News For Wednesday Aug 20, 2008 News For Wednesday Aug 20, 2008

Entertainment Entertainment

Pregnant Netrebko withdraws from Met `Boheme' - Added 1 week ago

Soprano Anna Netrebko is extending her pregnancy leave and has withdrawn from performances of Puccini's "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan Opera in December and January. Netrebko, 36, announced in February that she and...

Happy New Year: Clark, Seacrest a duo through 2010 - Added 1 week ago

Dick Clark is still Mr. New Year's Eve _ but he'll be sharing the title with Ryan Seacrest. Starting this December, Clark's longtime end-of-year special will be called "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan...

Hollywood power broker Bernie Brillstein dead - Added 1 week ago

Bernie Brillstein, a Hollywood talent agent, manager, producer and studio head who over half a century guided the careers of "Saturday Night Live" comedians and helped package a slew of TV and movie hits, has died. He...

`Star Trek Online' is ready to beam up - Added 1 week ago

"Star Trek Online" is finally going warp speed ahead. After years in development limbo, the "Trek"-themed massively multiplayer online game will engage, according to game developer Cryptic Studios Inc. Jack Emmert,...

Philip Seymour Hoffman to direct play in London - Added 1 week ago

Producers say Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman will direct a play in London's West End later this year. "Riflemind" tells the story of a rock band getting back together 20 years after its members split up. ...

Sugarland founder files $1.5M lawsuit against band - Added 1 week ago

A founder of the country band Sugarland is suing the two current members of the popular group for $1.5 million. According to a lawsuit filed late last month in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, Kristen Hall was to get a...

Mia Farrow shows alternative 'Darfur Olympics' - Added 1 week ago

U.S. actress-activist Mia Farrow aired an "alternative" Olympic opening ceremony in a Web cast Friday, showing Darfur refugees in the barren deserts of eastern Chad playing sports on sandy fields. The Web cast...

Pam Shriver files for divorce from George Lazenby - Added 1 week ago

Former tennis star Pam Shriver has filed for divorce from one-time James Bond actor George Lazenby. Documents filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court cite "irreconcilable differences" for the end of the couple's...

Court orders end to suit filed by Tim Burton's ex - Added 1 week ago

A long-running lawsuit filed by Tim Burton's ex-girlfriend over his assets should be dismissed, an appeals court has ruled. The California Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Wednesday ordering a lower court judge to...

Katie Holmes chops the bob down to a pixie - Added 1 week ago

Katie Holmes just keeps taking it off. Mrs. Tom Cruise, who made a huge hairstyle splash when she helped fuel Hollywood's bob craze late last year, has been seen out and about in New York with a new pixie cut. Photos...

Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell regains consciousness - Added 1 week ago

Acid-tongued fashion critic Mr. Blackwell regained consciousness in a hospital Thursday as he battled a serious infection, his publicist said. Richard Blackwell, 85, collapsed at his home and was unconscious when he...

Ex-Bush aide claims `Swing Vote' stolen from him - Added 1 week ago

A former presidential aide claims in a lawsuit that plot and marketing elements of the Kevin Costner and Kelsey Grammer movie "Swing Vote" were stolen from him. Political commentator Bradley Blakeman, a former deputy...

After a year, The Police end comeback tour in NYC - Added 1 week ago

The Police ended one of rock 'n' roll's most successful reunions in Madison Square Garden on Thursday with a tribute to other famous trios, an assist from some real cops and a not-particularly close shave. The 150th...

Court orders end to suit filed by Tim Burton's ex - Added 1 week ago

A long-running lawsuit filed by Tim Burton's ex-girlfriend over his assets should be dismissed, an appeals court has ruled. The California Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Wednesday ordering a lower court judge to...

Pam Shriver files for divorce from George Lazenby - Added 1 week ago

Former tennis star Pam Shriver has filed for divorce from one-time James Bond actor George Lazenby. Documents filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court cite "irreconcilable differences" for the end of the couple's...

Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell regains consciousness - Added 1 week ago

Acid-tongued fashion critic Mr. Blackwell regained consciousness in a hospital Thursday as he battled a serious infection, his publicist said. Richard Blackwell, 85, collapsed at his home and was unconscious when he...

Lawsuit: Blige stole tunes, including iPod ad - Added 1 week ago

Mary J. Blige has been sued in New York for $2 million by a company that says she stole some of the music she used on her latest hit album, including one used on an iPod commercial. The Drama Family Entertainment...

Morgan Freeman discharged from Tenn. hospital - Added 1 week ago

Morgan Freeman was discharged Thursday from a Tennessee hospital after the Oscar-winning actor was treated for broken bones and other injuries sustained in a weekend car crash in Mississippi. Kathy Stringer, a...

Mac in stable condition, expects release in weeks - Added 1 week ago

A spokeswoman for Bernie Mac says the actor is responding well to treatment for pneumonia and hopes to be released in the next few weeks. Publicist Danica Smith said Thursday in a statement that Mac's condition is...

Dixie Chick Emily Robison, husband divorce - Added 1 week ago

Dixie Chick Emily Robison and her husband, singer Charlie Robison, have divorced. The San Antonio Express-News reported that Charlie Robison filed for divorce in January. The couple were at the Bexar County Courthouse...

Director sued over death of movie propmaster - Added 1 week ago

The parents of an assistant propmaster killed in an accident during the filming of "The Kingdom" have sued director Peter Berg, seeking reimbursement of funeral expenses and other damages. Berg was traveling in a sport...

Favre to be a Packer on 'Madden' cover, Jet inside - Added 1 week ago

Don't judge Brett Favre in "Madden NFL 09" by his cover. When the latest edition of the football video game franchise is released Tuesday, it will still feature the quarterback in his Green Bay Packers uniform _...

Live Nation posts a 2Q slim profit - Added 1 week ago

Concert company Live Nation Inc. says its net profit in the second quarter shrank 88 percent to $1.2 million, or two cents a share. The results, however, beat Wall Street analysts' expectation of a loss. Revenue rose...

Elvis' peacock jumpsuit sells for $300K - Added 1 week ago

Elvis Presley's favorite performance costume, the peacock jumpsuit, sold for $300,000 Thursday, making it the most expensive piece of Elvis memorabilia sold at auction. The online sale by auctioneer Gotta Have It!...

Keith says 'Beer' movie set was all business - Added 1 week ago

One could only imagine the pickin' party they could have thrown on the back lot of Toby Keith's new movie, "Beer for My Horses." Keith, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Mel Tillis, David Allan Coe and Rodney Carrington are...

Lucas says `Indiana Jones' needs Ford to continue - Added 1 week ago

George Lucas says he's already identified the one person who can keep the "Indiana Jones" franchise going: Harrison Ford. The filmmaker scoffed at the possibility of passing the famed fedora from Ford to Shia LaBeouf,...

'Dark Knight' reigns not in video game - Added 1 week ago

It's a puzzle worthy of The Riddler: Why is there no video game based on "The Dark Knight"? For the first time in the film-franchise's history, the caped crusader flew into movie theaters without a video game attached...

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS - Added 1 week ago

HARDCOVER FICTION 1. "Moscow Rules" by Daniel Silva (Putnam) 2. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) 3. "The Bourne Sanction" by Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader (Grand Central) 4. "Tribute" by Nora...

Usher's mother back as his manager after split - Added 1 week ago

Usher's mother is back as his manager following a much publicized split. The 29-year-old superstar announced Thursday that he has ended his partnership with celebrity manager Benny Medina, whose clients include Mariah...

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS - Added 1 week ago

HARDCOVER FICTION 1. "Moscow Rules" by Daniel Silva (Putnam) 2. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) 3. "The Bourne Sanction" by Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader (Grand Central) 4. "Tribute" by Nora...

USA TODAY BEST-SELLERS - Added 1 week ago

Key: F-Fiction; NF-Nonfiction; H-Hardcover; P-Paperback 1. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown) (F-H) 2. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion) (NF-H) 3. "Twilight" by Stephenie...

WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLERS - Added 1 week ago

FICTION 1. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown) 2. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) 3. "Moscow Rules" by Daniel Silva (Putnam) 4. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown) 5. "The...

British playwright Simon Gray dead at 71 - Added 1 week ago

British writer Simon Gray, author of literate, bittersweet plays and acerbic diaries, has died at 71, his publisher said Thursday. Granta Books said Gray died Wednesday in London. He had been diagnosed with cancer last...

L'Oreal denies lightening Beyonce's skin in ad - Added 1 week ago

Cosmetics giant L'Oreal is denying it lightened Beyonce's skin tone in an ad. "We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L'Oreal Paris altered Ms. Knowles' features or skin tone...

`Dream On' this: Steven Tyler working on memoir - Added 1 week ago

At 60, Aerosmith frontman and wild man Steven Tyler is ready to spill. Tyler, known for heavy hits such as "Walk This Way" and "Dream On," is working on a memoir to be published in 2009 by Ecco, an imprint of...

Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell hospitalized in L.A. - Added 1 week ago

Acid-tongued fashion critic Mr. Blackwell has been hospitalized with a serious illness, his business partner said Thursday. Blackwell, 85, has been in the hospital and unconscious since Tuesday, his partner, Robert...

Federal investigators drop Ledger drug inquiry - Added 1 week ago

Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained the powerful painkillers that contributed to his overdose death this year, a law enforcement official said Wednesday. ...

Jackie Chan to star in Hollywood spy comedy - Added 1 week ago

Jackie Chan's next Hollywood project is an action comedy about a Chinese spy working undercover in the U.S. whose cover is blown, the movie's producer said Thursday. "The Spy Next Door" will start shooting in...

Pop culture and politics can be a tricky mix - Added 1 week ago

Pop culture sure moves quickly. Just last week, Paris Hilton was so 20 minutes ago. And John McCain was drawing snickers from pop culture aficionados for choosing her and another relative has-been, Britney Spears, in...

That Was the Week That Was - Added 1 week ago

Entertainment highlights during the week of Aug. 10-16: 1939: "The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood. 1942: Walt Disney's animated feature "Bambi" premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York. 1948: Allen Funt's...

Celebrity Birthdays - Added 1 week ago

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Aug. 10-16: Aug. 10: Singer Al Alberts of The Four Aces is 86. Singer-turned-sausage-king Jimmy Dean is 80. Singer Eddie Fisher is 80. Actress Kate O'Mara ("Dynasty") is 69. Singer...

Nicole Kidman shows baby hometown Sydney - Added 1 week ago

Nicole Kidman appealed to the Sydney media on Thursday for "a little space" as she travels around Sydney with her new baby. The Oscar-winning actress and her singer husband Keith Urban arrived in her hometown from the...

Judge removes Barker from wrongful termination suit - Added 1 week ago

A judge has dismissed allegations against Bob Barker in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a "Price is Right" employee, saying the game-show's longtime host was not her boss. Deborah Curling, a former production...

Hilton memorized monologue in spoof campaign ad - Added 1 week ago

Paris Hilton didn't need cue cards for her presidential campaign ad. The 24-year-old heiress memorized her entire monologue, which included Hilton outlining her energy plan, in an online video spoof posted on Funny or...

'Hills' star Conrad brings reality to Emmy fashion - Added 1 week ago

Lauren Conrad has designs on an Emmy _ or at least designing a dress for next month's awards ceremony. The star of MTV's reality hit "The Hills" will be creating a "couture red carpet gown" for the 60th Primetime Emmy...

Country stars duet with Elvis on Christmas CD - Added 1 week ago

Thanks to technology, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride and LeAnn Rimes will be among the country stars performing with the king of rock 'n' roll on "Elvis Presley Christmas Duets." The new album, due out Oct. 14, will...

Pop culture and politics can be a tricky mix - Added 1 week ago

Pop culture sure moves quickly. Just last week, Paris Hilton was so 20 minutes ago. And John McCain was drawing snickers from pop culture aficionados for choosing her and another relative has-been, Britney Spears, in...

Publicist: Lisa Marie Presley is expecting twins - Added 1 week ago

Lisa Marie Presley is expecting twins, her spokeswoman, Cindy Guagenti, said Wednesday. The babies are expected to arrive in the fall. Presley _ daughter of Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley _ announced her...

Wahlberg to make cameo appearance on `Entourage' - Added 2 weeks ago

Fall is full for Mark Wahlberg. The 37-year-old actor-producer has upcoming productions in film, television _ and his own family. Wahlberg will make a rare cameo appearance on "Entourage," the hit HBO series he...

Presidential debate commission chooses moderators - Added 2 weeks ago

The Commission on Presidential Debates has named Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill of PBS, Tom Brokaw of NBC News and Bob Schieffer of CBS News as moderators of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential face-off....