Entertaining Posts

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Zsa Zsa Gabor doing "a little better" in hospital

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Ex-Beatle McCartney to serenade heiress bride

LONDON | Sun Oct 9, 2011 7:40am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney marries American heiress Nancy Shevell in London on Sunday and will serenade her with a song written in her honor, media reports say.

McCartney will wed the divorced New Yorker in a civil ceremony at London's Marylebone Register Office before 30 invited guests, ahead of a reception in his back garden in north London, the reports say.

The 69-year-old singer-songwriter, whose success in writing some of the world's most enduring pop classics with the Beatles has helped him to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, is marrying for the third time.

He and Shevell, 51, posted wedding banns last month in the same place where McCartney married his late first wife Linda in 1969, at the height of the Beatles' fame. Linda died of breast cancer in 1998. His second marriage, to former model Heather Mills, ended in acrimonious divorce in 2008.

A fridge filled with champagne was delivered on Saturday to the house in the upmarket neighborhood of St John's Wood -- within a stone's throw of the Abbey Road studio where the Beatles recorded most of their albums.

The couple went to a local synagogue where Shevell, who is Jewish, received a blessing, before dining at a floating Chinese restaurant with family and friends.

McCartney's spokesman declined comment on Saturday, but McCartney himself briefly spoke to reporters outside his home, saying: "Hi guys, thanks for coming out. We're looking forward to it."

Asked if he was nervous about the big day, McCartney laughed and said: "Don't be silly, now. Of course not," according to the Sunday Mirror.

The choice of wedding date seemed especially poignant as Sunday would have been the 71st birthday of John Lennon, McCartney's songwriting partner, who was gunned down in New York in 1980.

As well as the new song, he plans to sing "Let it Be," which he sang to Shevell on one of their first holidays together three years ago, and then her favorite, "Let Me Roll It," according to the Sunday Mirror.

McCartney's fashion-designer daughter Stella made Shevell's dress and helped create the three-course organic vegetarian menu, the paper reported.

McCartney has a son, two daughters and a stepdaughter from his marriage to Linda, and a daughter from his marriage to Mills.

All his children will be at the wedding, and his brother will be best man, the Mirror said, adding that the couple would honeymoon in the Caribbean.

(Reporting by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Zsa Zsa Gabor hospitalized with high fever

Sat Oct 8, 2011 3:16pm EDT

(Reuters) - Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Hungarian-born actress and celebrity who became a symbol of Hollywood glamour, is in "very unstable" condition at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after a medical emergency on Saturday, her husband said.

Gabor, 94, has been in poor health for some years, and her husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, told Reuters that "it doesn't look good."

Von Anhalt said she had a high fever and high blood pressure, and that a feeding tube she had previously had in place had become undone and "everything was coming out of her stomach."

"She is in a very unstable condition," he said.

Von Anhalt said he took her to the hospital at about 10:30 a.m. She has been hospitalized numerous times for a variety of serious ailments, including a stroke, over the past decade.

Gabor, who ultimately became as famous for her nine husbands, her sharp wit and colorful personal life as for her movies, has been a fixture of the Hollywood celebrity circuit for more than half-a-century.

(Reporting by Jonathan Weber in San Francisco; Editing by Eric Beech)

Fans, Jackson children gather for UK tribute concert

By Mike Collett-White

CARDIFF | Sat Oct 8, 2011 12:00pm EDT

CARDIFF (Reuters) - Thousands of Michael Jackson fans gathered at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday for a controversial concert attended by his mother, three children and some, but not all, of his siblings.

"Michael Forever" is going ahead despite a series of setbacks, including squabbling in the Jackson clan, angry fans and a major headline act pulling out at the last moment.

"It's going to be a huge and spectacular event," said Chris Hunt, head of Global Live Events which is staging the show for up to 50,000 fans.

In a sign of the difficulties he has faced putting the tribute together and promoting it, 10,000 tickets were still unsold in the days before the gig.

Among the acts taking part will be Jackson's brothers Marlon, Tito and Jackie and his sister La Toya, who will be performing live in public for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Also expected are his mother Katherine, three children and several other close family members.

But brothers Jermaine and Randy have criticized the concert, because it coincides with the involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles of Jackson's doctor. Janet Jackson has declined to take part citing the same reason.

"Thriller" singer Michael, one of the most successful yet troubled artists of the pop era, died in 2009 aged 50 while rehearsing for a series of comeback concerts.

"BEST THERE IS"

In addition to the Jacksons, the lineup includes Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Jamie Foxx, Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson, and among British stars appearing will be Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, JLS and Diversity.

Beyonce will appear in a video performance but Black Eyed Peas, originally confirmed to attend, pulled out earlier this week without explanation.

Some fan clubs have also protested against organizers, questioning the timing of the gig and confusion over charitable donations.

Hunt told Reuters earlier this week that some of the profits would go to two appointed charities as well as a trust for Jackson's children.

While acknowledging that the difficulties had taken some of the gloss off the event, fans gathering outside the stadium were excited to be able to pay homage to their idol.

"He was the best there is," said Kerry Hall-Smith, from Cardiff, who had a special T-shirt printed for the event.

"He's one of the legends, he's like Elvis. They are the people you remember forever."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Former Beatle McCartney weds US heiress on Sunday -reports

LONDON | Fri Oct 7, 2011 9:58pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney will wed for the third time on Sunday when he and New York heiress Nancy Shevell are married in a civil ceremony in London, British newspapers reported.

The Daily Mirror and The Sun tabloids said on Saturday that McCartney and Shevell, who posted wedding banns last month, would be married at London's Marylebone Register Office before 30 invited guests.

It is the same venue where McCartney married his late first wife Linda in 1969, at the height of the Beatles' fame. Linda died of breast cancer in 1998.

"They have been given special dispensation by the council to marry on Sunday and have chosen what would have been the groom's former bandmate John Lennon's 71st birthday for their big day," the Daily Mirror said.

McCartney's partnership with Lennon in The Beatles in 1960s Britain produced some of the most famous and enduring pop songs of the past 50 years.

The Daily Mirror quoted a source close to McCartney as saying: "The wedding is in keeping with the way Paul and Nancy have conducted their entire relationship -- low-key, understated and fueled by goodwill.

"Neither of them want a huge fuss made and the main priority for both was family."

The wedding will be followed by a reception held in McCartney's back garden, the paper said.

Shevell, 51, who is divorced, and McCartney, 69, are believed to have begun dating after his bitter split with second wife, former model Heather Mills.

McCartney and Mills were wed in 2002 in a lavish ceremony at Castle Leslie in Ireland estimated by celebrity magazines to have cost around $3.2 million.

But four years later they confirmed they had separated, blaming media intrusion into their private lives, and in 2008 the couple divorced.

McCartney has a son, two daughters and a stepdaughter from his marriage to Linda and a daughter from his union with Mills.

(Writing by Michael Roddy; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)