Entertainment News:
Bret Michaels settles case with CBS, Tonys over injury
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rock singer Bret Michaels has settled a lawsuit he filed against the Tony Awards and CBS for damages to his head after a stage set piece knocked him down and he claimed it contributed to a brain hemorrhage he later suffered. The terms of the settlement were not released. Michaels sued CBS and Tony Awards Productions after he performed in 2009 with his band Poison during the awards telecast of Broadway's best shows, claiming producers failed to tell him how to exit the stage safely. ...
Analysis: Key to Universal-EMI decision: Has music business lost control?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the face of it, Universal Music Group's bid to buy a big chunk of EMI stands to make the world's leading music company an even more formidable force, combining Universal's star lineup of Lady Gaga and Rihanna with the British company's deep library of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Katy Perry. Certainly the fierce opposition from rival Warner Music Group, consumer groups and independent music companies makes it seem that way. They have all vowed to fight it tooth and nail, telling U.S. ...
Busy Jennifer Lopez casts doubt on more "American Idol"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez is casting doubt on whether she will return to "American Idol" next year as she juggles motherhood with a comeback in both her pop music and acting careers. Lopez, who has young twins, told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres this week that she wasn't sure about renewing her contract as a judge on the TV singing contest for a third year. And on Wednesday, sources close to the singer told E! News that she was "just too busy" and was planning on calling an end to her time on "American Idol". "Now this is my second year - I don't know if I can go for a third ...
Cowell vows to "kick butt" with new "Factor" stars
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Britney Spears and former Disney Channel star Demi Lovato officially joined the U.S. version of "The X Factor" on Monday, leading creator Simon Cowell to pledge the second season would "seriously kick butt" when it returns in September. Spears, 30, the world's biggest pop phenomenon of the 2000s, and Lovato, 19, will fill the judge's slots left open by Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, who were both fired by Cowell after a disappointing first season in 2011. Spears and Lovato appeared with Cowell and fellow judge Antonio "L. ...
Composer George Benjamin: Don't label me, I'm British
LONDON (Reuters) - Rats "stream like hot metal, to the rim of the world" and children, lured by the music of a Pied Piper-like exterminator, disappear into a hillside in British composer George Benjamin's eerie 2006 mini-opera "Into the Little Hill". Benjamin claims they're still alive, and perhaps better off, inside that hill, where the "piper" leads them after the minister fails to pay him for exterminating the rats, but one can't help but wonder how much oxygen they're getting. ...
Jury convicts man of murdering singer Hudson's family members
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An Illinois jury on Friday found the former brother-in-law of Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson guilty of murdering three members of her family in 2008. William Balfour, 31, was found guilty of breaking into the Hudson family home and fatally shooting Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, her brother Jason Hudson, 29, and her 7-year-old nephew Julian King. He faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. Jennifer Hudson, wearing a long black-and-white printed sweater, dabbed at her eyes after the verdict was read. ...
Review: Willie Nelson's son also rises on "Heroes"
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Everyone remembers the most galvanizing moment of this year's Grammys - when the telecast cut to commercial and, over a Chipotle ad, we heard a studio recording of Willie Nelson singing Coldplay's "The Scientist." You can relive that very special Grammy moment (minus the environmentally themed animation and Chipotle logo) at the climax of Nelson's new album, "Heroes," a mostly satisfying grab-bag of celebrity duets, nepotism, odes to wacky weed and interpretations of everyone from Bob Wills to Pearl Jam. ...
