Entertainment.

[Littledragon]

Bryan Adams to follow Prince (Gives CD With Ticket Sale).

Date: 11 sep 2004
Source: Undercover.com.au
________________________________________________________________

http://www.undercover.com.au/news/2...bryanadams.html

Bryan Adams is following in the footsteps of Prince by offering a copy of his new album with a ticket to his shows on his Australian tour.

Every Gold/Premium ticket holder will also receive a voucher for Adams new album Room Service.

This will certainly guarantee Adams a number one album with Room Service in Australia. With Australia sales down and a number one album averaging 6,000-9,000 units in the last few months, the number of tickets sold all but guarantees Adams a hit album.

Adams is coming back to Australia in February 2005 for a variety of shows including his own arena performances, an appearance at A Day On The Green in the Hunter Valley and an outdoor show in Perth with Rod Stewart. (The album redemption is not available for the Perth show).

Shannon Noll will support Adams at the Arena shows and Vanessa Amorosi will accompany him for A Day On The Green.

Dates are:

February 26, Perth, Subiaco Oval
February 28, Adelaide, Entertainment Centre
March 2, Sydney, Entertainment Centre
March 4, Brisbane, Entertainment Centre
March 5, Hunter Valley, Bimbadgen Estate
March 7, Wollongong, Entertainment Centre
March 9, Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena

Prince had already said it, loud and clear....

"Once again I don't follow trends They just follow me"

 

[Littledragon]

More skin, less talent for Miss America.

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (AP) -- With skimpy bikinis, less emphasis on talent and a shorter show, the producers of Saturday's annual Miss America pageant telecast were hoping less would mean more -- viewers, that is.

Fifty two women -- including, for the first time ever, a contestant from the U.S. Virgin Islands -- were set to compete for the crown in a two-hour show producers hoped could turn the tide on declining TV ratings.

Taking a page from reality TV, Miss America producers have spiced up the prime-time special by enlisting "The Bachelor" host Chris Harrison, crooner Clay Aiken and some new production touches.

The ABC telecast marks the 50th year since September 11, 1954, when Lee Meriwether was crowned Miss America 1955 during the first televised pageant.

This year's pageant retained the same basic elements, but with plenty of updates, including the Miss America Quiz, an eight-question pop quiz on U.S. history, U.S. government and current events given to the five finalists.

The talent competition, which once showcased 10 of the contestants, has been trimmed to two, and the traditional "parade of states" introduction of the contestants was reworked to eliminate some of the tedium.

In a nod to successful reality shows like "Last Comic Standing" and "American Idol," the last two women in the hunt for Miss America 2005 were to square off in a head-to-head talent showdown near the end of the telecast, the results helping a seven-judge panel decide who gets to make the tearful runway walk in Boardwalk Hall.

Miss America gets more than that, though: The winner earns a $50,000 college scholarship, a modicum of overnight celebrity and a yearlong reign that can net up to $200,000 in appearance fees.

Citing hour-to-hour Nielsen ratings that traditionally ebb during the talent competition, pageant producers axed the often-amateurish singing, dancing or baton-twirling acts that had been a part of Miss America since 1938.

The swimsuit contest was briefer, too, in a sense. Showing more skin than ever, the contestants competed in racy two-piece swimsuits provided to Miss America under a two-year sponsorship deal with maker Speedo.

The winner succeeds Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap, 22, an aspiring attorney from Orlando, Florida, who spent her year advocating the celebration of diversity.

 

[Littledragon]

Jackson 'regrets' out-of-court settlements.

SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- Shortly after hearing pretrial testimony from the mother of Michael Jackson's accuser, the pop singer's attorney told reporters that Jackson "would never harm a child" and he now regrets reaching out-of-court settlements years ago with two children who accused him of wrongdoing.

Attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. said all sorts of Jackson accusers have constantly made "efforts to exploit, undermine and take advantage of this wonderful human being."

"As a result, many years ago, he did pay money rather than litigate two false allegations that he harmed children. People who intended to earn millions of dollars from his record and music promotions did not want negative publicity from these lawsuits interfering with their profits," Mesereau said with Jackson at his side.

"Michael Jackson now regrets making these payments. ... These settlements were entered into with one primary condition -- that condition was that Mr. Jackson never admitted any wrongdoing. Mr. Jackson always denied doing anything wrong. Mr. Jackson had hoped to buy peace in the process."

Mesereau went on to say that Jackson has made more than $1 billion in his career and, taken in that light, the settlements "were actually very small compared to money he could make in music."

"Mr. Jackson now realizes the advice he received was wrong. He should have fought these actions to the bitter end and vindicated himself."

Jackson, dressed in a white suit and sporting black sunglasses, walked with his entourage to nearby SUVs, stopping to wave at hundreds of supporters who cheered behind a chain-link fence. He then left.

In 1993, Jackson paid more than $20 million to a then-13-year-old boy who accused him of child molestation. A multimillion dollar settlement was reached with a separate boy around that same time, although details on it have been less publicized.

Jackson, 46, currently faces multiple counts of child molestation, including committing a lewd act upon a boy and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He has pleaded not guilty.

The trial is set to start January.

Accuser's mother testifies
The mother of the accuser testified in an evidence-suppression hearing Friday, telling the court that Jackson's people "choreograph everything" and that everything from the district attorney's office is "the truth."

Asked if she was told the purpose of the hearing, she said, "To bring more torture on me and my children."

During the testimony, the mother, identified only as Jane Doe, was evasive and almost hostile. She often answered questions with long pauses, tilting her head in the air, closing her eyes and saying, "I'm looking in my mind." The defense argues that authorities overstepped their bounds in various searches, and Mesereau wants to prevent some items seized from Jackson's home and a private investigator's office from being used as evidence.

Mesereau claims that videotaped interviews seized by police from the office of a Beverly Hills private investigator, Bradley Miller, should not be allowed as evidence because he worked for Mark Geragos, Jackson's former attorney. The defense contends the search should be barred under rules of attorney-client privilege.

The defense also claims that the search of Neverland Ranch exceeded the scope of the warrant and should be discounted.

The accuser's mother told the court she did not think much of Geragos. "He's a bad guy," she said, later describing him as a "horrible guy."

She used similar terms for the private investigator, saying she knew he was part of Jackson's "damage control team."

"I knew he was a terrible guy," she said.

She also said she had been warned about "all the people they can buy off" and that she was afraid her children would be "ripped from my arms."

"I do a lot of staying up all night," she said.

At the close of Friday's hearing the judge said he would issue written rulings on the evidence suppression requests, but he did not say when.

Among those attending the hearing were Jackson's sisters, Janet and LaToya, and his brother Jermaine. Jackson watched attentively throughout the mother's testimony.

The prosecution revealed Friday that the mother and her son, the alleged victim, had been moved to another county, apparently as a safety precaution.

Another hearing is set for October 14 on another defense motion to try to get Jackson's $3 million bond reduced.

CNN's Miguel Marquez contributed to this report.

 

[Littledragon]

This could be Emmy year for 'Sopranos'.

(CNN) -- So this is the year "The Sopranos" finally wins its Emmy, right?

Well, maybe. But that was what people were saying last year, too.

The HBO show about Mafia boss Tony Soprano and his unhappy mob families has been a critical favorite since its debut in 1999. Every year it's been nominated for best drama, however, it's lost -- usually to another critical favorite, NBC's "The West Wing." That was true even last year, when "Wing" was widely seen as having slipped in quality following the departure of creator Aaron Sorkin.

"'The Sopranos' will finally win the best drama Emmy it has deserved for so long. This year nothing comes close," TV Guide columnist Matt Roush told Goldderby.com, the awards handicapping site overseen by entertainment critic and author Tom O'Neil.

The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT Sunday on ABC. Gary Shandling will host.

The best drama competition this year includes "The West Wing" -- again; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS' top-rated show about a police forensic team; Fox's "24," the Kiefer Sutherland show about a beleaguered government agent; and "Joan of Arcadia," the surprise CBS hit about a teenage girl who talks to God.

Both Goldderby's reviewers and the oddsmakers at WagerOnSports.com have "The Sopranos" as the favorite, and even the competition agrees.

"We're fairly sanguine that this is the 'Sopranos' ' coronation year," Joel Surnow, executive producer of "24," told The Hollywood Reporter's Ray Richmond, "and that's just fine because we're all huge fans of the show."

Tight races
But strange things have happened at the Emmys.

It used to be that the awards were rather predictable, rewarding the same shows and actors year after year. Now the opposite is becoming true. Predicted long shots are popping up in the winner's circle, and several cable channels are being recognized for their work along with the major broadcast networks.


Cable TV's "Monk" brought Tony Shalhoub his first Emmy win in 2003.
For example, last year Tony Shalhoub picked up a statuette for best actor in a comedy for his portrayal of the obsessive-compulsive title character, a San Francisco detective, in the USA Network show "Monk." The year before, Michael Chiklis won best actor in a drama for FX's "The Shield," overcoming predictions that "West Wing's" Martin Sheen had the award wrapped up.

This year's surprises include "Arcadia" and its star, Amber Tamblyn, both up in drama categories; and "Arrested Development," the free-wheeling Fox comedy up for best comedy series. Both shows were nominated in their first seasons, a rarity.

Both shows also have buzz, but that might not be enough to help them win Emmys, Goldderby.com's O'Neil told The Hollywood Reporter.

"'Joan of Arcadia' is a good show but a little too Christian-conservative/fuddy-duddy for the cool, cynical atheists of Hollywood," he said.

As for "Development," which is competing against HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and previous best comedy Emmy winners "Sex and the City" (HBO), "Will & Grace" (NBC) and "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS), O'Neil sees a tight race.

"You can't write off 'Arrested Development,' since Emmy voters love to rescue shows that are in the ratings toilet," he said. But with "Sex" having concluded its final season and "Raymond" the defending Emmy champ, he wouldn't rule out anything.

Favorite 'Angels'
This year's surprises included shows that weren't nominated in the best comedy or drama categories. Neither NBC's "Friends" nor "Frasier," in their final years, made the cut; neither did FX's "Nip/Tuck," CBS' "Without a Trace," HBO's "Carnivale" or NBC's "Law & Order."

There were also some surprises among acting nominees, most notably a nod for "8 Simple Rules"' John Ritter, who died early in the show's season. In the TV movie category, "The Reagans" -- a CBS-commissioned film that was eventually pulled from the network and aired on Showtime -- earned seven nominations.

"Vindication? Oh, my God, absolutely," co-producer Neil Meron told The Hollywood Reporter. "When you're attacked mercilessly for illogical and unpatriotic reasons, to be honored by Emmy voters in this way is just phenomenal."


Jeff Probst's hit reality show "Survivor" is pitted against "The Apprentice" and "The Amazing Race," among others.
Among the tightest races is that for best reality-competition program, which pits "Survivor" against last season's breakout hit "The Apprentice," along with "The Amazing Race," "Last Comic Standing" and "American Idol."

Perhaps the ultimate Emmy favorite this year is "Angels in America," which has been nominated for 21 awards in several long-form and acting categories. The record for wins in a year by a miniseries is nine, held by "Roots"; the most awards for one program, ever, is held by the TV movie "Eleanor and Franklin," which won 11.

Goldderby.com puts the odds for an "Angels" best miniseries win at 1/20, and star Al Pacino is 1/6 to take best actor in a miniseries.

But who knows? If there's been anything predictable about the Emmys recently, it's that they're not always predictable.

The show airs from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

 

[Littledragon]

Drew Carey to kick off 'Late Late' season.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Prime-time comedian Drew Carey has signed on to serve as guest host for the first two segments of the CBS "Late Late Show" next week when the program returns for its first season without Craig Kilborn.

Carey, also starring in a new improvisational comedy show on the WB network this fall, will be the first in a series of "Late Late" substitutes to fill in for Kilborn until a new permanent host is found, producers said on Friday.

A source close to "Late Late" said the appearances of some future guest hosts would amount to on-air auditions.

Kilborn surprised the late-night circuit several weeks ago when he announced he was leaving after five years on the show, which airs after the "Late Show with David Letterman."

Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, produces both shows.

Kilborn's show has consistently trailed NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" much as Letterman generally lags behind "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Carey's new show, "Drew Carey's Green Screen," premieres in October.

The show borrows much of its cast and concept from Carey's erstwhile ABC improv series "Whose Line Is It Anyway."

His ABC sitcom, "The Drew Carey Show," was canceled at the end of last season.

 

[Littledragon]

Paris Hilton's 'Confessions'.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Celebrity socialite Paris Hilton, who shot to infamy after a raunchy sex video of her flooded the Internet, now is teaching girls how to behave and let their "inner heiress out."

The 23-year-old Hilton dishes out her pearls of party-life wisdom in a 178-page book, "Confessions of an Heiress," published this month by Fireside, which is more scrapbook than memoir, with pictures outnumbering paragraphs.

"It's just a look inside my life," says the heiress to the hotel fortune, who suggests a weekend in St-Tropez in the south of France for beating the blues.

"It's about my friends and dating tips and do's and don'ts of dressing. It's kind of like a girls' guide. It's pretty interesting. It was hard, but it was a really fun project," Hilton told Reuters in a recent interview.

Setting herself up as a jet-set role model might strike some as the height of chutzpah. But America worships a different kind of celebrity these days.

"In the old days, you were a celebrity because you were good at something," says Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, about the society girl who went from gossip-page fodder to TV stardom with the Fox series "The Simple Life," after her sexcapade.

"Now there is a whole new subset of celebrities who are being created essentially for the sake of being famous. For someone known for being a beautiful party girl, a video like that is like a promotional device. I think it did wonders for that series."

Playing to the Hilt
Now one thing is certain -- Hilton is a hot property and she's playing it to the hilt. Besides her book, the former model has launched a jewelry line, and applied to trademark her name and copyright a tiara logo. She plans to put the Paris Hilton brand on clothes, perfumes, makeup and shoes.

And that's not all. The slender blonde is recording a pop-rock album, spreading her acting wings with a role in a remake of the horror film classic, "House of Wax," and filming a National Lampoon movie comedy, "Pledge This!"

In the old days, you were a celebrity because you were good at something. Now there is a whole new subset of celebrities who are being created essentially for the sake of being famous.
-- Robert Thompson, Syracuse University

"It's all about taking charge and branding yourself," Hilton said. "I think we're living in a moment when having a career, especially a really glamorous one, is very sexy."

Born with a platinum spoon in her mouth, Hilton reveals tidbits about life in the supersonic lane in her 'memoir' but does not ignore the less fortunate.

"People act differently toward you when you've got jewelry on your head," she notes about her fondness for tiaras. "Always act like you're wearing an invisible crown. I do."

Common Touch
Hilton hopes to pass on some of her fashion magic to common folk with her jewelry collection. It features belly chains, earrings, bracelets and anklets -- accessories she uses in the skimpy "slut wear" style she favors -- and is available at Amazon .com, priced from $15 to $95.

"With my line I try to use what I like and make it affordable," she said. "So anyone can look like an heiress."

Despite the book title's promise, it is a bit light in the confessions department.

Among the biggest revelations is what she "desperately" hates about her body: "I have size 11 feet" she reveals, noting that stilettos make her feet look smaller.

Conspicuously absent is a detailed account of exactly how her sex romp video made it onto the Internet despite Hilton's insistence it had been made strictly for personal use.

"Everyone does crazy stuff when they're young, but if you're an heiress, you have even more opportunities to mess up," is about as far as she goes on the subject.

Media professor Thompson says Hilton's success is not entirely a matter of dumb luck, noting she uses a "naivety which she plays like a finely tuned instrument," and crediting her with being "as savvy about how celebrity works in modern culture as (pop artist Andy) Warhol."

Like Warhol, Hilton elevates the everyday and banal to new heights, such as her tips on how to snag a "hot guy."

"Guys do not want girls who are too nice to them, or girls they can walk all over and get too easily. Every guy wants to be with a woman who thinks like an heiress," Hilton says.

Of course, it helps to actually be an heiress.

"It doesn't hurt to act rich as well as hot. I've found it to be a fairly unbeatable combination."

 

[Littledragon]

Pop stars perform at Great Wall.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Alicia Keys, Nellie McKay and Cyndi Lauper brought modern pop music to an ancient setting, performing for thousands of Chinese fans at the foot of the Great Wall.

Also on the bill Saturday night were Boyz II Men and vocalist Sylvia Tosun.

Keys wore a leather jacket and a hat pulled low over her face as she performed eight songs on a stage beside one the wall's immense gatehouses north of the Chinese capital. The singer and pianist took the stage carrying a cane.

"Thank you for having me at the Great Wall," she said as Chinese fans cheered.

Organizers described the concert as the first by foreign musicians at the wall, though British disk jockey Paul Oakenfold performed there last year and later released an album of the show.

Some of the proceeds were to go to a Chinese children's charity, promoters said.

Despite the chilly autumn evening, Lauper performed part of her set barefoot.

She descended from the stage and into the audience at one point, causing a brief flurry as spectators stood up to see her and Chinese police ordered them to sit down.

Tosun was joined by a children's choir as she sang a traditional Chinese song, "Jasmine."

 

[Littledragon]

'Shark Tales' sets October box office record.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 3 (Reuters) -- The hip-hop underwater animated flick "Shark Tales" opened this weekend as the highest October box office draw in history, studio executives said on Sunday.

The Dreamworks Animation film raked in a record $49.1 million in its first weekend, surpassing the record set by Dimension Films' "Scary Movie 3," which reaped $48 million in its October 2003 opening weekend.

"Shark Tales"' sales also helped restore a particularly lackluster box office draw made worse by the aftermath of East Coast hurricanes, studio executives said.

"It's an incredible opening for any movie -- not just for an animated movie," Jeff Tharp, Dreamworks' head of distribution, told Reuters on Sunday.

The film, narrated by the voices of such stars as Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renee Zellweger and Angelina Jolie, also features the hip-hop sounds of Missy Elliott, Ludacris and Christina Aguilera.

Its success seems to indicate that Dreamworks is quite able to turn out hits other than "Shrek," which will bode well if it goes through with plans to spin off its animation unit and raise more than $650 million.

"It's the second biggest opening ever for Dreamworks, surpassing the first weekend of Shrek by $7 million," Tharp said. "We're particularly pleased with the urban market play as well as the suburban markets. I think you attribute that to voice talent as well as the music in the movie."

Trailing "Shark Tales" in the No. 2 spot was another new opening, Buena Vista's "Ladder 49," a post-Sept. 11 firefighter tale starring John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix. It raked in an impressive $22.8 million, appealing to older audiences with its firefighter-as-hero story line.

Thrillers and action
Supernatural thriller "The Forgotten" was third with better-than-expected ticket sales of $12 million, said Rory Bruer, president of distribution for Sony Pictures. The film, starring Julianne Moore as a grieving mother who imagines her son died in a plane crash, produced in its second week a cumulative total of $38.3 million, according to early estimates by tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

The high-tech, sci-fi action spectacle "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" was No. 4 with $3.4 million in ticket sales and a cumulative total in its third week of $30.6 million.

Sports-themed "Mr. 3000," starring actor-comedian Bernie Mac, finished in fifth place and drew $2.6 million.

Privately held Magnolia Pictures' new release "Woman Thou Art Loosed," which debuted at only about 408 theaters nationwide, did extremely well, coming in sixth. Starring Kimberly Elise, the drama drew a total $2.5 million and averaged some $6,100 per theater, as opposed to "The Forgotten," which averaged $3,800 per theater at 3,144 theaters.

Final numbers will be released on Monday.

Overall sales were up from last week, according to Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films grossed $104.4 million in the latest three-day period, up 29.58 percent from the year-ago frame, it said.

"The Forgotten" was released by Revolution Studios, a unit of Sony Corp. "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

"Mr. 3000" and "Ladder 49" were released by Buena Vista, a unit of Walt Disney Co.

 

[Littledragon]

Britney: Marriage legal, manager dumped.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Pop star Britney Spears formalized her union with dancer Kevin Federline Thursday just as she parted ways with the manager who had been guiding her career since she was 13, her spokeswoman said.

"All the proper paperwork was dealt with today, filed, done. It's all legal," Spears' publicist, Leslie Sloane, told Reuters when asked whether the singer's marriage license had been filed.

Spears, 22, and Federline, 26, exchanged vows in a secret wedding ceremony in Los Angeles last month. But as People magazine published exclusive photos of the event days later, rival magazine US Weekly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the nuptials, reporting it had obtained documents showing the whole ceremony was fake.

Spears acknowledged then that the couple had yet to file a marriage license -- as California law requires within 90 days of the ceremony -- but insisted their wedding was real.

She told People they had been legally advised to wait for a grace period after completing their prenuptial agreement to file a wedding certificate.

Also Thursday, Spears' longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, announced through his publicist that he and the singer had "mutually agreed not to renew their nine-year management relationship."

Rudolph is credited with discovering the Louisiana native when she was just 13 years old, helping guide her early career and building her into one of the most successful recording stars in recent years.

Spears has sold more than 60 million albums since she shot to fame with her 1999 debut, " Baby One More Time." With the subsequent releases of "Oops! ... I Did It Again" and "Britney," Spears became the first female performer in the history of Billboard magazine to have her first three albums open at No. 1 on the pop album chart.

In a statement, Rudolph said, "Britney and I simply realized what we have done all we can do together."

Sloane said the split was amicable and added no decisions had been made about future management for Spears.

Rudolph said he would be teaming up with the family-owned Maloof Entertainment company, which owns and operates the Palms Resort & Casino Hotel in Las Vegas to produce TV projects.

 

[Littledragon]

Rowling: Another Potter character to die.

LONDON, England (AP) -- "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling said Friday that one of her characters will not survive the next book in her series about the young wizard.

Asked on her official Web site whether she planned to kill off any more characters, Rowling replied, "Yes, sorry." But she refused to identify that character.

The sixth book in the series, "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince," is due to be published next year.

Potter himself is safe, at least for now. Rowling has previously said her teenage hero will survive until the seventh and final book in the series, but has refused to say whether he will reach adulthood.

"You have to wait and see whether he survives to be a grown-up," Rowling said in August.

The 39-year-old author keeps the plots of her novels tightly under wraps, teasing fans with morsels of information.

Before the publication of her last installment, "Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix," she said a major character would die. Readers had to wait until the book appeared last year to discover the victim was Harry's mentor, Sirius Black.

 

[Littledragon]

Strait tops album charts -- after flub.

LOS ANGELES, California (Billboard) -- Due to a reporting error from a mass merchant, Nielsen SoundScan on Wednesday reprocessed the U.S. pop albums chart, allowing country veteran George Strait to claim the No. 1 spot, having initially come in second to R&B star Usher when the data were released earlier in the day.

Strait's "50 Number Ones" (MCA Nashville) sold 343,000 copies in the week ended October 10, followed by Usher's "Confessions" (LaFace/Zomba) with 336,000, Nielsen SoundScan said. In the initial data, Strait was credited with 330,500 copies.

Further, a processing error moved R.E.M.'s "Around the Sun" (Warner Bros.) up one position to No. 13, with 61,000 sold. Its last album of new material, "Reveal," opened at No. 6 with 126,600 units in May 2001. "Around the Sun" did, however, top the U.K. pop charts.

"50 Number Ones" also becomes Strait's 18th No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, furthering his record for the most Billboard No. 1 country albums. He has held the record since 2001, when he nabbed his 16th No. 1 with "The Road Less Traveled."

Strait's last major hits compilation, 2000's "Latest Greatest Straitest Hits," opened at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 with 182,000 and has sold 1.5 million to date.

His current single and the only new song on "50 Number Ones," "I Hate Everything," jumped to No. 1 on Billboard's airplay-based Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart, instantly rendering the album's title obsolete.

"This is the kind of problem you want to have," Strait said in a statement. "Country radio has been great to me my whole career. I can't thank those folks enough for making my album title a lie. It's because of their support and the great fans that I'm lucky enough to be able to make music and celebrate this milestone in my career."

Featuring a bonus DVD, new tracks and artwork, the reissue of "Confessions" propeled Usher from No. 24 to No. 2 on a 709 percent sales increase to 336,000 U.S. copies. In April the set debuted in the top slot with sales of more than 1 million units and spent nine non-consecutive weeks at No. 1. Together both versions of the album have a to-date sales total of 6 million copies.

Good Charlotte's third album, "The Chronicles of Life and Death," (Epic/Daylight) entered at No. 3 on the strength of 198,500 copies sold. The set -- which is also No. 1 on the Top Internet Albums chart -- is available in stores as a "life" and "death" version, each with its own bonus track. The pop/punk act's 2002 sophomore set, "The Young and the Hopeless," entered at No. 7 on first-week sales of 117,000; it has sold 3.1 million to date.

Korn grabbed the No. 4 slot with "Greatest Hits Vol. 1" (Epic/Immortal), which moved 130,000 units in its first week. The act's last studio set in 2003, "Take a Look in the Mirror," entered at No. 19 with 96,000 copies and has sold 1 million to date.

Last week's chart topping "Feels Like Today" (Hollywood) by country act Rascal Flatts slid to No. 8 on a 59 percent decline to 82,000. Its two-week total stands at 289,500 copies.

Among other new entries, Cake's "Pressure Chief" (Columbia) bowed at No. 17 with 46,000 copies. Warner Music Group/BMG's "Totally Hits 2004, Vol. 2" debuted at No. 19 with 43,000 units.

Tom Waits grabbed his highest career peak on The Billboard 200 with "Real Gone" (Anti-/Epitaph), which entered at No. 28 on sales of 34,000 copies and also bowed at No. 1 on the Top Independent Albums chart. His simultaneously released "Blood Money" and "Alice" in 2002 opened at No. 32 and No. 33, respectively, with a combined total of 64,000. Sales of the sets are split almost evenly with a combined to-date total of 307,000 copies.

Also debuting in the top 50 of The Billboard 200 were I-20's Capitol set "Self Explanatory" (No. 42, 26,000) and Provident/Word-Curb/EMI Christian/Sparrow's "Wow Hits 2005: 31 of the Year's Top Christian Artists and Hits" (No. 44, 24,500).

Back in the top 10, Nelly's "Suit" (Derrty/Fo' Reel/Universal) held steady at No. 5 with 122,000 copies, while his simultaneously-released "Sweat" fell four places to No. 12 with 64,000 copies.

Hilary Duff's self-titled Buena Vista/Hollywood album fell four places to No. 6 with 97,000 copies, while Green Day's former chart-topper "American Idiot" fell three places to No. 7 with 86,000 units.

Tim McGraw's former No. 1, "Live Like You Were Dying" (Curb), rose one place to No. 9 with 67,000 copies. Ciara rounded things out at No. 10 with "Goodies" (Sho'nuff/Music Line/LaFace), which fell seven places with 66,000 units.

 

[Littledragon]

Review: 'Team America' funniest film of year.

(AP) -- "Team America: World Police" arrives in theaters with what has to be the most unusual, unprecedented blurblet explaining why it received an R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.

The movie contains "graphic, crude and sexual humor, violent images and strong language, all involving puppets."

But nothing can prepare you for the hilarity of hot sex between a couple of marionettes -- which almost earned the film an NC-17 rating and will make you laugh so hard, you'll cry -- or for the surprising levelheadedness that emerges from what seems, at least superficially, like wild, wacky satire.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the mad geniuses behind "South Park," spare no one from skewering in their all-puppet extravaganza about a globe-trotting team of overly energetic peacekeepers -- not the so-called evildoers, or the self-righteous forces trying to stop them, or the Hollywood stars who feel compelled to use their celebrity to comment on the evildoers and the self-righteous forces trying to stop them.

The result is a film that works on every imaginable level: as a comedy, as sharp political commentary, as a send-up of bombastic action flicks, even as a musical. As in Parker and Stone's 1999 film "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," some of the most inspired moments come in song, including Team America's rockin' theme, "America, (Expletive) Yeah!" which blares as they blast off in jets from their James Bond-style headquarters hidden inside Mount Rushmore.

That Parker (as director) and Stone (who co-wrote the script with Parker) are equal opportunity offenders is one of the movie's great strengths: They ridicule both Michael Moore and the U.S. government. And by placing their words in the mouths of marionettes, their observations never seem heavy-handed. "Team America" is loud, fast and in-your-face. But in some ways it's also the most balanced and sane political offering in a box office that's stuffed with them.

Visually sharp
It's also a great visual achievement. The puppets' faces are remarkably human and the sets and costumes are impressively detailed; in that way, "Team America" couldn't be more different from the cut-out kitsch of "South Park."

Yet the characters also move with an awkward jerkiness that provides big laughs, especially during the aforementioned sex scene, which takes place between pretty-boy Gary, an actor formerly starring on Broadway in "Lease: The Musical," and Lisa, who specializes in terrorist psychology and has the blond locks and big facial features that call to mind Cybill Shepherd, if Cybill Shepherd were made of wood.


Kim Jong Il is the primary -- but not the only -- villain in "Team America."
At the film's start, Gary is recruited by Spottswoode, the group's silver-haired mentor, to use his acting skills and go undercover as a terrorist to find out when and where the next big attack is planned. (Spottswoode believes Gary is "the perfect weapon" since he's an actor who double majored in theater and world languages at the University of Iowa.)

Gary's crude terrorist transformation consists of some cotton balls dyed black and stuck to his chiseled facial features, a little shoe polish and a bath towel wrapped his head. (Parker and Stone have never exactly been known for being politically correct, so why should they start now?)

Their depiction of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il won't endear them to the Asian community, either -- he whines and mopes about his palace in a powder-blue leisure suit, singing about how lonely he is, but in his heavy accent the word comes out as "rone-ry."

The puppetized actors in the movie won't be happy with their portrayal, either. Alec Baldwin, head of the Film Actors Guild (which is frequently abbreviated -- you can figure it out for yourself), is as madly power-hungry as the terrorists themselves. Janeane Garofalo urges her fellow celebs to read the newspaper and then regurgitate the information as their own opinions. Matt Damon is only capable of shaking his fist and grunting his name.

It all may sound adolescent and goofy, and a lot of the time it is. But "Team America" also may be the best film of the year. It's easily the funniest.

"Team America: World Police," a Paramount Pictures release, is rated R for graphic, crude and sexual humor, violent images and strong language, all involving puppets.

 

[ORANGATUANG]

This isnt an seagal movie i saw tonight..it was an John Travolta one it was called "Domestic Disturbance" man it was good brighten up my some what dull day..as seagal i think that Travolta looks alot better with abit of pudding on......

 

[Littledragon]

This isnt an seagal movie i saw tonight..it was an John Travolta one it was called "Domestic Disturbance" man it was good brighten up my some what dull day..as seagal i think that Travolta looks alot better with abit of pudding on......

So you prefer the fat Seagal instead?

 

[Littledragon]

Britney Spears taking time off to 'chill'.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Newlywed pop star Britney Spears told her fans Monday that she is taking a few months off "to enjoy life," including her honeymoon and reruns of her favorite TV shows.

"My prerogative right now is to just chill and let all the other overexposed blondes on the cover of Us Weekly (magazine) be your entertainment," she said in an open letter posted on her official Web site.

Spear's publicist, Leslie Sloane, added Monday that the singer was merely keeping a low profile until the first of next year to "spend some time with her husband." Sloane confirmed earlier this month that the 22-year-old entertainer had abruptly parted ways with the manager who had guided her career since she was an adolescent.

Spears, recently married to dancer Kevin Federline, said she needed a break from the treadmill of fame and suggested she had been exploited for the commercial gain of others.

"Going and going and going is all I've ever known since I was 15 years old," she wrote. "It's amazing what advisers will push you to do, even if it means taking a naive, young, blond girl and putting her on the cover of every magazine."

The latest swirl of publicity surrounded Spears and Federline, 26, exchanging wedding vows at a private ceremony in September, about eight months after her surprise Las Vegas marriage to a high school sweetheart was annulled.

On her Web site, Spears wrote that married life "is great" and she "can't wait to start my family."

"Right now, I have to go," she said. "I really want to watch (the film) 'Saved' with Mandy Moore and reruns of 'Sex and the City.' I want to enjoy all the simple things that I missed over the past few years due to working way too much."

Spears has sold more than 60 million albums since she shot to fame with her 1999 debut, "... Baby One More Time."

With the subsequent release of "Oops! ... I Did It Again" and "Britney," Spears became the first female performer in the history of Billboard magazine to have her first three albums open at No. 1 on the pop album chart. Her next album, "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative," is due out November 9.

 

[Littledragon]

Etheridge recovering from cancer surgeries .

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Rock singer Melissa Etheridge, who revealed earlier this month that she was battling breast cancer, says she is recovering at home from two recent surgeries and plans to undergo chemotherapy.

"The good news is they took out the tumor and a few lymph nodes, only one of which was positive (for cancer)," Etheridge, 43, said in a statement posted on her Web site Friday.

"I still have both of my breasts, and whether I will keep them is a bridge I have to cross later."

"What an unexpected journey this is," she added. "I will be entering the phase of chemotherapy next. Who knows what that will bring."

In the meantime, the Kansas-born artist said she plans to continue working on an upcoming greatest-hits album, as well as a pilot TV comedy being developed for ABC. In it, she stars as a single lesbian raising a child with a straight roommate.

Etheridge made headlines and became a hero in the gay community in 1993 when she publicly revealed that she is a lesbian. In 2000, she disclosed that fellow rocker David Crosby was the biological father of her children.

The raspy-voiced rocker, known for such hits as "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One," announced October 8 that she was canceling the remaining 11 dates on her North American tour in order to deal with her illness. She said doctors have described her prognosis as "excellent."

She also urged her fans to "please vote" in the U.S. presidential election on November 2.

 

[Littledragon]

Puppet sex? 'America'? $*&@#! yeah.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Sometimes Trey Parker and Matt Stone are trying to make you laugh, and sometimes they're trying to make you squirm.

The "South Park" creators do all of the above with their new film, "Team America: World Police," which narrowly avoided an NC-17 rating by trimming a hardcore sex scene -- between puppets.

"Team America" is inspired by the old "Thunderbirds" puppet sci-fi adventure TV show. Parker and Stone, who delight in pushing the limits of both comedy and taste, borrow the format to mock the Iraq war and Hollywood blow-up epics like "Con Air" and "Armageddon."

The movie follows a squad of marionette heroes who fight terrorists (never mind that they reduce Paris and Cairo to ruins in the process). They recruit a Broadway actor, Gary, as an undercover operative. But Gary isn't always on board with their aggressive ways -- yet he's tired of Hollywood liberal whining and, hey, somebody's got to stop North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il from destroying the world, right?

Parker and Stone had puppets made of President Bush and John Kerry, but ultimately cut both characters from the movie, saying they didn't want it to be blatantly political.

"For us, it's a way to think about all the emotions behind the politics," Stone said. "It's not so much, 'Here's what we should do. ...' Gary is supposed to (represent) all the emotions that we've felt over the past couple years (about America's role in the world.) Are you proud? Are you ashamed? It's probably a combination of both."

Parker and Stone don't feel they have much to add to political discourse in general.

"I think the only thing we do assert is that it's fine and good for everyone to hate us (Americans) and think we're (jerks), but there is a big difference between (jerks) and (psychos)" like Osama bin Laden, Parker said -- substituting profane body-part slang for his descriptions.

'It's just what kids do'
Body parts were conspicuously absent from the puppet sex scene -- the marionettes have only a network of joints and hinges awkwardly bumping and grinding. After the scene was trimmed, the movie ratings board gave "Team America" an R.


The Team America squad goes after evildoers -- and tears up a lot of other stuff in the process.
"It's still funny," Stone said if the scene, "but nowhere near what it was. The scene itself is so funny and innocuous. It's not mean-spirited. It's not edgy. It's just what kids do. We all did that with dolls growing up."

Old college friends Parker and Stone are mostly tickled by what they see as the silliness of the ratings board decision. Parker points out that the pervasive gruesome violence -- such as the gory, bullet-riddled bodies of puppet celebrities -- didn't raise any eyebrows.

The old phrase "equal opportunity offender" applies generously to this movie, which attempts to place the world's population in three groups: sissies represented by Hollywood peaceniks like Tim Robbins and Michael Moore; jerks played by hard-charging "My country, right or wrong" nationalists on the "world police" team; and psychos -- terrorists, dictators and global criminals.

In "Team America," jerks need the sissies to keep them in line, and sissies need the jerks to protect them from psychos.

There are also a lot of songs, including "America, [expletive] Yeah!" and "Pearl Harbor Sucked and I Miss You."

Overall, the movie is just meant to provoke people, regardless of their politics.

"That's much more interesting than, 'Here's what we think!' " Stone said. "We don't know anything about foreign policy or anything. We don't know anything about anything."

"We make cartoons," Parker added, with mock feebleness.

Aiming at Michael Moore

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is the primary villain of "Team America."
So far only one celebrity they lampoon has lashed back: Sean Penn, who entered their comedic cross-hairs when he made a trip to Iraq and then published ads denouncing the then-impending American attack.

In the letter, the Oscar-winning "Mystic River" star said he didn't "mind being of service, in satire and silliness" as a character who becomes a pawn of North Korea's super-villain, but took issue with Stone on another matter.

In a recent Rolling Stone magazine article, Stone mocked hip-hop mogul P. Diddy's "Vote or Die" registration campaign, saying he didn't think "uninformed" people should be encouraged to go to the polls.

"It's all well to joke about me or whomever you choose," Penn wrote. "Not so well, to encourage irresponsibility that will ultimately lead to the disembowelment, mutilation, exploitation, and death of innocent people throughout the world."

Stone claimed Penn misunderstood him.

"My whole thing is I just wish uninformed people would just stay home," Stone told The Associated Press. "If you don't know who you're going to vote for, there's no shame in not voting."

Parker said he was just grateful for the free press Penn gave them by sending his letter to the Los Angeles Times: "It's really funny because in the letter he's really unhappy with us, and yet he couldn't have done anything better for the movie. Now we're on the front page again!"

They reserve their harshest treatment, however, for "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore -- but their disdain is as much personal as political.

Stone, who is from Littleton, Colorado, agreed to talk about his hometown and the infamous high-school shooting there for Moore's anti-gun documentary "Bowling for Columbine."

"We have a very specific beef with Michael Moore," Stone said. "I did an interview, and he didn't mischaracterize me or anything I said in the movie. But what he did do was put this cartoon right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon."

Parker and Stone still harbor hard feelings about that sassy, anti-gun cartoon because they feel it was done in "South Park" style. They believe the proximity to Stone's interview misled some fans into thinking they had done the cartoon, even though Moore never said they did.

For this slight, Moore's punishment in "Team America" is extreme: he's depicted as a gibbering, overweight, hot-dog eating buffoon who straps explosives to his body to blow up the American do-gooders. The puppet was reportedly stuffed with ham when it blew.

Cruel? Certainly. Unfair? Yes.

But the "South Park" guys like to make you squirm.

 

[ORANGATUANG]

So you prefer the fat Seagal instead?

Yes... but he is only big boned..not fat....the bigger the better as long as he looks after himself..

 

[Serena]

Yes... but he is only big boned..not fat....the bigger the better as long as he looks after himself..

I'm with you 100% on that, Heather. I definitely prefer the more mature, handsome Steven of the last few years over the skinny looking guy in those early movies.

 

[Littledragon]

Yes... but he is only big boned..not fat....the bigger the better as long as he looks after himself..

But if he did he wouldn't be fat right?..