It's a country, teen finale for "American Idol"

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Thu May 19, 2011 10:01pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "American Idol" fans on Thursday opted for an all-teenage, all southern, mostly country season 10 finale, sending Haley Reinhart home after a record 95 million votes.

The final elimination from the top-rated television show left deep voiced 17-year-old country singer Scotty McCreery to battle it out with pop/country singer Lauren Alaina, 16, for the 2011 "American Idol" title next week.

"This is the biggest platform anybody can ask for," Reinhart said of her time on the show, which ended after an episode that took the three finalists back to visit their home towns.

"I rocked it out , and I had a blast, and this is only the beginning," she added before launching into her send-off performance, "Bennie and Jets."

Reinhart had shown her rocker side on Wednesday, performing Led Zeppelin's "What Is and What Should Never Be" with her father playing guitar alongside her on stage, but also taking a brief tumble in her high heels.

But with the "Idol" judges offering nothing but praise for all three contestants on Wednesday, the decision on who to send home was left firmly in the hands of the viewers.

Fox television said the week's vote total of 95 million was the highest in the show's history for a non-finale.

For all the controversy earlier this season about audience bias toward male contestants, viewers sent a slew of male singers home over the past five weeks, leaving the finale a battle of the sexes -- in addition to both being teens from the south.

McCreery, a devout Christian and former grocery store clerk, hails from North Carolina. Alaina, from Georgia, is also a Christian and says she has dreamed of competing on "Idol" since she was six years old.

After three years of slipping ratings, "Idol" has increased its audience this year, thanks mostly to the arrival of new judges Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler.

The 2011 "American Idol" two-part finale airs on the Fox network starting next Tuesday, when viewers will choose the winner and he or she lands a recording contract, enviable bragging rights and incalculable media exposure.

Past winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have gone on to major singing careers, while eliminated finalist Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar for her supporting role in the big-screen adaptation of the "Dreamgirls" musical.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

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Schwarzenegger halts Hollywood return after scandal

LOS ANGELES | Thu May 19, 2011 6:16pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday put his upcoming Hollywood projects on hold following the scandal over a secret child he fathered 13 years ago with his housekeeper.

The 63-year-old former California governor and "Terminator" star has told his agents to halt plans to resume his movie career so that he can deal with "personal matters", according to a statement.

"Governor Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing to commit to any production schedules or timelines. This includes 'Cry Macho,' the 'Terminator' franchise and other projects under consideration. We will resume discussions when Governor Schwarzenegger decides," said a statement issued by his spokesman.

Schwarzenegger, who ended his second term as California governor in January, had been working on at least three entertainment projects, including a new "Terminator" movie in which he was due to star,

In the movie drama "Cry Macho", due to start shooting in September, he was cast as a retired horse trainer.

He had also announced plans to appear as the central character in a comic-book inspired animated TV series called "The Governator."

But the former action movie hero has been scorned and ridiculed since revealing on Monday that he had a child out of wedlock that was kept secret from his wife, Maria Shriver, and their four children.

The U.S. media has since named the woman as a 50 year-old former housekeeper at Schwarzenegger's Los Angeles home, and the child as a 13 year-old boy.

Schwarzenegger and Shriver, a member of the Kennedy political family and a former TV journalist, announced last week that they had separated earlier this year after 25 years of marriage.

The news of a secret son follows claims in 2003 that the former body-builder turned actor had groped or sexually harassed a number of women in the past.

It has made Schwarzenegger the target of scathing jokes and gave him a new nickname -- the Sperminator.

Hollywood producers had said earlier this week they did not think the negative fallout would affect Schwarzenegger's plans to resume his acting career after seven years in politics.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Dan Whitcomb)

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Witch hunt or wise move? Cannes ponders expulsion

By Nick Vinocur and Mike Collett-White

CANNES, France | Thu May 19, 2011 1:31pm EDT

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Witch hunt or wise decision? That was the question on the lips of movie-goers, critics and executives at the Cannes film festival on Thursday after the sudden expulsion of Danish director Lars Von Trier.

The annual cinema showcase is the world's biggest and well-known as a haven for provocative voices like Von Trier's. But organizers clearly decided the 55-year-old director had overstepped the mark when he jokingly told the world press on Wednesday that he was a Nazi who sympathized with Hitler.

And while the festival cracked down on Von Trier within 24 hours, revoking his accreditation, reaction was more divided from the crowd on the famous palm-lined Riviera waterfront.

"I'm against the decision. Everyone here is on two hours' sleep and anyone can say something stupid at a press conference. He apologized and that was enough," said 20-something filmmaker Christophe Monsourian.

At Wednesday's bizarre press conference, Von Trier, in Cannes to talk about his movie "Melancholia," launched into a rambling monologue about his Jewish/German heritage before making the remarks that forced his exit.

He jokingly said he was a Nazi, sympathized with Hitler "a little bit," deemed Israel a "pain in the ass" and muttered the phrase "the final solution for journalists."

Once Von Trier's words made headlines in newspapers and websites the world over, the Cannes board of directors hastily convened for a "tense" meeting at which it was decided to throw him out, ending a hitherto happy relationship with the festival.

His film Melancholia remains in competition, however.

The news, announced in an emailed statement, quickly spread and has dominated the May 11-22 event as it reaches its climax.

Opinions varied widely as to whether the festival had done the right thing or not.

DON'T JOKE ABOUT HOLOCAUST

Jason Solomons, chairman of the Film Critics' Circle in London, said in Cannes that he supported the decision, and argued that organizers should have gone further.

"I think the film should have been thrown out as well," he told Reuters.

Solomons said there was a tendency to look at the art not the artist, but that in this case the two things were inextricably bound.

"You can't really joke about the Holocaust, you have to take these issues seriously," he said. "I'm not offended on the level of being a Jew, I'm offended on the level of semiotics, not Semitics."

Others took the opposite stance, saying that the issue had become overblown.

"It's very hypocritical," said Francois Peyroux, a cinema student at the FEMIS school in Paris.

"They have a hard time with what he said because it was not politically correct, but to me it's no less objectionable than yacht parties and the money being thrown around here."

Cannes normally thrives on controversy and scandal, as when Von Trier brought his ultra-violent, sexually explicit "Antichrist" to the festival two years ago that prompted jeers at the press screening.

"Von Trier is a genius, he has completely upset every convention in cinema and we need filmmakers like him at Cannes," added Monsourian.

Moments of controversy are a key ingredient to a memorable festival along with great films, A-list celebrities and non-stop parties along the palm-lined Croisette waterfront.

But this year, what has been hailed as a vintage festival where star power has matched the quality of competition films, Cannes is in danger of being remembered for one thing and one thing only -- Von Trier's ignominious exit.

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

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Von Trier banned from Cannes for Hitler remarks

Thu May 19, 2011 7:58am EDT

(Editor's note: This story contains offensive content)

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Danish director Lars Von Trier was expelled from the Cannes film festival on Thursday after jokingly declaring himself a Nazi who had some sympathy for Hitler at a news conference.

"The festival's board of directors ... profoundly regrets that this forum has been used by Lars Von Trier to express comments that are unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the festival," the festival said in a statement.

"The board of directors firmly condemns these comments and declares Lars Von Trier persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately."

The news came as a shock to journalists and critics covering the world's biggest cinema showcase, where Von Trier is a regular favorite who won the coveted Palme d'Or for best picture in 2000 with "Dancer in the Dark".

His latest movie "Melancholia" is in competition in 2011, and had been among the favorites to take the top prize.

A spokeswoman for Cannes said she did not know whether such an expulsion had occurred before or if Von Trier would be allowed back to the festival in the future.

She added that Melancholia would remain in competition despite its director's expulsion.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Von Trier joked that he was a Nazi and that he sympathized with Adolf Hitler, comments which angered Jewish organizations.

"I think I understand the man," Von Trier said. "He's not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him and I sympathize with him a little bit. But come on, I'm not for the Second World War, and I'm not against Jews.

"I am of course very much for Jews. No, not too much because Israel is a pain in the ass. But still, how can I get out of this sentence?"

At the end of the conference, at which his star Kirsten Dunst looked increasingly embarrassed, he also muttered the phrase: "the final solution with journalists".

Von Trier apologized later for his remarks after the festival demanded an explanation.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)

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