Monday, September 20, 2010

Paris Hilton pleads guilty in Las Vegas arrest (AP)

LAS VEGAS � Paris Hilton acknowledged Monday that she had cocaine in her purse and pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from her arrest last month at a Las Vegas hotel-casino.

She will serve a year of probation and avoid a felony charge under the terms of a plea deal worked out with prosecutors. The celebrity heiress pleaded guilty to drug possession and obstructing an officer.

Hilton, 29, must complete a drug abuse program, pay a $2,000 fine and serve 200 hours of community service.

Hilton � wearing a champagne-colored blouse, a black pencil skirt and black platform heels � told Judge Joseph Bonventure she was in possession of cocaine.

When he asked what she did to obstruct justice, Hilton, swaying side to side, responded, "I said that the purse wasn't mine to the officer," and acknowledged that she had bought it months earlier.

When asked why she didn't fight the charge, her attorney, David Chesnoff said, "Miss Hilton accepts the responsibility."

She faces a year in jail if she violates the probation and is arrested for anything other than a minor traffic violation.

Bonventure told Hilton she would have to stay out of trouble.

"I assure you the Clark County Detention Center is not the Waldorf Astoria," he told her.

The plea agreement does not require Hilton to be assigned a probation officer, meaning she won't have to report to anyone.

She originally faced a felony cocaine possession charge that would not have resulted in jail time.

Hilton was arrested Aug. 26 inside the Wynn resort, after police say a small plastic bag containing 0.8 of a gram of cocaine spilled out of a Chanel purse she had been carrying as she reached for a tube of lip balm in front of a police lieutenant.

Hilton told police the purse and cocaine were not hers, but claimed some items in the bag belonged to her, including rolling papers, $1,300 in cash and several credit cards.

She was pulled aside by police after her boyfriend, Las Vegas nightclub mogul Cy Waits, 34, failed field sobriety tests given by a motorcycle officer.

The couple was stopped in a black Cadillac Escalade after the officer smelled a "vapor trail" of marijuana smoke.

Hilton was banned from two Wynn resorts on the Las Vegas Strip after the arrest, and her boyfriend was dismissed as a nightclub partner.

Hilton briefly faced a marijuana charge in July after a FIFA World Cup game in South Africa, but the case was dropped when a woman who was with her pleaded guilty to carrying the illegal drug.



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Lady Gaga, Katy Perry lead MTV Europe nominations

LONDON | Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:04am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Lady Gaga and Katy Perry go head-to-head at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November, with five nominations apiece.

The U.S. pop princesses are both shortlisted in four categories -- best pop act, best song, best female act and best video. Completing the nominations for Lady Gaga is best live act and for Katy Perry "best world stage performance."

Elsewhere in the nominations list, rapper Eminem has four nominations including best song, best male act, best hip hop and best video for his Rihanna collaboration "Love the Way You Lie."

British stadium rockers Muse, along with Thirty Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park and Kings of Leon, find themselves up against "Prince of Darkness" Ozzy Osbourne in the best rock category.

Pop phenomenon Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, B.o.B, Plan B and Jason Derulo are nominated for best new act.

Perry and Linkin Park are confirmed to perform at the annual event, one of pop music's biggest nights outside the United States.

Following is a list of the main nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards, to be held in Madrid on November 7.

- Best Rock: Kings of Leon; Linkin Park; Thirty Seconds to Mars; Muse; Ozzy Osbourne

- Best Pop: Lady Gaga; Usher; Katy Perry; Miley Cyrus; Rihanna

- Best Live Act: Bon Jovi; Lady Gaga; Muse; Kings of Leon; Linkin Park

- Best Male: Eminem; Justin Bieber; Usher; Enrique Iglesias; Kanye West

- Best Female: Lady Gaga; Katy Perry; Miley Cyrus; Shakira; Rihanna

- Best New Act: Ke$ha; B.o.B.; Jason Derulo; Plan B; Justin Bieber

- Best Alternative: Gorillaz; Gossip; Paramore; Vampire Weekend; Arcade Fire

- Best Hip Hop: T.I.; Eminem; Kanye West; Lil Wayne; Snoop Dogg

- Best Song: Usher/OMG; Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg/California Gurls; Eminem feat. Rihanna/Love the Way You Lie; Rihanna/Rude Boy; Lady Gaga/Bad Romance

Best Video: Thirty Seconds to Mars/Kings and Queens; Katy Perry/California Gurls; Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce/Telephone; Plan B/Prayin'; Eminem feat. Rihanna/Love the Way You Lie.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White)



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`Glee' is back with angst, songs in sophomore year (AP)

LOS ANGELES � "Glee" is back for its sophomore year with a new football coach, two new ear- and eye-catching students, and an identity crisis for big man on campus Finn.

There's also something of an identity crisis for Fox TV's hit series as trouble comes fast and furious for the McKinley High glee club and its members in Tuesday's debut episode (8 p.m. EDT). There's barely room for the buoyancy that infused "Glee" last season.

"Let's show them how down we are," says glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), challenging his students to stage a number that will persuade others to join the club branded as a way station for losers.

Instead, the hour itself verges on being a downer. Will goes to the dark side with cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Rachel's self-absorption becomes ickier and, most unsettling of all, a molestation accusation is played, literally, with a wink.

But there's still joy to be had in the series that was nominated for a best comedy Emmy Award, losing last month to "Modern Family," as the glee clubbers make the most of "Empire State of Mind" and Lea Michele, as Broadway-bound belter Rachel, owns (no surprise) "What I Did for Love."

There's also the introduction of two fresh-faced students with singing chops: an exchange student with a big smile and bigger voice (played by teenage pop star Charice, whose fan club includes Oprah Winfrey); and a golden-boy athlete (Chord Overstreet of "iCarly," with cuteness of Justin Bieber dimensions).

Can they help McKinley's New Directions, which last year fell short at the regional competition, make it to the nationals in the Big Apple and defeat arch rival Vocal Adrenaline? Maybe.

The other McKinley newcomer is a female gridiron coach with a winning record, who quickly proves a formidable rival for Cheerios chief Sue (Emmy-winner Jane Lynch).

Coach Shannon Beiste (pronounced "beast" because "it's French," she helpfully explains) wants the school budget to put football ahead of cheerleading. That won't do for Sue, who enlists Will in a plot to undermine Beiste (an effective Dot Marie Jones).

A "female football coach is like a male nurse: sin against nature," snarls Sue. Coach Beiste doesn't quite have the hang of trash talk, telling Sue, "You're all coffee and no omelet."

Quarterback-singer Finn (Cory Monteith) becomes an inadvertent victim of the faculty clash and has to cope with the fallout while nurturing his reignited romance with Rachel.

Finn's former love, Quinn (Dianna Agron) is back in pre-pregnancy form and ready to reclaim her spot as Cheerios queen bee. Santana (Naya Rivera), meanwhile, is finding that the quest for physical perfection comes at a price.

In its first year, "Glee" neatly combined music, edgy humor and coming-of-age poignancy. As long as pain doesn't eclipse the show's charm, "Glee" viewers will have something to sing about as the season unfolds.

___

Online:

http:http://www.fox.com



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Kelly McGillis joins Musak exec in NJ civil union (AP)

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. � Actress Kelly McGillis has been joined in a civil union with her girlfriend in New Jersey.

McGillis and Melanie Leis' civil union was performed in municipal court in Collingswood on Sept. 15.

McGillis, 53, starred in the movies "Witness," "Top Gun" and "The Accused" in the 1980s.

Her civil union partner is an executive with Independence Communications, a company that provides Muzak to businesses. The New York Times first reported their civil union.

McGillis, who lives in Collingswood, came out as a lesbian last year in an interview with SheWired.com. She has been married and divorced twice before and has two daughters.

Her latest film, "Stake Land," had its debut last week at the Toronto International Film Festival.



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Fashion greats remember McQueen in London service (AP)

LONDON � Fashionistas celebrated the life and legacy of Alexander McQueen in a solemn ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral on Monday, seven months after his suicide shocked the designing world.

The service for McQueen briefly brought London Fashion Week to a halt as top designers, models and editors came to pay their respects to the enfant terrible of British fashion, who was 40 when he died in early February.

He had a history of depression and was said to be devastated by the recent loss of his mother. His suicide has deprived the British fashion world of its biggest and most controversial star.

The service was attended by many of the models and actresses who loved McQueen's work, including Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jade Parfitt and others, including designer Stella McCartney.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the American edition of Vogue magazine, was the first of McQueen's admirers to speak. Wearing an elegant black-and-gold outfit, she praised his "exceptional legacy of brilliant inspiration."

She said McQueen was never satisfied with his work and always vowed to do better, even when he had broken new ground.

Wintour and others hinted at his dark side. She spoke of his sometimes "savage tongue" and the discomfort he felt with the social niceties required by the fashion world.

"We always forgave Alexander," she said after describing how McQueen failed to show up for his first-ever Vogue photo shoot and then told editors there that he couldn't care less about the magazine � one of the fashion industry's most influential publications.

"It was beautiful, but very intense," said Parfitt afterward. "I'm at a loss for words."

Icelandic singer and actress Bjork, wearing an unusual McQueen outfit complete with mock wings, sang "Gloomy Sunday," a dark song dealing with death and loss popularized by American singer Billie Holiday.

Jewelry designer Shaun Leane spoke about his long, intense friendship with McQueen, and leading hatmaker Philip Treacy read one of the prayers.

McQueen became famous for dramatic and often hard-to-define creations, like lobster-claw high heels. They never sold in great numbers, but his was one of fashion's best-known brands.



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