Country singer Gary Allan bests Grammy nominees for Billboard No. 1

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country singer Gary Allan scored his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday, keeping Grammy-nominated favorites from the top spot.Allan’s ninth studio album “Set You Free” sold 106,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, garnering the singer his best sales week in his 17-year career.The Billboard 200 is the album chart for...

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Mary Wells, singer of ‘My Guy,’ gets posthumous Rock Hall push

(Reuters) – Mary Wells, Motown Records‘ first female star who paved the way for the success of Diana Ross and The Supremes, shot to fame in the early 1960s only to fade away as a footnote of the longtime Detroit record label.Now, some two decades after Wells’ death in 1992 at age 49, the singer who scored a No. 1 hit with “My Guy,” is receiving a push for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Peter...

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Wispelwey: Loneliness of the long-distance cellist

LEIDEN, Netherlands (Reuters) – Dutch cellist Peter Wispelwey has recorded the haunting, delightful and soul-uplifting Bach Six Suites for Solo Cello three times and still he’s not finished.His next, he says, is his “Lost in Translation” version, referring to the Bill Murray movie about an actor coming to terms with an alien culture in Tokyo.Wispelwey is doing the same, flying into the Japanese capital...

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Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace in talks for Soviet thriller

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace are in talks to star in “Child 44,” a thriller that Ridley Scott and Michael Costigan are producing for Scott Free Productions, individuals with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap. “Safe House” filmmaker Daniel Espinosa will direct from a script by Richard Price, who is adapting Tom Rob Smith‘s novel.Set in Josef Stalin‘s Soviet Union, the story...

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Despite previous beating, Rihanna back with Chris Brown

NEW YORK (Reuters) – It’s official: R&B diva Rihanna says she is back together with Chris Brown, who is still on probation for assaulting her in 2009, saying “It’s different now.”“I decided it was more important for me to be happy,” Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview published on Wednesday on its website.“I wasn’t going to let anybody’s opinion get in the way of that. Even if...

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Singer Frank Ocean wants Chris Brown charged over brawl

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rising R&B artist Frank Ocean wants fellow singer Chris Brown prosecuted following a brawl over a parking space at a Los Angeles-area recording studio, authorities said on Monday.Brown is serving five years probation for assaulting his on-and-off girlfriend Rihanna in 2009 and risks having his probation revoked should charges be filed.In the incident on Sunday, sheriff’s...

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Rock singer Morrissey postpones six more shows due to bleeding ulcer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British rock singer Morrissey is postponing six performances on his U.S. tour due to a bleeding ulcer, his spokeswoman said on Sunday.“Morrissey is expected to make a full recovery and thanks everyone concerned for their support during this time,” his representative Lauren Papapietro said in a statement.Morrissey, the former lead singer for 1980s alternative rock band The Smiths,...

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Kutcher takes on tech idol Steve Jobs in ‘jOBS’

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Ashton Kutcher says playing Steve Jobs on screen “was honestly one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever tried to do in my life.”The 34-year-old actor helped premiere the biopic “jOBS” Friday, which was the closing-night film at the Sundance Film Festival.Kutcher plays the Apple Inc. founder from the company’s humble origins in the 1970s until the launch of the first iPod...

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Brooke Shields signs up for a hitch on Lifetime’s “Army Wives”

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Brooke Shields has signed up for the Air Force – or at least the Air Force as it’s portrayed on “Army Wives.”“Pretty Baby” star Shields will join the cast of the Lifetime series for its seventh season, the network said Thursday.Shields will play Katherine “Kat” Young, a brash, brilliant Air Force colonel and crack C-17 pilot who clashes with Gen. Michael Holden (Brian McNamara)...

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GLAAD protests Nat Geo’s collaboration with Boy Scouts

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The advocacy group backed a Change.org petition started by Will Oliver, a 20-year-old gay Eagle Scout, that calls on Nat Geo to air a disclaimer clarifying the network’s views before each episode of its new series, “Are You Tougher than a Boy Scout.” It debuts this spring.“That National Geographic would brush aside countless gay teens suffering at the hands of the BSA,...

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Adele to perform Bond theme song “Skyfall” live at Oscars

LONDON (Reuters) – British singer Adele will return to the stage next month after a year absence to perform her Oscar-nominated song “Skyfall” at the 85th Academy Awards, the show’s producers said on Wednesday.The theme tune to the latest James Bond movie was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. It is the first Bond theme to be nominated for the original song award at the Oscars since “For Your Eyes...

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Justin Bieber tops Lady Gaga to rule Twitter

(Reuters) – Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber with his hordes of fans known of Beliebers became the King of Twitter on Tuesday, topping fellow pop star Lady Gaga as the user with the most followers.Data from TwitterCounter.com showed that the 18-year-old Canadian singer jumped into the lead with 33.33 million followers, topping Lady Gaga’s 33.32 million and ending her two-and-a-half year rule of the microblogging...

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“Death Wish” director Michael Winner dies aged 77

LONDON (Reuters) – Flamboyant British film director Michael Winner, best known for the “Death Wish” series of the 1970s and 80s, died at his London home on Monday. He was 77.In a statement released to the media, his wife Geraldine said: “A light has gone out in my life.”Winner, who reinvented himself in recent years as an outspoken restaurant critic in the Sunday Times, had been ill for some time,...

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Holy cow! Original Batmobile from TV series sells for $4.2 million

PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Arizona man with a special fondness for caped crusader Batman and his sidekick Robin bought the original Batmobile driven in the iconic television series with a bid of $ 4.2 million at an auction on Saturday.Rick Champagne, a Phoenix-area logistics company owner, came away with the black, futuristic two-seater featured in the “Batman” series starring Adam West and Burt Ward...

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Keys attends first Sundance as producer, composer

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — It’s a busy week for Alicia Keys.The singer-songwriter is set to perform at three events during Barack Obama‘s presidential inauguration on Monday. She’ll sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. And meanwhile, she popped over to Park City, Utah, to debut her first film as executive producer and composer.The 32-year-old entertainer is attending her first Sundance...

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Karl Rove re-ups With Fox News channel

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Karl Rove’s election-night brouhaha is apparently water under the bridge at Fox News. Rove, the former senior advisor to President George W. Bush, has extended his run as a contributor with Fox, the network’s CEO, Roger Ailes, said Thursday.The new deal will keep Rove on through the 2016 presidential election.Under the extension, Rove will also continue to contribute to...

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“Dear Abby” advice columnist Pauline Phillips dead at 94

(Reuters) – Pauline Phillips, the “Dear Abby” newspaper columnist who dished out advice to millions of confused, troubled and lovesick readers in America and around the world, has died at the age of 94, her daughter said on Thursday.Phillips, whose twin sister Esther wrote the rival “Ask Ann Landers” column, died in Minneapolis on Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.“I have lost...

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Fox hires Dennis Kucinich as analyst

NEW YORK (AP) — Days before President Barack Obama‘s inauguration for a second term in office, Fox News Channel has signed Dennis Kucinich, one of his former opponents, to be a regular contributor.Kucinich, a presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008 who ended 16 years in Congress two weeks ago, will make his debut as a Fox contributor on Thursday’s edition of “The O’Reilly Factor,” the network said...

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Singer Jessica Simpson to star in TV comedy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop singer Jessica Simpson is set to star in a television pilot in development for NBC that is loosely based on her life, executive producer Ben Silverman said on Tuesday.The comedy could be Simpson‘s first step back into a major acting role in more than five years.The former teen pop star is best known for her reality TV shows, including MTV’s “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica,”...

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Jodie Foster comes out as gay at Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Hollywood actress Jodie Foster confirmed long-running speculation that she is gay by coming out at the Golden Globes awards on Sunday, but joked she wouldn’t be holding a news conference to discuss her private life.The notoriously private Foster stunned the audience of stars and Hollywood powerbrokers as she accepted a life-time achievement awarded by announcing...

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