Entertainment News:
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. ...
Whitney Houston's daughter stars in reality TV series
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Whitney Houston's teenage daughter will star in a reality TV show that follows the family of the "I Will Always Love You" singer as they cope with her sudden death earlier this year. The Lifetime channel said on Friday that Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, Houston's mother Cissy, the singer's brother Gary, and her manager and sister-in-law Pat Houston would all appear in the show that will air later this year. ...
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. ...
Beach Boys-inspired musical to open in Las Vegas
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The recently reunited Beach Boys aren't just re-igniting interest in their catalog on concert stages these days - their pop classics will also be finding new life on the theatrical stage soon. "Surf the Musical," which revolves around such Beach Boys chestnuts as "California Girls," "I Get Around" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice," is coming to the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino this summer, with a week of preview performances beginning on June 11 and an official opening night of July 17. Kristin Hanggi, who was nominated for a Tony award for "Rock of Ages," will direct. ...
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. ...
