Entertaining Posts: 05/17/11

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Hollywood stars turn out for farewell Oprah show

CHICAGO | Wed May 18, 2011 12:44am EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Oprah Winfrey neared the end of her quarter-century reign on national television on Tuesday night with a star-studded send-off featuring Beyonce, Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Tom Cruise, Michael Jordan and many others who honored the talk show queen's efforts to boost education and fight poverty.

"She's a self-made woman who's been at the top of her game for over 25 years -- and she's still kicking ass," Madonna told a delighted audience of about 13,000 in a Chicago arena.

Wearing a purple gown, the pony-tailed Winfrey basked in the night of tributes from A-list celebrities and friends. Billed as "Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular" because Winfrey was kept in the dark about the guest list, the show will air in two parts on May 23 and 24.

Winfrey's final original "Oprah Winfrey Show", whose contents are still under wraps, will air on May 25, bringing to a close 25 years of the most-watched daytime talk show on U.S. television.

"Your show has turned surprise into an art form," actor Tom Hanks told Winfrey on Tuesday. "Oprah Winfrey, today you are surrounded by nothing but love. Your studio was not big enough to hold it all, so here we are," Hanks said, gesturing around the glittering basketball arena and concert venue.

Madonna praised Winfrey for her courage. "It's no secret that millions of people are inspired by Oprah," she said. "I am one of those people ... She fights for things she believes in, even if it makes her unpopular."

A slimmed-down Aretha Franklin, now recovered from major surgery six months ago, sang "Amazing Grace" to a stunned Winfrey. Beyonce, who performed her new single "Run the World (Girls), said that because of her "women everywhere have graduated to a new level of understanding of what we are, who we are, and who we can be."

FEELING THE LOVE

Maria Shriver, whose estranged husband Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday admitted fathering a child in an adulterous relationship, also came to Chicago to pay tribute to her 30-year friendship with Winfrey. "You've given me love, support, wisdom, and most of all, the truth," Shriver said.

A beaming Cruise told Winfrey it was an honor to have been on her show 12 times since 1988. Referring to his first appearance on the show 23 years ago, Winfrey quipped, "You looked like you were 10."

The special also included appearances by Will Smith, Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry, singer-actress Queen Latifah, Josh Groban, Patti LaBelle, Jerry Seinfeld, John Legend, broadcaster Diane Sawyer and basketball star Michael Jordan.

Winfrey, regarded as the most influential woman on U.S. television, is wrapping the final season of her syndicated Chicago-based show to devote more energy to her fledgling OWN cable network, which launched in January.

On a night of both performances and tributes, Jamie Foxx and Stevie Wonder serenaded Winfrey with "Isn't She Lovely" and country band Rascal Flatts sang "I Won't Let Go".

R&B star Usher closed the evening by singing the rousing spiritual "Oh Happy Day" and was joined by Winfrey and many of the other celebrities, clapping and singing.

Overcome by emotion, Winfrey declared, "I feel the love, and I thank you for it."

(Reporting by Matthew Lewis, editing by Jill Serjeant)

Pete Townshend says 2012 memoir a "rite of passage"

NEW YORK | Tue May 17, 2011 6:16pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A long-awaited memoir by British rock guitarist and the Who songwriter Pete Townshend will be finished and published by next year, book publisher Harper Collins said on Tuesday.

The 65-year-old musician, idolized since rising to prominence with The Who in the 1960s, said in a statement released by the book publisher the autobiography is "not a vanity for me. It is an essential rite of passage."

Townshend, who Rolling Stone magazine said has been writing a memoir since the 1990s, has forged a reputation not only as the main songwriter for one of Britain's most influential bands, but a rock commentator who has also published works of fiction and essays in the past.

"Rock 'n' Roll is a tough career, however cynically or comically it is portrayed by its detractors," Townshend said in the statement. "I am lucky to be alive and to have such a crazy story to tell, full of wild adventures and creative machinations. I am happy that I am able to write my book myself, in my own 'voice'."

Harper Collins, which said it has acquired the world English-language rights to the memoir, said in a news release the book would "at long last tell his dramatic story in a full and frank autobiography," and include the history of the band's roots to its rock opera "Tommy."

The publisher did not say if Townshend would address being cautioned by the British police in 2003 for accessing child pornography on the Internet.

At that time Townshend blamed the book, saying he was researching material for a childhood autobiography after believing he had been sexually abused between the ages of five and six and a half while in the care of his maternal grandmother.

In the statement issued Tuesday on Townshend said that while "I am not my favorite subject", he was looking forward to learning while finishing his writing.

"So the year ahead spent writing will also trigger the last vital bit of 'growing up' required by the now pensionable fellow who once wrote 'I hope I die before I get old'. I want to write a book that is enjoyable to read, but above all, I want it to be honest."

Last week it was announced that Townshend gave Roger Daltrey, the only other surviving members of The Who, his blessing to take the 1969 rock opera "Tommy" on a six-week North American tour beginning in September.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Jill Serjeant)

Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered child outside marriage

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue May 17, 2011 10:20am EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has acknowledged that he fathered a child more than ten years ago with a member of his household staff, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

In a statement made in response to questions from the newspaper, Schwarzenegger said: "After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago."

"I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry."

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Schwarzenegger, 63, and his wife, Maria Shriver, last week announced they had separated earlier this year. They have been married 25 years and have four children.

The woman involved with Schwarzenegger was not named by the newspaper. However, when contacted by the Los Angeles Times on Monday before the ex-governor issued his statement, she said she had retired in January after 20 years of working with the family. She told the newspaper her then-husband was the child's father.

Later Monday, the woman had no comment when the newspaper informed her of Schwarzenegger's statement.

Shriver, 55, an author and former journalist for NBC, is active with a number of volunteer organizations.

Her mother was the sister of assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy and her father, Sargent Shriver, was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1972. Sargent Shriver died in January at the age of 95.

Though a lifelong Democrat, Shriver campaigned for her Republican husband when he sought to recall and replace then-Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, in 2003.

She took to the stump to help Schwarzenegger win re-election in 2006.

Since leaving office after two terms as governor, Schwarzenegger has maintained a public life and is planning to star in another version of the "Terminator" movie franchise that made him famous, one industry source has said.

(Reporting by Peter Henderson, Editing by Jackie Frank)

Finnish fairytale wins fans, Cannes films warm up

By Mike Collett-White

CANNES, France | Tue May 17, 2011 6:59am EDT

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki tackles the tough theme of illegal immigration in his touching fairy tale "Le Havre," launching on Tuesday in Cannes where enthusiasm for the competition films is hotting up.

After a sluggish start dominated by somber tales, critics and journalists filing into the Grand Theater Lumiere cinema for early morning screenings have a spring in their step again as 2011 begins to live up to expectations of a strong year.

Kaurismaki's movie about an old man who sets out to rescue a young African boy from the French authorities in the northern port city of Le Havre was loudly applauded at the end of a packed press screening.

The director said his vision of the world was far darker than the one portrayed in "Le Havre," which is full of humor, tenderness and painterly beauty.

"I was about 10 years old when I found myself disappointed (with life) so I decided to fake that I am not and I started to create hope for others because they still have some," he said.

"The more skeptical and cynical I get the more soft are my feelings. I can't help it. I start to be tender in my old days and I start to even like my characters," he added in English at a press conference, where he was in a sardonic mood.

In "Le Havre," Andre Wilms plays Marcel Marx, a former author who scrapes a living as a shoe shiner and is part of a close-knit local community in a run-down part of town sharing a modest home with his wife Arletty.

His life is thrown upside-down when Arletty falls seriously ill and a young refugee turns up on his doorstep, setting in motion an increasingly desperate bid to help him cross the Channel to England and reunite with his mother in London.

POLITICIANS "NOT TOO INTERESTED"

Asked about his stance on the issue of refugees and economic migrants coming to Europe, he replied: "The problem is of course huge and I honestly don't have an answer.

"If the politicians would come out of their hotel rooms they might have a solution, but they don't seem to be too interested in common life between the hotel room and (the) Mercedes."

The sets and characters in Le Havre are taken straight from the 1950s and 60s, although the presence of mobile phones and the appearance of news footage of the closure of the refugee camps in the last decade come from a later period.

The dialogue often sounds like it is straight out of a novel, and aging French rocker Little Bob steals the show with a performance. Kaurismaki called him the "Elvis" of the region.

Le Havre is the 11th of 20 competition entries in Cannes this year, and could be among the frontrunners to win the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture which is awarded on Sunday.

Also popular among critics in a notoriously difficult event to second guess are Belgium's Dardenne brothers, who could become the first directors to win Cannes three times with "The Kid With a Bike."

French black-and-white silent film "The Artist," a bold throwback to the pre-sound era of cinema, is seen as a contender as is Terrence Malick's sweeping "The Tree of Life" starring Brad Pitt, which has divided festival goers like no other movie.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

"Survivor" finale wins big for U.S. network CBS

By Philiana Ng

Tue May 17, 2011 1:34am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The finale and reunion show of reality staple "Survivor: Redemption Island" paid off for U.S. network CBS on Sunday, just as upfront presentations begin in New York this week.

The season ender, which crowned "Boston" Rob Mariano sole survivor (and fan favorite), averaged 12.5 million total viewers from 8 to 11 p.m. and drew a 3.8 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to preliminary numbers. (For the actual two-hour finale, "Survivor" averaged 13.1 million and a 4.0 rating.)

Though "Survivor" easily topped the night in both categories, the 22nd season finale was down slightly compared to the previous season, set in Nicaragua (13.6 million, 4.1). With the help of "60 Minutes" (12 million, 1.7), which led off at 7 p.m., CBS was the Sunday victor by a comfortable margin.

ABC's primetime soap "Desperate Housewives" (10 million, 3.0) sank more than 2.5 million viewers for its supersized Season 7 finale compared to last season, when it drew 12.8 million and a 4.0 in the key demo. In season, "Housewives" did improve slightly from the previous week in the demo. "Housewives" still proved fruitful as it continues to age; the drama was the night's highest-rated scripted primetime telecast.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8.5 million, 2.1) and "America's Funniest Home Videos" (7.3 million, 1.8), up 7 percent, led off the night.

NBC ranked third on the night in viewers and the demo, with the penultimate episode of "Celebrity Apprentice" (6.6 million, 2.4) remaining steady. There had been speculation that Donald Trump would announce a run for presidency but the mogul told ad buyers at NBC's upfront presentation on Monday, to the audience cheering: "I will not be running for president as much as I'd like to."

Fox's animation block was steady for the most part, with rookie "Bob's Burger" (4.7 million, 2.2) jumping the most (10 percent). "American Dad" (3.9 million, 1.7) and "The Cleveland Show's" Comic-Con finale (4.9 million, 2.3) rose slightly. "Family Guy" (6.5 million, 3.3) and "The Simpsons" (6 million, 2.5) were flat.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)