News
1. Taylor Hicks to play Teen Angel in Broadway's `Grease'
By ERIN CARLSON - May 15, 2008
NEW YORK -- Taylor Hicks is going from "Idol" to "Angel."The "American Idol" alum will join the Broadway cast of "Grease" on June 6, playing Teen Angel in the revival of the popular musical.The gray-haired singer -- whose "Idol" fan base was called "The Soul Patrol" --...
2. Dennis Rodman charged with domestic violence in LA
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors say they have charged former NBA star Dennis Rodman with domestic violence for allegedly hitting his girlfriend at a hotel last month. Los Angeles City Attorney spokesman Nick Velasquez says Rodman was charged Wednesday with spousal battery,...
3. Celebrity cast in Hollywood wiretapping case
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
Seven famous faces associated with Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano's racketeering case:_ Keith Carradine: The 58-year-old actor's ex-wife, Sandra Will Carradine, pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in the case and admitted to having an affair with Pellicano. She said she paid Pellicano $...
4. Rapper DMX enters not guilty plea
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
PHOENIX -- DMX has pleaded not guilty to felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. A judge entered the plea for the musician-actor (real name: Earl Simmons) at a brief court hearing Thursday. Simmons was late for court.The 37-year-old rapper was...
5. Country star Shania Twain, husband splitting up
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
TORONTO -- Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details...
6. Cannes balances glamor with `Blindness'
By DAVID GERMAIN - May 15, 2008
CANNES, France -- Fernando Meirelles did boys with guns in "City of God" and murderous corporations in "The Constant Gardener." With "Blindness," the opening night entry at the Cannes Film Festival, the Brazilian director exposes the world's ultimate savages: your...
7. Cannes: animated documentary recounts war horrors
By ANGELA DOLAND - May 15, 2008
CANNES, France -- It's an animated documentary -- which is perhaps a contradiction in terms.Israeli director Ari Folman thought the unusual technique was the only way to tell his story of recovering from long-repressed, nightmarish memories of his time as a young Israeli...
8. Ford elected to Boston-based archaeological group
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
BOSTON -- The actor who helped glamorize archaeology on the big screen is lending his star power to the Archaeological Institute of America.Harrison Ford, who portrays the adventure-seeking Indiana Jones, has been elected to the Boston-based organization's board of...
9. `Lohengrin' cheered in Geneva after opening-night boos
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER - May 15, 2008
GENEVA -- Daniel Slater's new production of "Lohengrin" wasn't necessarily vintage Wagner, but it deserves praise as a thoughtful and tasteful take on the medieval legend -- and certainly none of the boos it received on opening night.Moving a Richard Wagner opera into...
10. Calif. museum hosts China's terra cotta warriors
By GILLIAN FLACCUS - May 15, 2008
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- More than a dozen Chinese terra cotta warriors crafted more than 2,000 years ago to protect their emperor in the afterlife have arrived in the United States with a very different mission: cultural ambassadors.As China gears up for the 2008 Olympics,...
11. Actor John Phillip Law, angel in 'Barbarella,' dies at 70
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- John Phillip Law, the strikingly handsome 1960s movie actor who portrayed an angel in the futuristic "Barbarella" and a lovesick Russian seaman in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," has died. He was 70.Law died Tuesday at his Los Angeles...
12. With 6 ACM noms, Rodney Atkins joins country elite
By JOHN GEROME - May 15, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Rodney Atkins is still surprised when people recognize him in the grocery store nowadays. But give it time.With six nominations for Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards, including biggies like male vocalist, album of the year and song of the year,...
13. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
HARDCOVER FICTION1. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)2. "Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson, Gabrielle Charbonnet (Little, Brown)3. "Phantom Prey" by John Sandford (Putnam)4. "The Whole Truth" by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing)5. "From Dead to Worse" by Charlaine Harris (...
14. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
HARDCOVER FICTION1. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)2. "Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson, Gabrielle Charbonnet (Little, Brown)3. "Phantom Prey" by John Sandford (Putnam)4. "The Whole Truth" by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing)5. "From Dead to Worse" by Charlaine Harris (...
15. Jolie, pregnant with twins, stays cool at Cannes
By ANGELA DOLAND - May 15, 2008
CANNES, France -- Angelina Jolie, pregnant with twins, has some secrets for staying serene at the Cannes Film Festival: get her partner, Brad Pitt, to baby-sit, and wear comfy shoes on the red carpet.Jolie was at the festival Thursday to promote DreamWorks' animated "...
16. Peter Mussbach leaving Berlin's Staatsoper
By GEIR MOULSON - May 15, 2008
BERLIN -- Peter Mussbach, general manager of Berlin's famed Staatsoper, is leaving due to differences over programming.The foundation that oversees Berlin's three opera houses decided in consultation with Mussbach, 59, to "release him irrevocably with immediate effect,"...
17. T-Pain has 5 nominations for BET Awards
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY - May 15, 2008
NEW YORK -- T-Pain's status as urban music's most frequent collaborator helped him nab a leading five BET Award nominations.Kanye West and Keyshia Cole received three nominations, while Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and newcomer Flo Rida received a pair each, BET told The...
18. Super publicist Warren Cowan dies in Los Angeles
By BOB THOMAS - May 15, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- Warren Cowan, one of the last of the super publicists who helped make Hollywood the glamour capital of the world, has died. He was 87.Cowan, who handled the careers of stars from Joan Crawford to Elizabeth Taylor, died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center...
19. Grant and Hurley win case against photo agencies
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
LONDON -- Two photo agencies have agreed to pay $113,000 to Hugh Grant, his ex-girlfriend Liz Hurley and her husband for taking photos of them while they were vacationing in the Maldives. Britain's High Court says The Big Pictures and Eliot Press Sarl agencies...
20. Ruling on Madonna adoption bid is postponed
By RAPHAEL TENTHANI - May 15, 2008
LILONGWE, Malawi -- Madonna won't know until next week whether a Malawian boy she found in an orphanage in 2006 will become a permanent member of her family, her lawyer said. Lawyer Alan Chinula had expected the judge to rule on the adoption Wednesday but said the...
21. Cannes has a big place in Aishwarya Rai's heart
By Associated Press - May 15, 2008
CANNES, France -- The Cannes Film Festival has a big place in Aishwarya Rai's heart.The Bollywood actress' first time at Cannes was to promote the lavish love story "Devdas" in 2002. The "Bride & Prejudice" star attended last year's French Riviera festival soon after her...
22. That Was the Week That Was
By The Associated Press - May 14, 2008
Entertainment highlights during the week of May 18-24:1945: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married in a three-minute ceremony.1954: CBS gave Johnny Carson a summer TV game show called "Earn Your Vacation."1974: Bandleader and composer Duke Ellington died of lung cancer at the age of...
23. Francis Bacon triptych breaks record at NYC auction
By Associated Press - May 14, 2008
NEW YORK -- A three-panel masterpiece by Francis Bacon broke a record for contemporary art auctions Wednesday, selling for more than $86 million after three bidders vied for it, a spokeswoman for the auction house said.The $86,281,000 price for "Triptych, 1976" also set...
24. Artworks by noted psychedelic artists go to NYC auction
By ULA ILNYTZKY - May 14, 2008
NEW YORK -- A collection of original art by noted psychedelic artists, depicting some of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll, fetched about $795,000 at an auction Wednesday, a spokesman for the auction house said.Paintings, printing plates, ink drawings and painted cel...
25. Carter, Connick do their home work in New Orleans
By STACEY PLAISANCE - May 14, 2008
NEW ORLEANS -- As former President Jimmy Carter nailed down the front porch of a home under construction Wednesday, singer Harry Connick Jr. gave an update on the progress being made in the Upper 9th Ward, an area slow to recover from Hurricane Katrina.The two are...
