kids, after a Los Angeles attorney brought up a secret witness who has dished out accounts of her behaviour with her kids.

The man, who has observed the singer’s parenting skills, will appear at the closed door hearing of the custody battle between Spears and her ex-hubby Kevin Federline.

Last week, attorney Gloria Allred got a declaration signed by the man with the court, reports Fox News. The channel’s reporter Roger Friedman said that the man might blow Spears’ chances of gaining her kids’ custody.

”I am told that the witness could blow Spears's chances of keeping Sean Preston and Jayden James," News.com.au quoted Friedman, as saying. Friedman also said that the witness will reveal the singer’s drug usage in front of her two sons.

"The likely observations from the witness concerns drug usage by Spears in her home and in front of her kids." He added.
Allred has kept the identity of the man a secret to avoid a publicity war.

"You may or may not recognise him as we walk into court. He is not famous. He's just someone who's concerned about the kids,’ Allred said.

Britney 'just wants to be a mom'

2007-09-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, on the other hand, said that his client was faring well.

Pop diva Britney Spears’ lawyer has indicated that she is currently having a tough time dealing with frustration, which has sprung from her custody battle with former husband Kevin Federline.

Laura Wasser revealed this while she was talking to reporters outside the courtroom, after another hearing of her case on Friday.

"(She) just wants to be a mom," People magazine quoted Laura Wasser as saying.

"I believe this is a frustrating time for her," she added.

She, however, did not divulge details about what was discussed at the hearing.

When asked whether Britney’s frustration could be due to the negative reactions to her appearance last Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards, Wasser said: "Yes. I think she just wants to be a mom, and both of her kids' birthdays are this week, and I think she would've liked to celebrate with them without having to worry about the entire nation - the entire world - being concerned about what's going on with her personally and her custody battle with Mr. Federline."

The attorney was resistant to accept the suggestion that Britney tried to offer Federline a settlement, which he was reluctant to accept.

"I don't believe that's true. They met and are trying to work it out so they don't have to have a judge make determinations for them regarding their kids. I don't know that he was resistant or she was resistant. They are both trying to work to come up with something together," she said.

Federline’s attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan, on the other hand, said that his client was faring well.

When Kaplan was asked whether Britney’s recent public appearance was hindering her case, he said, "I don't know what thing you are referring to, and I'm not going to talk about any strategy. I think how she is doing is something for her attorneys to address."

Britney & K-Fed come face to face

2007-09-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Britney had been hoping that the matter would not go to court.

Britney Spears and ex hubby Kevin Federline met for an unscheduled meeting to discuss their kids just five days before they are due to face each other in family court.

According to People magazine, the singer was the one to ask for the meeting at Century City offices of Spears's attorney Laura Wasser.

A source revealed that though Britney had been hoping that the matter would not go to court, her hopes were dashed by her former hubby.

"Britney asked for [the meeting]. She wants to put an end to this public debacle. However, Kevin [has] refused. He needs more money so he's determined to win this," People quoted the source, as saying.

A source close to Federline confirmed the meeting, but said that Federline going got additional child support.

"He's not going for additional child support in the court papers that were filed. It's not about the money," the source said.

Kanye Krazy?

2007-09-12T10:29:00.001-07:00

Blaming the music channel for Britney Spears' public meltdown, West put the network on blast, saying, "They exploited her, they played me and I really don't mess with MTV." West was upset because he says he wanted to perform his new single, "Stronger," on the show's main stage, but was relegated to a "suite" performance by the network, even though Justin Timberlake, who also performed in a suite on Sunday's show, ended up "on the big stage" to close the broadcast. Hold up, hater!

A source connected to the awards show tells TMZ that Kanye was offered the main stage, but opted for the suite, claiming he wanted to "feel the excitement and energy" of a smaller venue, rather than people just sitting there at tables. In addition, Kanye's "Stronger" performance was pre-taped Friday night -- to give it a "night" look -- as the actual show went live Sunday night at 6:00 PM, while there was still daylight in Vegas. Our sources say Kanye "loved" his act and expressed that to the MTV execs who were all there. We ain't sayin' he's a golddigger...

For their part, MTV says it "has a long and collaborative relationship with Kanye and we hope and look forward to continuing that meaningful relationship."

Sparks-and fists-fly backstage at whacked out VMAs

2007-09-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears’ on-camera meltdown at the MTV Video Music Awards couldn’t hold a candle to the drama going on backstage, and yesterday an irate Kanye West vowed he’d never work with the music network again.

West, who threw a tantrum at the show after being blanked in all five categories he was nominated for, told New York radio station Z100 that he’s cancelled all his upcoming “TRL” appearances to promote his new CD “Graduation.”

“That’s two years in a row, man . . . give a black man a chance,” said West. “I’m trying hard man, I have the No. 1 record, man.”

West said he was also peeved that MTV didn’t allow him to perform on the main stage, instead he was relegated to a suite.

“For me, MTV made it seem like performing on the main stage was a bad thing, and the suites were just so great,” he said. “It was my dream when I made ‘Stronger’ to open up the VMAs with a real power performance.”

West also blasted the music channel for letting Tinseltown trainwreck Britney Spears open the show.

“They exploited Britney in helping to end her career,” he said. “This game will chew you up and spit you out.”

For her part, Spears was so distraught over her embarrassing performance she broke down in tears backstage. According to Us magazine, the trashtastic pop tart was “crying badly.”

“She’s devastated. She was really nervous and knows she screwed up,” a source told Us.

Another spy dished to People.com that Spears’ lip-synching flubs and dance screw-ups were the result of terrible nerves.

“She was just plain nervous because of all the hype . . . . She just got out there and froze.”

And that wasn’t the only VMA fallout.

Police in Las Vegas cited Kid Rock, the former husband of actress Pamela Anderson, for suspicion of battery after a backstage scuffle with her other ex, Tommy Lee. The two men got into a fight while singer Alicia Keys was performing during the two-hour show Sunday.

While it’s unclear why the brawl broke out, observers speculated that Lee’s man-handling of Anderson may have sent Rock over the edge. Anderson was married to Rock for four months last year. She and Lee, who have two sons together, were wed for three years.

Las Vegas police said that Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, was cited for misdemeanor battery after investigators determined from interviews with both men and eyewitness accounts that he was the instigator.

“He was deemed to be the primary aggressor,” said police spokesman Bill Castle.

According to an audience member, the aging rockers “had each other at the necks, they were practically strangling each other.”

Another eyewitness spotted the Motley Crue drummer being escorted out of the venue and into the main casino “screaming the f-word over and over again.”

MTV posted a short video clip of the altercation, showing Rock and Lee being pulled apart by security guards as they shouted at one another. But what the two men said was inaudible.

Lee insisted to “The Insider” he was “trying to be the bigger man,” when the Detroit rocker approached him and socked him in the jaw.

“I was about to put Kid in the emergency room when security grabbed me,” the 44-year-old boasted. “They said, “If you move, we will break your arms.’ ”

The near-brawl did provide a few extra laughs during the award show when presenter Jamie Foxx called on the boys to “stop all of this white-on-white crime.”

“Tommy Lee and Kid Rock fighting like black folks - it’s hilarious,” he said. “Who won? I was in the bathroom. Pamela Anderson has got a hard choice to make.”

Michael Jacksons New Song 'Fake'

2007-09-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

A song touted as the first new release from MICHAEL JACKSON in four years is a fake, according to the pop superstar's representative.

Radio bosses at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania station 93.1 Kiis FM aired dance track Mamacita, which contains segments sung in Spanish, earlier this week (begs03Sep07), and claimed it was Jackson's work.

However, the King Of Pop's spokesman Raymone Bain denies Mamacita is a Jackson song, telling Eurweb that he "has not released any music yet".

Lohan Reunion 'Amazing'

2007-09-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

HOLLYWOOD - Michael Lohan is ecstatic after his "amazing" reunion with his estranged daughter Lindsay.

Former convict Michael visited the 21-year-old singer/actress at the Cirque Lodge rehabilitation center in Utah on Thursday, where she has been seeking treatment since last month.

Father and daughter hadn't seen each other since Michael went to prison in New York after he was found guilty of driving while intoxicated and other charges two years ago.

An eyewitness to the reunion tells TV channel E!, "The moment Lindsay saw Michael, she started running and jumped into her father's arms. Her father hugged her and swung her around. Lindsay was so happy. It was very emotional."

Leaving Cirque Lodge after their meeting, Michael said, "I can't comment on my relationship with my daughter. But (the reunion) was amazing."

Michael is planning to visit Lindsay again during his stay in Utah, before he returns to New York on Saturday.

Ledger arrives solo for Venice festival

2007-09-04T08:44:00.001-07:00

Actor Heath Ledger arrived at the Venice Film Festival alone today as family confirmed he has split from partner Michelle Williams. The couple are said to have separated after three years together.

'Brokeback Mountain' star Ledger, 28, looked grim-faced and spoke only briefly during a press conference for his new Bob Dylan film 'I'm Not There'. Williams, 26, also appears in the movie but did not accompany him to promote it.

The couple got together while filming 'Brokeback Mountain' in 2004 and their daughter Matilda was born in October 2005.

Williams' father, Larry, told Australia's Daily Telegraph: "We have known about their troubles for a while but it's always a very difficult thing in life when these things happen. I know Heath and Michelle still care about each other deeply and are very committed to being great parents to their daughter."

He blamed pressures of work for their break-up, saying: "You can never be stunned by what happens in Hollywood - I learned that when we were dealing with Michelle's career when she was younger. Michelle was grown up at 16 and, just like Heath, her life has had an extremely fast
pace to it. I feel tremendously for her and for him, and hope they will find what they want in life."

The split has not yet been officially confirmed by the couple's publicist but they are believed to have parted amicably several weeks ago.

The secret behind Zeta-Jones' svelte figure

2007-09-03T07:55:00.001-07:00

Catherine Zeta-Jones revealed that she got back her svelte look after her pregnancies through a combination of healthy eating and a rigorous exercise regime.

The 37-year-old, who once admitted that reducing after giving birth would be hard, featured in the InStyle magazine showing off perfectly toned legs and a trim midriff.

The actress has to be extra cautious now about her fitness regime as she is playing role of a New York chef in her latest film, No Reservations.

'I have to drag myself to the gym like everyone else,' Daily mail quoted Zeta-Jones, as saying.

'But I do eat sensibly and have lots of chicken -- although if I could eat only three foods for the rest of my life, it would also be smoked salmon sandwiches with potato chips crunched inside and fish and chips if I did not put on weight,' she added.

She also revealed that she indulged in her favourite sandwiches while carrying Dylan, 7, and Carys, 4.

Troubled Amy back in UK

2007-09-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse arrived back in the UK today as concern continues to mount about the troubled singer.

Winehouse, 23, and husband Blake Fielder-Civil were photographed at Gatwick on their return from a five-star resort on St Lucia in the Caribbean.

The singer, who has cancelled a string of performances, is nominated for a Mercury Award, and is due at the London ceremony tomorrow.

Brit-award winner Winehouse was admitted to hospital last month after a reported overdose of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol.

The couple went on holiday after Winehouse quit rehab for a second time.

But pictures of the talented singer on holiday have sparked concern that she is still using hard drugs.

Before she went away, Winehouse was seen bloodstained and covered in scratches after quitting rehab with her husband.

The Back to Black singer shocked her fans with her blood-soaked ballet shoes, bruises to her neck, bandages on her arms and make-up smeared down her face.

Fielder-Civil had scratches covering his face and neck.

Iraq War Films Highlight Brutalization of Soldiers

2007-09-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

On the Lido, a paradisical Adriatic island, Venice Film Festival audiences were shown the horrors of war — and the U.S. occupation of Iraq — in two American movies premiering here. Brian De Palma's Redacted dramatizes the inhuman violence U.S. soldiers can be driven to commit in a country of which they know little, except that death can erupt anywhere. In the Valley of Elah, from Paul Haggis, who received a Best Picture Academy Award for Crash, enlists three other Oscar winners (Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon) in a story of the war brought home.

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Both films are based on actual atrocities. Redacted is inspired by the March 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, Abeer Qasim Hamza, and the killing of her family and torching of their bodies and their home, by four American soldiers. Three of the GI's have been convicted by military juries, earning from 90 to 110 years in prison. The fourth, who was discharged from the Army before charges were brought, is to be tried in criminal court; the prosecutor handling the case says he will seek the death penalty.

Elah is based on a Playboy investigative article, Mark Boal's "Death and Dishonor," about a returned Iraq vet whose body was found near an Army base, hacked to pieces with dozens of stab wounds.

In their styles, the movies are poles apart: Redacted is constructed entirely of seemingly real snippets of media: YouTube-like blogs, video posts, picture-phone emails and a daily video record of the war kept by one soldier, Angel Salazar (Izzy Diaz); it's a multimedia mockumentary. Elah is more traditional, a crime procedural that involves a police detective (Theron) and the murdered GI's father (Jones). But both films have a startling impact and a lingering chill. Just as important, both demand that their viewers consider the cost of the government's decision to invade a land no American was properly prepared for fighting in.

The cost — beyond the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives, beyond the toxic inflaming of the Middle East and the trashing of our country's reputation — is surely the reckless endangerment of U.S. soldiers' physical and mental health. They go over to Iraq whole; of those who make it back, many return with body parts missing or minds horribly damaged. Health officials report a huge increase in spousal and child abuse by returning vets.

How long will America keep paying for the psychic wounds its good young men encountered in Iraq? How long will they be emotionally disabled by their experiences? Rachel Maddow, one of the sharpest political commentators around, said on her Air America show a few weeks ago that the war in Iraq would not end for another 75 years — until the last haunted vet dies, still screaming out his nightmares.

MURDER IN IRAQ: SEE IT NOW ON YOUTUBE

What was the upside for young Americans sent overseas in World Wars I and II? Two things: They could kill the enemy, and have sex with the local ladies. Neither applies in Iraq. The enemy is almost impossible to identify — it could be man, woman or child — and Muslim women would risk death if they had sex with the infidel invaders, even if they were so inclined.

These frustrations are at the heart of the drama in Redacted. The Iraqis are not guys in different uniforms, or women one might woo; they are walking frag bombs, more animal or mineral than human. And when the members of one squad stationed in at a checkpoint in Samarra see their sergeant blown up while sweeping a dump site (his severed arm lands in front of Salazar's camera), they gradually go a little nuts.

Their attitude has never been exactly enlightened. They refer to Iraqis as "sand n-----s," and when one car goes speeding toward the checkpoint (after, the driver says, being waved through), they blow it up, injuring the driver and killing the woman in the back seat, who had been about to give birth. After the sergeant's death, one of the squad's less evolved members, B.B. Rush (Daniel Stewart Sherman), starts frisking an Iraqi schoolgirl with unseemly sexual forcefulness.

Later, over a drunken poker game, Rush and his redneck pal Flake (Patrick Carroll) think it'd be fun to return to a house they had searched and pay a little more attention to the pretty Iraqi girl who lives there. They do that, dragging along some of their reluctant buddies, and in a long scene that shocks and sickens, commit their crimes of passion and vengeance.

If you're wondering about journalistic impartiality, I should say that not all the violence in Redacted is the soldiers'. After the rape-murder, one of the squad is kidnapped by an insurgent group; in a video on the group's website, we see the soldier condemned to death, his throat slit, his severed head held up. But, you could say, those are the tactics of jihadists; they're supposed to behave abominably. We're not. And if we did, we're obliged to ask why.

In Venice, De Palma explained that "redacted" is the military's euphemism for the editing, in fact censoring, of impolitic comments in war documents, including servicemen's letters to the folks back home. (The Army also recently forbade its soldiers access to YouTube; but emails and videophone messages still get through.) "Sadly," De Palma said, "the true story of the war in Iraq has been redacted from the mainstream corporate media. I did this film because I believe that if we as a country are going to cause such disorder we must also be prepared to face the horrendous images that result from these events." And in the current video culture, he added, "The pictures are what will stop the war. If we get these pictures and stories in front of a mass audience, maybe it will do something."

Salazar, who hopes his video record will get him into film school, is the movie's recording Angel; he tells one of his squad subjects, "The camera never lies." That's nonsense, the other soldier says, "The camera does nothing but lie." De Palma has been investigating the question of visual veracity for most of his 40-year career. Redacted takes him back, back, past the Hitchcock homages and the action epics, back to his earliest films: Greetings! and Hi, Mom!, two innovative satires on the Vietnam War. The first film has clips of Lyndon Johnson addressing the nation on TV, and a character obsessed with the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination. Hi, Mom! follows a Viet vet (Robert De Niro) with a movie camera, recording what he sees and what he does, including bombing his own housing development, an action that kills his pregnant wife and his dog. In the 60s and today, De Palma says, war does bad stuff to people.

His new movie has torrents of words and goes heavy on macho posturing; at times it suggests a ragged off-off-Broadway play. And De Palma is not going for subtlety here: Flake, the craziest of the squad members, has a Confederate flag for his bedspread — he's a lunatic Reb. But Redacted pretty successfully sustains a dual level of hysteria (in its content) and disinterest (in its film-long framing devices). It's an amazingly vigorous work for a filmmaker who turns 67 on Sept. 11, and his strongest cinematic and political statement at least since Casualties of War, his Vietnam film of 1989. The movie is a cry of national shame; for De Palma, it's a new badge of honor for a wily old vet.

DAVID VS GOLIATH: WHO WINS?

The valley of Elah is where the Philistines sent out their Goliath to terrify the Israelites, and where young David felled the giant with his trusty slingshot. Haggis wants you to ask: In Iraq, who is the good guy, who the enemy? And how does one turn into the other?

Hank Deerfield (Jones) is a terse, honorable man, an ex-soldier who, against the pleas of his wife (Sarandon), encouraged his son to enlist for Iraq. Now he learns that the boy, Mike, has been back in the States without telling his family and, much worse, has been found murdered. Was the crime drug-related? Hank is skeptical. He tells an Army doctor, "You know, the Army does regular drug tests on its soldiers." The doctor replies: "Not when they're in Iraq."

Hank knows a lot — the number of men in an infantry unit, the way a blue car looks green under a yellow streetlight — but he has much to learn about the effect of this war on today's young men. One vet has drowned his wife's dog, and later drowns her in a bathtub. Hank has also hears that Mike had been called Doc by his comrades. Why? Because, on patrol in Iraq, Doc would "stick his hand in some hadji's wound and say, Does that hurt?' And the hadji would say yes. Then he'd stick it in again and say, Does that hurt?' That's how he got the name Doc."

Those of us who weren't crazy about Crash thought it reduced each of its dozens of characters to one small virtue and big flaw. This time Haggis is more open to his characters' drives and demons. The good guys, the ones so well played by Jones, Theron and Sarandon, have nuances worth noting; and even the ones capable of committing the most heinous crimes seem like decent people to whom some awful thing happened. (Special mention to Wes Chatham, who could be Matt Damon's younger, cuter brother, as a soldier testifying to Hank about the killing.) The combination of dedicated actors and a superior script helps make Elah a far more satisfying film than Crash.

Both films end with powerful visual statements: a montage of real people killed in Iraq, the raising of an American flag upside down, as a traditional distress signal to other nations. We need help, these wrenching films say, when we can no longer help ourselves.

Britney hires private investigators

2007-08-31T08:16:00.001-07:00

Detectives from Javoric’s agency have been watching Federline’s every move as he parties in Las Vegas, and are especially keeping a close watch on who comes and goes from his suite.

As they get set to battle over the custody of their sons, Britney Spears is trying to get an upper hand on her Kevin Federline by reportedly hiring a top California private detective to monitor her ex hubby.

Britney is said to be reacting to Federline serving her friends and her aides with subpoenas to testify in the custody trial.

And she’s now turned to Lisa Javoric to dig up dirt on her ex husband.

Detectives from Javoric’s agency have been watching Federline’s every move as he parties in Las Vegas, and are especially keeping a close watch on who comes and goes from his suite, a source tells In Touch Weekly.

"The detective watched him intently as Kevin partied in public areas of the hotel. He made a note of everyone who went into his suite," Contactmusic quoted the source, as telling the publication.

Britney is said to be hoping that the information the PI gathers will be enough to ensure that she gets custody of the couples two young sons - Sean Preston and Jayden James.

Federline, in the meantime, has managed to serve Britney’s former manager Larry Rudolph with papers to testify in court.

Amy Winehouse's no to MTV

2007-08-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse will not perform at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The troubled singer - who is currently on holiday with husband Blake Fielder-Civil on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia - was due to sing at the event but her record label, Universal, announced yesterday (29.08.07) she will definitely not be taking to the stage.

Amy, 23, has also cancelled all her US tour dates, after initially postponing them. Her label said this decision was made "in a continued effort to support Amy's wellbeing."

The announcement comes just weeks after the 'Back to Black' singer cancelled her entire 25-date European tour and remaining British festival appearances after overdosing on a cocktail of drugs.

The 'Back to Black' singer is up for three MTV awards, including Best New Artist, at the glitzy ceremony which takes place at Las Vegas' Palm Springs Casino Resort on September 9.

Amy and Blake, 26, have shocked the world in recent weeks as details of their excessive drug use and turbulent private life have emerged.

Last week, disturbing photos of the couple arguing on the streets of London which showed Blake with deep scratches to his face and neck, and a clearly distressed Amy with bandages covering cuts on her arms and blood-soaked feet, thought to be caused by injecting drugs.

She later sent a text message to online gossip columnist Perez Hilton claiming she was responsible for the injuries and that Blake had stopped her from self-harming and taking heroin with a prostitute.

Owen Wilson drops out of comedy after suicide bid: reports

2007-08-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Actor Owen Wilson has withdrawn from his next movie project after being hospitalized following his attempted suicide, entertainment industry press reported Wednesday.

The 38-year-old comedian, who is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital after being found at his home by family members on Sunday, had been due to take part in "Tropic Thunder," directed by friend and long-time collaborator Ben Stiller.

However trade journals Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter said Wilson had now dropped out of the film, which began shooting in Hawaii recently.

"Ben and Owen have made eight movies together," a source close to the project was quoted by Variety as saying. "And (Ben) can't wait to work with Owen again. It's just not going to be on this film."

Both DreamWorks and Wilson's personal publicist declined to comment.

Stiller and Wilson starred together in several comedies, most notably "Starsky & Hutch," "Zoolander" and "The Royal Tenenbaums."

Wilson has appealed for privacy since being admitted to hospital. A Santa Monica Police Department log released on Tuesday showed officers had responded to a report of a suicide attempt at Wilson's home.

Winehouse In-Law Urges Boycott

2007-08-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse's in-laws are apparently firm believers in tough love. Her own parents, not so much.

The father of Blake Fielder-Civil, Winehouse's hubby of three months, has spoken out about the much-chronicled downward spiral of the musically-inclined couple, and is calling for a fan boycott of the "Rehab" singer's music as a last-ditch effort to send a message to what he deems a drug addicted duo.

"At the moment, they don't admit there's a problem, so we do urge other people to help them recognize their own problems," Giles Fielder-Civil told BBC Radio Five Live Tuesday.

"They are seen as a couple who display sorts of behavior that can be seen as almost entertaining, especially for the tabloid newspapers, and I think it's about time that their friends and professional colleagues say, 'enough is enough.'"

"Perhaps it's come to the point where—and I wouldn't want any harm to come to Amy or Blake, obviously—but perhaps it's time to stop buying records."

The in-law spoke out about the couple's increasingly destructive behavior in recent weeks, claiming their take on their own addictions is one of "abject denial," saying the duo not only "don't see themselves as having a problem," but are "quite aggressive in their defense of themselves."

"I think they believe that they are recreational users of drugs and that they are in control."

Fielder-Civil, however, doesn't.

Citing cocaine, crack and heroin as the likeliest drugs the duo has been taking in increasing doses over the past few months, the concerned father told BBC Radio that as a parent, he was concerned "that if one of them dies, the other will die."

"They're a very close couple. If one dies through substance abuse, the other may commit suicide...and if they died within the next 12 to 24 months, it would be such a tragic waste."

The problem, according to Fielder-Civil, is that the couple cannot recognize their problem. Even the couple's very brief stint at the Causeway rehab center earlier this month, which they checked into in the wake of Winehouse's hospitalization for "severe exhaustion," the in-law claims was never meant to be a fix.

"Those visits to the Causeway were really in a sense to get them out of the way," he said. "It was hoped that they would recognize their own problems, that they would then take on a course of action that would help them kick this habit, but they haven't and it hasn't been successful. And I think looking back in hindsight, it wasn't the best option."

Not only that, but he believes the duo even "took a supply" with them to get them through the three days in the center.

Winehouse's father seconded the contraband notion when he phoned into the same BBC Radio show Tuesday to answer Fielder-Civil's call for a boycott.

"They were indulging in other things during the stay," he said of their time at the facility, adding he hoped they would make their way back there.

As for Fielder-Civil's grave warnings about the duo, Winehouse doesn't deny that a problem exists, but doesn't quite paint as bleak a portrait of the couple as his fellow parent.

"We're not talking about people who are in imminent danger of death," he said, adding that his Back to Black daughter and her hubby had "taken a different route" in terms of drug taking in the last three or four months.

"We have two families pulling in different directions," he said of their approach to helping the famous couple. "Basically, we both want the same things, we want our children to be safe. But we've got different ideas of how to do that."

Like the proposed boycott.

"Will it do any good? No. It won't send any message to Amy at all, unfortunately. If I thought it would, it would be a great idea. I'm clutching at straws. It's all clutching at straws."

It's a feeling Winehouse said he felt even more acutely in the wake of bloodied, scratched up photos surfacing of the duo on a London street last week.

"I thought that here are two people that are completely out of control," he said, adding that "my understanding is that they didn't do it to each other. As a parent, it was sickening. Worse than sickening. I wanted to die."

Still, Winehouse thinks the key to the couple's recovery is getting them to sober up is to first let them hit rock bottom—if they haven't already.

"They are a married couple, they love each other—although obviously there are issues in the relationship if they feel they've got to cut themselves to demonstrate their love for each other—and if it means that they get cured together, I hope they get cured together. If it means they get cured by being separated, then so be it."

"The only way out of this is, at some point, they are gonna reach rock bottom. And at that point, they will say, listen, I don't want to do this anymore. That's their decision to make. When the decision is right, they'll make it. Or they won't make it."

The couple is currently vacationing together in a secluded, undisclosed location.

Britney can't give up life in the fast lane

2007-08-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse: Now Covered In Blood

2007-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

They tried to make Amy Winehouse go to rehab, she said "no no no" - but they tried to make Amy Winehouse do drugs with a hooker until she got in a fight with her husband and they left their hotel covered in blood, and she said "OK."

You literally can't open a newspaper today without seeing pictures of Amy Winehouse and her husband Blake Fielder-Civil staggering around outside a hotel looking like they've both gone 12 rounds with a particularly vicious tiger. And you'll have read the claims saying that Amy Winehouse got in that state because Blake Fielder-Civil had been beating her up. But it appears that these claims couldn't be further from the truth - Amy Winehouse herself has come forward to say that the reason she was pictured covered with blood is because she was trying to cut herself and do drugs with a prostitute and her husband told her not to. Which, we're sure you can all agree, is much better.

We've decided that making jokes at Amy Winehouse's expense is a bit of a pointless exercise - not because she's obviously in a very fragile mental and physical state at the moment but because the amount of successive rock bottoms that Amy Winehouse keeps crashing through instantly renders all jokes about her redundant.

Last time we heard from her, Amy Winehouse had cancelled her American tour because she recently took all the drugs in the universe and needed to get her stomach pumped before realising that drug overdoses weren't fun and going off to a special rehab on a private island. Then leaving rehab to go down the pub. Then going back to rehab. Sounded like Amy Winehouse had reached rock bottom, hadn't it? Hadn't it?

Wrong! Because in every single one of today's papers we can see pictures of Amy Winehouse covered in blood because she'd apparently been in a vicious hotel room fight with her husband. The Daily Mail reports:

An eyewitness said: "Just after 3am, Amy came sprinting out and down the road. She was in a real state of panic. Blake was running after her, but couldn't catch up. Amy was so hell-bent on getting away from him that she ran into the middle of the street and flagged down a random car that happened to be full of girls. She was saying, 'Quickly, I have to get in, I have to get away, please help me'. Her voice was breaking, you could tell she was scared. The car drove off at speed and ended up about a mile away at Charing Cross station… Blake ran after the car for a while. He spent the next half hour or so wandering around in a daze with blood over his face, looking in doorways for her."

Wow, so Amy Winehouse was beaten up by her husband? That has to be rock bottom, surely. Well, yes, until you read Amy Winehouse's account of what happened, which makes a little bit of wife-beating seem like the least tawdry pursuit on the face of the earth. Blake only got angry at Amy Winehouse because he caught her cutting herself and doing drugs with a prostitute. This is what Amy Winehouse told Perez Hilton in his one of his rare breaks from scrawling the word 'skank' on a picture of Britney Spears like some sort of cake-addled toddler:

"Blake is the best man in the world. We would never ever harm each other… I was cutting myself after he found me in our room about to do drugs with a call girl and rightly said I wasn't good enough for him. I lost it and he saved my life… He did not and never has hurt me. He has such a hard time and he so supportive… He is an amazing man who saved my life again and got cut badly for his troubles. All he get's is horrible stories printed about him and he just keeps quiet, but this is too much."

OK, so Amy Winehouse attacked her husband because he saw her self-mutilating just before she was about to take some drugs with a prostitute in a hotel just over a week since she had a near-fatal drug overdose. That has to be rock bottom, right?

Well, yes. For now. But join us next week when Amy Winehouse has unprotected sex with an HIV monkey, stars in a harrowing bukkake video then empties the contents of her stomach, bladder and bowels into a barrel of dirty heroin syringes before jumping in and dancing the Macarena to No Surprises by Radiohead in slow motion.

Amy Winehouse Postpones U.S. Tour on Health

2007-08-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Amy Winehouse postponed her tour of the U.S. and Canada, citing poor health and exhaustion.

The singer is still scheduled to go ahead with U.K. concerts in October and November, her record company Island said today in an e-mailed statement. The missed shows will be rescheduled in early 2008.

``Due to the rigors involved in touring, Amy Winehouse, who is taking time out to address her health issues, has been advised to postpone,'' Shane O'Neill, head of press for Island, said in the statement.

Winehouse, 23, was treated in hospital earlier this month for ``severe exhaustion,'' the BBC reported on its Web Site. She has denied newspaper reports of drug abuse, though her husband Blake Fielder-Civil said the couple had been in a rehabilitation clinic, the BBC said.

Winehouse had already canceled concerts including the V Festival in Chelmsford and Staffordshire, England, support gigs with the Rolling Stones in Germany, and the Rock en Seine event near Paris.

Her second album ``Back to Black'' has gone platinum in both the U.S. and the U.K. and is the favorite to win Britain's Nationwide Mercury Prize. Its singles include ``Rehab'' and ``You Know I'm No Good,'' both mixing R&B with jazz.

Winehouse swiftly followed the album with sell-out concerts, a BRIT award, marriage, and headlines about drink and tattoos.

Winehouse is also nominated for three prizes at next month's MTV Video Music Awards in the U.S.: best female artist of the year, best new artist and video of the year (for ``Rehab''). Island Records made no further comment, so it is not known if she will now perform at the Las Vegas MTV event on Sept. 9.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Beech in London at

Paris set for ‘Big Brother’

2007-08-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

A Big Brother source said that the show’s bosses are in talks to rope in ‘The Simple Life’ star.

Paris Hilton is reportedly set to star in reality TV series Big Brother.

The former jailbird has been offered 300,000 pounds to appear in the Channel 4 programme scheduled for January 2008.

The offer makes the hotel heiress the highest paid celebrity on the show so far.

A Big Brother source said that the show’s bosses are in talks to rope in ‘The Simple Life’ star.

“We told Paris, ‘Name your price’. We’re in firm talks, and it would be a fantastic coup to get her,” the Sun quoted an insider, as saying.

Another source said that Hilton wants to disprove her ‘bimbo’ and ‘wild child reputation’.

“She wants people to see that she’s not a bimbo or a wild child,” the source said.

"She would easily be the star of the show - but obviously she won’t do it unless the money is right,” the source added.

However, there is no news on other inmates on the show.

Spears rehab clinic given court order

2007-08-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears's rehab clinic has become the latest target to be issued a court order by the singer's ex-husband Kevin Federline to give evidence in their custody battle.

The administrator at the Promises rehab centre will have to give evidence about Britney's parenting after she stayed there in March.

It comes after Federline's lawyer also issued subpoenas to Spears' cousin Alli Sims, her former PA Shannon Funk and ex-bodyguard Jonathan Rotem over the pair's boys Sean Preston and Jayden James.

The 'Toxic' singer is hoping that patient/doctor confidentiality will mean that they can't give too much away about her stay at the clinic, but a top lawyer has warned they could be allowed to tell all.

He said: "Because there is an issue of substance abuse and her mental state in this custody battle, the judge is probably going to allow it."

Britney's pal asked to testify about her parenting skills

2007-08-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Washington, Aug 13 (ANI): Britney Spears' friend has reportedly been served legal papers by the pop star's ex-hubby, Kevin Federline, to testify about Spears' parenting skills.

The 'Toxic' star's close friend, Alli Sims, who was handed over a deposition subpoena, or court orders, has been asked to appear for the trial in which Federline is seeking primary custody of his two kids.

A source said that Sims was shocked upon receiving the papers from a private security agency, as she left a party, reports Contactmusic.

"Alli was really shocked and covered her face. [She was] really distraught and said 'Oh my God,'" a source told People magazine.

On August 8, Federline filed a show cause order for the primary physical custody of his two kids.

It is said that Federline made his latest move after pictures of the topless pop star in a hotel pool surfaced.

Potter box office at 345 mln pounds

2007-08-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Global box office sales for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the latest film about the boy wizard, have reached $700 million (345 million pound), media company Time Warner said on Wednesday.

"We're looking for a very big year for Warner and New Line," Time Warner Chief Executive Richard Parsons said of the company's two film studios. The Harry Potter film was released by Warner Bros.

Parsons also said he expects film division results in the second half will rise "strongly" from a year before.

Osian's Cinefan fest ends on a high note

2007-07-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: The ninth Osian’s Cinefan Festival, drew to a close on Sunday in the Capital after a week of some good cinema and a tanking celebrity quotient.

“Festivals are so important for cinema. Why do you need a star to make it big? It’s about good cinema,” says actor Manoj Bajpai.

Kiron Kher adds, “People whose movies were screened have already come and gone.”

With the Japanese cinema being the main course this year around, the Hindi films remained nothing more than sumptuous appetiser on the Osian’s menu with just two awards in the kitty. Kay Kay Menon won the best actor award for his role in Shoonya and a film called Frozen, shot on the icy locales in Ladakh bagged the special jury award.

Tamil film Paruthiveeran won the award for best film and also the best actress for its female lead Priya Mani.

The award for the best film in the Arab and Asian section was bagged by Desert dream directed by a Chinese director Zhanglu, and the best actor award went to Arab actor Lotfi Abdeli for his role in the Tunisian film Making of.

But do festivals like this one spell good business for these independent filmmakers?

“We need to create an audience for it, and then its the demand and the supply,” says actress Nandita Das.

And it seems that’s the demand that has been inching up at Osian’s Cinefan.

“I have got a few distributors wanting for me at Mumbai and somebody asked me for Spanish rights of the films,” says director of Frozen, Shivajee Chandrabhushan.

ROWLING EXPLAINS CHANGING LAST WORD IN HARRY POTTER

2007-07-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

Spoiler alert: If you haven't finished "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," you may not want to read any further.

It was widely reported that the last word of the final Harry Potter book was "scar" and for years Rowling said that was true.

In the epilogue, which is set19 years after the defeat of Voldemort, Rowling paints a picture of Harry standing on platform 9 3/4, his nearest and dearest surrounding him. In her original draft, the last line was “Only those who he loved could see the lightening scar,’” ….or “something like” that, she told Meredith Vieira in an exclusive interview.

Ultimately, Rowling felt that line was too ambiguous, begging the question about whether the scar was still there or not. She said wanted a more concrete statement that Harry had won; Voldemort had been defeated. The scar was still there, but now it was only a scar.

“I wanted to say it’s over. It’s done.”

Rowling changed the last line to: “All was well.”

“That felt right,” she said.

More from Meredith Vieira's interview with J.K. Rowling:

Rowling's big regret: Never told mom about Harry
Finished 'Potter'? Rowling tells what happens next
Stop your sobbing! More Potter to come
Rowling's mind games with Daniel Radcliffe
Rowling brings Meredith Vieira to tears
Full Harry Potter coverage

Spears' bodyguard 'assaults' Vegas snapper

2007-07-28T09:06:00.001-07:00

Troubled singer Britney Spears' bodyguard Julio 'JC' Camera has been accused of assaulting a photographer in Las Vegas on Thursday morning.

A paparazzo was attempting to take photos of Spears and her children Sean Preston and Jayden James as they walked through the Wynn Hotel & Casino just
before noon on Thursday, when Camera alleged lashed out.

America's Us Weekly magazine reports eyewitnesses claim Camera shoved the photographer's partner Kyle Henderson in the chest and accidentally hit 22-month-old Sean Preston.

After his alleged altercation with Henderson, Camera reportedly attacked Henderson's partner and began punching him.

Both parties were asked to leave the Wynn by resort security and Spears has since checked out of the hotel.

The unnamed photographer sustained "minor abrasions" and filed a police complaint against Camera.

The Las Vegas Police Department have confirmed Camera has been cited for misdemeanour battery.

Meanwhile, Spears has accused Henderson of battery of Sean Preston in a police complaint.

'Bow Barracks Forever' is a realistic but badly shot film

2007-07-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Tucked away in a corner of North Kolkata, the anglo-Indian community residing in Bow Barracks, a now-dilapidated building that had originally been built for World War II soldiers, is struggling to survive. The fear of losing their homes looms large over their heads as real-estate agents threaten to pull down this crumbling building which the residents can neither afford to repair, nor are willing to give up and relocate. It is the story of these residents, their individual successes and failures, and their collective spirit of resilience in their helplessness that forms the real plot of this week's new release "Bow Barracks Forever".

This motley group of lower-middle class dwellers includes all flesh-and-blood characters whose stories are instantly relatable. Like the widow who lives in the hope that her older son will one day call and invite her to live with him in London. Or the young wife who's tired of being beaten by her husband everyday, clinging on to the hope that she'll run away with her lover soon. Or the middle-aged woman who's sick of life with her boring husband in her one-bedroom apartment who yearns for a better life. This film peeps into their homes and their lives watching them go about their day, grappling with challenges, but eventually coming together for one another. And that's really the core element of this film - the sense of community, the feeling that we're-all-in-this-together.

Based on what is undeniably an interesting premise, "Bow Barracks Forever" loses much of its appeal because of its amateurish direction. Cliches are strewn around the film generously where there was need for none. Look at how every character speaks with a fake accent, look at how every single line of dialogue ends with the word 'man', reinforcing a stereotype that is so old and so tired. I'm aware that a lot of people do speak that way, but in reality it's out of habit, whereas in the film it just seems forced and fake since it's so repetitive and since every single character speaks the same way.

Also director Anjan Dutt attempts to force a sense of drama into his edit, where once again there is need for none. Cutting alternately between a song and a dramatic scene - and using this device three times in the film - he delivers no sense of climax at the end of each song, thus defeating the entire purpose of this editing pattern.

There's an unwritten rule in filmmaking - that the director must be committed to presenting his actors respectably on screen. But it's evident Anjan Dutt, the director of "Bow Barracks Forever" feels no such obligation towards his actors. In fact, he shoots his actors so unflatteringly, you feel sorry for the poor guys who've probably taken a pay cut to star in this low-budget film.

Moon Moon Sen is filmed from all the wrong angles, and I'm not talking here just about the ample display of her bosom that we're treated to, but just the careless and irresponsible manner in which the director captures her excess weight for all to see. There's a scene in which a schoolgirl in uniform comes bouncing into camera, and it's reprehensible how the director has filmed that scene. But perhaps worst of all is that scene in which a young man gets out of bed after a love-making session, his underwear just barely hanging off his bottom.

Whether mistakenly shot in this manner, or intentionally shot like this for effect, I have to say these scenes are tasteless and they only point to the fact that the film's director has neither shooting skill nor judgement. As for the gratuitous sex scene between Moon Moon Sen and her lover, I suppose it was meant to be filmed in that urgent, impassioned style, but why subject us to that scene in which her middle-aged, over-weight lover roams about her home in his tight blue speedos? Surely that was a sight we could have lived without.

Despite all its shortcomings, "Bow Barracks Forever" is still an engaging film to watch because it's got an old-world charm to it that you don't find in many films today. It holds your interest till the very end because you can sympathise with the protagonists and relate to their pain. I'm not in agreement with the film's marketing, which positions it as a story about people who love their home too much to let it go. That's not what I got from the film. I see it more as the story of these unfortunate people who cling on to their home because they have nowhere else to go.

They're united by the fact that this is the best they can do. It's left pretty much to the actors to make this film work, and barring a few wrong notes, it is the ensemble that is the film's major strength. Debutant Clayton Rodgers plays Bradley the simmering young misunderstood boy, but apart from one good outburst scene in the end, he pretty much leaves you cold and unaffected. As Peter the Cheater, the alcoholic small-time con, Victor Banerjee is in parts delightful, but hams it up occasionally.
Lilette Dubey constructs an endearing character out of Emily Lobo, but at times you cringe at the lines she's been asked to deliver. The finest performance in the film, ironically comes from Rupa Ganguly who appears in only two scenes, but she's just marvelous and spontaneous and she brings tears to your eyes by the way she brings to life her doomed character.

In the end if "Bow Barracks Forever" works for you it's in spite of director Anjan Dutta, not because of him. Dutta botches up too many scenes carelessly, even sets off the subplot of a murder in the film, then doesn't take it anywhere. If the film holds its own, it's because the plot itself has meat to it and because you fall in love with its characters. With a more competent director at the helm, this film could have been so much more. That's two out of five and an average rating for director Anjan Dutta's "Bow Barracks Forever", give it a chance and you just might be pleasantly surprised.

Rajeev Masand

Lindsay Lohan Claims She's Innocent

2007-07-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

In a July 24 e-mail to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, the 21-year-old actress wrote "I am innocent...did not do drugs they're not mine. I was almost hit by my assistant Taryn's mom I appreciate everyone giving me my privacy."

Lohan was arrested and released on bail early that morning in Santa Monica for driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, and felony cocaine possession. The arrest occurred less than two weeks after she completed her second stint at a rehab facility.

Police found cocaine in one of Lohan's pockets during a pre-booking search, according to Sgt. Shane Talbot. Police initially said Lohan was being booked for transportation of a narcotic, but later said she was not.

Authorities received a 911 emergency call from the mother of Lohan's former personal assistant saying that Lohan was chasing her in a sport utility vehicle.

The assistant had reportedly quit hours before. Lohan still faces charges of driving under the influence, stemming from a May hit-and-run crash in Beverly Hills.

Her attorney, Blair Berk, said she was wearing an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet since her July 13 from a rehab facility, and received daily sobriety tests. She said Lohan had relapsed and was receiving medical care at an undisclosed location. Lohan's publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, had no comment.

Sienna Miller ‘shell-shocked’ by poverty in India

2007-07-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

London, July 23: Brit star Sienna Miller was shocked at the extent of poverty in India, during her recent visit as an ambassador for Global Cool.

The 25-year-old who is set to do her bit on spreading environmental awareness revealed that she was ‘shell-shocked’ to see the Bandra Kurla slum in Mumbai.

“I’m feeling a bit shell-shocked. It was unbelievable to see poverty on that scale, especially as it was combined with such a sense of togetherness. There were all these children running around, giving us hugs and asking our names,” Timesonline quoted Miller, as saying.

The actress insisted that she felt ‘sick’ sitting in the luxurious Taj Lands End hotel knowing the condition of the people suffering in the slums.

“What’s scary is that the river flooded two years ago and if it floods again the entire slum will be submerged. God forbid, because the water is ridden with disease and filth. Now I’m back here in the hotel with the air-conditioning and the elevators and the room service, I’m feeling completely sick,” she said.

Kate goes house hunting

2007-07-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Kate Moss has spent the past week viewing houses in St John's Wood in North London, according to reports.

She already has a rather swish pad in the area but it's thought the supermodel has decided she wants a place with a bit more privacy.

Neighbours of the Croydon-born beauty have said she's sick of the paparazzi camping on her doorstep.

Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Pete Doherty is rumoured to be having another heroin implant to try to beat his drug habit.

The rocker's apparently back in rehab to try and overcome his addiction.

A video has been posted online showing Doherty egging on his friends as they confronted a photographer.

Pals of the former Libertines frontman threw an egg at the cameraman as he waited outside his Hackney flat.

Harry Potter buzz explodes with book release

2007-07-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

But record demand for 7th Rowling book not a magic potion for profit

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Move over, iPhone -- Harry Potter is the new king of hype.
In an event that likely eclipsed the hyped launch of Apple's (AAPL : Apple Inc
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AAPL143.75, +3.75, +2.7%) iPhone, hundreds of thousands again took to the streets around the world Friday night to snap up copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last in the seven-book series by J.K. Rowling.
The fictional boy wizard -- who launched an unprecedented number of marketing opportunities and five blockbuster movies so far-- got his final chapter in the struggle between good and evil when the book went on sale at 12:01 a.m.
Buzz surrounding the book had been so intense that several photographs of leaked pages already appeared on the Internet before the release date. The New York Times and Baltimore Sun also published early reviews of the books Thursday, claiming the novels were purchased legally.
A small percentage of books also were shipped to customers earlier this week, prompting U.S. publisher Scholastic Corp. (SCHL : Scholastic Corp
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SCHL33.80, -0.41, -1.2%) to take legal action. See full story.
But the threat of spoilers didn't ruin the party. Advance orders for the latest book broke records and release celebrations were held around the world.
"We expect the largest crowd in history to be at our stores Friday night at the stroke of midnight," said Barnes & Noble Chief Executive Stephen Riggio in an interview.
Potter parties
Several companies in New York City spent millions on marketing campaigns and parties for the book's midnight release.
Scholastic transformed the city block in front of their flagship Soho store into Harry Potter Place. The publisher featured attractions from the books, such as the Knight Bus and Whomping Willow, along with face painting, jugglers and stilt-walkers. Inside the store, children participated in wand making, while company executives who helped with the book's publishing and others attended a party in the VIP section on the second floor.
Author Salmon Rushdie arrived at the Scholastic Store in the early evening with his 10-year-old son Milan in anticipation of the final book.
"My son is the Harry Potter expert," Rushdie said. "He's so excited that he's made me promise not to cheat by looking at the end."
Rushdie added that because of his son, he also is a fan of the Harry Potter books and is happy with its frenzied launch. "If you're a writer, you can only celebrate that. I can't imagine the last time that so much [hype] was generated by a book and not a TV series or movie."
Outside the Scholastic Store, Justin Gray, 26, of New York, sat in line reading the sixth Harry Potter book for the fifth time. Gray got to the store after work at 5 p.m., and was ready to for the long haul until midnight.
"I've been waiting on this book for eight years," Gray said. "I don't want to wait another 30 minutes to get it."
Demand 'unprecedented'
Scholastic expects to break both printing and sales records with the seventh book. The company said it has printed 12 million copies in the U.S., surpassing records held by the sixth book, which had a first-print run of 10.8 million in 2005. More than 6.9 million copies of the book were sold in the first 24 hours.
By comparison, "a very large first printing for a children's book would be 50,000," said Maureen O'Connell, chief financial officer for Scholastic. "This is unprecedented."
In years that the books are published, Harry Potter accounts for between 8% and 10% of Scholastic's $2 billion in revenues, O'Connell said. In years without a new book, sales account for less than 1% of revenues, she said.
But while Harry Potter creates significant business for its U.S. publisher, the impact on a retail chain's bottom line is "hard to quantify," said William Armstrong, an industry analyst with C.L. King and Associates.
Retail stores are deeply discounting the book between 40% and 50%, hoping to convert the large spike in customer traffic into sales of other higher-margin items.
But the increase in hype and number of printings has meant that "with more recent Harry Potters, the number of days when you have a huge rush has been compressed, which is not favorable to them," Armstrong said.
'Deathly' discounts
Meanwhile, three hundred people lined up early outside the Borders store at Columbus Circle for the Grand Hallows Ball. The event, held at the Time Warner Center, included live performances by alternative band Lifehouse and vocalist Colbie Caillat. The ball was bathed in orange light, and magicians, palm readers, ice sculptures and floral displays were on hand.
In the second-quarter of 2005, Borders Group Inc. (BGP : Borders Group, Inc
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BGP18.45, -0.20, -1.1%) said that same-store sales in its book category increased by 6%, four points of which stemmed from sales of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
But those swift sales don't necessarily spell profits for retailers. Borders, for one, said its gross margins in the period when the last Harry book was published declined because steep discounting on the book ate into its profits.
Borders pre-sold 1.5 million copies of "Hallows" in just its U.S. stores, said President and Chief Executive George Jones in an interview at the party. That handily surpassed first-day sales of the sixth book, which including preorders totaled 850,000.

Carry on, David!

2007-07-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

David Dhawan. The name itself evokes laughter. Doesn’t it? Year after year he conjures up scripts that make no sense to the critics but are lapped up by the masses, for David Dhawan’s name has become a sort of guarantee for fun at the box office. This week is no different. In fact, with “Partner” he has come with a double dose. In a rarity Salman Khan and Govinda have joined hands on the silver screen. So how did he manage the coup?

“Not difficult. I have worked with both of them in many films, so both had faith in me. My idea was to bring two styles of comedy together to create a new style! Salman is always stylish in whatever he does, and Govinda has an earthy sense of humour. I wanted to see what happens when the two meet.”

It’s difficult to talk about the script with David. Still he suggests that the comedy centres on how a ‘love expert’ teaches a naïve man to hook a girl. Shades of Will Smith’s “The Hitch”? “Well, it’s about male bonding. So many Bollywood films have been made on the subject before ‘Hitch’. Was ‘Hitch’ inspired by them?”

Miscasting?

The film stars Katrina Kaif opposite Govinda, and Lara Dutta with Salman Khan. Isn’t this miscasting from the commercial sense, considering Katrina and Salman are making waves in real life? Laughs David, “No, I have gone by the script. It requires Govinda’s character, a poor guy, to woo a princely girl played by Katrina. Both fit the bill.”

The careers of David and Govinda have been intertwined for long. They have risen together and shifted genres together. From an action-packed “Taqatwar” to a melodramatic “Swarg”, and a potboiler like “Shola aur Shabnam” to a crass comedy like “Raja Babu”, the duo has defined chemistry on celluloid. But after “Ek Aur Ek Gyarah” there has been a long pause. “The industry might have taken him just as a comedy star but I have given him all kinds of roles and we have succeeded most of the time. It is just that he became busy with politics that we could not work together, otherwise there is nothing that can keep us apart,” grins David.

And Karisma Kapoor, who was the vital cog in the Govinda-David wheel of fun? David called her the actress with the best comic timing. “I stand by my statement but she quit acting. Katrina and Lara are not bad either. There are two kinds of actors, natural and malleable. These two are malleable.”

Films like “Swarg”, remind us of the serious side of David. Few people know that he is the same guy who has edited films like “Saraansh” and “Naam”. And that his real name is Rajinder Dhawan. “I learnt editing at FTII. As an editor you are supposed to edit all kinds of films with the same effort. But my heart always craved for Manmohan Desai’s cinema, films that are complete entertainers and are commercially viable.”

As for the name, he reveals his parents used to call him David at home. “Slowly my pet name became my professional name.”

On the rise of comedy — Tabu calls him her favourite director — David, who calls it the most difficult genre, says, “I feel flattered. When I started making comedy films, film critics didn’t take the genre seriously. Even in film awards the actor of the comedy was not nominated in the best actor category. See, today it has become the most commercially viable genre. Most of the comedy films are doing reasonably well at the box office.”

Critics raised eyebrows when his comedy turned crass with films like “Aankhen”, “Raja Babu” and “Khuddar”. “It’s true, but in those days such things were working. A director delivers what is in demand. Still, I made sure even in those times to have some message in my film.”

Turning chic

Of late his films have turned smart. Films like “Mujh Se Shaadi Karogi” and “Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya” have the quintessential David Dhawan spirit but are packaged with latest trends in fashion and music. “This is the contribution of my son Rohit. He brings fresh thoughts on the sets. We have our creative differences but the result has been successful. He has contributed to ‘Partner’ as well.”

Next in line is a remake of “Amar Akbar Anthony” with Salman and his brothers, but David doesn’t want to leak anything. “Main to bas aam admi ko khush dekhna chahta hoon, (I just want to keep the common man h appy)” he sums up.

Carry on, David!

Harry Potter book leaks on to internet

2007-07-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

Despite a massive security operation, the final book of the Harry Potter series has been leaked online three days before its worldwide release.

Neil Blair, a lawyer for the author JK Rowling, confirmed today that some genuine material from the seventh Harry Potter book had been posted on the internet - but said that there was also much bogus content circulating.

It is the first time that material from any of the hugely successful boy wizard books has leaked onto the internet before publication. The book itself goes on sale in bookstores around the world on Friday at midnight, before when all copies are supposed to be closely guarded.

For the past two days, photographs of what are claimed to be pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have appeared on a number of file-sharing websites.

One set of images purports to show each of the 36 chapters - and a seven-page epilogue - from a 759-page version thought to be the American edition, published by Scholastic.

According to people who have read that version, several characters meet their end, and others get married. Rowling herself has revealed only that two major characters die.

In one of the photos, still available on several sites, a hand is seen holding the book open at the bottom of each double-page spread as it is photographed above a patch of tight-knit carpet.

Another, which purports to be the opening of Chapter 23, entitled 'Malfoy Manor', shows the first sentence as starting: "Harry looked around at the other two..."

A 33-year-old Canadian man who claims to have downloaded hundreds of the book's pages from one of the so-called 'Torrent' sites, told a Canadian news service : "What some guy did was take pictures of it, 500 little files, each with a picture of a page. Someone took the trouble to do that."

Today, a search for 'Harry Potter Hallows' on one of the largest so-called 'Torrent' sites, isoHunt, revealed 61 hits, many of which claimed to be the 'Full Book'.

In the past, several 'spoiler' attempts claim to have released plot details prior to a book's publication, but a manuscript itself has never been procured and posted online.

A spokeswoman for Bloomsbury, the book's UK publisher, would not confirm or deny today that the leaked version was the real thing, but said that "vast quantities" of material purporting to be the book were circulating.

"People are being very clever putting stuff online. There are many different versions and it's easy to use Photoshop [photo editing software] to make something look very real. We're asking people not to spoil the book for fans," she said. "We're getting phone calls from people in tears saying: 'I don't want to find out what happens.'"

A spokesman for Scholastic, the book's US publisher, said: "There's so much out there that is confusing for fans. Our lawyers are trying to keep down the amount of spoiler traffic and clear it from places where fans might be reading."

Harry Potter fan sites such as theleakycauldron.org, and mugglenet.com have vowed to keep spoiler material off their pages.

William Hill, the bookmaker, said today that it had stopped taking all bets on who would die in the book because it could no longer be sure punters had not already read the final chapters.

"Up until now the list of insiders was probably less than 10, but now that's obviously no longer the case," a spokesman for the firm said.

Meanwhile in internet forums, a war of words raged as to whether the version that had been posted was genuine.

"Yes its real, yes it works, yes its in a pdf. Have fun," one comment on thepiratebay.org read.

Another user wasn't so sure: "I'm going to have the burst the bubble on this being real. I was positive it was, until I found this on page 156: "Auntie Muriel, who seemed to be enjoying herself *hugely*, snapped her fingers for more champagne." To my knowledge, the word 'hugely' does not exist. Surely, a book as anticipated as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would have been edited multiple times."

"Hugely" is a rather common British expression," a rebuttal came back. "Nothing strange about it."

More than two million copies of the Deathly Hallows have been pre-ordered on Amazon, and the Royal Mail has said it expects to deliver 600,000 books on release day - about one for every 100 people in the UK.

Phoenix mill mayhem

2007-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hello again, Harry Potter. Even as millions of readers around the world are giddily anticipating the release, on July 21, of the final volume of J.K.Rowling's bonanza-sellers, here's the fifth installment of the formidable film franchise.

David Yates, a veteran of British TV, makes his directorial movie debut with the $200 million magic-and-mayhem adventure. Taking over from Mike Newell, The Goblet of Fire helmer who declined to return, he displays more of the visual panache of the previous Potter-fare.

Although the labyrinths of the plot are a tad difficult to traverse, both the eyes and the senses are seduced by the sophisticated special effects and wondrous set design.

Faced with the Herculean task of adapting the hefty 890 page novel, scriptwriter Michael Goldenberg has excised plenty of extraneous material, narrowing the focus on the overtly political aspects of the story. Incidentally, at 138 minutes, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the shortest film in the series.

So what's the news from Hogwarts this time around? Returning for his fifth semester at the school of witchcraft and wizardry, the teenage Harry (Radcliffe) finds his credibility compromised when the powers-that-be at the Ministry of Magic refute his claim regarding the return of their arch-nemesis (Ralph Fiennes, sinister as ever).

It's now up to our bespectacled hero and his best buddies (Rupert Grint-Watson) to defend the titular order against the rampaging evildoers. The trio with brio also has to contend with the school's new dictatorial Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (Imelda Staunton). And in the midst of the malarkey, Harry even gets his first proper kiss from one of his classmates.

Rabid Potterphiles are bound to quibble about the missing Quidditch action. Also, kids, especially those under 10, may find the mood a bit too grim for comfort.

Reliable regulars, including Michael Gambon as the benign headmaster, Alan Rickman as Hogwart's resident occultist and Gary Oldman as Harry's heroic godfather, reprise their roles with aplomb. While Rupert Grint and Emma Watson barely make an impact in severely curtailed roles, Daniel Radcliffe has never been this assured before. However, the thunder is stolen by Imelda Staunton. Attired in shocking pink from head to toe, the Oscar-nominee from Vera Drake, has a blast.

Go ahead, make your multiplex matinee.

Bips snapped kissing soccer star Ronaldo?

2007-07-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

After Shilpa Shetty, it’s Bipasha Basu who’s making news in the UK.

The Daily Star on Tuesday ran a front-page picture of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, 22, kissing Bipasha, 28, in Lisbon where they’d gone for the Seven Wonders show recently.

The picture — titled Ronaldo Plays Away — was taken on stage when the two were naming Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid as one of the new Wonders.

According to the Daily Star, the two were spotted later in the evening at a party at the Belem Club getting physical with each other. Cristiano Ronaldo is reported to be in a relationship with glamour model Gemma Atkinson.

Another tabloid, Metro, ran a similar story and picture titled Are You Playing Away, Cristiano? The Mirror and The Sun have also carried the story with the same photograph.

The Asian community snapped up the story eagerly. On being contacted on her cell phone, Bipasha said: “Yes, it is me in the picture. It was taken at an opportune moment and has been taken out of context. Again, it looks like a case of irresponsible assumptions.”

Bipasha is back in Mumbai.

Potter waves his wand at Tussauds!

2007-07-10T08:03:00.001-07:00

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who turns 18 later this month, has become the youngest person to be immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds museum.

Radcliffe's statue shows that the museum has tried to distance him from the character of Potter. He is sporting a simple suit rather than the clothes and the wand of a magician.

His wax figure will stand alongside Hollywood legends Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, contactmusic.com website reported.

Ben Lovett of Madame Tussauds said: "With his 18th birthday around the corner and stage roles like Equus under his belt, Daniel has become a young British acting force to be reckoned with.

"It's been great for the studio's sculptors to recreate someone who we've all watched growing up on the big screen."

Tell me what else Saif did for me?

2007-07-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Bipasha is as nervous as hell.

"I'm in London, just hours away from the 7 Wonders event in Lisbon, and I'm so nervous I'm gorging on muffins, scones and whatever I can lay my hands on."

Bipasha is about to board the flight to represent our country and its luminous relic the Taj Mahal at the New Seven Wonders Of The World Event.

"I'm wearing contact lenses for the first time just so that I can read the teleprompter. Now I'll be able to see those 60,000 people at Lisbon far more clearly. My eyes are watering, and it isn't because I've become emotional."

Bipasha had still not met her co-host Ben Kingsley in London. She hoped to get comfortable with him on the flight from London to Lisbon.

"Come on, we don't have to get that comfortable with each other! It's just for an event, not a film….But seriously, I can suddenly see everyone far more clearly now. Not nice. Everyone looked much cleaner before," she jokes.

Sobering down, Bipasha informs that the contact lenses are only for the Lisbon occasion. "They don't suit me. I'll be taking ten days off soon to get laser surgery done."

In the meanwhile she has her designer Rocky S accompanying her to Lisbon. "Rocky has done a simmering pink sari for me. My gown was supposed to be done by Armani.

But I decided at the last minute to let two very young and talented designers Gauri and Nanika from Delhi do my gown. I thought it was better to let Indian designers do my clothes since I'm respresenting my country on at an international forum."

Finally the rumours back home. It's being whispered that Saif Ali Khan has abandoned his own gym to join Bipasha at her gym every day.

Bipasha's chuckles waltz across the seven seas. "So Saif now accompanies me to my gym, is it? As far as I know he goes to Barbarian gym and I go to Gold. And that has remained unchanged until the time I left Mumbai for London.

Now while I'm away the status quo might change. And Saif may start going to my gym. I'm dying to know what-all I've done with Saif in Mumbai while I'm away in Lisbon," she jokes before boarding for Lisbon.

"You know I've never anchored any event before, let alone one with an audience of 60,000 people live and millions at home. Like they say, it's always good to start at the top."

Harry Potter arrives in London

2007-07-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

The European premiere of the new Harry Potter film is set to hit London's Leicester Square.

Hundreds of fans are expected to greet JK Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe and the remaining cast members of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The film sees Harry Potter return to Hogwarts with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson respectively, for their fifth year at the magical school.

Harry's integrity is called into question when some of the wizard community believe the story of the teenager's recent encounter with Lord Voldemort is a lie.

The world premiere took place in Tokyo last week.

The seventh and last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is released on July 21 with around 1.6 million people worldwide believed to have pre-ordered the book.

Now Spice Girls reunite

2007-06-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

THE Spice Girls returned today to announce their long-awaited reunion as a “thank you” to their fans.

After months of speculation, Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell finally announced a comeback tour.

Mel C, 33, (Sporty Spice) said of their reunion: “We wanted to say thank you to our fans. It just feels very right for us.”

The world’s media were treated to a video montage at the 02 Arena, formerly the Millennium Dome, of some of the band’s Number One hits.

Halliwell, 34, (Ginger) enjoyed the moment, taking pictures of her fellow bandmates and the crowd with a camera.

2001

The Nineties girl group, who parted ways in 2001, said they would not be performing at this weekend’s Concert for Diana.

Princes William and Harry were said to have asked them to attend the anniversary event.

But the band said they could not take to the stage so soon because Emma Bunton (Baby) was about to have her baby.

Mel C said: “We would have loved to be there this weekend. It’s just unfortunate timing.”

Victoria Beckham said there would be a creche on the tour to accommodate the seven Baby Spices the band members will have between them once Baby Spice gives birth.

Posh Spice, 33, said: “We’re definitely going to have a huge creche. Our priority is going to be our families. We want to have fun.

“That’s one of the many reasons for this, for our children to see what we used to do.”

Halliwell said of the reunion: “Obviously it’s nostalgic. But equally, if new fans want to come along, that’s fantastic.

“I like to think our songs are universal and they are timeless. Hopefully, the young’uns will like it too.”

Mel B, 32, said of the press conference: “This is very civilised. We’ve really grown up, haven’t we?”

Asked whether it was a comeback, she said: “Where did we go?”

The Spice Girls will play 11 dates on six continents, kicking off in Los Angeles on December 7.

A greatest hits album will be released in time for Christmas.

Today was the first time all five have appeared in public together since Halliwell walked out nine years ago.

Divorced

“Imagine you got divorced and you’ve got back together with your ex-husband,” was Halliwell’s description of being reunited with her band mates.

But Beckham could not resist a dig, quipping: “She just appreciates the fact we’ve let her back in.”

The band famously praised Margaret Thatcher in a 1990s interview, calling her an original Spice Girl.

Today they demonstrated their knowledge of the current political landscape.

Asked about Gordon Brown, Mel B replied: “Who is he?”

Mel C explained he was the new Prime Minister.

Halliwell gave her verdict: “I actually met him the other day. He seems a nice enough fellow.”

Mel C has spent the past few years vowing never to take part in a reunion.

Today she said: “A girl’s allowed to change her mind.”

Bunton explained her reasons for wanting the comeback.

“I wanted to be a Spice Girl again,” she said.

The band insist they are not back for good.

One-night stand

“This is going to be a one-night stand,” Halliwell said.

The girls promised to perform all their classic hits during the show.

But they refused a challenge to sing live at the press conference in response to a report that their voices will be digitally enhanced on the tour.

“We don’t need to prove anything,” Mel C said.

The tour will be supported by a documentary which claims it will show the definitive story of the Spice Girls.

Halliwell said: “It’s going to be the most honest story that you’ve ever heard. You get to see the dark side of the Spice Girls, the gritty side, the tears.”

Tokyo teens enchanted by grown-up Harry Potter

2007-06-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Japanese teens in wizard costumes went into a frenzy at the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on Thursday, cheering actor Daniel Radcliffe whose coming of age is a big story on- and off-screen.

Dressed in a white suit, Radcliffe -- who will turn 18 next month and has played boy wizard Harry since 2001 -- looked distinctly grown-up at the red carpet event in Tokyo.

The Order of the Phoenix sees Harry reach greater maturity as he takes a leading role in the fight against the evil Voldemort and experiences his first kiss at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Radcliffe's own rite of passage has not been quite as dramatic: he recently took the role of a disturbed stablehand in the theatre play "Equus" in a break with his child actor image.

Speaking to reporters before a crowd of screaming Japanese fans holding "We love Harry" signs, Radcliffe shrugged off suggestions that the Potter saga defined his adolescence.

"I don't see myself as having grown up on screen. I simply see myself as having grown up. So it's probably stranger for people who have watched all the films," he told Reuters.

The success of the Potter film franchise is one reason why Radcliffe's growing up is a big deal, at least for the movie industry and millions of fans.

The first four Potter films grossed around $3.5 billion, and Radcliffe along with co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint will stick with their parts until the series ends with the seventh film, slated for 2010.

"CHIN UP!"

The continuing popularity of J.K. Rowling's book series may help The Order of the Phoenix repeat that box office success, and Potter producer David Heyman said the actors' personal development also adds a new dimension to the film.

"They really grow up as actors," he told Reuters at the premiere.

"In the first film, Christopher Columbus had to do things like 'chin up' all through the takes if he was not focused, 'come on, don't look away', 'Oh, you are scared'.

"Now they are able to collaborate with the director and create the parts you will see in the film."

Columbus directed the first two Potter films, followed by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron and Britain's Mike Newell.

David Yates directed the fifth and latest film, in which Harry fends off a gang of dementors with a spell and risks expulsion from school for engaging in "underage magic".

The young wizard then has to defend himself at a court hearing in London before starting another action-packed year at Hogwarts boarding school.

The sixth film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", is set for U.S. release in November 2008, while the last book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", will hit bookstores on July 21.

Shilpa Shetty to act in West End musical

2007-06-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Mumbai: Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty who won fame and fortune in the British show, ‘Celebrity Big Brother,’ will appear on London's West End later this year, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Shetty will star in the musical titled "Miss Bollywood" to open in London in September and later travel to Broadway, The Indian Express newspaper said.

"The whole song-and-dance routine of a musical really fascinates me and I think I'm a natural in the art," it quoted Shetty as saying.

She said the musical was about a day in the life of a Bollywood actress and would give Westerners a glimpse of Indian traditions and customs.

"I want foreigners to get familiar with Indian culture. Racism breeds out of ignorance," Shetty was quoted as saying.

During the reality show, "Celebrity Big Brother” , a British contestant mocked her accent
and bad-mouthed her cooking. Channel 4 was forced to apologise for the alleged racist abuse, which sparked a storm of protests.

Shetty has acted in more than 40 Bollywood movies since her 1993 debut. Her latest movie, "Metro," is a Hindi-language film about careers pushing love to second place.

'What I plan never works out'

2007-06-26T03:24:00.000-07:00

Bollywood oomph girl Neha Dhupia says her dream at one time was to become an IAS officer.

"What I plan never works out. So I have stopped planning now," Neha told over the telephone. "I wanted to join the civil services and become an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer and did not have any plans to model or act.

"But, then, Miss India happened suddenly and now here I am, doing films."

The 26-year-old actress, who bagged the Miss India Universe title in 2002 and a year later made her Bollywood debut in "Qayamat: City Under Threat", is currently shooting for a film "I'm 24", being directed by Saurabh Shukla.

"It is about a guy who is 42 years of age but has to lie that he is only 24 to get something," Neha explains. "The movie will show his struggles and hardships and then he meets me. I play the character of a struggling actress."

The silver screen scorcher, well known for portraying bold characters in films such as "Julie" and "Sheesha", loves to travel, read and takes a keen interest in sports. And she says she would love to be part of a film that would capture and present her real character to the audience.

"I would love it if someone makes a film to showcase who Neha Dhupia really is. What I am, what I like and what I stand for."

Dhupia says her stint at Bollywood has been great so far but adds, "There is still a long way to go and now I want to play different characters."

Cinematographer Jeeva passes away in Russia

2007-06-26T03:10:00.001-07:00

Noted cinematographer - director Jeeva passed away after suffering acute cardiac arrest in Russia last night. He was shooting for Dhaam Dhoom starring Jayam Ravi and Kangana Ranaut in Russia.

An acclaimed cinematographer - turned - director Jeeva had worked in over 40 films including Shankar's Gentleman, Kadhalan and Indian.

Jeeva was directed over 50 commercials. He ventured to Bollywood and cranked the camera for several blockbusters including films directed by Priyadharshan. Some of his Hindi movies include Hulchul, Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar, Run, Kushi, Bhagam Bhag, Hera Pheri among others. A native of Thiruthooraipoondi, Jeeva ventured to direction with 12B. The film featured Jyothika and Simran together opposite Shaam. The latter was introduced by Jeeva.

Jeeva's next was Ullam Ketkumae which featured a host of actresses. Popular stars like Arya, Asin and Pooja made their debut with the movie. Jeeva followed it up with Unnale Unnale and he introduced a Bangalore model Vinay in the lead role. Featuring Sada and Kajol's sister Tanisha, Unnale Unnale was a run away hit.

Jeeva is currently directing Dhaam Dhoom starring Jayam Ravi and Kangana Ranaut. He is survived by his wife Annesha, the costume designer of Jeeva's films and three children.

The body is expected to be flown back to India soon.

Pamela Anderson's bright idea

2007-06-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK: Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who is currently in Finland, has thought of a unique business idea to honour her Finnish heritage - opening a chain of strip clubs!

"I thought of a great way to celebrate my Finnish heritage at home," she wrote on her blog. "I'm going to look into opening a chain of strip clubs and I'll call them Lapland."

Anderson, whose great grand father was Finnish, is touring the Scandinavian country with her dad, Barry Anderson, reports people.com .

"Our heritage is here. We are both excited. We will be taking lots of saunas. Save my liver," Anderson added.

While in Finland, the actress has also appealed for the closure of fur farms.

"Farms are so old fashioned. There are hundreds here. The demand is getting lower for fur coats and they breed foxes here just for fur. Sweden, Austria and England have banned fur farms. Let's hope Finland will too. Other than that I'm very proud of my Finnish heritage."

Inside Paris' Mailbag

2007-06-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles (E! Online) - If nothing else, at least Paris Hilton has found the time to catch up on her correspondence.

After crafting her own Father's Day card for dad Rick Hilton over the weekend, the heiress apparently got busy penning letters to the thousands of fans who've been writing her since the beginning of the legal hullabaloo that has ended (for now) with Hilton getting locked up for a full 45 days after briefly being transferred to house arrest.

"I read your letter and just wanted to thank you for your kind words of love and support. The fact that you took time out of your day to write me truly means the world. Especially at such a difficult and scary time in my life," Hilton wrote in a letter obtained Tuesday by E! Online. (View the letter.)

"But I am being strong and trying to make the best out of the situation," Hilton continued. "And the letters I'm receiving really do put a smile on my face as I sit here in my cell, sad and alone. Again, thank you so much and may God bless you and your family."

"Love always, Paris Hilton," she signed, dotting her i's with little hearts and adding "xoxo" at the end.

Although writing letters while suited up in an orange jumpsuit can't really compare to nights spent trolling the red carpet in designer cocktail dresses, at least Hilton seems to be feeling better since being released Wednesday from the medical ward at Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, after which she was returned to the Century Regional Correctional Facility, where she originally started serving her sentence on June 3.

After visiting Hilton on Sunday, along with husband Rick and Paris' sister Nicky, Kathy Hilton told reporters that her daughter was spending the majority of her days on the inside "looking at the four walls and reading some nice fan mail." (Authorities say she has received over 5,000 letters; Paris' manager tells E! News that the sheriff's department contacted him to haul away nearly two dozen crates of mail.)

Hilton is allowed one hour outside of her cell every day to shower, exercise, watch TV and talk on the phone

Shilpa Shetty- the fragrance this season

2007-06-21T11:02:00.001-07:00

Bollywood Trade News Network

Shilpa Shetty has become the latest star to launch her own fragrance in UK. She has named her perfume S2 (pronounced S square) and considers it to be a "cut above the rest" in the sea of celebrity fragrances.

The Bollywood star has become a household name in the UK after winning the reality show Celebrity Big Brother. As her publicist Dale Bhagwagar puts it, "Shilpa has come to be the fragrance of this season and its going to last."

S2 has been created by one of the oldest French perfumers, Robertet, and releases across the UK at most high-street retailers from July. "Each ingredient has been hand-picked by Shilpa with each keynote having an individual importance to her. It is a kaleidoscope of rich floral with a fruity zest including the scent of Mandarin, Bergamot, Peach, Jasmine and Sandalwood among others," informs Bhagwagar.

"With S2, Shilpa joins the likes of Kylie Minogue, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton in launching her own signature scent," he adds.

The actress whose next film APNE is about to release, is all set to write a cookery book, make a DVD video on yoga to be shot in the Himalayas, feature in a Broadway musical, launch a chain of restaurants abroad - starting with one in Central London, and feature as Sita in the international movie HANUMAN.

Final Potter book will only make Rowling richer

2007-06-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

London, June 20: The seventh and final Harry Potter book is sure to be a bestseller, but as a result of the discount wars, the only ones to profit from it might be JK Rowling and Bloomsbury.

Small and big book stores insist that the discount wars for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has become so “ludicrous”, that instead of profiting from Pottermania, they might end up making a loss, or at best, just about covering their costs.

A survey of the UK's 1,400 independent bookshops revealed that most were ordering only a few copies of the eagerly awaited book, for they expected most customers to buy it from online or at supermarket chains that are charging 8 to 9 pounds on discount instead of the nearly 17 pounds that is the price.

Tim Robinson, the manager of Muswell Hill Bookshop, in north London, said that the price war was especially “ludicrous”, as the popularity of the Potter series means that even without offering a discount, sellers could make a tidy profit.

The final book’s cover price has already been cut by half at supermarket Asda and Tesco, five weeks before its release, and bookstore Waterstones have unwillingly followed by slashing their price to 8.99 pounds, while WH Smith will sell it at 9.97 pounds and Woolworths at 9.99 pounds.

The book, which goes on sale at midnight on July 21, is still expected to become the fastest-selling book of all time.

Beckhams and Cruises burn the midnight oil in Madrid

2007-06-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

When David Beckham and his wife Victoria went out to celebrate his Real Madrid team's league victory, who better to help get the party started than their new LA neighbours Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The group painted the Spanish capital red until 7.30am, first enjoying a meal at swanky Madrid restaurant Txistu - where the star midfielder apparently tucked into a hearty meal of steak, while Victoria kept to a fruity plate of pineapple and strawberries.

"A huge cheer went up when David arrived," says a source at the eatery. "The atmosphere was electric - many of the other players had also booked tables here." Afterwards they moved on to trendy nightclub Shabay where they stayed on into the small hours, Spanish style. Fashion designer Victoria was the epitome of glam in a cleavage-boosting little black dress and bright pink belt, while her husband was smart in a designer suit.

Katie, who recently had her hair cut in a similar style to her British pal, and Tom, meanwhile, underlined their Hollywood credentials with dark shades - despite it being night-time. They had earlier watched David's team clinch victory at the city's Bernabeu stadium, where footie fan Tom showed his support by waving a giant Real Madrid scarf above his head.

The pair had flown in from Germany, where Tom spent several days negotiating financing for a new film, and stayed on in Europe for the wedding of the actor's friend, Australian billionaire James Packer. Once back in LA, however, the Mission: Impossible star is set to throw a big welcome bash for David and Victoria

Lindsay Lohan cancels 21st birthday party

2007-06-19T09:19:00.001-07:00

Nevada, June 19: Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan has cancelled her 21st birthday party in Las Vegas.

The Mean Girls star was last month charged with drunk driving after crashing her car in Beverly Hills, California. She had checked into a rehab facility shortly afterwards.

Lohan has now called off the two-day bash, which she had planned to hold at the city's Pure nightclub to celebrate her birthday on July 2.

"The party was cancelled officially over two weeks ago. We were confused why Pure was even still promoting it. But Lindsay will not be having the birthday party at Pure and is focusing on her recovery 100 per cent," her spokesperson said.

Missing 2 days, 5-year-old found alive

2007-06-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

MOMENCE, Ill. - A 5-year-old girl who was feared drowned with her grandfather on a boating trip startled searchers Friday when she emerged from the woods — naked, scratched and holding raspberries.

Crews had pulled her grandfather's body from the Kankakee River in eastern Illinois just hours earlier.

"People were like, 'Who's that little girl? That can't be her, can it?'" Kankakee Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ken McCabe said. "I went up to her (and) asked, 'How you doing? What's your name?'"

When authorities told Hannah Klamecki's family — already grieving the loss of her grandfather — that she was alive, the home erupted in screaming.

Hannah was taken to a hospital as a precaution. She slept with her parents and a teddy bear at her side before being released. Cradling the bear, she spoke freely of her ordeal Friday evening.

"I was scared last night when everybody was gone," she said. "I went searching all over the world to look for the cottage (where her grandparents live)."

Hannah had scratches on her face and body and thick dirt under her nails. She had poison ivy rashes on her legs and couldn't walk because splinters and thorns cut her feet.

Hannah and her grandfather, David Klamecki, 62, were last seen Wednesday evening on the river near Momence, about 45 miles south of Chicago.

Authorities believe the river current swept the girl away from a small island where she and her grandfather had stopped to swim and to the shore of the mainland where she eventually was found.

She told searchers she was wearing floats on her arms and pulled herself from the water with a branch.

"That's a tough little girl, I tell you," McCabe said.

Hannah said she had taken off her bathing suit because it was muddy and itchy, friends of the family said.

She was also a bit dehydrated and "very, very tired," said Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee spokesman Carl Maronich.

On Friday morning, searchers found her grandfather's body near the island, which is close to a part of the river locals call "Whirlpool Bend" because of strong currents from the union of the river and two tributaries.

The surrounding area is wilderness with no homes, and populated only by coyotes and deer, Momence Fire Chief Dave Horn said.

Richard Wehrle, a friend and neighbor of David Klamecki, said the area is notoriously treacherous.

"Anybody who knows that river knows that that's the deadliest part of the river," Wehrle said.

The girl's footprints were still visible on the island beach. Searchers believed she had drowned and were scouring the area with a team of divers, sonar equipment and a helicopter.

Hannah appeared just before 10:30 a.m., in an area about three-quarters of a mile from where she's believed to have reached the shore, McCabe said.

The girl was reunited with her parents, who were waiting with family and friends at the grandparents' home.

Hannah calmly sat in a rescue vehicle when her parents saw her for the first time, her father said.

"She didn't say much," Mike Klamecki said. "She was eating her banana looking at us. We were jumping around like maniacs."

Tricia Little, a close family friend of Hannah's parents, said David Klamecki taught the girl and her two younger sisters about the outdoors. She credits that instruction — and God — with Hannah's survival.

Hannah's father, Mike Klamecki, is senior pastor at New Hope Community Church in Villa Park. Little's husband, Brian, said parishioners have been "praying for his whole family."

"Obviously, we're giving all the glory to God on this one," Brian Little said

Christina Aguilera's silence fuels pregnancy rumors

2007-06-15T07:35:00.001-07:00

Washington, June 15 (ANI): Singer/songwriter Christina Aguilera is fueling her pregnancy rumors by keeping mum about her expected mommyhood.

The 26-year-old is reportedly pregnant with husband Jordan Bratman’s child and the rumors fueled following her visit to maternity doctor recently.

Aquilera’s rep has also denied confirming the reports.

"I cannot confirm (the reports),” the rep said.

The couple visited New York’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Association, which is known for its state-of-the-art ultrasounds and expertise in high-risk pregnancies.

The ‘Dirty’ singer also looked to be donning a small bump while shopping in Soho.

Earlier a pal revealed that “Christina and Jordan adore each other and have tried for a baby for a while to complete the family”.

The singer married marketing manager Bratman in November 2005 after dating for three years and admitted last year that the two are family people and are looking forward to having kids.

"We'd absolutely like to have kids one day. We're both family people. Jordan is from a big Jewish family, so taking care of each other is a big deal." (ANI)

Prince Harry: ‘We will never be normal’

2007-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to believe that it is already 10 years since Princess Diana died, so quickly has the time gone. But to her sons it has been an eternity.

The time, Prince Harry tells TODAY co-host Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview, has gone by "really, really slowly actually. It's weird because I think when she — she passed away — there was never that time, there was never that sort of lull. There was never that sort of peace and quiet for any of us — the fact that her face was always splattered on the paper the whole time.

"Over the last 10 years I personally feel as though she has been. . . always there. She's always being a constant reminder to both of us and everybody else."

Mom: Spears 'just figuring things out'

2007-06-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - Lynne Spears says her daughter Britney, whose public meltdown included shearing off her own locks, is "just figuring things out." "It's sad that the whole world had to watch her make mistakes that all of us have made at one time or another," Spears is quoted as telling Us Weekly magazine in its latest issue.

The 25-year-old pop star completed a monthlong stay at a luxury Malibu, Calif., rehabilitation treatment facility in March after attracting an onslaught of media attention for wild behavior that included partying with Paris Hilton and a stop at a San Fernando Valley hair salon, where she shaved her own head.

Britney Spears, who reached a divorce settlement with aspiring rapper Kevin Federline in March, recently posted a message on her Web site saying she had been acting like a "bad kid running around with ADD (attention deficit disorder)."

The singer filed for divorce from Federline in November, just two months after giving birth to the couple's second child, Jayden James. Their older son, Sean Preston, was born in September 2005.

"Everything is going to be good," Lynne Spears tells the magazine. "Everything is going to be really good. I can see her life picking up and it's just going to hold great things for her."

"Britney Jean Spears is the sweetest and the most sensitive and loving of all my children," says Spears, the mother of three children with ex-husband Jamie Spears. "She's just figuring things out."

___

DID PARIS REALLY LEARN HER LESSON? AND WHY DO WE CARE?

2007-06-12T09:53:00.001-07:00

This will be Paris Hilton’s eighth night behind bars, probably the most-discussed jail term ever.

Monday on “The View,” Barbara Walters talked about the phone call she received from Hilton, who’s in the medical ward of the L.A. County jail.

Harvey Levin, TMZ.com: She’s doing better. She’s adjusting to it. She’s still fragile. But I think, just psychologically, from what I’m hearing, she’s not this ping pong ball anymore. She knows she’s going to be at this facility for awhile.

Last week, Harvey Levin’s TMZ.com was reporting Hilton was disintegrating under the pressures of incarceration...saying she’d become sullen, withdrawn...a train wreck....and being visited by her psychiatrist.

That set up last Friday’s tug-of-war between a sheriff who sent her to home detention and a judge who wanted this Hilton back in the crossbar hotel.

What’s also astonishing about this case is not just the attention it has received, but the venom it’s generated. Browse any Internet board—you’ll find a legion of posters wishing Ms. Hilton a long, unpleasant stay in the hands of the law.

It’s not just the blogosphere—one Web site is selling “Paris Go Away” T-shirts.

And while she’s a familiar target in the late-night cross hairs, the huge audience reaction to any mention of her plight is so enthusiastic, it’s become predictable.

Why do people care so much about her fate? Is it because she’s seen as an emblem for young Hollywood, living fast, loose, and out of control? Or is it simple class warfare, a rage against the rich? Either way, a simple legal two-step, a release from custody into home detention, Became, in the public’s mind, a deal with the devil in a city of angels.

Harvey Levin: It was like throwing stones in, you know, the old Roman town. Everybody felt part of it. Yeah, she’s getting it. I mean, there was a lot of anger toward her because they’ve seen her get away with things. That’s wrong, but that’s the way a lot of people felt.

Over the weekend, the heiress issued a statement saying she would not appeal her sentence, even after she and her family, and her attorney first protested it as being unfair.

Harvey Levin: This judge was a jerk. There was absolutely no basis for what he did. Nobody gets this kind of punishment for what she did. He punished her for who she is, not what she did.

But keep in mind Hilton’s original sentence of 45 days follows this arrest by the LAPD last September for driving under the influence, for which she received probation, a fine, DUI classes, and lost her right to drive.

Then there were two more police stops, each when she was driving under a suspended license. To top it off, she was late to court.

Attorney Lawrence Taylor, who literally wrote the book on DUI legal-defense work says Hilton’s attitude is what really worked against her.

Lawrence Taylor, lawyer: She came in and instead of being contrite and suggesting that she might be sorry for what she did and that it will never happen again, instead said essentially that it was not her fault and blamed some other people, her handlers, whoever those were. That’s not the kinda thing you say to a judge after you’ve just violated probation three times.

Hilton has regularly been depicted as being neither especially virginal nor cerebral. Today Barbara Walters quoted her as saying she’s no longer going to play dumb.

That act, if that’s what it was, was on full display two years ago when the LAPD interviewed Hilton as a witness in an unrelated criminal case.

So tonight, Paris Hilton is on a prison diet, and says she’s learning a bitter, important lesson. She also says she’s shocked that so much public and media attention is being paid to her...instead of to the soldiers serving this country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It’s probably the first time she’s ever asked for the world’s attention to be focused elsewhere.

Ocean's Thirteen steals the No. 1 spot at US box office

2007-06-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

The all-star caper film Ocean's Thirteen made off with $37.1 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend to steal the No. 1 spot at the North American box office, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The Friday-through-Sunday tally for the latest Ocean's sequel, returning George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Bernie Mac to the scene of their first heist, Las Vegas, was roughly on par with the debut gross of the first two films in the series.

Ocean's Thirteen released by the Warner Bros. Pictures, is the third film to team Clooney and company with director Steven Soderbergh for a franchise inspired by the 1960 "rat pack" adventure starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

And it is the latest in a flurry of big-studio sequels to arrive in theaters since the unofficial start of the summer movie season last month, following Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and this week's No. 2 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

"For a third installment, and there's been a lot of them this year, that tells you it's still a solid franchise," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Media By Numbers, said of Ocean's performance.

By comparison, Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve grossed $38.1 million and $39.2 million during their respective first weekends in December 2001 and 2004, and they went on to amass more than $795 million worldwide together.

The top 12 films at the North American multiplex this weekend collectively grossed $133.6 million, down more than 9 percent from the same weekend last year when Disney's computer-animated racing film Cars opened with $60 million.

But overall domestic box office is up more than 10 percent year-to-year since May, a sign that the summer sequel formula is working for Hollywood.

Hilton starts and ends week behind bars

2007-06-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles (AP): It will be a week that Paris Hilton - and a celebrity-obsessed nation - won't soon forget.

What started as a graceful attempt by the 26-year-old socialite to accept her punishment for violating probation in a reckless driving case ended Friday when a disheveled and tearful Hilton was ordered back to jail to serve out the remainder of her 45-day sentence.

After Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer was apparently unmoved by the pleas of Hilton's three lawyers to keep their client under house arrest, the hotel heiress was led from the courtroom crying out for her mother and shouting, ''It's not right!''

As Hilton sits in the downtown Twin Towers jail where she will undergo a medical and psychiatric examination, one question lingered: Was celebrity justice served?

There was no shortage of twists and turns throughout the week after Hilton made a surprise visit Sunday to the MTV Movie Awards, where she told a throng of media that she was scared but ready to face her sentence.

Hours after the event, Hilton checked herself into jail and was expected to serve only 23 days because of a state law that requires shorter sentences for good behavior.

The ensuing drama erupted Thursday when sheriff's officials released Hilton because of a medical condition and sent her home under house arrest. She had been in jail for three days.

Friday's hearing was requested by the city attorney's office, which had prosecuted Hilton and wanted Sheriff Lee Baca held in contempt for deciding to reassign Hilton to home detention despite Sauer's express order that she must serve her time in jail.

Sauer gave no explanation of his ruling to send Hilton back to jail, but his comments throughout the hearing indicated he was affronted by Baca's decision to set aside his instructions and release the celebutante to her Hollywood Hills home.

''I at no time condoned the actions of the sheriff and at no time told him I approved the actions,'' he said. ''At no time did I approve the defendant being released from custody to her home on Kings Road.''

Hilton's lawyers said the reason for her release was an unspecified medical condition. The judge suggested that could be taken care of at jail medical facilities.

Why home detention

Following the hearing, Baca said he decided to put Hilton under house arrest because he was concerned about a serious medical condition he could not disclose, though his further comments suggested psychological problems.

He said he had learned from one of her doctors that she was not taking a certain medication while she was in custody previously and her ''inexplicable deterioration'' puzzled county psychiatrists.

Baca charged that Hilton received a more severe sentence than normal, which he said would have been either no time in jail or being directly placed in home confinement with electronic monitoring.

''The only thing I can detect as special treatment is the amount of her sentence,'' the sheriff said.

Hilton will likely be held at the Twin Towers facility for at least a couple of days before determining what jail she will be held in, Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Despite being reincarcerated, she could still be released early. Inmates are given a day off their terms for every four days of good behavior and her days in home detention counted as custody days. It appeared that Friday would count as her sixth day. Baca indicated she would serve about 18 more days.

Hilton's path to jail began Sept. 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand.

She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and $1,500 (euro1,120) in fines.

In the months that followed, she was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving on a suspended license. The second stop landed her in Sauer's courtroom, where he sentenced her to jail.

'Cannes gives you an indescribable feeling'

2007-06-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Veyil became the first first Tamil film to be screened at the recent Cannes Film Festival. Director Vasantha Balan, along with producer Shankar and lead actor Pasupathi, were there to represent the film at the festival.

Veyil was screened under the Tous les Cinemas du Monde section in a theatre called Le Cinema du Monde on May 19. Looking back on that momentous day, Balan recalls his unforgettable experience in this interview.

What was your reaction when you learnt that Veyil had been invited to Cannes?

On March 30, I got a call from the director of the film festival informing me that Veyil had been selected for Cannes. I thought one of my friends was playing a prank on me. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine my film going to Cannes.

Then I got another call, this time from my producer Shankar sir asking me if the film has been selected for Cannes. I was confused and told him so. Then, Shankar sir confirmed the news. I was speechless.

Did you celebrate?

We didn't but from that moment onwards, I was in seventh heaven. I never imagined that my film would have the logo of Cannes on the cover. It was an amazing feeling.

We spent April subtitling the film, and on May 17, Shankar sir, Pasupathi and I went to Cannes.

How excited were you?

This was my second trip abroad. The first time was for the shooting of Jeans. Coincidentally, I was assisting Shankar sir in that film. Now, this was my second trip with him. Isn't it amazing?

However, when you travel as an independent director, there is a lot of pride in the trip.

As we sat in the plane, I asked myself several times, is it really happening? I come from a small town (Virudhunagar) with no connection with films at all. Coming from such a background, my film being selected by an international film festival like Cannes gives you an indescribable feeling. I couldn't believe it was really happening.

Did you want to meet any internationally known filmmakers there?

I really wanted to meet Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rritu, the director of Babel. His Amores Perros is one of my favourite films. But I couldn't meet him. But I was fortunate to meet Michael Moor.

How was the experience before and after the screening of your film?

My film's show was at 6 pm on May 19. There were about 500 people in the hall. The program director introduced me to the audience as the director of Veyil. Many people asked me the meaning of Veyil. I told them it meant sunshine.

They also wanted to know why I had such a title. I told them that Veyil was not just sunshine but a character in the film. Like sunshine is harsh to human beings, the place where the story unfolds also is very harsh on its people. I told them that the film was about how the harshness affected the mind of a child. I spoke in English which was then translated into French.

How did you feel when your film unfolded onscreen in front of an international audience?

As you know, Veyil is my second film. I would have felt great if my film got screened in Chennai and for it to be screened in Cannes! When my name appeared on the screen, I was overwhelmed.

Did you remove the songs from the film?

The prescribed length was 100 minutes and my film was 120 minutes long. So we cut 40 minutes from it. I removed two songs and retained only the ones that carried the story forward.

People enjoyed the action comedy scenes thoroughly but they were shocked to see the kind of violence that was there in the film.

Were you nervous about the response?

Yes. I knew the audience would be speechless after the climax. There was complete silence after it ended. I could see that they were all disturbed. I saw the same expression on the faces outside the theatres in Tamil Nadu.

An 70-year old lady came over and told me that it was a great film. "It touched my heart but I feel very sad," she said with tears in her eyes. She was sad because her eldest son went missing when he was seven and my film reminded her of him.I spent an hour answering questions. The greatest reward for me as a filmmaker was that old mother's tears.

I had asked you before the release of the film whether the urban audience would identify with the emotions of the characters in the film, and you said that emotions are universal irrespective of the place.

Exactly. A mother in France [Images] could identify with the emotions of a mother in Virudhunagar. That is human emotion; it is universal.

I must add that Veyil has been selected for the competitive section at the Shanghai festival also.

Pasupathi was there with you. How did people react to his acting?

He made a lot of fans there. People were clamouring for his autographs! I was surprised that more people wanted the actor's autograph than the director's! (laughs)

Yours was the first Tamil film that went to Cannes festival. Now, everyone will be anxiously looking forward to your next movie. Does that make you nervous?

The thought has made me more responsible. I know my next film will be scrutinised by everyone. The script is ready and I will announce it when I come back from the Shanghai festival.

Paris Hilton released from LA jail early

2007-06-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Cox tells Jennifer Aniston's fans to 'stop worrying' about her

2007-06-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Washington, June 6 (ANI): Courteney Cox has told fans of Jennifer Aniston to “stop worrying” about her best friend, for the actress is doing “great”.

Fans started worrying about Aniston after she split from hubby Brad Pitt in 2005.

While Pitt has gone on to a relationship with Angelina Jolie, and is now raising four kids with her, Aniston’s only serious relationship so far, with her The Break-Up co-star Vince Vaughn bit the dust late last year.

What’s worse is that the media has been portraying Aniston as a lonely, broken-hearted woman.

However, Cox admits that while she realizes the public interest in Aniston’s life, she insists to Marie Claire magazine that the media reports are just not true.

"I think it might be getting a little better now, but for a while her life was expected to be everyone's life….People should stop worrying about her life," she told the magazine.

"I could talk about just how great she is doing at the moment, but then it's just an interview about her. I understand your position because her world is so public but, well, I can tell you we're both very fortunate to have each other," she added.

Cox and her husband David Arquette were holidaying with Aniston and Pitt on the Caribbean island of Anguilla in January 2005 when the couple announced that they were splitting up.

Cox and Aniston have been friends ever since meeting on the sets of ‘Friends’ in 1994.

Aniston is also godmother to Cox’s daughter Coco. (ANI)

Mallika Sherawat asks big money for a small role

2007-06-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Mallika Sherawat seems to have become pricey ever since she signed her first Hollywood movie three months back.

While Mallika's high-headedness is not something new, the sex kitten has been on a high pedestal since she signed Hollywood movie 'Unveiled', to be directed by Bill Bannerman, who has worked as associate director under Clint Eastwood.

Having clinched such a big project, Mallika has been making quite unreasonable demands for her acting fee in Bollywood.

She is reported to have charge a hefty sum for her rather marginal role in Himesh Reshammiya's movie 'Aap Ka Suroor'.

But nothing comes close to the money she demanded from the makers of 'The Train' for just a small cameo in the film.

Director Hasnain Hyderabadwala had approached Mallika with the offer of just a one-scene appearance at the movie's end. Mallika was not even required to shoot for an entire day. An hour's shooting at the most would have been enough to shoot her scene with Emraan Hashmi.

For this cameo appearance, Hyderabadwala had an offer of Rs 10 lakh for Mallika. But the busty babe gave the director a shock of his life by demanding Rs 1.25 crore.

Hyderabadwala was stunned because even the collective payment to the movie's three actors, Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra and Sayali Bhagat, doesn't come anywhere close to the sum quoted by Mallika.

And when producer Shyam Bajaj heard about Mallika's demand, he had a hearty laugh.

The cameo was eventually shot with another girl.

Priyanka signs a three-film deal with UTV

2007-06-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

She is perhaps the first Bollywood actress to have been considered for a multiple film deal by a corporate company. UTV claims this is one-of-its-kind for a leading lady in Bollywood and marks a significant move by the company to drive the corporatisation of the movie business.

Priyanka says she is excited about the contract because apart from obviously doing good films under the banner, she will also have the freedom to choose the films. She says, “There are no binding conditions in the contract. I will have the full freedom to choose scripts, directors and even the technicians.”

When asked how much the contract was worth, she just smiled and said, “I don’t discuss money.” While the UTV guys also refused to disclose the amount promised to Priyanka, the buzz is that the contract would be worth something around 4 - 5 crores.

Interestingly, Priyanka’s co-stars Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan were offered such multiple film corporate contracts, which later didn’t work out.

Cameron can't understand plastic surgery

2007-06-02T09:06:00.001-07:00

Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz is not able to understand why people want to have plastic surgeries to change their looks.

The Charlie's Angels actress recently said that going under the knife "destroys people's character."

"Urgh! Have you seen those shows where ordinary people want to look like Britney Spears or Brad Pitt? The Daily Express quoted her, as saying.

"What on earth possesses them to want to destroy their own character? To go under the knife to do that, well, it's sick," she added.

Diaz, who was forced to have her nose fixed last year after she started to experience breathing problems, insisted that she will never opt to modify her features, even when she grows older.

"I had to have work on my nose for a deviated septum but I would never do anything else. I think beauty comes from the inside. When I see women who have had plastic surgery I find it unnerving. All I can see is the surgery. The person who has had it has vanished. I don’t want to look like that," she said.

Diaz also divulged that she had no worries about turning 35 soon and added that being in the 30’s is much easier.

"When I was in my 20s, I couldn't wait to be in my 30s – and I was totally right. It's so much easier being in your 30s. You have a lot more experience and you know, if you behave in a certain way, what the outcome is going to be," she said.

"When you're in your 30s, you have enough restraint to rethink that impulse. And you have the strategy of how to get to where it's a happier place," she added.

Media in frenzy over jail-bound Paris Hilton

2007-06-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nothing quite stirs a media frenzy like an heiress to a hotel fortune preparing to surrender all the trappings of luxury for a three-week stay in the county jail.

The countdown to Paris Hilton's incarceration next week has sent the tabloid press into overdrive with stories alternately portraying her as a newly tearful, spiritual socialite or an unrepentant party girl kicking up her heels with the likes of Lindsay Lohan at Hollywood nightspots.

Either way, Hilton is in for a change of pace during the jail time she was ordered to serve after police caught her behind the wheel of her Bentley without a valid license earlier this year, violating probation for a prior drunken-driving offense.

The 26-year-old "celebutante" has been ordered to report to the Century Regional Detention Facility near Los Angeles by Tuesday to start serving her term, which already has been cut from 45 days to 23 days under state sentencing guidelines.

Once she reports, Hilton will forsake her designer clothes, cell phone and other accessories -- along with her freedom and privacy -- for an orange jumpsuit and a small, Spartan cell with twin bunks and metal toilet (no seat, no lid).

County Sheriff Lee Baca told the Los Angeles Times that steps have been taken to ensure no one smuggles in a camera to get pictures of the jailed Hilton, which would be of immense value to the tabloid media.

But a shortage of cameras behind bars doesn't necessarily mean Hilton is ready to surrender her vanity or fashion sense.

Under the headline: "Before the slammer, Paris planning some glamour," the New York Daily News reported that designers were ordered to Hilton's home on Monday to give her a pre-jail makeover.

PERP WALK ON THE CATWALK

"It's understood that the glamorous inmate-to-be plans to turn the perp walk into a catwalk and she wants the media to see her looking her best," Daily News columnists George Rush & Joanna Malloy wrote.

Hilton, who lampoons her public persona as a clueless, child of privilege on the reality TV show "The Simple Life," has succeeded in parlaying faux pas into greater fame since a sex video of her surfaced on the Internet some years ago. Several media outlets have suggested she is laying the groundwork to cash in on her incarceration.

Rush & Malloy reported Hilton plans to keep a jailhouse diary to be published after her release.

There were other indications that Hilton was turning to a higher power to pull her through. Her mother, Kathy, told celebrity Web site TMZ.com that her daughter was "preparing and praying" and last week Hilton was widely photographed toting copies of the Bible and "The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment."

Days later Us Weekly magazine reported she was spotted living it up in Hollywood with troubled actress Lindsay Lohan the night Lohan was busted for drunken driving.

People magazine, meanwhile, reported Hilton has been spending time with close friends, including her "Simple Life" co-star Nicole Richie, and has grown increasingly fretful about her upcoming jail term.

"She breaks down crying a lot because she just can't deal with the reality and pressure of everything that is happening," People quoted one unnamed source as saying.

Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, who she famously blamed in court for misinforming her about the status of her own driver's license, was not immediately available for comment.

People: Britney Spears, Riyo Mori, Lindsay Lohan

2007-05-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears says she "truly hit rock bottom" during a stint in rehabilitation this year but told fans she did not blame her behavior on alcohol or depression. "I was like a bad kid running around with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)," she wrote on her Web site, www.britneyspears.com. "I confess, I was so lost." Earlier this year, Spears, 25, split from her second husband, the aspiring rapper Kevin Federline, with whom she has two children. She is now trying to stage a comeback, performing for the first time in more than three years this month with a series of 15-minute nightclub shows and reportedly working on her fifth album. Spears said she hoped her letter would make people "think a little bit more of me and where I am coming from." (Reuters)

Riyo Mori, a 20-year-old dancer from Japan, was crowned Miss Universe 2007 this week in Mexico City, marking only the second time her country has won the world beauty title. Dressed in a black, red and purple Japanese-style gown, Mori beat out the first runner-up, Natália Guimarães of Brazil, to don a diamond-and-pearl-studded headpiece valued at $250,000. The last time Japan won the pageant was in 1959 when Akiko Kojima became the first Miss Universe from Asia. Also finishing in the top five were Ly Jonaitis of Venezuela, Honey Lee of Korea and Rachel Smith of the United States. (AP)

Also at the Miss Universe pageant, Miss Kazakhstan, Gauhkar Rakhmetalieva, said her country was preparing its own movie in response to "Borat," the hit comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen that portrayed the Central Asian nation as bigoted and backward. Rakhmetalieva said her government is filming the movie to show the nation's positive sides. But she said "Borat" brought much-needed publicity to Kazakhstan and there should be no hard feelings. "In the end we have to understand that it was only a joke," she said. "The advantage is that now our country is world famous." (AP)

Lindsay Lohan has returned to rehab after a weekend drunken-driving arrest, her publicist said, raising questions about whether she can start shooting her latest film. The entertainment trade paper Daily Variety reported this week that Lohan had just joined the cast of "Poor Things," a comedy starring Shirley MacLaine set to begin filming this week. The publicist wouldn't provide details, but several celebrity news outlets, including TMZ.com and Us Weekly magazine online, said Lohan checked in to the Promises treatment center in Malibu, California, the luxury facility where Britney Spears was recently a patient. Lohan, 20, underwent a stint in rehab earlier this year. (Reuters)

For "Mike Wallace: Some of My Favorite Stories," a retrospective to be broadcast this weekend on CBS, this (mostly) retired "60 Minutes" correspondent wanted to make news. And so on Friday Wallace plans to be in Coldwater, Michigan, to nab the first interview with Dr. Jack Kevorkian after he is paroled from a federal prison. Kevorkian, the advocate for assisted suicide who has served eight years for second-degree murder, was the subject of a piece by Wallace on "60 Minutes" in 1998. In that segment Kevorkian could be seen administering the lethal injection that resulted in the charges against him. That Wallace, 89, has not lost his zest for a big "get" was obvious in a phone interview this week, as he described securing the Kevorkian meeting through an intermediary and then plotting how to outwit others seeking the same interview. In the special Wallace will also be seen conducting a new interview with Vanessa Redgrave, whom he profiled on "60 Minutes" in 1979.

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The French tenor Roberto Alagna has canceled three performances of "Il Trovatore" in Madrid to undergo surgery on his nose, The Associated Press reported, citing the Madrid Opera house and Alagna's manager. Ines Toston, a spokeswoman for the Teatro Royal, said, "Roberto Alagna is undergoing surgery between June 2 and 4, and after that he needs a recovery period of six weeks." In his first performances ever in Spain, Alagna had been scheduled to sing in "Il Trovatore" three times from June 7 to 29. He made headlines last year when he walked off the stage at La Scala in Milan after some members of the audience reacted with boos and whistles to his performance in a new production of "Aida."

Lindsay Lohan arrested

2007-05-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

SILICON VALLEY: Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after she crashed her Mercedes convertible in Beverly Hills.

Police said investigators found what they believe is cocaine in the actress' car after the accident.

Witnesses said Lohan, 20, was in her Mercedes convertible when it crashed on Sunset Boulevard on Saturady morning. She suffered minor injuries in the accident and was taken to a Los Angeles hospital.

We received a call about the accident and 'tracked Lohan to the local hospital, where she was ultimately placed under arrest' for investigation of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, police said.

Lt. Mitch McCann of the Beverly Hills Police said it appeared as if Lohan was speeding when she lost control of the vehicle.

When police impounded her car, they searched it and found something else.

"It was a usable amount of illegal narcotics that was preliminarily identified as cocaine," McCann said.

Police said Lohan could face additional charges. Her tentative arraignment date is August 24, ABC News Radio reported.

The arrest is the latest chapter in Lohan's history of hard partying.

Saturday's was the third car accident she's had in the last two years. The actress recently announced she checked into rehabilitation centre for alcohol abuse in January, though paparazzi cameras have since caught her drinking.

Lohan's latest movie, 'Georgia Rule', is in theatres now. The actress' other screen credits include Mean Girls, Bobby, A Prairie Home Companion and Freaky Friday.