Entertaining Posts: 05/07/11

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Nicole Scherzinger to co-host "X Factor"

LOS ANGELES | Sat May 7, 2011 10:27pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger will co-host the upcoming TV singing show "The X Factor", Fox television said on Saturday, but there was no official word on whether former "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul had signed up as the final judge.

Scherzinger will host the contest along with British TV presenter Steve Jones, Fox said in a statement. But on the eve of the first scheduled auditions in front of judges on Sunday, the statement omitted any mention of Abdul.

Abdul, who quit "Idol" two years ago in a contract dispute, was reported earlier on Saturday to be in final talks to join her old "American Idol" sparring partner Simon Cowell, British singer Cheryl Cole and record producer Antonio "L.A." Reid on the "X Factor" judging panel.

"The X Factor", created by English music entrepreneur Cowell, is due to air on Fox in the fall of 2011, offering a $5 million prize and a recording contract for the winner.

The celebrity line-up gives "X Factor" a strong British flavor, and gambles on introducing new faces to prime time U.S. television.

Although the sarcastic Cowell became a household name in the United States in his 10 years on "American Idol", Cole -- a member of British pop band "Girls Out Loud" -- is virtually unknown in the United States despite being a big star at home, where she has been a judge on the U.K. version of "X Factor."

Jones, a former fashion model and now a British TV presenter, is also a newcomer for U.S. audiences.

Cowell has spent more than a year putting together the celebrity line-up for his "X Factor" venture, which he announced in January 2010. He has made no secret of his desire to work again with Abdul.

Since Cowell announced plans for "X Factor", "American Idol" -- still the most-watched TV show on U.S. television -- has been revamped and has grown its audience after years of slipping ratings, and several other rival TV singing shows have been launched.

They include "The Voice" on NBC, which boasts a star power panel of coaches/judges in Christina Aguilera, country singer Blake Shelton, Maroon 5 front-man Adam Levine, and R&B singer and producer Cee Lo Green.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)

Depeche Mode singer honored at L.A. sobriety event

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES | Sat May 7, 2011 5:11am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan, a former heroin addict who cheated death during the 1990s, was honored for his sobriety on Friday by a charity that helps musicians who have fallen on hard times.

The seventh annual MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert attracted rock luminaries including Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, Go-Go's guitarist Charlotte Caffey, Billy Idol and director Cameron Crowe.

Gahan headlined a performance bill that also featured alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, pop combo Paramore and Latino ensemble Ozomatli. His bandmate Martin Gore made an unannounced appearance, partnering with Gahan on their big hit "Personal Jesus."

Guests paid up to $1,250 each to attend and plenty of screaming Depeche Mode fans packed the relatively cheap $125 seats in the balcony of the downtown club. Dinner was served but alcohol was off the menu.

Also honored was concert promoter Kevin Lyman, the man behind the annual Warped tour of punk and emo bands.

Gahan, 48, told Reuters before the event that he lives a clean life now, although it requires discipline and self-control to avoid giving in to temptation.

"If you sit in a barber's shop long enough, you're gonna get a f---in' haircut," he said with a laugh.

"I don't hang out with people that are getting high because I'm not that strong. It's fun to party and I had a lot of fun, and I kind of used up all my chips in that department."

Gahan attempted suicide in 1995 by slashing a wrist, following years of drug abuse that had destroyed his second marriage and imperiled his membership of Depeche Mode. The wound was not deep enough to be life-threatening but he was locked up for psychiatric evaluation.

He almost died in 1996 when his heart stopped for several minutes after he overdosed. He finally cleaned up about two years later.

Gahan was introduced at the event by Aerosmith's Tyler, who has had considerably more difficulty staying clean, as detailed in the memoir he published this week.

"One of the hardest things an addict can do is to get sober and to stay clean," Tyler told the crowd.

A woman yelled out "One day at a time" and Tyler replied "Yeah, yeah baby!"

Gahan and a pickup band performed a selection of covers, including David Bowie's "Cracked Actor" and the Damned's "New Rose."

Depeche Mode, which rose to fame during the 1980s with gloomy songs targeted at disaffected youngsters, wrapped up its most recent world tour in Germany in February 2010. Gahan said he is working on songs for the follow-up to the band's 2009 album "Sounds of the Universe."

The MusiCares MAP Fund, run by the group that hands out the Grammys, provides access to addiction recovery for members of the music community.

(Editing by John O'Callaghan)

Cannes film festival honors jailed Iran directors

PARIS | Sat May 7, 2011 1:16pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - Jailed Iranian film directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof will be honored at the Cannes film festival this year, organizers said on Sunday.

Rasoulof's "Good Bye" -- the story of a young Tehran lawyer trying to get a visa to leave Iran, and "This is not a film" -- Panahi's depiction of a day in his life as he waits for the verdict of a court appeal, will be shown at the festival, they said.

The film festival, which opens on May 11, will also see Pahani awarded the Carrosse d'Or (Golden Coach) prize by the SRF society of directors, a tribute to the "innovative qualities, courage and independent-mindedness" of his work, the SRF said.

Panahi, winner of many international awards and a supporter of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in the 2009 disputed presidential vote, was sentenced in December to six years in prison and banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years. Rasoulof received a similar sentence.

"That they send them (the films) to Cannes, at the same time, the same year, when they face the same fate, is an act of courage along with an incredible artistic message," festival organizers Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux said in a statement.

Iranian authorities regularly accuse Western governments and media of conducting propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

(Reporting by Marie Maitre; Editing by Andrew Heavens)