Entertaining Posts

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Country music stars gear up for big night of awards

By Vernell Hackett

NASHVILLE, Tenn | Sun Nov 6, 2011 12:49pm EST

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - Country music's biggest stars from Taylor Swift to Glen Campbell are set to shine this Wednesday at the County Music Association awards where many will vie for the program's top prizes.

Nominated for entertainer of the year are Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Swift, who was last year's winner. Fans will see performances from Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Eric Church, Luke Bryan and "American Idol" TV singing contest winner Scotty McCreery.

The 45th annual CMA Awards from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena will be co-hosted for the fourth consecutive year by Paisley and Carrie Underwood, a nominee for top female vocalist. The pair will perform their hit single, "Remind Me."

"I will lose a lot of sleep before next Wednesday" preparing for the show, Paisley told Reuters. "I really do get involved, and so does Carrie, in getting this right. The day after the awards I want people to go, 'I can't believe they did that,' about something, and then say, 'but I'm glad they did.' That's the fun part of the awards show.

"It's amazing how strong our format is this year and how amazing the music is. I think there are a lot of great things happening in country music," he added.

Campbell, who is on the final tour of his career after announcing in June he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, will be honored with performances by three of country music's finest guitarists -- Vince Gill, Paisley and Urban.

Other collaborations will feature Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter performing their hit "You and Tequila;" Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield doing their single "Easy;" Lionel Richie singing duets with Little Big Town, Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker; and Shelton performing a duet on "Footloose" with the song's original singer, Kenny Loggins.

Miranda Lambert, one of last year's big winners, is nominated in two categories, female vocalist and musical event -- the latter with two of her idols, Loretta Lynn and Sheryl Crow. The three collaborated on Lynn's hit "Coal Miner's Daughter" for "Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn" and on a video.

"Getting to spend that day at Loretta's house with her and Sheryl, visiting with two of my heroes, was a life changing day for me," Lambert told Reuters in a recent interview.

Lambert's husband Blake Shelton is up for seven awards.

Aldean, who is nominated in five categories, told Reuters he was hopeful of having a big night and would be pleased to get the album of the year prize as a reflection of his collaboration with his bandmates and producer.

Awards will be handed out in a dozen categories including male and female vocalist, group, duo, album, video and new artist. Among the award presenters will be Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington, Jake Owen, Kellie Pickler, Reba McEntire and LeAnn Rimes.

The show airs live Wednesday night, starting at 8 p.m. est on the ABC television network.

(Editing by Andrew Stern and Bob Tourtellotte)

Singer Andy Williams reveals he has cancer: CNN

LOS ANGELES | Sun Nov 6, 2011 3:37pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran singer Andy Williams, a 1960s television variety show star best known for his rendition of the ballad "Moon River," was reported on Sunday to have been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

CNN said the 83-year-old entertainer broke the news to a live concert audience at his Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri, during a Saturday performance of his "2011 Andy Williams Christmas Show."

"I do have cancer of the bladder," CNN quoted Williams as telling his fans. "But that is no longer a death sentence. People with cancer are getting through this thing."

The theater's website made no specific mention of Williams' diagnosis but says that "due to health reasons Andy may not make a live appearance in his Christmas Show."

Calls to Moon River Theater management were not immediately returned.

The 2,000-seat dinner theater is named after Williams' signature song, written by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini for the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

It became Williams' own theme after he sang it at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1962, the same year he began hosting his own regular weekly TV variety show on NBC.

Known for a smooth vocal style, he also recorded hits with "Days of Wine and Roses," "The Shadow of Your Smile," "Can't Get Used to Losing You," "Solitaire," "Music to Watch Girls By," "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" and the theme from the 1970 movie hit "Love Story."

A close friend of the Kennedy family, Williams sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy after the New York senator was assassinated during the 1968 presidential campaign.

He also sang at the funeral of Kennedy's son, Michael, who was killed in a 1998 skiing accident.

In 1999, a polyp was discovered on his vocal chords. Resisting surgery, Williams chose instead to rest his voice with no singing and little talking for 10 months until the polyp went away on its own. At that time, he was forced to cancel tours of the United States and Britain and more than 100 shows at the Moon river Theater.

He has been appearing there on a regular basis since 1992, typically performing two shows a day, six days a week for nine months a year.

(Reporting by Sheri Linden; Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)

Belfast hosts pop royalty for MTV awards

By Mike Collett-White

BELFAST | Sun Nov 6, 2011 7:50am EST

BELFAST (Reuters) - Belfast has had its first taste of "Biebermania" with the arrival of Canadian singing sensation Justin Bieber, in the city for the annual MTV Europe Music Awards staged later on Sunday.

Hundreds of screaming girls crowded outside the Merchant Hotel to catch a glimpse of the 17-year-old hit machine late on Saturday, and thousands more are expected at the main show at the Odyssey Arena nearby.

The hype, which some have likened to "Beatlemania" in the 1960s, could even overshadow that surrounding Lady Gaga, another global superstar who is in Belfast for the show.

"He's beautiful, he's like an angel," said Aya Lawlor, a 14-year-old from Belfast who stood for hours in the cold just to see Bieber. "He's proven that anyone can do it."

She said she was not put off by recent allegations made by a young woman that Bieber fathered her child when he was 16.

The singer has addressed the issue on his Twitter account, which has more than 14 million followers, and denied the claims on the U.S. Today show.

"I'd just like to say basically that none of those allegations are true," said Bieber. "I know that I'm going to be a target, but I'm never going to be a victim."

Adding to media interest in the MTV show in Belfast is the fact that Bieber's girlfriend Selena Gomez, an actress and singer, is hosting the event.

When she met the press on Saturday, journalists did not have the opportunity to ask her questions.

COLDPLAY, HOT CHILI PEPPERS

The celebrity couple will joined in Belfast by Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga among others at what is billed as the biggest night in music outside the United States.

Northern Irish rockers Snow Patrol, whose 2006 album "Eyes Open" sold over five million copies worldwide, also make an appearance as do the surviving members of Queen, who will pick up the Global Icon accolade.

"Very often Northern Ireland in the past has been in the news for other reasons and this is a really, really amazingly positive reason to be in the news," said Gary Lightbody, Snowpatrol lead singer.

Thousands of people are expected to watch the main concert at Odyssey Arena and other performances in the open and in smaller venues around Belfast.

The awards tend to be dominated by U.S. acts even though they are held in a different European city each year and are mostly decided by fans from the region.

Last year it was Gaga who dominated the winners, picking up prizes for best female, best pop act and best song for "Bad Romance." This year she leads the way again with six nominations.

In four categories -- best song ("Born This Way"), best pop and live act and best female artist -- she is up against rival chart-topping diva Katy Perry.

Lady Gaga's other two nominations are best video ("Born This Way") and biggest fans, a new category introduced this year.

Bruno Mars joins Perry with four nominations -- best new, best male, best "push" or up and coming act, and best song for "Grenade."

Adele, Britain's own international chart queen, is short-listed three times -- best female act and best song and best video for "Rolling in the Deep."

Bieber competes for best pop, best male and biggest fans, while Thirty Seconds to Mars is up for best alternative, best world stage and biggest fans.

Bieber, who launched his new album "Under the Mistletoe" this week, has also been named the inaugural winner of the MTV Voices award in recognition of his charity work.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Former CBS News commentator Andy Rooney dies

By Bill Trott

Sat Nov 5, 2011 8:26am EDT

(Reuters) - Andy Rooney, the curmudgeonly commentator who pondered everything from shoelaces to the existence of God on CBS's "60 Minutes" news show for more than 30 years, died on Friday night at the age of 92, CBS said.

Rooney, a four-time Emmy winner, died one month after he had signed off from "60 Minutes" in October, concluding a 33-year run. A statement on CBS News' website said he died in a New York hospital of complications following minor surgery. An earlier CBS statement said Rooney died on Saturday.

Rooney was a fixture on Sunday night television, closing out the "60 Minutes" broadcast with a short rant in his "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" segment. Sitting in his cluttered office at a desk he made himself, Rooney delivered more than 1,000 such essays, holding hold forth on a range of topics of varying degrees of relevance.

Adjectives like crusty, cranky and crabby frequently were attached to Rooney as he took critical looks at topics such as breakfast cereals or salad dressing, often with the overriding sentiment that things just weren't as good as they used to be.

But, peering out from under his bushy white eyebrows, Rooney also analyzed presidents, critiqued the Iraq war and considered North Korea's nuclear threat. His commentaries won three Emmy Awards.

Rooney was a television writer and producer earlier in his career and preferred to think of himself as a writer who appeared on television. He joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for the popular "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" show and later worked on "The Garry Moore Show."

Beginning in 1962 he teamed with correspondent Harry Reasoner for CBS News, producing a series of specials with titles like "An Essay on Chairs" and "The Strange Case of the English Language." In 1968 Rooney won his first Emmy for his script for "Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed."

Rooney joined "60 Minutes" during its first season in 1968, again working as producer with Reasoner, and 10 years later his commentaries became a regular feature.

He also wrote, produced and narrated a CBS series on American life for which he won a prestigious Peabody Award.

CONTROVERSY

In 1990 he was suspended for three months after being quoted by a Los Angeles interviewer as saying blacks had "watered down their genes because the less intelligent ones are the ones that have the most children."

The suspension was reduced to one month after CBS received thousands of calls and letters from viewers, as well as internal pressure from "60 Minutes" executive producer Don Hewitt and longtime anchorman Walter Cronkite.

Rooney denied any racist sentiments and upon his return from suspension said on the air: "Do I have any opinions that might irritate some people? You're damn right I do. That's what I'm here for."

Rooney also came under fire in 2007 for saying many people joined the U.S. military because of problems in their lives and that the Army would be better off drafting soldiers from all classes of society.

Rooney was born January 14, 1919, in Albany, New York, and attended Colgate University until he was drafted into the Army in 1941. He became a correspondent for Stars and Stripes newspaper and was awarded a Bronze Star for his work during the Normandy invasion.

In 2003, Rooney was given the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award, named for his friend, the famous war correspondent, by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

Rooney started a regular syndicated newspaper column in 1979 and wrote several books, including "My War," "Pieces of My Mind" and "Sincerely, Andy Rooney."

Rooney and wife Marguerite, who died in 2004, had a son and three daughters. Son Brian Rooney became a correspondent for ABC News and daughter Emily was a producer for ABC News before becoming host of a public affairs show in Boston.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

Friday, November 4, 2011

Justin Bieber on baby claim: "100 percent not true"

LOS ANGELES | Fri Nov 4, 2011 7:52pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber is finding out the price of fame.

The Canadian singer, 17, has spent the past week trying to promote his new Christmas album while denying claims that he fathered a baby after a brief backstage encounter last year with a young California fan.

"They (the allegations) are definitely, 100 percent not true," he told celebrity website TMZ.com in a phone interview on Friday. "It is the first time something like this has happened. So it's kind of like, really crazy. I am sure it won't be the last."

"I just know there are going to be people who will make stuff up. I know I am a target," he added. "It is something that comes with the territory."

Bieber was responding to a lawsuit filed on Monday by a 20 year-old San Diego woman, claiming the teen singer was the father of a baby boy she gave birth to in July 2011 after having sex following a concert in Los Angeles in October 2010.

The woman wants Bieber to undergo a paternity test and pay child support, and the singer has been ordered to appear in court on December 15.

The "Baby" singer, who has been dating Disney Channel star Selena Gomez for several months, also denied the allegations in an appearance on Friday on the "Today" TV show.

"I'd just like to say basically that none of those allegations are true," he said. "I know that I'm going to be a target, but I'm never going to be a victim."

Earlier this week, Bieber said in a Twitter post that he was "going to ignore the rumors ... and focus on what is real. an opportunity to help by doing what I love. Judge me on the music!"

Bieber released his new, festive album "Under the Mistletoe", featuring duets with Mariah Carey, Usher and others, on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)