Harada Data Productions

“Survivor” and “Pimp My Ride” producer Bruce Beresford-Redman’s been charged with the murder of his wife Monica…Charlie Sheen’s going to jail…couples can smell their soulmates…what’s the age when people are really happy ?…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…

Andrew Koppel, the 40-year-old son of former ABC anchor Ted Koppel found dead…Jesse James’ stepmom calls him a liar…the real reason why teens can’t concentrate…guess who gets the biggest tips ? Lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep ! Continue Reading…

The tributes are pouring in for Dennis Hopper and Gary Coleman who both died over the weekend…Michael Jackson’s will each have a big inheritance…Homer Simpson’s da man…the top 10 sex myths for men…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

*** HOMER SIMPSON IS DA MAN***

*** Homer Simpson’s been named the greatest character created for TV and film of the past 20 years, according to a survey by US magazine. Harry Potter was 2^nd, followed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 3^rd, Tony Soprano and The Joker, 4 & 5, respectively, rounding out the Top 5.

*** PRINCE HARRY COOLEST DUDE IN WORLD***

*** Prince Harry’s beaten Twilight hunk Robert Pattinson to the top spot in the list of the world’s 50 coolest men. Pattinson was the runner-up on GQ magazine’s list of world’s 50 coolest men.

The magazine write after a “few gaffes” in his youth, Harry, 25 turned his image around with his army stint in Afghanistan...BUT… his brother, Prince William, 27, failed to make the cut.

Other Britons who came high up in the list include rapper Dizzee Rascal, 24, who was 4th, and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, 24, who was 9th.

*** BRITNEY SPEARS BLOWS AWAY ASHTON KUTCHER ON TWITTER***

*** Britney Spears’ crushed the competition on Twitter by becoming the 1st person on to score more than 5 million followers. Spears, overtook actor Ashton Kutcher, the 1st member to reach 1 million supporters, as the most popular celebrity on the forum last week…but set a new record by Saturday with a fan following of 5,015,346.

*** MEN WHO DO MORE HOUSEWORK=LESS CHANCE OF DIVORCE***

*** Men can reduce chances of divorce by helping their wives in household chores, sez a new survey of 3,500 British couples by the London School of Economics. The experts found divorce rates were lower when husbands did household work, like shopping and childcare. And... many New York women say, like their British counterparts, men who do household work are hot.

*** TOP 10 SEX MYTHS FOR MEN***

*** Dr. Barry Buffman, a Board Certified urologist and the director of the Los Angeles Boston Medical Group’s given the TOP 10 sex Myths among men…

• The belief that a woman won’t get pregnant if a guy ‘pulls out’ before ejaculation. Pre-ejaculate (which includes sperm) when released’s enough to get a woman pregnant.
• Thinking about someone else during sex’s a bad thing to do. If you’re committed to your lady, and your relationship’s strong, it’s ok to think about Angelina Jolie or Megan Fox every now and then.

• Premature ejaculation only affects young men… it actually affects 30% of men at sometime in their lives. Often, early ejaculation in men in their 30s or older’s a co-symptom of erectile dysfunction or fatigue, poor cardio-vascular conditioning, depression, anxiety, or neurological symptoms.

• Oral sex’s safer than vaginal sex. You can get a sexually transmitted disease from oral sex since diseases enter your body through sores or small cuts in your mouth and throat.
• Certain foods can be aphrodisiacs that will put one in the mood for some good loving. There’s no scientific evidence to support the validity of aphrodisiacs like oysters, dark chocolate, strawberries, and tiger penis.
• Size matters. True sexual enthusiasm far outweighs any gifted parts. And contrary to another popular sex myth, the size of one’s manhood has nothing to do with the size of ones hands or feet.
• Viagra and other similar oral medications can treat erectile dysfunction. Oral medications are only a temporary fix to a problem that may have other underlying health causes that should be addressed by a qualified physician. Many men with health conditions, including hypertension and diabetes, can’t take oral prescriptions due to serious potential side effects or contra- indications with other medications.
• After a certain age, sex’s no longer important. Sex’s an important aspect of physical and emotional health and well being for adults of all ages, even those in their golden years.
• Men have more sexual urges than women do. Men experience daily fluctuations in libido, as do women.
• Great sex will just happen naturally without any effort, the way it does in the movies. Do the mood-setting and foreplay thing !

*** 15 MINUTES A DAY AT THE GYM’S COOL ENOUGH TO KEEP FIT***

*** A 15-minute workout at the gym helps reduce stress and prevents the deterioration of vital cells which lead to us feeling and looking older, according to a study.

*** TEENS SKINNIER THAN THOUGHT***

*** Researchers at University of Granada, Spain’s study of 3,000 Spanish teenagers, 3,500 European teenagers and 126 teenagers from Granada’s found the number of teenagers in Europe with excessively low weight’s higher than expected. They found boys with excessively low weight was 3.9% and 4.8% among girls-3.0% higher than obesity.

*** DENNIS HOPPER DEATH UPDATES***

*** Dennis Hopper’s medical marijuana suppliers, The Farmacy Cannabis Club in Venice, California,

have offered condolences over the actor’s death. The 74 yr. old screen icon died Saturday following a battle with prostate cancer.

*** AND*** Late actor Dennis Hopper’s 1st wife, Brooke Hayward sez his 5^th wife, Victoria Duffy, made him suffer in the days before his death. The couple was embroiled in a bitter divorce battle during the final months of his life and Hopper even been banned her from his bedside before he died of prostate cancer Saturday and his family think the stress took a major toll on his physical health as well as his emotional spirit.

*** AND*** Dennis Hopper’s estranged wife, Victoria Hopper’s planning on fighting for a share of his estate in court even though he’d tried desperately to divorce her before he died Saturday from prostrate cancer.

The Easy Rider star had signed a prenup with his Victoria that’d leave her a bequest only if they were still married and living together the time of his death. She’s now planning to take the matter to court, because even though they lived in separate houses at the time of his death, her house was on his property, which, according to her “living together”.

*** GARY COLEMAN DEATH UPDATES***

*** Shannon Price, Gary Coleman’s widow, thanked fans for their support and thousands of e-mails sent to the hospital after her husband’s death. Coleman, whose congenital kidney disease halted his growth at 4’8|” died Friday at a Provo, Utah, hospital after Shannon took him off life support after he lapsed into a coma from a fall at home.

The actor, who played Arnold Jackson on “Diff’rent Strokes,” had his wife and other family members at his side.

Funeral arrangements and more details about the death will be released.

*** AND*** Janet Jackson’s paid tribute to her former Diff`rent Strokes co-star Gary Coleman, who died on Friday at the age of 42, saying she wants to remember him as the fun, playful, adorable and affectionate man he was. Jackson played Charlene, Willis’ girlfriend on the show. Coleman died Friday from a brain hemorrhage after falling at his home last Wednesday.

Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus, Katy Perry and tennis star Serena Williams all tweeted their thoughts to Coleman’s family.

*** RONNIE JAMES DIO UPDATES***

*** Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka, Kan., church known for picketing military funerals said it would protest outside a Los Angeles memorial service for Ronnie James Dio. The church said on its website it’ll have picketers at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Sunday and accused the late frontman for Black Sabbath, Dio, Rainbow and Heaven and Hell of being a Satan worshipper. Dio, 67, died of stomach cancer May 16 of stomach cancer. His wife, Wendy Dio, told CNN she planned to go ahead with the memorial as planned.

Dio’s credited with making the devil’s horn popular at heavy metal rock concerts — a hand sign showing the 2 middle fingers down and the pointer and pinky fingers point up. He said his Italian grandmother told him it’d ward off the “evil eye.”

Westboro Baptist Church became nationally known for sending members to picket against homosexuality at the funerals of U.S. soldiers.

*** AND*** More than 1,200 fans paid tribute to Ronnie James Dio inside Forest Lawn Memorial Park’s Hall of Liberty Sunday in the scorching heat outside the auditorium to watch monitors of the funeral.

The headbangers were heard chanting “Dio, Dio, Dio,”as they saluted late metal legend, who died from stomach cancer May 16 at age 67.

There were performances from some of Dio’s rocker friends, including Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple, Geoff Tate of Queensryche and Paul Shortino of Quiet Riot.

Dio’s son, Dan Padavona told the crowd to be screened regularly by a doctor and take care of themselves, something he said his father didn’t do.

A few members of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated outside of the park’s gates, protesting against Dio whom they believed was a Satanist.

*** MJ UPDATES***

*** Michael Jackson’s fan group, ‘Justice4MJ’ fighting with authorities who are cracking down on the number of mourners paying their respects at the singer’s mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California on June 25^th, the 1^st anniversary of his death. Guards have been instructed to ask anyone whose loitering on the grounds to leave. Meanwhile, younger bro’, Randy Jackson’s supporting the mourners and has asked officials to hand out permits to visitors to the burial place.

*** AND*** Michael Jackson left his 3 children more than $33million each in his will but none to his father and siblings or both his ex-wives, Debbie Rowe and Lisa Marie Presley

His 32 page will states Prince, 13, Paris, 12 and 8-year-old Blanket will all begin to receive their share of the money from trust funds when they turn 30.

The trust funds will increase in value in terms of interest, commercial ventures and an increase in money when Katherine dies – with each of Jackson’s 3 kids expected to be worth $300million by the time they’re 30.

The children will be permitted to fund trustees for cash at the age of 21, but won’t be entitled to free reign on their share until the reach 40.

Many of the family members are also said to be concerned Jackson’s mother Katherine, legal guardian of his children, hasn’t yet received her $99million share.

She currently receives a total of $81,000 a month from Jackson’s estate to pay for the children’s food, school fees, clothes and other expenses, but sources say money’s been tight in the household since Jackson died.

*** WEEKEND BOX OFFICE***

*** “Sex and the City 2,” raked in $14.2 million in its Thursday opening, a day early for the long Memorial Day weekend and is expected to take in $60 million from its mostly female fans over the holiday. The 1st “Sex and the City” film took in $26.8 million on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend in 2008, for a weekend total of $62.6 million.

***AND*** “Shrek Forever After” ogled its way to the top spot for the 2nd weekend in a row in what Hollywood’s calling a slow 3-day Memorial Day weekend.

“Shrek” raked in a very strong box office- more than $43.4 million after opening last weekend with more than $71 million.

“Sex And The City 2” brought in more than $31.14 million while “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” was a close 3rd with $30.1 million.

“Iron Man 2” came 4^th with more than $16.33 million and “Robin Hood,” 5th with more than $10.3 million.

*** LINDSAY LOHAN ANKLE BRACELET UPDATES***

Lindsay Lohan sez she wants to decorate the alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet a judge’s ordered her to wear. The troubled actress recently twittered: “can CHANEL please help me out by getting me some stickers to put on my scram bracelet so that i can at least wear a chic dress?! Maybe!?” and… visited Hollywood clubs earlier this week with the bracelet covered by boot-cut jeans.

A Los Angeles judge Monday ordered Lohan, 23, to wear the alcohol-monitoring bracelet.

She was also ordered to submit to weekly random drug testing and attend the remainder of her alcohol-education classes.

The judge’s decision came at a hearing intended to determine whether Lohan had been adhering to the terms of her probation for a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence.

*** FACEBOOK USERS WORLDWIDE QUIT FB***

*** Thousands of Facebook users worldwide deleted their profiles Monday in a protest over privacy issues. More than 26,000 people, or 0.005% of the 500 million users, said they intended to delete their accounts, the Quit Facebook Day Web site. The protest was sparked by criticisms over user privacy on the world’s largest social network. The Quit Facebook Day site sez the site’s privacy settings are too complex.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Comedian Dane Cook’s been challenged to a “beatdown” by the disgruntled AMERICAN IDOL reject who stormed the stage during the show’s live finale last Wednesday. Former contestant Ian Benardo, who was rejected at the audition stage during a previous season of the talent competition, ran onto the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and grabbed the microphone from Cook, interrupting his comedy skit.

Benardo then started ranting at Simon Cowell, saying he was going to replace the music mogul on the show because “He’s more entertaining than him.”

Cook later tweeted “Weirdo hijacked the song. Just glad he didn’t hit me in the face w/ (with) the mic or American Idol would b (sic) American Beatdown.”

Benardo, who grew up in the tough boroughs of New York’s now challenged Dane to fight in the ring.

*** AND*** Ex-Spice Girls boss Simon Fuller’s teamed up with former Barclays Capital banker Roger Jenkins to buy a company that owns the rights to American Idol for $600 million.

Fuller’s company created the Idol franchise but sold it to CKX Inc. in ’05

CKX’s founder, chairman and CEO Robert FX Sillerman resigned earlier this month and said he wanted to buy the company as his 21% stake makes him its largest shareholder.

*** Simon Cowell’s fiancee American Idol make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy’s giving him a style make-over cuz she hates the tight T-shirts he used to wear.

*** THE X-FACTOR UPDATES***

*** The X-Factor-Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole’s giving away thousands of dollars (pounds) of gifts, including jewellery her soon-to-be- ex-husband Ashley bought her during their marriage. Unwanted necklaces, earrings and bracelets were handed out to friends and mother, Joan during a recent girls’ night out, including a diamond heart pendant. Cole filed for divorce against her estranged husband last week.

*** AND *** Boyzone star Ronan Keating may move in with blonde dancer lover Francine Cornell, despite being married to wife Yvonne. He’s said to have begged his wife to take him back and she agreed but sources say Keating and Cornell were so hot, they may hook up when he visits Australia as judge on ‘The X Factor.’

*** AND*** Cheryl Cole spent 2 nights with dancer Derek Hough at the home she shared with estranged husband Ashley Cole. The 26-year-old The X-Factor-Girls Aloud singer was caught sneaking Derek, who recently won “Dancing With The Stars” with Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, into her mansion near Godalming in Surrey Thursday, just hours after he flew to London from LA.

Earlier in the day, Derek watched Cheryl perform at London’s O2 Arena before she sneaked him back home in the back seat of her car. They spent Friday at Cheryl’s before returning to the O2 for Cheryl’s final show supporting the Black Eyed Peas.

Meanwhile, Cheryl’s been consulting a 30 pounds-an-hour psychic to get over her split from cheating husband Ashley.

*** GAGA NOTES***

*** Lady Gaga’s so concerned for the wellbeing of her devoted followers, she’ll contact parents if she feels a troubled fan needs “some help”

*** AND*** Lady Gaga was stunned after meeting her heroes Madonna and Sir Elton John cuz they were much nicer than her pop contemporaries. Gaga’s struggled to adjust to life in the spotlight at the start of her career but she credits Madonna and John with inspiring her to accept fame.

*** AND*** Lady Gaga fans were left pissed on Sunday when security guards at The O2 in London banned fans from dressing up like her and wouldn’t let them bring in glowsticks, flags and trendy fingerless gloves. Some female supporters were even forced to dress down after dressing up likeGaga in her video, Telephone.

*** 1ST IMPRESSION DETERMINED BY THE SPEED OF YOUR SMILE***

*** Slow and genuine’s the key to a smile that gives the ^1st best impression of yourself to others, according to researchers at the Glasgow-based Go Group.

The speed of your smile’s important cuz smiling too quickly & doesn’t extend to the eyes which can make others think that you’re insincere, while a slow grin appears more genuine.

The experts advise people to avoid 3 types of grin:

The Enthusiast – A huge smile showing all of your teeth and wide eyes can be overbearing.

The Big Freeze – A constant, practiced smile that lacks sincerity.

The Robot - A tiny, polite smile that doesn’t display warmth.

Studies show people perceive a slower, natural smile which floods the entire face to be more genuine while smiling all the time appears over-pleasing and lowers your status.

*** PREGNANT MOMS SHOULD EAT 2 PORTIONS OF FISH A WEEK***

*** At least 2 portions of fish a week should be eaten by expectant moms to reduce the risk of their children developing brain disorders, say experts at the Nutrition Policy Unit at London Metropolitan University. Omega-3 fatty acids, also known as docosahexaenoic acid, found in fish’s essential for the brain to function properly.

*** 1ST JAPANESE DUDE WINS PIZZA MAKING CONTEST***

*** 33 yr. old Akinari Makishima, who works in Nagoya at an Italian restaurant, became the 1st Japanese to win the international competition in Naples, Italy, for making the best Neapolitan pizza.

Makishima underwent some additional training at pizza-making on the outskirts of Naples before entering a field of 150 competitors from countries including Spain, France, the United States and, of course (home field advantage) Italy.

*** A Romanian national trying to enter Wales was stopped by customs officials with 26,000 Euros ($32,000) in cash stuffed into her bra. The currency was mostly in 500 euro notes, a denomination withdrawn from circulation in the United Kingdom after authorities deemed 90% of demand for the notes was linked to crime. The woman, stopped at the Port of Holyhead after coming from Dublin, Ireland, didn’t say why why she hid such a large amount of cash but claimed, although couldn’t prove, she earned the money from the sale of a business in Ireland.

*** A 98 yr. old frugal Washington woman left a surprise $4.5 million legacy, with most of it going to a swimming pool her small town may be unable to afford. Verna Oller of Long Beach lived a life of frugality, buying clothes at a thrift store, wearing wigs instead of spending money at a hairdresser and hauling wood to use in her wood stove well into her 90s, refusing to heat her house any other way.

When Oller died May 10 at age 98, no one but her lawyer, Guy Glenn, knew she had amassed a $4.5 million fortune building on savings and investing a bequest from her uncle and an inheritance from her sister. Before Oller died, she donated $500,000 to a public-school endowment and another $500,000 to a foundation to be used for student scholarships and grants to teachers. The rest she left to Long Beach, a town of about 1,300 people, to build an indoor swimming pool benefiting everybody — if the town committee approves it and if the cash-strapped city can afford to maintain it.

*** Zombies invaded Boston and Columbus, Ohio over the weekend where Zombie March Boston saw participants dressed and made up faces parading from South Station through the Prudential Center to Copley Square. And, in Columbus, organizers of a zombie walk Saturday said they hoped to have collected more than 1,500 of food for food banks.

*** A 21 yr. old musician fell 3 stories from a New York building and survived after being impaled through his head by a spiked metal fence. Doctors say Nicholas Blossom was “very lucky” to have lived after emergency responders had to use a power saw to cut away the part of the fence around his head and took him to hospital with part of the fence still attached to Blossom’s scalp.

Blossom’s a multi-instrumentalist who plays drums in a rock band called Alaska Alaska and was sitting on window ledge at about 4 a.m. yelling that he “hated everybody,” according to witnesses. Neighbours called cops to complain about him and when police arrived, they found Blossom impaled on the metal fence on the 2nd-floor of an adjacent building.

Blossom’s band mate, Corey Mullee sez there were a lot of people drinking on the roof of the building from which Blossom fell. Blossom was listed in critical condition but doctors told his family his prognosis was good.

*** A 61 yr. old homeless man in New York, infamous for filing lawsuits when businesses or institutions eject him for his body odour’s suing someone else. Richard Kreimer who won a $23,000 suit 20 years ago when a New Jersey library kicked him out, sez he’s going to sue Amtrak in Philadelphia, claiming they had police forcibly eject him from the station there.

Kreimer, who hires lawyers to fight his battles, considers litigation his “profession.”- he’s filed 18 lawsuits against businesses like drug stores and restaurants and the New Jersey cities of Morristown, Summit, Newark and Woodbury accusing them of violating his civil rights by kicking him out of public places.

*** The stork made a delivery of 3 of its own at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo as 3 European white storks hatched in the last week, the 1^st time young of the species have been hatched in the zoo’s 142-year history. And… a pair of rare of Cinereous vultures sharing the habitat of white storks also welcomed their own hatchling, not having raised a chick since 2002.

*** Parents of a home-schooled 13-year-old Florida girl say they’re filing a complaint because she’s being denied entry to college because of her age. The retired engineer parents of Anastasia “Annie” Megan say they’ve gone as far as they can go in educating their daughter. She’s almost completed her high school education and they’ve applied for Annie to take dual-enrollment classes at Lake-Sumter Community College in Leesburg, Fla., but they’ve been turned down by college officials, who say she’s not ready to be in classes with older students. The parents have filed an age-discrimination complaint against the college with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

*** A 35 yr. old Cerritos, Calif., woman was charged with welfare fraud for receiving more than $60,000 in benefits while hiding assets including a Maserati. Tangela Ridgeway was arrested with 8 others this week in a massive welfare fraud sweep for receiving benefits while concealing ownership of a home, business, a Nissan SUV, the upscale 2006 sports car and other vehicles. She’s charged with 16 counts of welfare fraud including aid by misrepresentation and perjury by false application for aid, and 14 counts of perjury by declaration. Bail was set at $395,000. If convicted, she faces a maximum term of 19 years in state prison.

*** “Can CHANEL please help me out by getting me some stickers to put on my scram bracelet so that i can at least wear a chic dress?! Maybe!?- Lindsay Lohan wants to decorate her ankle alcohol-consumption monitoring bracelet.

Andy Griffith 84

Pat Boone 76

Morgan Freeman 73

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood  63

Lisa Hartman Black 54

Heidi Klum 37

Alanis Morissette 36

Today is Women and Children Day in Mongolia and Children’s Day in China.

June is Let’s Get Married Month. It started back in the 1400s and 1500s when May was the month everybody took an annual bath, and everybody smelled better in June.

June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, Accordion Awareness Month, Bathroom Reading Month, Cancer from the Sun Month, Celibacy Awareness Month, Children’s Awareness Month, Dairy Month, No-Dairy Month, Fireworks Safety Month, Great Outdoors Month,  International Men’s Month, Turkey Lovers’ Month, National Candy Month, National Iced Tea Month, Soul Food Month, Potty Training Awareness Month, National Rose Month, National Soul Food Month, and National Turkey Lovers Month.

1938- Superman 1st appeared in Action Comics. His creator, Toronto artist Joe Shuster, sold his rights to the character for $130. Superman’s origin was inspired by the biblical story of Moses, whose parents abandoned him as a baby to save his life.

1954-In the “Peanuts” comic strip, Linus’ security blanket debuted.

1980- CNN (Cable News Network) debuted as the 1st all-news television network.

1961- Elvis Presley was #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Surrender’. The song was based on the 1911 Italian song, ‘Return To Sorrento.’

1963- Lesley Gore’s 2 week run at #1 on the US singles chart with Quincy Jones (then a staff producer for Mercury Records)

1964- The Rolling Stones arrived on BA flight 505 at Kennedy Airport for their debut US tour. The 1st concert was on June 5 in San Bernardino, California.

1966- The Beatles added overdubs on ‘Yellow Submarine’, with John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water and shouting “Full speed ahead Mister Captain!”  at Abbey Road studios. Roadie Mal Evans played on a bass drum strapped to his chest, marching around the studio with The Beatles following behind (conga-line style) singing “We all live in a yellow submarine.”

1967- Fairport Convention’s live debut at St Michael’s Hall, Golders Green.

1967- The Beatles released the album, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

1968- Simon and Garfunkel were #1 on the US singles chart with ‘Mrs Robinson’ from ‘The Graduate’

1969- John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace a Chance” with Derek Taylor, Murray the K, Tommy and Dick Smothers, and Timothy Leary.

1971- The 2-room shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935 was opened to the public as a tourist attraction.

1972- Pink Floyd started rccording their ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ album at Abbey Road studios, London.

1974- UK weekly music paper The NME published it’s 100 Great Albums…

#3 The Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’

#2 Bob Dylan ‘Blonde On Blonde’

#1 The Beatles Sgt Pepper

1975- The Rolling Stones kicked off their biggest ever US tour at Louisiana State University. The tour would take in 45 shows in 26 cities. Guitarist Ron Wood joined The Stones on tour for the 1st time, replacing Mick Taylor.

1981- The 1st issue of the Heavy Metal magazine Kerrang was published as a special pull-out by UK weekly music paper Sounds. AC/DC had the front cover plus features on Motorhead, Girlschool and Saxon.

1982- Madness were #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘House Of Fun’.

1985- Prince & The Revolution started a 3-week run at #1 on the US album chart with ‘Around The World In A Day’.

1991- David Ruffin died of a cocaine overdose.

1991- Seal’s 3-week run at #1 on the UK album charts with his self-titled debut LP.

1991- Sting appeared on the debut of a new Soviet TV rock show, called ‘Rock Steady’.

1997- Spice Girl, Baby Spice arrived back in the UK in a wheelchair after breaking her ankle during a Turkish TV show.

2003- Staind were #1 on the US album chart with ‘14 Shades Of Gray’

2003- Slipknot bassist Paul Gray was arrested on drugs and DUI charges after he collided with a car after going through a red light in his home town of Des Moines, Iowa. Gray, (who wears a pig mask on stage) then tried to write a cheque for $1,000 (£600) to the other driver, who then called the police. Gray failed two alcohol tests at the scene and was arrested for possession of marijuana, cocaine and drug paraphernalia, as well drink-driving.

2005- White Stripes singer Jack White married his girlfriend, British model Karen Elson in a canoe on the Amazon in Brazil.

2005- Crazy Frog was #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Axel F’ based on Harold Faltermeyer’s film theme. It started as a mobile phone ring tone and reached #2 in 1985.

2006- The 1994 debut album by Oasis, Definitely Maybe, was voted the greatest album of all time in a survey to mark 50 years of the Official UK Albums Chart. The Beatles came in 2nd and 3rd place with ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and ‘Revolver’, ‘OK Computer’ by Radiohead was 4th and ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ by Oasis was voted 5th.

2007- Contemporary musicians recorded their own versions of songs from the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s album to mark 40 years since it was released. Acts including Oasis, Travis, The Fray, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Bryan Adams and The Magic Numbers all worked with Geoff Emerick – the engineer in charge of the original 1967 sessions, using the original analogue 4-track equipment to demonstrate the techniques employed for the recording at Abbey Road studios in 1967.

2009 -Joe Nichols’ 1st tour of U.S. military bases in Iraq

2006- Josh Turner’s 1st 2 gold singles with “Long Black Train” and “Your Man”

2002- Mary Chapin Carpenter married contractor Timmy Smith in Batesville, Virginia. In attendance: Terri Clark, actor Sissy Spacek, rocker Dave Matthews, and songwriters Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff

2000- The Dixie Chicks played the 1st night of their 85 date ‘Fly’ North American tour at Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1994- Restless Heart performed at the opening of The Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Marty Stuart and Tanya Tucker. Among the acts that become the house band at the venue: Lonestar, Ricochet and Sons of the Desert

1993 -Sawyer Brown’s 1st gold album- “The Dirt Road”

1991- Diamond Rio’s 1st #1 single on the Billboard country chart with “Meet In The Middle”

1974- Ronnie Milsap’s 1st #1 single of his career with “Pure Love,” written by Eddie Rabbitt

1964-The day after graduating from high school, Dolly Parton moved from Sevierville, Tennessee, to Nashville where she met her future husband, Carl Dean, who ran a Nashville asphalt-paving business.

1966- The Beatles added overdubs on ‘Yellow Submarine’, with John Lennon blowing bubbles in a bucket of water and shouting “Full speed ahead Mister Captain!”  at Abbey Road studios. Roadie Mal Evans played on a bass drum strapped to his chest, marching around the studio with The Beatles following behind (conga-line style) singing “We all live in a yellow submarine.”

1967- The Beatles released the album, “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

1969- John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace a Chance” with Derek Taylor, Murray the K, Tommy and Dick Smothers, and Timothy Leary.

1974- UK weekly music paper The NME published it’s 100 Great Albums…

#3 The Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds’

#2 Bob Dylan ‘Blonde On Blonde’

#1 The Beatles Sgt Pepper

1975- The Rolling Stones kicked off their biggest ever US tour at Louisiana State University. The tour would take in 45 shows in 26 cities. Guitarist Ron Wood joined The Stones on tour for the 1st time, replacing Mick Taylor.

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood  63

1964- The Rolling Stones arrived on BA flight 505 at Kennedy Airport for their debut US tour. The 1st concert was on June 5 in San Bernardino, California.

*** CHART NOTES***

*** Rapper Dizzee Rascal’s #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dirtee Disco’, bumping last week’s chart topper B.o.B into 2nd place with ‘Nothin’ On You.’ Eminem’s new single ‘Not Afraid’, the 1st from from his upcoming album ‘Recovery’’s #5.

Pendulum scored their 1st UK #1 album with ‘Immersion’, knocking last week’s #1, The Rolling Stones down to 5 with ‘Exile On Main Street’.

This week’s UK Top 10 singles:

1. Dizzee Rascal – ‘Dirtee Disco’

2. B.o.B – ‘Nothin’ On You’ (feat. Bruno Mars)

3. Iyaz – ‘Solo’

4. Jason Derulo – ‘Ridin’ Solo’

5. Eminem – ‘Not Afraid’

6. N-Dubz – ‘We Dance On’ (feat. Bodyrox)

7. Edward Maya – ‘Stereo Love’ (feat. Vika Jigulina)

8. Aggro Santos - ‘Candy’ (feat. Kimberly Wyatt)

9. Roll Deep – ‘Good Times’

10. Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber – ‘Eenie Meenie’

This week’s Top 10 UK albums:

1. Pendulum – ‘Immersion’

2. Michael Buble – ‘Crazy Love’

3. Glee Cast – ‘Glee The Music Vol 3 Showstoppers

4. Katie Melua – ‘The House’

5. The Rolling Stones – ‘Exile On Main St’

6. Alicia Keys - ‘The Element Of Freedom’

7. Plan B – ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’

8. Lady Gaga – ‘The Fame’

9. Faithless - ‘The Dance’

10. Florence and The Machine – ‘Lungs’

*** Sir Mick Jagger has to pace himself during shows cuz the 66 yr. old Stones frontman’s finding it harder to keep up his energy during his entire performance. Mick sez he takes short breaks during shows to catch his breath.

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood  63

*** PRINCE HARRY COOLEST DUDE IN WORLD***

*** Prince Harry’s beaten Twilight hunk Robert Pattinson to the top spot in the list of the world’s 50 coolest men. Pattinson was the runner-up on GQ magazine’s list of world’s 50 coolest men.

The magazine write after a “few gaffes” in his youth, Harry, 25 turned his image around with his army stint in Afghanistan...BUT… his brother, Prince William, 27, failed to make the cut.

Other Britons who came high up in the list include rapper Dizzee Rascal, 24, who was 4th, and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, 24, who was 9th.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Comedian Dane Cook’s been challenged to a “beatdown” by the disgruntled AMERICAN IDOL reject who stormed the stage during the show’s live finale last Wednesday. Former contestant Ian Benardo, who was rejected at the audition stage during a previous season of the talent competition, ran onto the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and grabbed the microphone from Cook, interrupting his comedy skit.

Benardo then started ranting at Simon Cowell, saying he was going to replace the music mogul on the show because “He’s more entertaining than him.”

Cook later tweeted “Weirdo hijacked the song. Just glad he didn’t hit me in the face w/ (with) the mic or American Idol would b (sic) American Beatdown.”

Benardo, who grew up in the tough boroughs of New York’s now challenged Dane to fight in the ring.

*** AND*** Ex-Spice Girls boss Simon Fuller’s teamed up with former Barclays Capital banker Roger Jenkins to buy a company that owns the rights to American Idol for $600 million.

Fuller’s company created the Idol franchise but sold it to CKX Inc. in ’05

CKX’s founder, chairman and CEO Robert FX Sillerman resigned earlier this month and said he wanted to buy the company as his 21% stake makes him its largest shareholder.

*** Simon Cowell’s fiancee American Idol make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy’s giving him a style make-over cuz she hates the tight T-shirts he used to wear.

*** RONNIE JAMES DIO UPDATES***

*** Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka, Kan., church known for picketing military funerals said it would protest outside a Los Angeles memorial service for Ronnie James Dio. The church said on its website it’ll have picketers at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Sunday and accused the late frontman for Black Sabbath, Dio, Rainbow and Heaven and Hell of being a Satan worshipper. Dio, 67, died of stomach cancer May 16 of stomach cancer. His wife, Wendy Dio, told CNN she planned to go ahead with the memorial as planned.

Dio’s credited with making the devil’s horn popular at heavy metal rock concerts — a hand sign showing the 2 middle fingers down and the pointer and pinky fingers point up. He said his Italian grandmother told him it’d ward off the “evil eye.”

Westboro Baptist Church became nationally known for sending members to picket against homosexuality at the funerals of U.S. soldiers.

*** AND*** More than 1,200 fans paid tribute to Ronnie James Dio inside Forest Lawn Memorial Park’s Hall of Liberty Sunday in the scorching heat outside the auditorium to watch monitors of the funeral.

The headbangers were heard chanting “Dio, Dio, Dio,”as they saluted late metal legend, who died from stomach cancer May 16 at age 67.

There were performances from some of Dio’s rocker friends, including Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple, Geoff Tate of Queensryche and Paul Shortino of Quiet Riot.

Dio’s son, Dan Padavona told the crowd to be screened regularly by a doctor and take care of themselves, something he said his father didn’t do.

A few members of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated outside of the park’s gates, protesting against Dio whom they believed was a Satanist.

*** CHART NOTES***

*** Rapper Dizzee Rascal’s #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dirtee Disco’, bumping last week’s chart topper B.o.B into 2nd place with ‘Nothin’ On You.’ Eminem’s new single ‘Not Afraid’, the 1st from from his upcoming album ‘Recovery’’s #5.

Pendulum scored their 1st UK #1 album with ‘Immersion’, knocking last week’s #1, The Rolling Stones down to 5 with ‘Exile On Main Street’.

This week’s UK Top 10 singles:

1. Dizzee Rascal – ‘Dirtee Disco’

2. B.o.B – ‘Nothin’ On You’ (feat. Bruno Mars)

3. Iyaz – ‘Solo’

4. Jason Derulo – ‘Ridin’ Solo’

5. Eminem – ‘Not Afraid’

6. N-Dubz – ‘We Dance On’ (feat. Bodyrox)

7. Edward Maya – ‘Stereo Love’ (feat. Vika Jigulina)

8. Aggro Santos - ‘Candy’ (feat. Kimberly Wyatt)

9. Roll Deep – ‘Good Times’

10. Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber – ‘Eenie Meenie’

This week’s Top 10 UK albums:

1. Pendulum – ‘Immersion’

2. Michael Buble – ‘Crazy Love’

3. Glee Cast – ‘Glee The Music Vol 3 Showstoppers

4. Katie Melua – ‘The House’

5. The Rolling Stones – ‘Exile On Main St’

6. Alicia Keys - ‘The Element Of Freedom’

7. Plan B – ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’

8. Lady Gaga – ‘The Fame’

9. Faithless - ‘The Dance’

10. Florence and The Machine – ‘Lungs’

*** MORE NOTES***

*** Janet Jackson’s paid tribute to her former Diff`rent Strokes co-star Gary Coleman, who died on Friday at the age of 42, saying she wants to remember him as the fun, playful, adorable and affectionate man he was. Jackson played Charlene, Willis’ girlfriend on the show. Coleman died Friday from a brain hemorrhage after falling at his home last Wednesday.

Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus, Katy Perry and tennis star Serena Williams all tweeted their thoughts to Coleman’s family.

*** AC DC just made it to a concert in Oslo, Norway on Sunday night after plane trouble almost left them grounded in Berlin, Germany. The band was due to fly in from Berlin, Germany for a gig at the city’s Valle Hovin venue, but were delayed when their jet suffered a mysterious “malfunction”. The stars finally hit the stage in Oslo at 9.45pm (local time), but had to cut the show short to avoid violating Norway’s strict 11pm curfew.

*** Germany scored an upset win in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo Saturday night with a song called “Satellite” by 19-year-old who goes by the name Lena with 246 points. She’s only the 2nd winner from Germany in Eurovision’s 55-year history.

Oddsmakers had chosen Safura from Azerbaijan to win the contest but European voters, however, gave 2nd place to Turkey followed by Romania then Denmark. Great Britain’s entrant, Josh Dubovie, came in last.

The BBC said the economy forced several countries to pull out of this year’s competition. Only 25 countries participating in the scaled down event due to the global recession.

*** Bob Seger’s one of several special guests on Kid Rock’s new album, “Born Free,” his 1^st since “ “Rock N Roll Jesus” in 2007, drops Sept. 7. Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow and T.I. have also collaborated with Rock on the album.

*** Sir Mick Jagger has to pace himself during shows cuz the 66 yr. old Stones frontman’s finding it harder to keep up his energy during his entire performance. Mick sez he takes short breaks during shows to catch his breath.

*** AND*** Lady Gaga was stunned after meeting her heroes Madonna and Sir Elton John cuz they were much nicer than her pop contemporaries. Gaga’s struggled to adjust to life in the spotlight at the start of her career but she credits Madonna and John with inspiring her to accept fame.

*** Former Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson was secretly married in Los Angeles recently and said on Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on Friday her new husband was an American.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Comedian Dane Cook’s been challenged to a “beatdown” by the disgruntled AMERICAN IDOL reject who stormed the stage during the show’s live finale last Wednesday. Former contestant Ian Benardo, who was rejected at the audition stage during a previous season of the talent competition, ran onto the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and grabbed the microphone from Cook, interrupting his comedy skit.

Benardo then started ranting at Simon Cowell, saying he was going to replace the music mogul on the show because “He’s more entertaining than him.”

Cook later tweeted “Weirdo hijacked the song. Just glad he didn’t hit me in the face w/ (with) the mic or American Idol would b (sic) American Beatdown.”

Benardo, who grew up in the tough boroughs of New York’s now challenged Dane to fight in the ring.

*** AND*** Ex-Spice Girls boss Simon Fuller’s teamed up with former Barclays Capital banker Roger Jenkins to buy a company that owns the rights to American Idol for $600 million.

Fuller’s company created the Idol franchise but sold it to CKX Inc. in ’05

CKX’s founder, chairman and CEO Robert FX Sillerman resigned earlier this month and said he wanted to buy the company as his 21% stake makes him its largest shareholder.

*** Simon Cowell’s fiancee American Idol make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy’s giving him a style make-over cuz she hates the tight T-shirts he used to wear.

*** BRITNEY SPEARS BLOWS AWAY ASHTON KUTCHER ON TWITTER***

*** Britney Spears’ crushed the competition on Twitter by becoming the 1st person on to score more than 5 million followers. Spears, overtook actor Ashton Kutcher, the 1st member to reach 1 million supporters, as the most popular celebrity on the forum last week…but set a new record by Saturday with a fan following of 5,015,346.

*** GAGA NOTES***

*** Lady Gaga’s so concerned for the wellbeing of her devoted followers, she’ll contact parents if she feels a troubled fan needs “some help”.

*** AND*** Lady Gaga was stunned after meeting her heroes Madonna and Sir Elton John cuz they were much nicer than her pop contemporaries. Gaga’s struggled to adjust to life in the spotlight at the start of her career but she credits Madonna and John with inspiring her to accept fame.

*** AND*** Lady Gaga fans were left pissed on Sunday when security guards at The O2 in London banned fans from dressing up like her and wouldn’t let them bring in glowsticks, flags and trendy fingerless gloves. Some female supporters were even forced to dress down after dressing up likeGaga in her video, Telephone.

*** CHART NOTES***

*** Rapper Dizzee Rascal’s #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dirtee Disco’, bumping last week’s chart topper B.o.B into 2nd place with ‘Nothin’ On You.’ Eminem’s new single ‘Not Afraid’, the 1st from from his upcoming album ‘Recovery’’s #5.

Pendulum scored their 1st UK #1 album with ‘Immersion’, knocking last week’s #1, The Rolling Stones down to 5 with ‘Exile On Main Street’.

This week’s UK Top 10 singles:

1. Dizzee Rascal – ‘Dirtee Disco’

2. B.o.B – ‘Nothin’ On You’ (feat. Bruno Mars)

3. Iyaz – ‘Solo’

4. Jason Derulo – ‘Ridin’ Solo’

5. Eminem – ‘Not Afraid’

6. N-Dubz – ‘We Dance On’ (feat. Bodyrox)

7. Edward Maya – ‘Stereo Love’ (feat. Vika Jigulina)

8. Aggro Santos - ‘Candy’ (feat. Kimberly Wyatt)

9. Roll Deep – ‘Good Times’

10. Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber – ‘Eenie Meenie’

This week’s Top 10 UK albums:

1. Pendulum – ‘Immersion’
2. Michael Buble – ‘Crazy Love’

1. Glee Cast – ‘Glee The Music Vol 3 Showstoppers

1. Katie Melua – ‘The House’

1. The Rolling Stones – ‘Exile On Main St’

1. Alicia Keys - ‘The Element Of Freedom’

1. Plan B – ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’

1. Lady Gaga – ‘The Fame’

1. Faithless - ‘The Dance’

1. Florence and The Machine – ‘Lungs’

*** Janet Jackson’s paid tribute to her former Diff`rent Strokes co-star Gary Coleman, who died on Friday at the age of 42, saying she wants to remember him as the fun, playful, adorable and affectionate man he was. Jackson played Charlene, Willis’ girlfriend on the show. Coleman died Friday from a brain hemorrhage after falling at his home last Wednesday.

Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus, Katy Perry and tennis star Serena Williams all tweeted their thoughts to Coleman’s family.

*** Bob Seger’s one of several special guests on Kid Rock’s new album, “Born Free,” his 1^st since “ “Rock N Roll Jesus” in 2007, drops Sept. 7. Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow and T.I. have also collaborated with Rock on the album.

*** Mariah Carey’s husband Nick Cannon’s playing coy with the media by saying somebody in their family’s expecting a baby but won’t say whether it’s his wife. Asked if Carey’s pregnant, Cannon said on E!’s “Daily 10″ Thursday: “That’s news to me,” but then said their Russell terrier puppy Zha Zha’s pregnant again!” Rumours about Carey possibly being with child started flying after the 41-year-old dropped out of Tyler Perry’s new movie after doctors advised her not to start shooting for the movie.

*** Ice Cube’s confirmed he’ll direct the story of his legendary rap group N.W.A. in a new biopic with former bandmate Dr. Dre. Ice Cube made his directorial debut with 1998′s The Players Club, before going on to write hit comedy Friday in 1995.

*** Usher promised to build a business empire outside of his music career following the birth of his sons in ’07 and ’08 because he wants to leave his children a proper legacy. Over the last few years, Usher’s been working on his other interests, including launching a fragrance range, opening restaurants, buying a share in basketball team the Cleveland Cavaliers and setting up his media company, the Raymond Braun Media Group which signed teen sensation Justin Bieber.

*** Beyonce’s being sued by a Mount Olympus, Hollywood Hills man who claims he was trapped in his house while she was making her ‘Why Do Not You Love Me’ video outside. Markowitz claims trucks blocked his driveway and he was prevented from leaving his property which resulted in losing his business. He’s suing on grounds of private nuisance and trespass.

*** Katy Perry’s threatened her record company she’ll get pregnant if they don’t reduce her schedule promoting her 2nd album. The 23-year-old singer, engaged to British funnyman Russell Brand’s promised her fans that her next tour’ll be raunchier than ever.

*** AND*** Rihanna sez she never expected friends Katy Perry and Russell Brand would be together but now believes they’re well-suited as they’re both “hilarious, rude and disrespectful”. Rihanna’s expected to be bridesmaid when the couple marry later this year .

*** Kanye West’s new single, Power‘s just leaked. Check it out… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVYjyDBhnVM&feature=player_embedded

*** Madonna’s thanked over 30,000 of her fans for backing a campaign calling for the release of 2 jailed gay men in Malawi after the pair was freed at the weekend. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a Malawi couple were sentenced to 14 years hard labour for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality,” but Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika’s ordered their immediate release Saturday after receiving the petition and meeting with United Nation ambassadors.

*** AND*** Madonna’s getting a $1.44 million makeover on her 5oth birthday August 16^th- she’s planning an eye lift, a boob job, lip fillers and Lipo Sculpt plus a new laser treatment that reduces the appearance of spider veins. Madge’s been feeling her age since her divorce from Guy Ritchie in 2008 and since she’s dating model Jesus Luz, 32 yrs her junior, she wants to keep looking her best.

*** AND*** Chris Rock wants to star in one of British director Guy Ritchie’s movies after missing out on a role in “Revolver” which he lost out to at the last minute to singer Andre 3000.

***Celine Dion’s husband Rene Anglil confirmed his wife’s pregnant again with twins. After 5 failed attempts thru in-vitro fertilization and acupuncture, Dion was successful at getting pregnant. The singer already has 9 year old son, Ren-Charles, who was also conceived thru in-vitro fertilization.

*** Backstreet Boys have split from their longtime label of 14 years, Sony owned Jive Records. Backstreet Boys had been with Jive Records since their debut album in 1996 which sold over 14 million copies in the USA alone while the ‘Millennium’ album sold more than 13 million in America.

Backstreet Boys released 7 studio albums on Jive and sold more than 130 records.

*** Germany scored an upset win in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo Saturday night with a song called “Satellite” by 19-year-old who goes by the name Lena with 246 points. She’s only the 2nd winner from Germany in Eurovision’s 55-year history.

Oddsmakers had chosen Safura from Azerbaijan to win the contest but European voters, however, gave 2nd place to Turkey followed by Romania then Denmark. Great Britain’s entrant, Josh Dubovie, came in last.

The BBC said the economy forced several countries to pull out of this year’s competition. Only 25 countries participating in the scaled down event due to the global recession.

*** Boyzone star Ronan Keating may move in with blonde dancer lover Francine Cornell, despite being married to wife Yvonne. He’s said to have begged his wife to take him back and she agreed but sources say Keating and Cornell were so hot, they may hook up when he visits Australia as judge on ‘The X Factor.’

*** British singer and TV star Charlotte Church and rugby player Gavin Henson have split just 6 weeks after they announced their engagement. The couple who has 2 kids-Ruby, 2, and 16-month-old Dexter decided to end their relationship after months of conflict. Gavin’s expected to move out of their $1.7 million mansion and buy a house nearby so he can continue to spend time with the kids.

*** Macy Gray stopped taking drugs cuz her they were starting to take their toll on her looks. She once named a joint as 1 of the 3 things she’d take into space with her, but sez she’s no longer partying now that she’s in her 40′s.

*** Miley Cyrus’s song featured in “Glee,” but she told the June issue of Billboard she’s not very fond of musicals and can’t watch them…and… despite her chart hits, she’s no fan of pop music, either.

*** AND*** Miley Cyrus stunned fans at the Rock In Rio in Lisbon on Saturday night by cavorting onstage in a skin-tight green leotard during a raunchy routine. The 17 yr. old caused controversy earlier in May when a video of her dirty dancing with a 44-year-old movie producer in a bar surfaced online. Cyrus wore an olive-green leotard, skimpy leather jacket, and high-heeled shoes for the show, launching into a racy routine during which she stroked her thighs and frolicked with her hunky male dancers.

2009 -Joe Nichols’ 1st tour of U.S. military bases in Iraq

2006- Josh Turner’s 1st 2 gold singles with “Long Black Train” and “Your Man”

2002- Mary Chapin Carpenter married contractor Timmy Smith in Batesville, Virginia. In attendance: Terri Clark, actor Sissy Spacek, rocker Dave Matthews, and songwriters Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff

2000- The Dixie Chicks played the 1st night of their 85 date ‘Fly’ North American tour at Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1994- Restless Heart performed at the opening of The Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Marty Stuart and Tanya Tucker. Among the acts that become the house band at the venue: Lonestar, Ricochet and Sons of the Desert

1993 -Sawyer Brown’s 1st gold album- “The Dirt Road”

1991- Diamond Rio’s 1st #1 single on the Billboard country chart with “Meet In The Middle”

1974- Ronnie Milsap’s 1st #1 single of his career with “Pure Love,” written by Eddie Rabbitt

1964-The day after graduating from high school, Dolly Parton moved from Sevierville, Tennessee, to Nashville where she met her future husband, Carl Dean, who ran a Nashville asphalt-paving business.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Comedian Dane Cook’s been challenged to a “beatdown” by the disgruntled AMERICAN IDOL reject who stormed the stage during the show’s live finale last Wednesday. Former contestant Ian Benardo, who was rejected at the audition stage during a previous season of the talent competition, ran onto the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and grabbed the microphone from Cook, interrupting his comedy skit.

Benardo then started ranting at Simon Cowell, saying he was going to replace the music mogul on the show because “He’s more entertaining than him.”

Cook later tweeted “Weirdo hijacked the song. Just glad he didn’t hit me in the face w/ (with) the mic or American Idol would b (sic) American Beatdown.”

Benardo, who grew up in the tough boroughs of New York’s now challenged Dane to fight in the ring.

*** AND*** Ex-Spice Girls boss Simon Fuller’s teamed up with former Barclays Capital banker Roger Jenkins to buy a company that owns the rights to American Idol for $600 million.

Fuller’s company created the Idol franchise but sold it to CKX Inc. in ’05

CKX’s founder, chairman and CEO Robert FX Sillerman resigned earlier this month and said he wanted to buy the company as his 21% stake makes him its largest shareholder.

*** Simon Cowell’s fiancee American Idol make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy’s giving him a style make-over cuz she hates the tight T-shirts he used to wear.

*** Bob Seger’s one of several special guests on Kid Rock’s new album, “Born Free,” his 1^st since “ “Rock N Roll Jesus” in 2007, drops Sept. 7. Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow and T.I. have also collaborated with Rock on the album.

*** Germany scored an upset win in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo Saturday night with a song called “Satellite” by 19-year-old who goes by the name Lena with 246 points. She’s only the 2nd winner from Germany in Eurovision’s 55-year history.

Oddsmakers had chosen Safura from Azerbaijan to win the contest but European voters, however, gave 2nd place to Turkey followed by Romania then Denmark. Great Britain’s entrant, Josh Dubovie, came in last.

The BBC said the economy forced several countries to pull out of this year’s competition. Only 25 countries participating in the scaled down event due to the global recession.

*** Miley Cyrus’ song featured in “Glee,” but she told the June issue of Billboard she’s not very fond of musicals and can’t watch them…and… despite her chart hits, she’s no fan of pop music, either.

*** AND*** Miley Cyrus stunned fans at the Rock In Rio in Lisbon on Saturday night by cavorting onstage in a skin-tight green leotard during a raunchy routine. The 17 yr. old caused controversy earlier in May when a video of her dirty dancing with a 44-year-old movie producer in a bar surfaced online. Cyrus wore an olive-green leotard, skimpy leather jacket, and high-heeled shoes for the show, launching into a racy routine during which she stroked her thighs and frolicked with her hunky male dancers.

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood  63

*** MJ UPDATES***

*** Michael Jackson’s fan group, ‘Justice4MJ’ fighting with authorities who are cracking down on the number of mourners paying their respects at the singer’s mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California on June 25^th, the 1^st anniversary of his death. Guards have been instructed to ask anyone whose loitering on the grounds to leave. Meanwhile, younger bro’, Randy Jackson’s supporting the mourners and has asked officials to hand out permits to visitors to the burial place.

*** AND*** Michael Jackson left his 3 children more than $33million each in his will but none to his father and siblings or both his ex-wives, Debbie Rowe and Lisa Marie Presley

His 32 page will states Prince, 13, Paris, 12 and 8-year-old Blanket will all begin to receive their share of the money from trust funds when they turn 30.

The trust funds will increase in value in terms of interest, commercial ventures and an increase in money when Katherine dies – with each of Jackson’s 3 kids expected to be worth $300million by the time they’re 30.

The children will be permitted to fund trustees for cash at the age of 21, but won’t be entitled to free reign on their share until the reach 40.

Many of the family members are also said to be concerned Jackson’s mother Katherine, legal guardian of his children, hasn’t yet received her $99million share.

She currently receives a total of $81,000 a month from Jackson’s estate to pay for the children’s food, school fees, clothes and other expenses, but sources say money’s been tight in the household since Jackson died.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Comedian Dane Cook’s been challenged to a “beatdown” by the disgruntled AMERICAN IDOL reject who stormed the stage during the show’s live finale last Wednesday. Former contestant Ian Benardo, who was rejected at the audition stage during a previous season of the talent competition, ran onto the stage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and grabbed the microphone from Cook, interrupting his comedy skit.

Benardo then started ranting at Simon Cowell, saying he was going to replace the music mogul on the show because “He’s more entertaining than him.”

Cook later tweeted “Weirdo hijacked the song. Just glad he didn’t hit me in the face w/ (with) the mic or American Idol would b (sic) American Beatdown.”

Benardo, who grew up in the tough boroughs of New York’s now challenged Dane to fight in the ring.

*** AND*** Ex-Spice Girls boss Simon Fuller’s teamed up with former Barclays Capital banker Roger Jenkins to buy a company that owns the rights to American Idol for $600 million.

Fuller’s company created the Idol franchise but sold it to CKX Inc. in ’05

CKX’s founder, chairman and CEO Robert FX Sillerman resigned earlier this month and said he wanted to buy the company as his 21% stake makes him its largest shareholder.

*** Simon Cowell’s fiancee American Idol make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy’s giving him a style make-over cuz she hates the tight T-shirts he used to wear.

*** CHART NOTES***

*** Rapper Dizzee Rascal’s #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Dirtee Disco’, bumping last week’s chart topper B.o.B into 2nd place with ‘Nothin’ On You.’ Eminem’s new single ‘Not Afraid’, the 1st from from his upcoming album ‘Recovery’’s #5.

Pendulum scored their 1st UK #1 album with ‘Immersion’, knocking last week’s #1, The Rolling Stones down to 5 with ‘Exile On Main Street’.

This week’s UK Top 10 singles:

1. Dizzee Rascal – ‘Dirtee Disco’

2. B.o.B – ‘Nothin’ On You’ (feat. Bruno Mars)

3. Iyaz – ‘Solo’

4. Jason Derulo – ‘Ridin’ Solo’

5. Eminem – ‘Not Afraid’

6. N-Dubz – ‘We Dance On’ (feat. Bodyrox)

7. Edward Maya – ‘Stereo Love’ (feat. Vika Jigulina)

8. Aggro Santos - ‘Candy’ (feat. Kimberly Wyatt)

9. Roll Deep – ‘Good Times’

10. Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber – ‘Eenie Meenie’

This week’s Top 10 UK albums:

1. Pendulum – ‘Immersion’

2. Michael Buble – ‘Crazy Love’

3. Glee Cast – ‘Glee The Music Vol 3 Showstoppers

4. Katie Melua – ‘The House’

5. The Rolling Stones – ‘Exile On Main St’

6. Alicia Keys - ‘The Element Of Freedom’

7. Plan B – ‘The Defamation Of Strickland Banks’

8. Lady Gaga – ‘The Fame’

9. Faithless - ‘The Dance’

10. Florence and The Machine – ‘Lungs’

*** MORE NOTES***

*** Former Temptations star Ollie Thompson’s dead at the age of 58, following a 2 yr. battle with leukemia in California on Sunday. Thompson co-wrote, co-produced and sang lead vocals for Treat Her Like a Lady but left the band in 1986. He returned 2 yrs later for 8 yrs before quitting again after the release of the group’s 1995 album For Lovers Only.

He reunited with the band in 2002 for a Japanese tour, stepping in for Barrington ‘Bo’ Henderson after he was forced to skip the trek due to visa problems.

Woodson also enjoyed success as a solo singer, fronting Ali-Ollie Woodson & the Emperors of Soul and toured with Aretha Franklin in 2008. He also landed small guest roles in TV shows and movies.

Woodson’s survived by his wife Juanita.

*** Olivia Newton-John’s ex-lover Patrick McDermott’s offered a DNA sample to prove once and for all he’s still alive.

McDermott’s said to have faked his own death so his now-teenage son Chance could collect his life insurance, and is believed to be leading a new life near the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast under a new name, “Pat Kim”.

Private investigators want a saliva swab from Chance to help them verify a DNA sample McDermott’as promised to deliver.

McDermott, who disappeared in July 2005 sez he wants nothing more to do with Newton-John.

*** Bob Seger’s one of several special guests on Kid Rock’s new album, “Born Free,” his 1^st since “ “Rock N Roll Jesus” in 2007, drops Sept. 7. Martina McBride, Sheryl Crow and T.I. have also collaborated with Rock on the album.

*** Sir Mick Jagger has to pace himself during shows cuz the 66 yr. old Stones frontman’s finding it harder to keep up his energy during his entire performance. Mick sez he takes short breaks during shows to catch his breath.

*** AND*** Lady Gaga was stunned after meeting her heroes Madonna and Sir Elton John cuz they were much nicer than her pop contemporaries. Gaga’s struggled to adjust to life in the spotlight at the start of her career but she credits Madonna and John with inspiring her to accept fame.

*** Madonna’s thanked over 30,000 of her fans for backing a campaign calling for the release of 2 jailed gay men in Malawi after the pair was freed at the weekend. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a Malawi couple were sentenced to 14 years hard labour for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality,” but Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika’s ordered their immediate release Saturday after receiving the petition and meeting with United Nation ambassadors.

*** Germany scored an upset win in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo Saturday night with a song called “Satellite” by 19-year-old who goes by the name Lena with 246 points. She’s only the 2nd winner from Germany in Eurovision’s 55-year history.

Oddsmakers had chosen Safura from Azerbaijan to win the contest but European voters, however, gave 2nd place to Turkey followed by Romania then Denmark. Great Britain’s entrant, Josh Dubovie, came in last.

The BBC said the economy forced several countries to pull out of this year’s competition. Only 25 countries participating in the scaled down event due to the global recession.

*** Carly Simon’s refiled her multi-million dollar lawsuit against Starbucks giant just weeks after a judge dismissed her original claim. Simon signed a deal to release her 2008 album This Kind Of Love through Starbucks’ Hear Music label which only sold 124,000 copies by late 2009, so she sued them but had her suit thrown out after a judge ruled the coffee executives weren’t obliged to share their business plans with Simon, but she’s now amended her lawsuit and refiled against them.

2002- Mary Chapin Carpenter married contractor Timmy Smith in Batesville, Virginia. In attendance: Terri Clark, actor Sissy Spacek, rocker Dave Matthews, and songwriters Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff

1964-The day after graduating from high school, Dolly Parton moved from Sevierville, Tennessee, to Nashville where she met her future husband, Carl Dean, who ran a Nashville asphalt-paving business.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Simon Cowell’s fiancee American Idol make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy’s giving him a style make-over cuz she hates the tight T-shirts he used to wear.

*** THE X-FACTOR UPDATES***

*** The X-Factor-Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole’s giving away thousands of dollars (pounds) of gifts, including jewellery her soon-to-be- ex-husband Ashley bought her during their marriage. Unwanted necklaces, earrings and bracelets were handed out to friends and mother, Joan during a recent girls’ night out, including a diamond heart pendant. Cole filed for divorce against her estranged husband last week.

*** AND*** Cheryl Cole spent 2 nights with dancer Derek Hough at the home she shared with estranged husband Ashley Cole. The 26-year-old The X-Factor-Girls Aloud singer was caught sneaking Derek, who recently won “Dancing With The Stars” with Pussy Cat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, into her mansion near Godalming in Surrey Thursday, just hours after he flew to London from LA.

Earlier in the day, Derek watched Cheryl perform at London’s O2 Arena before she sneaked him back home in the back seat of her car. They spent Friday at Cheryl’s before returning to the O2 for Cheryl’s final show supporting the Black Eyed Peas.

Meanwhile, Cheryl’s been consulting a 30 pounds-an-hour psychic to get over her split from cheating husband Ashley.

*** MORE ZOOMIN’***

*** Madonna’s thanked over 30,000 of her fans for backing a campaign calling for the release of 2 jailed gay men in Malawi after the pair was freed at the weekend. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, a Malawi couple were sentenced to 14 years hard labour for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality,” but Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika’s ordered their immediate release Saturday after receiving the petition and meeting with United Nation ambassadors.

*** AND*** Madonna’s getting a $1.44 million makeover on her 5oth birthday August 16^th- she’s planning an eye lift, a boob job, lip fillers and Lipo Sculpt plus a new laser treatment that reduces the appearance of spider veins. Madge’s been feeling her age since her divorce from Guy Ritchie in 2008 and since she’s dating model Jesus Luz, 32 yrs her junior, she wants to keep looking her best.

*** Celine Dion’s husband Rene Anglil confirmed his wife’s pregnant again with twins. After 5 failed attempts thru in-vitro fertilization and acupuncture, Dion was successful at getting pregnant. The singer already has 9 year old son, Ren-Charles, who was also conceived thru in-vitro fertilization.

*** Mariah Carey’s husband Nick Cannon’s playing coy with the media by saying somebody in their family’s expecting a baby but won’t say whether it’s his wife. Asked if Carey’s pregnant, Cannon said on E!’s “Daily 10″ Thursday: “That’s news to me,” but then said their Russell terrier puppy Zha Zha’s pregnant again!” Rumours about Carey possibly being with child started flying after the 41-year-old dropped out of Tyler Perry’s new movie after doctors advised her not to start shooting for the movie.

*** Katy Perry’s threatened her record company she’ll get pregnant if they don’t reduce her schedule promoting her 2nd album. The 23-year-old singer, engaged to British funnyman Russell Brand’s promised her fans that her next tour’ll be raunchier than ever.

*** AND*** Rihanna sez she never expected friends Katy Perry and Russell Brand would be together but now believes they’re well-suited as they’re both “hilarious, rude and disrespectful”. Rihanna’s expected to be bridesmaid when the couple marry later this year .

*** Rap producer Swizz Beatz’s paid up the $334,000 (£222,670) he owes ex-wife Mashonda for outstanding child support payments as he prepares to welcome his 1st child with fiancee Alicia Keys.

Beatz,, real name Kasseem Dean, split from R&B singer Mashonda in 2008 after 4 years of marriage, and their divorce was just finalized. The producer was due to appear before a judge in New York’s Manhattan Supreme Court in June to answer the late support payment claims but now that he’s paid up, the court date’s now been cancelled.

*** Boyzone star Ronan Keating may move in with blonde dancer lover Francine Cornell, despite being married to wife Yvonne. He’s said to have begged his wife to take him back and she agreed but sources say Keating and Cornell were so hot, they may hook up when he visits Australia as judge on ‘The X Factor.’

*** British singer and TV star Charlotte Church and rugby player Gavin Henson have split just 6 weeks after they announced their engagement. The couple who has 2 kids-Ruby, 2, and 16-month-old Dexter decided to end their relationship after months of conflict. Gavin’s expected to move out of their $1.7 million mansion and buy a house nearby so he can continue to spend time with the kids.

*** Barbara Hershey and Lost star Naveen Andrews have split. Hershey, 62, and Andrews, 41, met on the set of “Drowning on Dry Land” in 1999 and had been together ever since, except for a brief split in 2005. They quietly ended their relationship 6 months ago and “remain best of friends.”

*** Former Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson was secretly married in Los Angeles recently and said on Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on Friday her new husband was an American.

Andy Griffith 84

Pat Boone 76

Morgan Freeman 73

Lisa Hartman Black 54

Heidi Klum 37

*** DENNIS HOPPER DEATH UPDATES***

*** Dennis Hopper’s medical marijuana suppliers, The Farmacy Cannabis Club in Venice, California,

have offered condolences over the actor’s death. The 74 yr. old screen icon died Saturday following a battle with prostate cancer.

*** AND*** Late actor Dennis Hopper’s 1st wife, Brooke Hayward sez his 5^th wife, Victoria Duffy, made him suffer in the days before his death. The couple was embroiled in a bitter divorce battle during the final months of his life and Hopper even been banned her from his bedside before he died of prostate cancer Saturday and his family think the stress took a major toll on his physical health as well as his emotional spirit.

*** AND*** Dennis Hopper’s estranged wife, Victoria Hopper’s planning on fighting for a share of his estate in court even though he’d tried desperately to divorce her before he died Saturday from prostrate cancer.

The Easy Rider star had signed a prenup with his Victoria that’d leave her a bequest only if they were still married and living together the time of his death. She’s now planning to take the matter to court, because even though they lived in separate houses at the time of his death, her house was on his property, which, according to her “living together”.

*** GARY COLEMAN DEATH UPDATES***

*** Shannon Price, Gary Coleman’s widow, thanked fans for their support and thousands of e-mails sent to the hospital after her husband’s death. Coleman, whose congenital kidney disease halted his growth at 4’8|” died Friday at a Provo, Utah, hospital after Shannon took him off life support after he lapsed into a coma from a fall at home.

The actor, who played Arnold Jackson on “Diff’rent Strokes,” had his wife and other family members at his side.

Funeral arrangements and more details about the death will be released.

*** Janet Jackson’s paid tribute to her former Diff`rent Strokes co-star Gary Coleman, who died on Friday at the age of 42, saying she wants to remember him as the fun, playful, adorable and affectionate man he was. Jackson played Charlene, Willis’ girlfriend on the show. Coleman died Friday from a brain hemorrhage after falling at his home last Wednesday.

Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus, Katy Perry and tennis star Serena Williams all tweeted their thoughts to Coleman’s family.

*** LINDSAY LOHAN ANKLE BRACELET UPDATES***

Lindsay Lohan sez she wants to decorate the alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet a judge’s ordered her to wear. The troubled actress recently twittered: “can CHANEL please help me out by getting me some stickers to put on my scram bracelet so that i can at least wear a chic dress?! Maybe!?” and… visited Hollywood clubs earlier this week with the bracelet covered by boot-cut jeans.

A Los Angeles judge Monday ordered Lohan, 23, to wear the alcohol-monitoring bracelet.

She was also ordered to submit to weekly random drug testing and attend the remainder of her alcohol-education classes.

The judge’s decision came at a hearing intended to determine whether Lohan had been adhering to the terms of her probation for a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence.

*** WEEKEND BOX OFFICE***

*** “Sex and the City 2,” raked in $14.2 million in its Thursday opening, a day early for the long Memorial Day weekend and is expected to take in $60 million from its mostly female fans over the holiday. The 1st “Sex and the City” film took in $26.8 million on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend in 2008, for a weekend total of $62.6 million.

***AND*** “Shrek Forever After” ogled its way to the top spot for the 2nd weekend in a row in what Hollywood’s calling a slow 3-day Memorial Day weekend.

“Shrek” raked in a very strong box office- more than $43.4 million after opening last weekend with more than $71 million.

“Sex And The City 2” brought in more than $31.14 million while “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” was a close 3rd with $30.1 million.

“Iron Man 2” came 4^th with more than $16.33 million and “Robin Hood,” 5th with more than $10.3 million.

*** HOMER SIMPSON IS DA MAN***

*** Homer Simpson’s been named the greatest character created for TV and film of the past 20 years, according to a survey by US magazine. Harry Potter was 2^nd, followed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 3^rd, Tony Soprano and The Joker, 4 & 5, respectively, rounding out the Top 5.

*** MORE NEWS***

*** Twilight star Kristen Stewart swore at the paparazzi in Sydney and tried running into a restaurant, but the door was locked last week. Stewart was with Twilight castmate Taylor Lautner to promote their 3rd installment of Eclipse and went out for a jet boat cruise on Sydney Harbour. But when the boat docked at Pier One, around the corner from their hotel, the Park Hyatt, they were swamped with photogs so she sprinted along the wharf trying to get away.

*** AND*** Chris Rock wants to star in one of British director Guy Ritchie’s movies after missing out on a role in “Revolver” which he lost out to at the last minute to singer Andre 3000.

*** Ice Cube’s confirmed he’ll direct the story of his legendary rap group N.W.A. in a new biopic with former bandmate Dr. Dre. Ice Cube made his directorial debut with 1998′s The Players Club, before going on to write hit comedy Friday in 1995

Actor Dennis Hopper dies from prostrate cancer…Gary Coleman’s parents are demanding answers into how he died…despite washing clothes, still lots of poop bacteria in the wash water…Americans are no longer the kings of TV viewing…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

*** AMERICANS DETHRONED AS KING OF TV VIEWING***

*** Serbia’s now the world leader in television watching with more than 5 hours a day, beating out the US, according to new research by the AGB Nielsen company. The spike in TV viewing’s due to the variety of reality shows and TV’s more often watched during the day in Serbia than in America.

*** WASHING CLOTHES DOESN’T GET RID OF THE BACTERIA***

*** Scientists at the University of Arizona have found, despite putting dirty clothes through the washer, there’s still lots of bacteria that find their way onto our clothes-and then onto us.

The biggest culprits- the smallest garment… our underwear has about 1/10^th of a gram of poop on the average pair which can add up to about 100 million E. coli in the wash water, and they can be transmitted to the next load of laundry.

Fecal matter can carry hepatitis A, norovirus, rotavirus, salmonella and E. coli.

Bacteria from the skin, like staphylococcus, can also be found on clothing and towels.

While we trust our detergent to get rid of all the dirt and germs, experts strongly advise us to use bleach or very hot water to kill the bacteria, otherwise, they can get onto our hands and stay in the washing machine.

Most of the hot water used isn’t hot enough- we need water that’s between 140 and 150 degrees to kill germs…and if cold water’s used, we’re s’posed to washing our hands after handling wet clothes, especially when washing kids’ clothes.

*** MOST AMERICANS GOOGLE THEMSELVES***

*** New numbers from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project show 57% of American adults google themselves regularly to keep tabs on their reputations online…up from 47% in 2006.

The survey of telephone interviews of 2,253 people in 2009′s found more Americans are signing up for social networking sites, and more say their work information, photos and birth dates can be found online.

46% of adults use online search engines to find info on people from their past; 38% have searched for friends, 16% have searched for information about an ex-flame.

*** HOME-COOKED MEALS STILL A FAVE***

*** Cash control, connectedness and life skills are the 3 reasons why British Columbia (Canada) families eat at home instead of dining out, according to researchers at UBC’s Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems program.

Control on cash also meant control over what the family’s eating which helped them exclude foods they didn’t want like preservatives and junk foods.

Connectedness meant sitting together with family at a meal, and also to connect to their heritage, with immigrants in particular wanting to enjoy the foods of their homeland.

Nearly every teen said they wanted to learn to cook before they moved out of the house-and this included teens who didn’t like cooking.

*** MEN’S BIGGEST FEARS***

*** The 3 biggest concerns for men in New Zealand are…hair loss, dandruff and their weight, according to the new Head and Shoulders Hair Retain Survey of over 2,000 men. Here’s the breakdown…

* 29% said they were worried about having dandruff

* 26% were concerned about losing their hair.

* 63% were concerned about putting on weight.

Auckland psychologist Sara Chatwin sez having hair’s a macho thing, so when men lose their hair, their self-esteem often plummets cuz many men define themselves by the way they wear their hair. This is due to traditional beliefs that hair’s associated with virility, social status, strength and youth

*** REDUCE DRINKING SOFT DRINKS= LESS CHANCE OF HEART DISEASE***

*** Cutting down on the use of soft drinks can reduce the risk of a stroke by 8% and coronary heart disease by 5%, so say researchers at Louisiana State university Health Science Center-School of Public Health in New Orleans.

The experts found reducing sugar-sweetened beverages and sugar consumption’s a good way to lower blood pressure and further reduce other blood pressure-related diseases. Systolic blood pressure’s reduced by lowering sugar-sweetened beverages consumption by an average of 2 servings per day.

*** INDIAN MEN NEED TO GO TO GREAT LENGTHS FOR SMALLER CONDOMS***

*** A 2 yr. survey of more than 1,000 men in India by the Indian Council of Medical Research shows condoms made according to international sizes are too large for most Indian men.

The study found 60% of Indian men have penises between 3-5 centimetres shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture.

Over 1,200 volunteers from the length and breadth of the country had their penises measured precisely, down to the last millimetre.

The study results’ led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.

*** WOMEN’S UNDIES THE BIG TREND***

*** British women aren’t leaving anything on the counter as they continue to spend big in lingerie as the sales of women’s undies’ skyrocketed 117% in the past 6 months.

The British lingerie market’s worth a whopping $4.3 billion (£2.73 billion) and will hit $4.7 billion (£2.9 billion) by the end of next year.

Marks n Spencer’s Ceriso bra’s been the bigger seller for them-the red silk one’s sold at a rate of 1 every 2 ½ minutes. High Street giants like MnS are also seeing huge profits. Discount stores like Primark and Matalan also carry a wide variety. And…grocery stores like Asda are selling Michelle for George.

Brit women spend a whopping $4,400 (£2,700) on bras during their lifetime and own an average of 16 at any one time.

Another big reason for the undies boom’s a greater choice for larger ladies…British breasts have swelled from an average 34B to a 36D, and stores have been stocking bigger cup sizes more than ever.

Women are also buying figure-enhancing pants, which flatten stomachs and boost bums. Stockings are also popular.

The reason for the big jump in lingerie’s due to celebrities wearing them…and …women have a love affair with beautiful lingerie and take as much care and attention with their underwear as they do with their outerwear.

*** BRITS GETTING LESS SLEEP DUE TO HARD TIMES***

*** The average Brit’s lost almost an hour’s sleep a night during the global recession, getting only 6 hours and 21 minutes- less than 2 years ago, according to a study of 6,000 adults.

The reason…stress and worry which’s costing employers around $1.6 billion (£1 billion) per year because 28% of workers take a day off following a bad night’s sleep. This accounts for 8 million sick days a year compared with just more than 3 million in 2008.

The top 3 reasons for lack of sleep= money worries (38%), work-related stress (25%) and noisy family members or neighbours (23%).

More than ½ (56%) said they felt like having a bad hangover when they didn’t get enough sleep and 45% said it takes a couple of days to recover.

54% also said lack of sleep made it difficult to concentrate at work.

1/3^rd also said they find it difficult to concentrate driving to and from work after a bad night’s sleep.

7 out 10 adults admitted they’re a “horrible person” to be around when they haven’t had enough sleep and are difficult to work with.

¼ doze off at work (16% dozing at their desk and 10% head to the loo for a nap)

*** WEDDING HARADA-DATA***

Early Roman brides carried a bunch of herbs like garlic and rosemary under their veils to symbolize fidelity and fertility and to ward off evil. These herbs served as a precursor to the modern bridal bouquet.

In many cultures, the groom historically often kidnapped the bride, and the groom’s friends would help him, leading to the modern-day groomsmen. At the alter, the groom always stood on the bride’s right side so his right hand-or his sword hand-would be free to fight/defend a jealous rival.

A bride’s traditionally carried over the threshold either to symbolize her reluctance to leave her father’s home or because evil spirits hovered over the threshold of a house so she was lifted over the entrance to protect her from the spirits.

“3 times a bridesmaid, never a bride” goes back to the 16th century when it was thought if a young maiden who’d been a bridesmaid 3 times couldn’t attract a male, then she never would. But, if she served 7 times as a bridesmaid, the spell was broken and the woman was thought to be a sure bet for marriage.

The Old English word for the wedding cereomony was bridelope, which literally met “bridal run.” The word “wed” comes from the Proto-IndoEuropean base wadh, meaning to pledge or redeem.

Before the 1500s, couples in Europe could marry themselves. It wasn’t until 1564 when the Council of Trent declared marriage was a sacrament that weddings were turned over to priests and churches.

*** BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW***

*** American Indians used to quench their thirsts by chewing the gum-like resin that forms on spruce trees when the bark’s cut. Spruce became the 1st commercial chewing gum. The use of spruce continued until the 1850s when paraffin wax became the new popular base for chewing gum.

*** DENNIS HOPPER DIES OF CANCER***

*** Dennis Hopper, 74 yr. old star of “Easy Rider,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” ”Apocalypse Now,” ”Blue Velvet” and “Hoosiers” died Saturday at his home in Venice, Los Angeles after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

Hopper was twice nominated for Oscars and received a star earlier this year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also a director (“Easy Rider,” 1969, “The Last Movie,” 1971, “Out of the Blue,” 1982, “Colors,” 1988, Chasers,” 1994.)

Highlights from Dennis Hopper’s career as a movie actor:

— “Rebel Without a Cause,” 1955.

— “Giant,” 1956.

— “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” 1957.

— “Sayonara,” 1957.

— “Cool Hand Luke,” 1967.

— “Hang ‘Em High,” 1968.

— “Easy Rider,” 1969.

— “True Grit,” 1969.

— “The American Friend,” 1977.

— “Apocalypse Now,” 1979.

— “Rumble Fish,” 1983.

— “The Osterman Weekend,” 1983.

— “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2,” 1986.

— “River’s Edge,” 1986.

— “Blue Velvet,” 1986.

— “Hoosiers,” 1986.

— “True Romance,” 1993.

— “Red Rock West,” 1994.

— “Speed,” 1994.

— “Waterworld,” 1995.

— “Swing Vote,” 2008.

As a television actor:

— “The Rifleman,” 1958-1959.

— “The Twilight Zone,” 1963.

— “Bonanza,” 1964.

— “Gunsmoke” 1965.

— “The Big Valley,” 1967.

— “24,” 2002.

— “Crash,” 2008-2009.

As a movie director:

— “Easy Rider,” 1969.

— “The Last Movie,” 1971.

— “Out of the Blue,” 1982.

— “Colors,” 1988.

— “Chasers,” 1994.

*** GARY COLEMAN DEATH UPDATES***

*** Sue and Willie Coleman, the estranged parents of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ star Gary Coleman are demanding an explanation from his wife Shannon Price over his death.

The couple’s been estranged since 1989 when their son filed a lawsuit against them for allegedly stealing his multi-million dollar fortune want to know how Gary ended up in a coma and why Shannon took him off life support.

***AND*** GARY COLEMAN DIES***

*** Former Diff’rent Strokes child actor Gary Coleman died Friday at 12:05pm Mountain time at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Centre after suffering a brain hemorrhage. The 42-year-old, best known as Willis on the hit TV sitcom show was being treated for the serious head injury he suffered after a fall earlier this week. Coleman’s wife, Shannon Price, made the decision to pull his life support. Family members and close friends were at Coleman’s side when he died.

*** KENNETH STAR UPDATES***

*** Kenneth I. Starr was found crouched behind coats in the closet of his Upper East $7.5 million condominium, and yanked out by his collar when he was busted Thursday morning.

The financier to the stars (Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone, and Martin Scorsese)’s accused of stealing $30 million from his clients’ accused of defrauding and milking them out of millions of dollars and is being compared Bernard L. Madoff, whose serving a 150-year sentence for bilking tens of billions of dollars from his closely knit network of clients.

*** CHARLIE SHEEN UPDATES***

***Charlie Sheen’s expected to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault after his 2009 Christmas Day arrest in Aspen for allegedly assaulting wife Brooke Mueller.

The “Two and a Half Men” star could get up to 45 days in an Aspen jail as part of the plea deal he agreed to with Colorado prosecutors who said they’d drop the felony menacing charge in return for Sheen pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Sheen’s back in Aspen court on June 7 to enter his plea.

Sheen’s lawyer tried to negotiate for Sheen to have smoking privileges at the Aspen Pitkin Country Jail which has a no smoking policy but allows inmates to wear nicotine patches.

*** FERGIE MONEY SCANDAL UPDATES***

*** Sarah Ferguson will make a public apology for her recent “cash for access” scam on Oprah Winfrey’s show next Tuesday. A sting operation by British tabloid The News Of The World recently caught the Duchess of York setting a price tag of $825,000 (£500,000) on an introduction to ex-husband Prince Andrew, promising to open the door to lucrative international deals for the ‘client’. Fergie wants to reach the U.S. public, who’ve been supportive of her in recent years, and the businessmen over there who she needs to get on side to support her book deals & future ventures.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER UPDATES***

*** Music by the Top 10 of season 9 of American Idol’s now out (released on May 11.) “American Idol: Season 9” CD includes Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Lee Dewyze’s version of “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

The album also includes Aaron Kelly’s cover of Aerosmith’s classic “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” Casey James’ performance of “Jealous Guy,” Didi Benami singing “Play with Fire,” Siobhan Magnus’ version of “Paint It Black” and Katie Stevens’ version of “Let It Be.”

There are also 3 acoustic performances – Michael Lynch singing India Arie’s “Ready For Love,” Andrew Garcia’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” and Tim Urban’s version of The Rolling Stone classic “Under My Thumb.”

***AND*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

***AND*** Janet Jackson sez she was so blown away by the great reception she got when performing “Again,” “Nothing,” and “Nasty” on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, she’s thinkin’ ’bout touring again (only toured once since ’02.) She agreed Wednesday to appear at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 2.

*** AND *** American Idol winner Lee DeWyze’s signed with 19 Recordings Limited and RCA Records, while runner-up Crystal Bowersox’s inked a deal with 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records. Lee currently holds the #3 and #10 spot on iTunes with his studio recorded tracks “Beautiful Day” and “Hallelujah”, while Crystal’s at #7 with “Up To The Mountain.” (Their “Falling Slowly” duet’s holding strong at #16.)

***AND*** Bret Michaels may replace Simon Cowell in the next season of American Idol. The Poison dude’s now recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and a recent stroke. He blew away both fans and judges when he made his 1^st stage appearance since being hospitalized when, despite doctors’ advice, he performed ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ with finalist Casey James. Simon sez Michaels would be a great fit.

*** AND***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** THE X-FACTOR UPDATES***

***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** U2 GLASTONBURY UPDATES***

*** Gorillaz’s been named as the replacement for U2 when they play the Pyramid Stage on June 25 at Glastonbury. The announcement follows U2′s cancellation of all concerts for at least 2 months after Bono had emergency back surgery last week in Germany for a serious back problem reheasring for the band’s 360 world tour.

*** MJ UPDATES***

*** Michael Jackson’s personal MD, Conrad Murray’s attempt to have a court order lifted to pay $16,000 in back child support to the mother of his 12-year-old son was denied in a California court Wednesday.

Authorities in Las Vegas said if Murray got the California court order, Nevada would stop efforts to revoke his medical license for failure to pay. A hearing’s set June 25 before a Family Court hearing officer in Las Vegas.

*** AND*** Liza Minnelli blamed Michael Jackson for allowing her to marry an “idiot” when she hooked up with concert promoter David Gest in 2002, with Michael acting as best man

*** SIMON MONJACK DEATH UPDATES***

*** Brittany Murphy’s widower, Simon Monjack was granted his final wish when he was laid to rest beside his actress wife who died 5 months ago.

Around 75 family and friends gathered in Los Angeles to pay their respects to the 39 yr. old English screenwriter, who died Sunday from a suspected heart attack in the master bedroom of his LA home he shared with his late wife’s mother, Sharon.

Murphy’s mom found Monjack unconscious in the same room where her daughter died before Christmas and called 911.

Monjack’s low key funeral was held in the Chapel of the Hills where Murphy’s funeral was held then he was buried next to her at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills

His official cause of death’s still under investigation after prescription medication was found at the scene.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed Monjack had been putting off heart bypass surgery because he was too busy.

*** SLIPKNOT’S PAUL GRAY DEATH UPDATES***

*** Looks like Slipknot bass player Paul Gray died of a drug overdose, after TMZ obtained the 911 audio recording where Mike Kellow, the hotel worker who discovered the body of Gray, said there was a hypodermic needle and pills in the room. Police have already said there are no signs of foul play.

*** SANDRA BULLOCK-JESSE JAMES UPDATES***

*** Jesse James’ sister, Julie’s confirmed her brother’s story of childhood abuse by their father, Larry, claiming he was very abusive to their mother and them when they were growing up. She told TMZ.com Jesse broke his arm after Larry forced him when he was 7-years-old to jump over a fence to retrieve a lost ball from a neighbour’s yard one night. She sez Larry was screaming at Jesse and he ended up falling off the fence and breaking his arm. Larry denies the story, saying Jesse was showing off.

*** AND*** Jesse James called Easy Rider magazine about a month before the Michelle Bombshell McGee sex scandal exploded to book an interview on a new chopper he built in honour of his prized pitbulls. When the scandal blew wide open, James contacted the writer and said he had to back out of the interview because “his life was going crazy” but had one of his West Coast Choppers associates replace him. The mag was O.K. With the arrangements and still decided to feature him on the cover of the July issue.

*** FORMER PREZ JUST 2 POUNDS SHY OF THE MARK***

*** Former US President Bill Clinton visited the White House Thursday for lunch with President Obama and to meet the U.S. World Cup soccer team. He told reporters he’s just 2 pounds shy of his daughter-ordered diet before her wedding to Marc Mezvinsky. Clinton’s lost 13 lbs as he slims down for Chelsea’s big day and he still has more than a month to hit the mark.

*** GAGA NOTES***

*** Lady Gaga showed her softer side when she paused halfway through her song Speechless when she talked about her hospitalized sick grandfather during her show in Nottingham Thursday night. The gig’s the opening concert of the 2^nd leg of Gaga’s Monster Ball tour in Britain.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Simon Cowell will be presented with a special honour for his “outstanding contribution (to TV) and for his development of new talent ” at next month’s British Academy (BAFTA) Television Awards. The former American Idol judge and current The X-Factor and Britain Has Talent judge and creator’s also nominated for Best Entertainment Program.

Cowell’ll also receive an International Emmy award in November for having “reshaped 21st century television and music around the world.”

*** BIEBER FEVER***

*** Justin Bieber was once brought home by the police. The 16-year-old singer got in trouble with the authorities when he was younger after he and his friend snuck outside in the middle of the night, not knowing there was a curfew.

*** AND *** Justin Bieber’s upset over reports he caused a scene on the set of Australian talk show Sunrise by swearing and using the F-bomb at a crew member who touched him. The 16-year-old heart-throb stunned staff at the show last month after allegedly cursing at a floor manager who directed him to the performance stage. Bieber’s tweeted his bad behaviour’s just “gossip” and lies.

*** KATE AND HER 8 UPDATES***

*** Kate Gosselin brings us all up to snuff on life without hubby Jon in the new issue of People magazine out yesterday. She sez...

• Life with Jon “feels like 10 years ago.”
• Things aren’t any calmer even though it appears that way.

• She internalizes the stress and it spills over sometimes.
• The kids are having a hard time dealing with the divorce…Mady said ‘I’m always sad. I’m sad when I’m with you because I miss Daddy, and I’m sad when I’m with Daddy because I miss you.’”
• Kate, who trades off custody of the kids with Jon at the family’s home in Pennsylvania.

*** THE X-FACTOR UPDATES***

*** Natalie Imbruglia’s signed on as a judge for the 2nd season of the Australian version of ‘X Factor.’

*** STRICT DRESS CODE FOR MUSLIM WOMEN***

*** Authorities in a devoutly Islamic district of Indonesia’s Aceh province have distributed 20,000 long skirts and prohibited shops from selling tight dresses as a regulation banning Muslim women from wearing revealing clothing took effect Thursday.

The long skirts are to be given to Muslim women caught violating the dress code during a 2-month campaign to enforce the regulation. Islamic police will determine whether a woman’s clothing violates the dress code.

During raids Thursday, Islamic police caught 18 women travelling on motorbikes who were wearing traditional headscarves but were also dressed in jeans. Each woman was given a long skirt and her pants were confiscated. They were released from police custody after giving their identities and receiving advice from Islamic preachers.

Motorbikes are commonly used by both men and women in Indonesia. Any shopkeepers caught violating restrictions on selling short skirts and jeans would face a revocation of their business licenses. No merchants have been seen displaying jeans or tight clothing in stores in West Aceh district in recent weeks.

The regulation’s the latest effort to promote strict moral values in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, where most of the roughly 200 million Muslims practice a moderate form of the faith.

Women caught violating the ban more than 3 times could be thrown in jail for 2 weeks.

Rights groups say the regulation violates international treaties and the Indonesian constitution.

Opinion polls show that a majority of Indonesians oppose the restrictions on dress and behaviour, which are being pushed by hard-liners in the secular democracy.

*** JAPANESE PM HAILED AS FASHION HERO AFTER WEARING WORLD’S UGLIEST SHIRT***

*** The really ugly shirt Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama recently wore’s caused a fashion stampede.

There’s been such overwhelming response to the shirt that came from ShirtsMyWay.com, the company’s dedicated a page to him, calling Hatoyama a “fashion hero.” And, if you have $500, you can buy one. online.

*** THERE REALLY IS GAYDAR***

A new Dutch study’s confirmed gays have built-in gaydar that helps them find other gays.

The scientists showed 42 gay and straight volunteers snaps of outlines of large squares and rectangles with each shape packed with smaller shapes.

Normally, the human brain’s programmed to take in the larger picture, so when people see a rectangle-filled square, they’re likely to say it’s filled with squares.

When the men and women were given similar questions about the pictures they’d been shown, the straight volunteers answered faster but were less accurate while gay men and women, on the other hand, were slower to answer but were accurate more often…especially when they were asked about the smaller shapes, suggesting that they’re able to hone in on even very small details as well as the bigger picture.

*** COMPARING YOUR SALARY TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY=UNHAPPINESS***

*** A new study of 19,000 employees in 18 countries’ found comparing your salary to those of friends and family makes you miserable than those who don’t. Researchers believe that those who measure their success against other colleagues are happier than those who compare to friends or other groups cuz it allows them to guess how their careers might progress.

*** NOT BRUSHING TEETH REGULARLY=HEART PROBLEMS***

People who don’t brush their teeth twice a day are putting themselves at risk of heart disease, according to a Scottish study of more than 11,000 adults.

The research links gum disease with heart problems…it’s known inflammation in the body, including in the mouth and gums, has an important role in the build up of clogged arteries, which can lead to a heart attack.

*** SUN PROTECTION OLDER THAN WE THINK***

*** Sun protection actually started back in ancient times- the Egyptians considered light skin more attractive than dark skin, but found it difficult to maintain in Egypt’s hot and sunny environment. Recently translated papyri and tomb walls reveal the ingredients of potions used to ward off a tan and heal damaged skin.

* Some of the ingredients used by the Egyptians included rice bran extracts, jasmine, and lupine extract – ingredients that are still found today in our sunscreens. Gamma oryzanol extracted from rice bran has UV-absorbing properties, jasmine helps mend skin damage, and lupine extract lightens the skin.

* Miami, Florida pharmacist Benjamin Greene prepared a red jelly-like substance in his home oven in the 1940′s. He tested the product on his own bald head before supplying it to soldiers during World War II. This formula wasn’t too practical cuz it stained fabrics and wasn’t that effective, but Greene kept at it and ended up being the founder of Coppertone.

*** Organizers of Germany’s 1st national strip poker contest say it was such a success they now want to make it an international event. The final of the event was staged in Hamburg after regional heats had taken place across the country including Berlin, Dresden and Cologne. The contest included professional poker players and amateurs, although not all those that reach the final were prepared to use their option of trading in their underwear to gain more chips. The Texas hold’em unlimited tournament was held in front of hundreds of spectators who said it was “a lot more interesting” than regular poker. 54 players qualified for the final which was won by Marcel Langkebel with model Jasmin Sun coming in 2nd.

*** A bus company in China’s launched a new ‘drive safely’ campaign – by hanging big bowls of water next to their drivers. The Longxiang Public Bus Company in Changsha, Hunan province, sez drivers must drive gently to avoid spilling any water. Bus drivers are expected to ensure the bowls are still full when they finish their shift. And the company warns drivers security footage will be studied to make sure they don’t top up the bowls with water.”

*** A Californian woman with ink over 95% of her body’s branded as the most tattooed in the world. Julia Gnuse, 55, the Illustrated Lady got her 1t tattoo to cover up an unpleasant skin condition on her legs but kept getting more tats on until she covered her entire body. She’s now been handed a Guinness World Record for having the most tattoos. The pictures range from jungle scenes and cartoons to the cast of Bewitched on her ass.

*** Toronto Police are warning about a rash of so-called “distraction thefts” downtown, where bandits squirt unsuspecting people with feces after they withdraw money at bank machines. At least 4 such thefts in Toronto have been reported in the past week. In one case, a woman returned to her office building after using an ATM. 4 suspects surrounded her in an elevator when she was squirted. Police have released images of the suspects captured on security footage and say people who find themselves covered in feces should call 911 immediately.

***A jilted husband’s become an internet sensation with a blog on unconventional ways of putting his ex-wife’s wedding dress to use. Kevin Cotter’s wife left their marital home in Tuscon, Arizona, after 12 years of marriage, taking all of her possessions except for her lace and pearl-embellished white wedding dress. Cotter decided to write a blog chronicling 101 uses for the rejected dress. So far, he’s listed 85 uses, from a yoga mat to a pasta strainer, on his blog, My Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress ! Other ideas include using the dress as an ice pack, a skipping rope, a painter’s cover sheet, a skipping rope, a camera lens cleaner, a fire escape rope, a gym towel, a barbecue cover, and a dog bed.

***A Massachusettes cleaner had a lucky escape in the US when he was sucked into a sausage machine. The man was rushed to hospital but wasn’t seriously hur. He was cleaning inside “a vacuum-type cylinder” that draws marinade into the meat but somehow, the machine was activated while the man was still inside and he got drawn underneath. His head and shoulders got stuck in the machine

*** “I am not Heidi Pratt, I am Heidi Montag.”-Heidi Montag whose split from husband Spencer Pratt.

Clint Eastwood 80

Sharon Gless 67

Joe Namath 67

Tom Berenger 60

Greg Harrison 60

Brooke Shields 45

Sharon Gless 67

Corey Hart 48

Colin Farrell 34

John Hurley, drummer Fall Out Boy-30

Today is World No-Tobacco Day, a day to discourage people from using tobacco and to encourage governments to do something, sponsored by the American Association for World Health.

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S., honouring those who’ve died in battle…and it’s also Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day.

Today is Take This Job and Shove It Day, observed annually on the late singer Johnny Paycheck’s birthday.

Black Single Parents Week begins today, a time to honor all black single parents who’ve raised their sons and daughters to be responsible citizens,\

1678- Lady Godiva rode naked on horseback through the city of Coventry, England. According to legend, she made the ride as part of a bargain to get her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to ease taxes on the people of Conventry, England.

1884- Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan, patented “flaked cereal.”

1933- The Age of Nudity began when dancer Sally Rand took it all off at the Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition. She kept the police away by holding two fans in front of her while she danced.

1943- The comic strip “Archie Andrews” debuted on the Mutual radio network.

1989- Tracy and Michael J. Fox had a son and named him Sam Michael.1990- “The Seinfeld Chronicles” premiered as a summer series on NBC starring Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The pilot had aired in the previous July. Renamed just plain “Seinfeld,” the show lasted 9 years.

1991- Aussie Dudley Reid married Minnie Munro in Point Claire, New South Wales. Dudley was 83; Minnie was 102.

1956- Buddy Holly was inspired to write “That’ll Be the Day” after he saw the John Wayne movie “The Searchers.”

1958- Sheb Wooley’s “Purple People Eater” became the #1 U.S. song and stayed there for 6 weeks. The hit was based on a popular children’s riddle: What has one eye, one horn, flies, and eats people? A one-eyed, one-horned, flying people eater.

1962-The Beatles played the last night of a 7-week run at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany

1965- Marianne Faithfull became a resident guest on BBC2 TV’s ‘Gadzooks! It’s The In Crowd’

1966- Filming began on The Monkees’ 1st TV series.

1968- The Beatles added overdubs of bass and vocals on ‘Revolution’ on what’d become  The White album.

1969- The Plastic Ono Band recorded ‘Give Peace A Chance’ during a ‘bed-in’ at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada the same day Jimi Hendrix was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents

1969- Stevie Wonder released “My Cherie Amore.”

1971- 36 Grateful Dead fans were medically treated after unknowingly drinking L.S.D. laced cider, at a gig in the US.

1975-Freddy Fender was #1 on the US singles chart with ‘Before The Next Teardrop Falls’

1975- During a news conference at the 5th Avenue Hotel in New York City to announce The Rolling Stones’ upcoming US tour, the Stones came down the street playing live from the back of a flat-bed truck.

1976- The Who got themselves a place in the Guinness book of Records as the loudest performance of a rock band at 120 decibels, when they played at Charlton Athletic Football ground.

1977- The BBC announced a ban on the new Sex Pistols single ‘God Save The Queen’ saying its, “in gross bad taste”.The single reached #2 on the UK chart.

1980- Lipps Inc was #1 on the US singles chart with ‘Funkytown’

1980- Paul McCartney was #1 on the UK album chart with ‘McCartney II’.

1982- The Rolling Stones played at the 100 Club, Oxford St, London, to a sold out crowd of 400 people.

1986- Peter Gabriel’s 2nd solo UK #1 album with ‘So’ featuring the singles ‘Sledgehammer’ and a duet with Kate Bush ‘Don’t Give Up’.

1986- The Notting Hillbillies made their live debut when they appeared at The Grove in Leeds. The group featured Mark Knopfler, Steve Phillips and Brendan Crocker who were each paid £22.

1989- David Bowie’s Tin Machine made their live debut at the International Music Awards, New York.

1994- The Eagles appeared at Irvine Meadows Theatre, California.

1997- Eternal started a 3-week run at #1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Wanna Be The Only One’

1998, Simply Red were #1 on the UK album chart with ‘Blue’, their 5th consecutive #1 album.

1998- Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell) announced she was leaving The Spice Girls.

2000- Johnnie Taylor died of a heart attack in a Texas hospital shortly after his 62nd birthday.

2003-UK police announced thousands of people at the year’s pop festivals would be subjected to a computerized drug test. Fans would be asked to provide swab samples from their hands, which would be inserted into a drug detection machine. It was to be a voluntary test but Anti-drug officers could search anyone refusing.

2008- Death Cab For Cutie were #1 on the US album chart with ‘Narrow Stairs.’

2008- Rascal Flatts guitarist Joe Don Rooney and Tiffany Fallon had a son, Jagger Donovan Rooney, in Nashville

1962-The Beatles played the last night of a 7-week run at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany

1968- The Beatles added overdubs of bass and vocals on ‘Revolution’ on what’d become  The White album.

1969- The Plastic Ono Band recorded ‘Give Peace A Chance’ during a ‘bed-in’ at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada the same day Jimi Hendrix was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents

1980- Paul McCartney was #1 on the UK album chart with ‘McCartney II’.

ROCK IN RIO...Leona Lewis, Elton John, Shakira, Miley Cyrus were all at Rock in Rio in Lisbon this weekend along with Snow Patrol, John Mayer, Ivete Sangalo, Muse, Motörhead and Sum 41.

Following the festival in Lisbon, the Rock in Rio Festival moves to Madrid June 4th through the 11th and the 14th with Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Cypress Hill, David Guetta , Metallica, Rage Against the Machine,Tiësto, Paul van Dyk and Motörhead.

Here’s the confirmed lineup for the Rock In Rio-Lisbon World Stage:

May 28: Paul McCartney
May 29: Peter Gabriel, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Jet, Gilberto Gil, Rui Veloso
May 30: Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Charlie Brown Jr., Xutos e Pontapas
June 4: Metallica, Slipknot, Incubus, Moonspell, Sepultura
June 5: Britney Spears, Sugababes, Black Eyed Peas, Joao Pedro Pais
June 6: Sting, Alejandro Sanz, Alicia Keys, Ivete Sangalo, Luis Represas

1975- During a news conference at the 5th Avenue Hotel in New York City to announce The Rolling Stones’ upcoming US tour, the Stones came down the street playing live from the back of a flat-bed truck.

1980- Paul McCartney was #1 on the UK album chart with ‘McCartney II’.

1982- The Rolling Stones played at the 100 Club, Oxford St, London, to a sold out crowd of 400 people.

Corey Hart 48

John Hurley, drummer Fall Out Boy-30

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER UPDATES***

*** Music by the Top 10 of season 9 of American Idol’s now out (released on May 11.) “American Idol: Season 9” CD includes Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Lee Dewyze’s version of “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

The album also includes Aaron Kelly’s cover of Aerosmith’s classic “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” Casey James’ performance of “Jealous Guy,” Didi Benami singing “Play with Fire,” Siobhan Magnus’ version of “Paint It Black” and Katie Stevens’ version of “Let It Be.”

There are also 3 acoustic performances – Michael Lynch singing India Arie’s “Ready For Love,” Andrew Garcia’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” and Tim Urban’s version of The Rolling Stone classic “Under My Thumb.”

*** AND*** American Idol winner Lee De Wyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox performed on a special Thursday concert on Today‘s 15^th Annual Summer Concert Series (normally held on Fridays during the summer.) Coming up next month…

JUNE

4 Justin Bieber
8 Christina Aguilera
11 Rascal Flatts
18 James Taylor and Carol King
25 Maxwell

***AND*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

***AND*** Janet Jackson sez she was so blown away by the great reception she got when performing “Again,” “Nothing,” and “Nasty” on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, she’s thinkin’ ’bout touring again (only toured once since ’02.) She agreed Wednesday to appear at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 2.

*** AND *** American Idol winner Lee DeWyze’s signed with 19 Recordings Limited and RCA Records, while runner-up Crystal Bowersox’s inked a deal with 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records. Lee currently holds the #3 and #10 spot on iTunes with his studio recorded tracks “Beautiful Day” and “Hallelujah”, while Crystal’s at #7 with “Up To The Mountain.” (Their “Falling Slowly” duet’s holding strong at #16.)

***AND*** Bret Michaels may replace Simon Cowell in the next season of American Idol. The Poison dude’s now recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and a recent stroke. He blew away both fans and judges when he made his 1^st stage appearance since being hospitalized when, despite doctors’ advice, he performed ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ with finalist Casey James. Simon sez Michaels would be a great fit.

*** AND***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** AND*** Simon Cowell will be presented with a special honour for his “outstanding contribution (to TV) and for his development of new talent ” at next month’s British Academy (BAFTA) Television Awards. The former American Idol judge and current The X-Factor and Britain Has Talent judge and creator’s also nominated for Best Entertainment Program.

Cowell’ll also receive an International Emmy award in November for having “reshaped 21st century television and music around the world.”

*** SLIPKNOT’S PAUL GRAY DEATH UPDATES***

*** Looks like Slipknot bass player Paul Gray died of a drug overdose, after TMZ obtained the 911 audio recording where Mike Kellow, the hotel worker who discovered the body of Gray, said there was a hypodermic needle and pills in the room. Police have already said there are no signs of foul play.

*** U2 GLASTONBURY UPDATES***

*** Gorillaz’s been named as the replacement for U2 when they play the Pyramid Stage on June 25 at Glastonbury. The announcement follows U2′s cancellation of all concerts for at least 2 months after Bono had emergency back surgery last week in Germany for a serious back problem reheasring for the band’s 360 world tour.

*** MORE NOTES***

*** Simply Red frontman and former boyfriend of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Martine McCutcheon and supermodel Helena Christensen married his long-term partner Gabrielle Wilke-Wesberry in 16th-century Forter Castle in Glenisla, Perthshire last Tuesday (May 25) before 8 friends and family members.

The couple has a 2-year-old daughter named Romy True and dated in ’95 but went their separate ways before rekindling their romance in 2004.

Hucknall’s replacing Rod Stewart when Ronnie Wood and The Faces reform and tour later this year.

*** Sir Elton John wowed 15,000 fans with a 3 hour concert Wednesday night at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morroco despite heavy opposition from the Islamist party who objected to the gay singer, saying he’d set a bad example for the youth of the nation. John thanked his fans, the royal palace and the festival organizers for inviting him to perform in the festival, saying he was “proud to be singing in Morocco”.

*** Gwen Stefani sez she gets designing inspiration for her fashion label by his Bush star-husband Gavin Rossdale’s clothes. Gwen sez he loves Gavin’s rock’n’roll style and often tries to incorporate that look in her fashion lines.

*** A 17-year-old singer from Azerbaijan opened the 55th Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday as musicians from 25 countries competed for the coveted title of best European artist.

Bookmakers had favored Safura and her song “Drip Drop,” though Eurovision experts feel her chances were hurt by performing first because the opening song rarely wins. Meanwhile, a Google Eurovision predictor program’s predicted Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut will win.

Organizers expect some 125 million TV viewers to watch Saturday’s final.

The festival opened with last year’s winner, Alexander Rybak, a Norwegian fiddler who won in Moscow.

Spain’s Daniel Diges, who performed 2nd, was allowed to sing his song again after an overzealous fan in a red stocking cap appeared on stage in the middle of his back-up dancer.

This year, several countries have pulled out of the festival, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary due to financial strain.

Oil-rich Norway spent 200 million kroner ($31 million) to host the event.

*** The line-up for Rocklahoma 2010′s for the US Memorial Day Weekend featured an all-star roster of top rock artists from the past 3 decades, including ZZ Top, Godsmack, Tesla, Buckcherry, Cinderella, Chevelle, Theory of a Deadman, Saliva, Saving Abel, Fuel, Sevendust.

The multi-day destination camping rock festival was held Friday-Sunday at “Catch the Fever” Festival Grounds in Pryor, OK.

FESTIVAL LINE-UP…

FRIDAY, MAY 28
Godsmack
Buckcherry
Saving Abel
Adelitas Way
Richy Nix
The Veer Union
Brookroyal
New Medicine
Bad Things
Krank
Firstryke
O’Dette
Mad Max
New Cool World
Black Tora

SATURDAY, MAY 29
ZZ Top
Cinderella
Saliva
Fuel
Janus
Shaman’s Harvest
Burn Halo
Like A Storm
Taking Dawn
Gypsy Pistoleros
The Last Vegas
Problem Child
The Glitter Boys
Wildstreet
O’Dette – Set #2
Krank – Set #2
Bad Things

SUNDAY, MAY 30
Tesla
Chevelle
Theory of a Deadman
Sevendust
Aranda
Lacuna Coil
Taddy Porter
Nigel Dupree Band
Year Long Disaster
Within Reason
Bad Things
Wildstreet – Set #2
Problem Child – Set #2
The Glitter Boys – Set #2
Firstryke – Set #2
Mad Max – Set #2
New Cool World – Set #2

ROCK IN RIO...Leona Lewis, Elton John, Shakira, Miley Cyrus were all at Rock in Rio in Lisbon this weekend along with Snow Patrol, John Mayer, Ivete Sangalo, Muse, Motörhead and Sum 41.

Following the festival in Lisbon, the Rock in Rio Festival moves to Madrid June 4th through the 11th and the 14th with Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Cypress Hill, David Guetta , Metallica, Rage Against the Machine,Tiësto, Paul van Dyk and Motörhead.

Here’s the confirmed lineup for the Rock In Rio-Lisbon World Stage:

May 28: Paul McCartney
May 29: Peter Gabriel, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Jet, Gilberto Gil, Rui Veloso
May 30: Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Charlie Brown Jr., Xutos e Pontapas
June 4: Metallica, Slipknot, Incubus, Moonspell, Sepultura
June 5: Britney Spears, Sugababes, Black Eyed Peas, Joao Pedro Pais
June 6: Sting, Alejandro Sanz, Alicia Keys, Ivete Sangalo, Luis Represas

*** Rage Against The Machine’s recruited Sonic Youth, Kanye West, Cypress Hill, Massive Attack and plenty more to boycott the state of Arizona for their Soundstrike campaign.

The move protests a controversial new law in Arizona that not just enables, but forces police to question anyone they believe to be an illegal immigrant and if the accused can’t provide documentation that they were born in the USA, then they can be detained and arrested.

All of the artists currently signed up include…

Cypress Hill
Juanes
Conor Oberst
Los Tigres del Norte
Rage Against the Machine
Cafe Tacvba
Micheal Moore
Kanye West
Calle 13
Joe Satriani
Serj Tankian
Rise Against
Ozomatli
Sabertooth Tiger
Massive Attack
One Day as a Lion
Street Sweeper Social Club
Spank Rock
Sonic Youth
Tenacious D

*** KoRn’s premiering the video for their new single “Oildale (Leave Me Alone)” on MTV2 on May 31 at 6a.m. ET which coincides with the band’s week-long MTV Takeover, where they hosted both Headbanger’s Ball and Rock the Deuce. KoRn’s 9th studio album, Korn III – Remember Who You Are’s out July 13.

*** Trent Reznor’s new project, How To Destroy Angels’ releasing its debut EP as a free download on Tuesday, June 1. Fans can download the track “The Believers” now at howtodestroyangels.com. A $2 version of the EP will also be sold, with higher-quality audio and a downloadable music video for “The Space In Between.” The cd’s out July 6, with a vinyl release down the road.

*** Tommy Lee and Methods Of Mayhem’s new album, A Public Disservice Announcement drops September 21. Lee and his team, including producer Scott Humphrey, singer/guitarist J3 and others, wrote and recorded the songs, then made the core components available for download on www.thepublicrecord.com to anyone who wanted to contribute or re-interpret the music.

The actual audio tracks submitted by fans were worked into the album’s final cuts. Every musician whose part was used’s credited and thanked on the album.

*** Roger Waters’ Pink Floyd’s The Wall tour hits Europe next year, featuring the classic album in its entirety. 6 shows have been announced for May 2011 in London, Manchester and Dublin.

*** Rush’s releasing 2 new songs – “Caravan” and “BU2B” on June 1 ahead of their summer tour and their 2011 studio album, Clockwork Angels.

“Caravan” will be available digitally, along with “BU2B,” plus the documentary Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 29, with a limited theatrical release across the US starting June 10.

*** Arcade Fire’s upcoming album ‘The Suburbs’ will be released August 2 or 3, depending on where you’re in the world and features a retro looking suburban house on the cover.

*** Eurythmics star Annie Lennox’s been made special envoy to the Scottish Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and will report back on a regular basis on issues in Malawi. As part of the job Annie will be a key speaker at the Festival of Politics to provide an update on her work fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

*** Gary Numan just got a facelift.

*** Paramore’s Hayley Williams claims her Twitter account was hacked Thursday night after a topless snap of her was posted. She sez she was the victim of a cyber attack.

*** AND *** Paramore’s added a 2nd night, Nov. 15th at the London O2 Arena after selling out their 1st Friday morning

*** Adam Green and Edwyn Collins have joined the line-up for the End Of The Road festival September 10 and 12 at Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset along with Ra Ra Riot. Modest Mouse, Yo La Tengo and Wilco are headlining.

*** Paul Weller and Liam Gallagher are designing clothes for the former Oasis frontman’s Pretty Green label.

*** Them Crooked Vultures, the supergroup featuring John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme (Queens of The Stone Age) are playing July 28th at Shibuya AX in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.

*** Sammy Hagar’s opening for Aerosmith for select dates in the US this summer

*** Rapper Nas, Joe Cocker, Chris Cornell and The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek have teamed up with Carlos Santana for his new album of classic rock anthems. Nas performs AC/DC’s Back in Black with Santana, while Cocker sings Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing and Soundgarden frontman Cornell sings Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. Manzarek joins Santana The Doors’ Riders on the Storm.

*** Rihanna’s new racy Te Amo video leaked onto the Web Friday and features the singer as a leather clad dominatrix, kissing and striking suggestive poses with French supermodel Laeticia Casta. Shot in April in Vigny, France’s the 5th single from Rated R and is the follow-up to her new Rockstar 101 video featuring Slash.

*** Sting’s heading back to Broadway – he’s working on a musical with Tony Award-winning songwriter Brian Yorkie to write his 1st Broadway project. Sting also starred in a production of 3 Penny Opera in the late 80’s.

*** Former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart and Joss Stone have teamed up to record Stand Up To Cancer to mark the 2nd anniversary of the charity of the same name.

*** Pregnant singer Alicia Keys celebrated her baby news by performing with Kasabian and Bryan Ferry at a benefit gig in London on Thursday night, which raised thousands of pounds for her children’s charity the Black Ball in aid of her Keep A Child Alive foundation.

There was also a charity auction, hosted by Keys and actress Thandie Newton, featuring Christian Louboutin shoes worn by Keys and Beyonce in the video for their duet Put It In A Love Song. The designer heels sold for $24,750 (£15,000,) while a guitar donated for Kasabian went for $10,700 (£6,500) and the chance to record a song with Swizz Beatz was sold to boyband JLS for $49,500 (£30,000.) A photo-op with Keys to be published in OK! magazine raised $19,800 (£12,000.)

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER UPDATES***

*** Music by the Top 10 of season 9 of American Idol’s now out (released on May 11.) “American Idol: Season 9” CD includes Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Lee Dewyze’s version of “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

The album also includes Aaron Kelly’s cover of Aerosmith’s classic “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” Casey James’ performance of “Jealous Guy,” Didi Benami singing “Play with Fire,” Siobhan Magnus’ version of “Paint It Black” and Katie Stevens’ version of “Let It Be.”

There are also 3 acoustic performances – Michael Lynch singing India Arie’s “Ready For Love,” Andrew Garcia’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” and Tim Urban’s version of The Rolling Stone classic “Under My Thumb.”

*** AND*** American Idol winner Lee De Wyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox performed on a special Thursday concert on Today‘s 15^th Annual Summer Concert Series (normally held on Fridays during the summer.) Coming up next month…

JUNE

4 Justin Bieber
8 Christina Aguilera
11 Rascal Flatts
18 James Taylor and Carol King
25 Maxwell

***AND*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

***AND*** Janet Jackson sez she was so blown away by the great reception she got when performing “Again,” “Nothing,” and “Nasty” on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, she’s thinkin’ ’bout touring again (only toured once since ’02.) She agreed Wednesday to appear at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 2.

*** AND *** American Idol winner Lee DeWyze’s signed with 19 Recordings Limited and RCA Records, while runner-up Crystal Bowersox’s inked a deal with 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records. Lee currently holds the #3 and #10 spot on iTunes with his studio recorded tracks “Beautiful Day” and “Hallelujah”, while Crystal’s at #7 with “Up To The Mountain.” (Their “Falling Slowly” duet’s holding strong at #16.)

***AND*** Bret Michaels may replace Simon Cowell in the next season of American Idol. The Poison dude’s now recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and a recent stroke. He blew away both fans and judges when he made his 1^st stage appearance since being hospitalized when, despite doctors’ advice, he performed ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ with finalist Casey James. Simon sez Michaels would be a great fit.

*** AND***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** AND *** Simon Cowell will be presented with a special honour for his “outstanding contribution (to TV) and for his development of new talent ” at next month’s British Academy (BAFTA) Television Awards. The former American Idol judge and current The X-Factor and Britain Has Talent judge and creator’s also nominated for Best Entertainment Program.

Cowell’ll also receive an International Emmy award in November for having “reshaped 21st century television and music around the world.”

*** GAGA NOTES***

PHOTO-SPLASH

*** Lady Gaga showed her softer side when she paused halfway through her song Speechless when she talked about her hospitalized sick grandfather during her show in Nottingham Thursday night. The gig’s the opening concert of the 2^nd leg of Gaga’s Monster Ball tour in Britain.

***AND*** Lady Gaga stunned locals when she hit The Prince of Wales bar in Birmingham, bought a round for everyone and left a huge tip. Gaga sat at the bar with a friend for 2 hours drinking and scribbling notes on a napkin. She’s currently on the UK leg of her Monster Ball tour.

*** BIEBER FEVER***

*** Justin Bieber was once brought home by the police. The 16-year-old singer got in trouble with the authorities when he was younger after he and his friend snuck outside in the middle of the night, not knowing there was a curfew.

***AND*** Justin Bieber’s upset over reports he caused a scene on the set of Australian talk show Sunrise by swearing and using the F-bomb at a crew member who touched him. The 16-year-old heart-throb stunned staff at the show last month after allegedly cursing at a floor manager who directed him to the performance stage. Bieber’s tweeted his bad behaviour’s just “gossip” and lies.

*** MORE NOTES***

*** A 17-year-old singer from Azerbaijan opened the 55th Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday as musicians from 25 countries competed for the coveted title of best European artist.

Bookmakers had favored Safura and her song “Drip Drop,” though Eurovision experts feel her chances were hurt by performing first because the opening song rarely wins. Meanwhile, a Google Eurovision predictor program’s predicted Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut will win.

Organizers expect some 125 million TV viewers to watch Saturday’s final.

The festival opened with last year’s winner, Alexander Rybak, a Norwegian fiddler who won in Moscow.

Spain’s Daniel Diges, who performed 2nd, was allowed to sing his song again after an overzealous fan in a red stocking cap appeared on stage in the middle of his back-up dancer.

This year, several countries have pulled out of the festival, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary due to financial strain.

Oil-rich Norway spent 200 million kroner ($31 million) to host the event.

2008- Rascal Flatts guitarist Joe Don Rooney and Tiffany Fallon had a son, Jagger Donovan Rooney, in Nashville

** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Simon Cowell will be presented with a special honour for his “outstanding contribution (to TV) and for his development of new talent ” at next month’s British Academy (BAFTA) Television Awards. The former American Idol judge and current The X-Factor and Britain Has Talent judge and creator’s also nominated for Best Entertainment Program.

Cowell’ll also receive an International Emmy award in November for having “reshaped 21st century television and music around the world.”

*** MORE NOTES***

*** The Montgomery Gentry and Jamey Johnson Country Throwdown tour’s been cancelled due to poor ticket sales, including 4 June concerts with Eric Church and the Eli Young Band, shows in San Diego, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Houston and Dallas, Texas.

*** A 17-year-old singer from Azerbaijan opened the 55th Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday as musicians from 25 countries competed for the coveted title of best European artist.

Bookmakers had favored Safura and her song “Drip Drop,” though Eurovision experts feel her chances were hurt by performing first because the opening song rarely wins. Meanwhile, a Google Eurovision predictor program’s predicted Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut will win.

Organizers expect some 125 million TV viewers to watch Saturday’s final.

The festival opened with last year’s winner, Alexander Rybak, a Norwegian fiddler who won in Moscow.

Spain’s Daniel Diges, who performed 2nd, was allowed to sing his song again after an overzealous fan in a red stocking cap appeared on stage in the middle of his back-up dancer.

This year, several countries have pulled out of the festival, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary due to financial strain.

Oil-rich Norway spent 200 million kroner ($31 million) to host the event.

*** Rage Against The Machine’s recruited Sonic Youth, Kanye West, Cypress Hill, Massive Attack and plenty more to boycott the state of Arizona for their Soundstrike campaign.

The move protests a controversial new law in Arizona that not just enables, but forces police to question anyone they believe to be an illegal immigrant and if the accused can’t provide documentation that they were born in the USA, then they can be detained and arrested.

All of the artists currently signed up include…

Cypress Hill
Juanes
Conor Oberst
Los Tigres del Norte
Rage Against the Machine
Cafe Tacvba
Micheal Moore
Kanye West
Calle 13
Joe Satriani
Serj Tankian
Rise Against
Ozomatli
Sabertooth Tiger
Massive Attack
One Day as a Lion
Street Sweeper Social Club
Spank Rock
Sonic Youth
Tenacious D

*** Alicia Keys’ s engaged to producer Swizz Beat (real name Kasseem Dean) and they’re expecting a baby. She’s been romantically linked to the rap mogul since September 2008, following the breakdown of his marriage to singer Mashonda. Dean has 2 other kids from previous relationships.

*** Lauryn Hill’s headlining the 32nd Annual Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, CA on June 13. Other performers include Slightly Stoopid, Steele Pulse, Galactic, Zappa Plays Zappa, Rebultion and many more, plus keynote speakers, the Eco Rally, Sports Zone, Eco Village, a global marketplace and more.

*** M.I.A. posted New York Times writer Lynn Hirschberg’s telephone number on her Twitter account after she wrote an unflattering profile about the rap artist.

*** Leona Lewis’ spent $288,700 (£175,000) on animal friendly outfits for her debut Labyrinth world tour named after and inspired by her favourite film, which starred David Bowie and was released in 1986. The $8.25 million (£5 million) tour opened Friday.

*** Jason Derulo will tour Australia in Perth on November 2.

CONCERT SKED…

November 2, Perth, Challenge Stadium
November 4, Adelaide, Thebarton Theatre
November 6, Melbourne, Festival Hall
November 9, Sydney, Hordern Pavilion
November 13, Brisbane, Convention Centre

*** Sales of Ponds Beauty Cream quadrupled in 36 hours after Kylie Minogue said she used the product. Ponds Beauty Cream retails for around $5. One jab of Botox cost around $18.

*** Ronan Keating’s affair’s put the next Boyzone album on hold while he figures out his private life after getting the boot from his house by wife, Yvonne after he got cheating on her with a back-up dancer.

*** “Everyone’s going to be topless, the bride, the groom, that’s me, our parents, all topless. It will be a festival of decadence. The first thing we’re going to do is slaughter a swan. That’s to the god Zeus. Our wedding is essentially going to be a re-creation of the greatest moments in mythological history.” - Russell Brand on his upcoming wedding to Katy Perry (Also today’s “Dumbass Quote Of The Day.”)

*** AND*** More Russell Brand on Katy Perry- “She’s a perfectly decent, lovely person, good fun and engaging, easy to be around and interesting. But meeting her changed me. With her, I don’t feel like I’m fulfilling some bizarre psychological fetish.”

*** Miley Cyrus’ at Rock in Rio in Lisbon Saturday.

ROCK IN RIO…Leona Lewis, Elton John, Shakira, Miley Cyrus were all at Rock in Rio in Lisbon this weekend along with Snow Patrol, John Mayer, Ivete Sangalo, Muse, Motörhead and Sum 41.

Following the festival in Lisbon, the Rock in Rio Festival moves to Madrid June 4th through the 11th and the 14th with Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Cypress Hill, David Guetta , Metallica, Rage Against the Machine,Tiësto, Paul van Dyk and Motörhead.

Here’s the confirmed lineup for the Rock In Rio-Lisbon World Stage:

May 28: Paul McCartney
May 29: Peter Gabriel, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Jet, Gilberto Gil, Rui Veloso
May 30: Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Charlie Brown Jr., Xutos e Pontapas
June 4: Metallica, Slipknot, Incubus, Moonspell, Sepultura
June 5: Britney Spears, Sugababes, Black Eyed Peas, Joao Pedro Pais
June 6: Sting, Alejandro Sanz, Alicia Keys, Ivete Sangalo, Luis Represas

*** Rapper Nas, Joe Cocker, Chris Cornell and The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek have teamed up with Carlos Santana for his new album of classic rock anthems. Nas performs AC/DC’s Back in Black with Santana, while Cocker sings Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing and Soundgarden frontman Cornell sings Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. Manzarek joins Santana The Doors’ Riders on the Storm.

*** Rihanna’s new racy Te Amo video leaked onto the Web Friday and features the singer as a leather clad dominatrix, kissing and striking suggestive poses with French supermodel Laeticia Casta. Shot in April in Vigny, France’s the 5th single from Rated R and is the follow-up to her new Rockstar 101 video featuring Slash.

***Tom Cruise joined The Black Eyed peas on stage at their concert in London on Thursday to debut their new song for his new movie, Knight and Day. Cruise convinced producers of the action film to allow the Peas to record a song for the movie soundtrack and he joined will.i.am in the studio to watch him at work on Some Day. They met up in London this week when Cruise was in the city to promote the new release and while the Boom Boom Pow hit-makers were on their European tour.

Cruise attended the band’s gig in the British capital with his wife Katie Holmes and was pleasantly surprised when he was personally asked by singer Fergie to join the group on stage for the finale. Cruise didn’t want to go up but caved after Fergie called him a “wuss”.

*** Pregnant singer Alicia Keys celebrated her baby news by performing with Kasabian and Bryan Ferry at a benefit gig in London on Thursday night, which raised thousands of pounds for her children’s charity the Black Ball in aid of her Keep A Child Alive foundation.

There was also a charity auction, hosted by Keys and actress Thandie Newton, featuring Christian Louboutin shoes worn by Keys and Beyonce in the video for their duet Put It In A Love Song. The designer heels sold for $24,750 (£15,000,) while a guitar donated for Kasabian went for $10,700 (£6,500) and the chance to record a song with Swizz Beatz was sold to boyband JLS for $49,500 (£30,000.) A photo-op with Keys to be published in OK! magazine raised $19,800 (£12,000.)

*** Christina Aguilera has a fetish for kinky latex outfits. The singer caused a storm in March when she released the promo for her new single, Not Myself Tonight, which features scenes of her writhing around in skin-tight rubber costumes. She sez the vid was a tribute to her mentor, Madonna, and sez she loves wearing saucy clothes – but left them in her wardrobe when she was pregnant with her son, Max.

*** Leona Lewis’ now going to tour with Toni Braxton now that Christina Aguilera’s cancelled her tour. Lewis and Braxton will hit the US later this year.

*** Natalie Imbruglia’s signed on as a judge for the 2nd season of the Australian version of ‘X Factor.’

*** Nick Jonas’ signed up to appear on the West End stage at the British capital’s Queen’s Theatre to play Marius from June 21. The Jonas Bro’s performed several productions on Broadway as a child and previously appeared in Les Miserables in 2003.

*** M.I.A.’s thinkin’ ’bout raising her son IKHYD in China cuz she wants him to be fluent in Chinese.

*** British rapper Dizzee Rascal’s teaming up with British comedian James Corden for the recording of a song for England’s World Cup campaign, directed by Simon Cowell. The trio’s re-working on an 80′s classic but they haven’t revealed the track

*** Madonna’s “stripped” to a black leotard that “barely covered her boobs, fishnet stocking and high heels” for a new sunglasses ad.

*** Russell Brand texted Amy Winehouse to apologize after his dad apparently tried to chat her up recently.

***Taylor Swift’s sold-out concert May 20th at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario, Canada turned serious when Nicole Lavoie, a young fan, experienced a “serious medical emergency” at the show. Taylor later placed a call to Nicole in the Queensway Carleton Hospital and Nicole’s mother, Harriett Lavoie, wrote a letter to the Ottawa Citizen, thanking everyone who rushed to Nicole’s aid and said they were surprised to have a visit from Taylor Swift’s mom, Andrea, and her management crew.

*** When Tim McGraw tours with wife Faith Hill and their 3 daughters Gracie, 13, Audrey, 11, and Maggie, 8, he and the boys watch their P’s and Q’s…there’s less nudity running the halls and they keep a lid on their language.

On Oct. 6, Tim and Faith will celebrate their 14-year wedding anniversary. Shortly after they started seeing each other, they established their “3 day rule” which means they can’t spend more than 3 days apart.

*** The Dixie Chicks are releasing a comp of their own favourite “Chicks” songs on June 1. As part of Legacy Recordings’ Playlist series, The Very Best of Dixie Chicks,will include 12 tracks; 2 songs from Wide Open Spaces (“Wid Open Spaces” and “You Were Mine”), 3 songs from Fly (“Sin Wagon,” “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Let Him Fly”), 3 songs from Home (“Long Time Gone,” “Landslide,” “Truth No. 2″) and 4 songs from Taking the Long Way (“The Long Way Around,” “Easy Silence,” “Not Ready to Make Nice,” “Lubbock or Leave It”).

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER UPDATES***

*** Music by the Top 10 of season 9 of American Idol’s now out (released on May 11.) “American Idol: Season 9” CD includes Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Lee Dewyze’s version of “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

The album also includes Aaron Kelly’s cover of Aerosmith’s classic “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” Casey James’ performance of “Jealous Guy,” Didi Benami singing “Play with Fire,” Siobhan Magnus’ version of “Paint It Black” and Katie Stevens’ version of “Let It Be.”

There are also 3 acoustic performances – Michael Lynch singing India Arie’s “Ready For Love,” Andrew Garcia’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” and Tim Urban’s version of The Rolling Stone classic “Under My Thumb.”

*** AND*** American Idol winner Lee De Wyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox performed on a special Thursday concert on Today‘s 15^th Annual Summer Concert Series (normally held on Fridays during the summer.) Coming up next month…

JUNE

4 Justin Bieber
8 Christina Aguilera
11 Rascal Flatts
18 James Taylor and Carol King
25 Maxwell

***AND*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

***AND*** Janet Jackson sez she was so blown away by the great reception she got when performing “Again,” “Nothing,” and “Nasty” on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, she’s thinkin’ ’bout touring again (only toured once since ’02.) She agreed Wednesday to appear at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 2.

*** AND *** American Idol winner Lee DeWyze’s signed with 19 Recordings Limited and RCA Records, while runner-up Crystal Bowersox’s inked a deal with 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records. Lee currently holds the #3 and #10 spot on iTunes with his studio recorded tracks “Beautiful Day” and “Hallelujah”, while Crystal’s at #7 with “Up To The Mountain.” (Their “Falling Slowly” duet’s holding strong at #16.)

***AND*** Bret Michaels may replace Simon Cowell in the next season of American Idol. The Poison dude’s now recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and a recent stroke. He blew away both fans and judges when he made his 1^st stage appearance since being hospitalized when, despite doctors’ advice, he performed ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ with finalist Casey James. Simon sez Michaels would be a great fit.

*** AND***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** AND**** Simon Cowell will be presented with a special honour for his “outstanding contribution (to TV) and for his development of new talent ” at next month’s British Academy (BAFTA) Television Awards. The former American Idol judge and current The X-Factor and Britain Has Talent judge and creator’s also nominated for Best Entertainment Program.

Cowell’ll also receive an International Emmy award in November for having “reshaped 21st century television and music around the world.”

*** MORE NOTES***

*** Miley Cyrus’ at Rock in Rio in Lisbon Saturday.

ROCK IN RIO…Leona Lewis, Elton John, Shakira, Miley Cyrus were all at Rock in Rio in Lisbon this weekend along with Snow Patrol, John Mayer, Ivete Sangalo, Muse, Motörhead and Sum 41.

Following the festival in Lisbon, the Rock in Rio Festival moves to MadridJune 4th through the 11th and the 14th with Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Cypress Hill, David Guetta , Metallica, Rage Against the Machine,Tiësto, Paul van Dyk and Motörhead.

Here’s the confirmed lineup for the Rock In Rio-Lisbon World Stage:

May 28: Paul McCartney
May 29: Peter Gabriel, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Jet, Gilberto Gil, Rui Veloso
May 30: Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Charlie Brown Jr., Xutos e Pontapas
June 4: Metallica, Slipknot, Incubus, Moonspell, Sepultura
June 5: Britney Spears, Sugababes, Black Eyed Peas, Joao Pedro Pais
June 6: Sting, Alejandro Sanz, Alicia Keys, Ivete Sangalo, Luis Represas

*** The Dixie Chicks are releasing a comp of their own favourite “Chicks” songs on June 1. As part of Legacy Recordings’ Playlist series, The Very Best of Dixie Chicks,will include 12 tracks; 2 songs from Wide Open Spaces (“Wid Open Spaces” and “You Were Mine”), 3 songs from Fly (“Sin Wagon,” “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Let Him Fly”), 3 songs from Home (“Long Time Gone,” “Landslide,” “Truth No. 2″) and 4 songs from Taking the Long Way (“The Long Way Around,” “Easy Silence,” “Not Ready to Make Nice,” “Lubbock or Leave It”).

*** The Daytime Emmy Awards will have a special tribute to Dick Clark. Stars who’ll be saluting the American Bandstand icon… Cher, Barry Manilow, Garth Brooks, Marie Osmond, Ann-Margret, Frankie Avalon, The Spinners, Jay Leno, Simon Cowell, Las Vegas-based acts including Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, the showgirls of Jubilee, Wayne Newton, Cheech & Chong, Jeff Foxworthy and Carrot Top. The 2 hour 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards’ live from the Las Vegas Hilton June 27, hosted by Regis Philbin (9 p.m.,live ET/delayed PT) on CBS.

*** A judge’s refused to grant Mindy McCready’s request for a court order to prevent her mother, Gayle Inge from talking to the media. The troubled singer, who has a history of alcohol and drug abuse, was found unconscious at her mother’s home in Fort Myers, Florida on Tuesday morning.

Her mother called for help, suggesting she’d tried to commit suicide but Mindy’s rep claims she simply experienced a bad reaction to the pain pills she’d been prescribed after breaking her toe on Sunday. McCready filed legal papers earlier this week alleging Inge claimed she’d tried to commit suicide in a bid to ruin her chances of gaining custody of her son.

*** Taylor Swift’s sold-out concert May 20th at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, Ontario, Canada turned serious when Nicole Lavoie, a young fan, experienced a “serious medical emergency” at the show. Taylor later placed a call to Nicole in the Queensway Carleton Hospital and Nicole’s mother, Harriett Lavoie, wrote a letter to the Ottawa Citizen, thanking everyone who rushed to Nicole’s aid and said they were surprised to have a visit from Taylor Swift’s mom, Andrea, and her management crew.

*** Zac Brown Band’s asking fans for help this Memorial Day weekend in collecting even more letters for the troops as part of their Letters for Lyrics campaign with Ram Trucks. Over 70,000 letters have already been collected to send to U.S. servicemen and women stationed around the world as part of the letter-writing campaign, but the band wants fans to help them hit their goal of 1 million letters.

Fans can use the letter writing stations or drop letters off at all Ram Truck dealerships across the country and at most Zac Brown Band concerts, and all participants in the campaign will receive a special ‘Breaking Southern Ground‘ CD featuring 3 new songs from the band as well as music from several other artists from Zac’s label, Southern Ground Records.

*** Chely Wright, who splits her time between Nashville and New York City, hit Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville on Thursday and was visibly moved by her warm welcome by hundreds of fans.

Chely’s “homecoming” coincided with the singer reading from and signing copies of her candid memoir, ‘Like Me,’ in which she reveals she’s a lesbian, opening up about the inner and outer struggles of coming to terms with that realization all the while trying to maintain her successful country-music career. There was also a Q & A and Chely also sang a few numbers.

Chely had just flown in from Los Angeles after an appearance on Ellen. One of those attending was Rodney Crowell, who produced Chely’s latest CD, ‘Lifted off the Ground.’

*** When Tim McGraw tours with wife Faith Hill and their 3 daughters Gracie, 13, Audrey, 11, and Maggie, 8, he and the boys watch their P’s and Q’s…there’s less nudity running the halls and they keep a lid on their language.

On Oct. 6, Tim and Faith will celebrate their 14-year wedding anniversary. Shortly after they started seeing each other, they established their “3 day rule” which means they can’t spend more than 3 days apart.

Corey Hart 48

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER UPDATES***

*** Music by the Top 10 of season 9 of American Idol’s now out (released on May 11.) “American Idol: Season 9” CD includes Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Lee Dewyze’s version of “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

The album also includes Aaron Kelly’s cover of Aerosmith’s classic “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” Casey James’ performance of “Jealous Guy,” Didi Benami singing “Play with Fire,” Siobhan Magnus’ version of “Paint It Black” and Katie Stevens’ version of “Let It Be.”

There are also 3 acoustic performances – Michael Lynch singing India Arie’s “Ready For Love,” Andrew Garcia’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” and Tim Urban’s version of The Rolling Stone classic “Under My Thumb.”

*** AND*** American Idol winner Lee De Wyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox performed on a special Thursday concert on Today‘s 15^th Annual Summer Concert Series (normally held on Fridays during the summer.) Coming up next month…

JUNE

4 Justin Bieber
8 Christina Aguilera
11 Rascal Flatts
18 James Taylor and Carol King
25 Maxwell

***AND*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

***AND*** Janet Jackson sez she was so blown away by the great reception she got when performing “Again,” “Nothing,” and “Nasty” on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, she’s thinkin’ ’bout touring again (only toured once since ’02.) She agreed Wednesday to appear at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 2.

*** AND *** American Idol winner Lee DeWyze’s signed with 19 Recordings Limited and RCA Records, while runner-up Crystal Bowersox’s inked a deal with 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records. Lee currently holds the #3 and #10 spot on iTunes with his studio recorded tracks “Beautiful Day” and “Hallelujah”, while Crystal’s at #7 with “Up To The Mountain.” (Their “Falling Slowly” duet’s holding strong at #16.)

***AND*** Bret Michaels may replace Simon Cowell in the next season of American Idol. The Poison dude’s now recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and a recent stroke. He blew away both fans and judges when he made his 1^st stage appearance since being hospitalized when, despite doctors’ advice, he performed ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ with finalist Casey James. Simon sez Michaels would be a great fit.

*** AND***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** MJ UPDATES***

*** Michael Jackson’s personal MD, Conrad Murray’s attempt to have a court order lifted to pay $16,000 in back child support to the mother of his 12-year-old son was denied in a California court Wednesday.

Authorities in Las Vegas said if Murray got the California court order, Nevada would stop efforts to revoke his medical license for failure to pay. A hearing’s set June 25 before a Family Court hearing officer in Las Vegas.

***AND *** Liza Minnelli blamed Michael Jackson for allowing her to marry an “idiot” when she hooked up with concert promoter David Gest in 2002, with Michael acting as best man.

***MORE NOTES***

*** Sir Elton John wowed 15,000 fans with a 3 hour concert Wednesday night at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morroco despite heavy opposition from the Islamist party who objected to the gay singer, saying he’d set a bad example for the youth of the nation. John thanked his fans, the royal palace and the festival organizers for inviting him to perform in the festival, saying he was “proud to be singing in Morocco”.

*** Simply Red frontman and former boyfriend of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Martine McCutcheon and supermodel Helena Christensen married his long-term partner Gabrielle Wilke-Wesberry in 16th-century Forter Castle in Glenisla, Perthshire last Tuesday (May 25) before 8 friends and family members.

The couple has a 2-year-old daughter named Romy True and dated in ’95 but went their separate ways before rekindling their romance in 2004.

Hucknall’s replacing Rod Stewart when Ronnie Wood and The Faces reform and tour later this year.

*** A 17-year-old singer from Azerbaijan opened the 55th Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday as musicians from 25 countries competed for the coveted title of best European artist.

Bookmakers had favored Safura and her song “Drip Drop,” though Eurovision experts feel her chances were hurt by performing first because the opening song rarely wins. Meanwhile, a Google Eurovision predictor program’s predicted Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut will win.

Organizers expect some 125 million TV viewers to watch Saturday’s final.

The festival opened with last year’s winner, Alexander Rybak, a Norwegian fiddler who won in Moscow.

Spain’s Daniel Diges, who performed 2nd, was allowed to sing his song again after an overzealous fan in a red stocking cap appeared on stage in the middle of his back-up dancer.

This year, several countries have pulled out of the festival, including the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Andorra and Hungary due to financial strain.

Oil-rich Norway spent 200 million kroner ($31 million) to host the event.

** The Daytime Emmy Awards will have a special tribute to Dick Clark. Stars who’ll be saluting the American Bandstand icon… Cher, Barry Manilow, Garth Brooks, Marie Osmond, Ann-Margret, Frankie Avalon, The Spinners, Jay Leno, Simon Cowell, Las Vegas-based acts including Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, the showgirls of Jubilee, Wayne Newton, Cheech & Chong, Jeff Foxworthy and Carrot Top. The 2 hour 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards’ live from the Las Vegas Hilton June 27, hosted by Regis Philbin (9 p.m.,live ET/delayed PT) on CBS.

*** Eurythmics star Annie Lennox’s been made special envoy to the Scottish Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and will report back on a regular basis on issues in Malawi. As part of the job Annie will be a key speaker at the Festival of Politics to provide an update on her work fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

*** Roger Waters’ Pink Floyd’s The Wall tour hits Europe next year, featuring the classic album in its entirety. 6 shows have been announced for May 2011 in London, Manchester and Dublin.

*** Gary Numan just got a facelift.

ROCK IN RIO... Leona Lewis, Elton John, Shakira, Miley Cyrus were all at Rock in Rio in Lisbon this weekend along with Snow Patrol, John Mayer, Ivete Sangalo, Muse, Motörhead and Sum 41

Following the festival in Lisbon, the Rock in Rio Festival moves to Madrid June 4th through the 11th and the 14th with Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Miley Cyrus, Shakira, Cypress Hill, David Guetta , Metallica, Rage Against the Machine,Tiësto, Paul van Dyk and Motörhead.

Here’s the confirmed lineup for the Rock In Rio-Lisbon World Stage:

May 28: Paul McCartney
May 29: Peter Gabriel, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Jet, Gilberto Gil, Rui Veloso
May 30: Guns N’ Roses, Evanescence, Kings Of Leon, Charlie Brown Jr., Xutos e Pontapas
June 4: Metallica, Slipknot, Incubus, Moonspell, Sepultura
June 5: Britney Spears, Sugababes, Black Eyed Peas, Joao Pedro Pais
June 6: Sting, Alejandro Sanz, Alicia Keys, Ivete Sangalo, Luis Represas

*** Sammy Hagar’s opening for Aerosmith for select dates in the US this summer

*** Rapper Nas, Joe Cocker, Chris Cornell and The Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek have teamed up with Carlos Santana for his new album of classic rock anthems. Nas performs AC/DC’s Back in Black with Santana, while Cocker sings Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing and Soundgarden frontman Cornell sings Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. Manzarek joins Santana The Doors’ Riders on the Storm.

*** Sting’s heading back to Broadway – he’s working on a musical with Tony Award-winning songwriter Brian Yorkie to write his 1st Broadway project. Sting also starred in a production of 3 Penny Opera in the late 80’s.

*** Former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart and Joss Stone have teamed up to record Stand Up To Cancer to mark the 2nd anniversary of the charity of the same name.

*** Madonna’s “stripped” to a black leotard that “barely covered her boobs, fishnet stocking and high heels” for a new sunglasses ad.

2006- Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook were married in Nashville. Bandmates Kimberly Roads and Phillip Sweet were among the witnesses

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER***

*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

*** SANDRA BULLOCK-JESSE JAMES UPDATES***

*** Jesse James’ sister, Julie’s confirmed her brother’s story of childhood abuse by their father, Larry, claiming he was very abusive to their mother and them when they were growing up. She told TMZ.com Jesse broke his arm after Larry forced him when he was 7-years-old to jump over a fence to retrieve a lost ball from a neighbour’s yard one night. She sez Larry was screaming at Jesse and he ended up falling off the fence and breaking his arm. Larry denies the story, saying Jesse was showing off.

*** AND*** Jesse James called Easy Rider magazine about a month before the Michelle Bombshell McGee sex scandal exploded to book an interview on a new chopper he built in honour of his prized pitbulls. When the scandal blew wide open, James contacted the writer and said he had to back out of the interview because “his life was going crazy” but had one of his West Coast Choppers associates replace him. The mag was O.K. With the arrangements and still decided to feature him on the cover of the July issue.

*** KATE AND HER 8 UPDATES***

*** Kate Gosselin brings us all up to snuff on life without hubby Jon in the new issue of People magazine out yesterday. She sez...

• Life with Jon “feels like 10 years ago.”
• Things aren’t any calmer even though it appears that way.

• She internalizes the stress and it spills over sometimes.
• The kids are having a hard time dealing with the divorce…Mady said ‘I’m always sad. I’m sad when I’m with you because I miss Daddy, and I’m sad when I’m with Daddy because I miss you.’”
• Kate, who trades off custody of the kids with Jon at the family’s home in Pennsylvania.

*** MORE ZOOMIN***

*** Is this the end of “Speidi” ? Heidi Montag tweeted, “I am not Heidi Pratt, I am Heidi Montag.” The Hills star’s tired of her husband’s erratic behaviour and bad media reputation and has moved out of their home and is looking for her own digs in Malibu.

*** Simply Red frontman and former boyfriend of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Martine McCutcheon and supermodel Helena Christensen married his long-term partner Gabrielle Wilke-Wesberry in 16th-century Forter Castle in Glenisla, Perthshire last Tuesday (May 25) before 8 friends and family members.

The couple has a 2-year-old daughter named Romy True and dated in ’95 but went their separate ways before rekindling their romance in 2004.

Hucknall’s replacing Rod Stewart when Ronnie Wood and The Faces reform and tour later this year.

*** Sex and The City’s Sarah Jessica Parker sez her marriage to Matthew Broderick’s been like ‘a treacherous train ride’. The mother of 3 sez her busy schedule means the couple’s only been out together just twice since the arrival of their twin daughters, born to a paid surrogate 11 months ago.

*** Gwen Stefani sez she gets designing inspiration for her fashion label by his Bush star-husband Gavin Rossdale’s clothes. Gwen sez he loves Gavin’s rock’n’roll style and often tries to incorporate that look in her fashion lines.

*** Movie posters showing Lindsay Lohan in her new film role as Deep Throat porn star Linda Lovelace in Inferno are now out.

One provocative pose shows Lindsay with curled dark hair, sat on a bed in her bra with a client unbuckling his belt in the background…another shows her lying on her back in her underwear, against a yellow background.

Inferno’s directed by Matthew Wilder and produced by Chris Hanley, known for The Virgin Suicides and American Psycho.

Lovelace, the world’s best-known porn movie in the 70′s later became an anti-porn activist before dying in a car accident in 2002.

*** Alicia Keys’ s engaged to producer Swizz Beat (real name Kasseem Dean) and they’re expecting a baby. She’s been romantically linked to the rap mogul since September 2008, following the breakdown of his marriage to singer Mashonda. Dean has 2 other kids from previous relationships.

*** Ryan O’Neal’s got a new girlfriend- Cheryl Tiegs and sources say they’re smitten with each other. reportedly enjoying a new romance, going on a few dates and onlookers say they look very happy with each other. At a bash for Raquel Welch’s new book last week, Ryan had his arm around Cheryl’s waist and a fellow guest said “It was clear that they were very happy together.”Ryan, 69, and 62-year-old Cheryl have been friends for a long time but lost contact before reconnecting after she attended his longtime partner Farrah Fawcett’s funeral last summer.

*** Washington Redskins star Albert Haynesworth — one of the NFL‘s highest paid defensive players — sez he was “blindsided” by reports of a $10 million paternity lawsuit filed against him. A stripper’s accused him of “abandoning” her and claims she’s carrying his unborn child. Haynesworth privately acknowledged having a few sexual encounters with the woman during Super Bowl week in February, but he’s adamant he used protection. He’s also said he’ll “absolutely” take responsibility if the woman can prove the child’s his.

*** Ronan Keating’s affair’s put the next Boyzone album on hold while he figures out his private life after getting the boot from his house by wife, Yvonne after he got cheating on her with a back-up dancer.

*** Liza Minnelli blamed Michael Jackson for allowing her to marry an “idiot” when she hooked up with concert promoter David Gest in 2002, with Michael acting as best man.

*** “Everyone’s going to be topless, the bride, the groom, that’s me, our parents, all topless. It will be a festival of decadence. The first thing we’re going to do is slaughter a swan. That’s to the god Zeus. Our wedding is essentially going to be a re-creation of the greatest moments in mythological history.” - Russell Brand on his upcoming wedding to Katy Perry (Also today’s “Dumbass Quote Of The Day.”)

*** AND*** More Russell Brand on Katy Perry- “She’s a perfectly decent, lovely person, good fun and engaging, easy to be around and interesting. But meeting her changed me. With her, I don’t feel like I’m fulfilling some bizarre psychological fetish.”

*** AND*** Russell Brand texted Amy Winehouse to apologize after his dad apparently tried to chat her up recently.

*** When Tim McGraw tours with wife Faith Hill and their 3 daughters Gracie, 13, Audrey, 11, and Maggie, 8, he and the boys watch their P’s and Q’s…there’s less nudity running the halls and they keep a lid on their language.

On Oct. 6, Tim and Faith will celebrate their 14-year wedding anniversary. Shortly after they started seeing each other, they established their “3 day rule” which means they can’t spend more than 3 days apart.

Clint Eastwood 80

Sharon Gless 67

Joe Namath 67

Tom Berenger 60

Greg Harrison 60

Brooke Shields 45

Sharon Gless 67

Colin Farrell 34

*** DENNIS HOPPER DIES OF CANCER***

*** Dennis Hopper, 74 yr. old star of “Easy Rider,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” ”Apocalypse Now,” ”Blue Velvet” and “Hoosiers” died Saturday at his home in Venice, Los Angeles after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

Hopper was twice nominated for Oscars and received a star earlier this year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also a director (“Easy Rider,” 1969, “The Last Movie,” 1971, “Out of the Blue,” 1982, “Colors,” 1988, Chasers,” 1994.)

Highlights from Dennis Hopper’s career as a movie actor:

— “Rebel Without a Cause,” 1955.

— “Giant,” 1956.

— “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” 1957.

— “Sayonara,” 1957.

— “Cool Hand Luke,” 1967.

— “Hang ‘Em High,” 1968.

— “Easy Rider,” 1969.

— “True Grit,” 1969.

— “The American Friend,” 1977.

— “Apocalypse Now,” 1979.

— “Rumble Fish,” 1983.

— “The Osterman Weekend,” 1983.

— “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2,” 1986.

— “River’s Edge,” 1986.

— “Blue Velvet,” 1986.

— “Hoosiers,” 1986.

— “True Romance,” 1993.

— “Red Rock West,” 1994.

— “Speed,” 1994.

— “Waterworld,” 1995.

— “Swing Vote,” 2008.

As a television actor:

— “The Rifleman,” 1958-1959.

— “The Twilight Zone,” 1963.

— “Bonanza,” 1964.

— “Gunsmoke” 1965.

— “The Big Valley,” 1967.

— “24,” 2002.

— “Crash,” 2008-2009.

As a movie director:

— “Easy Rider,” 1969.

— “The Last Movie,” 1971.

— “Out of the Blue,” 1982.

— “Colors,” 1988.

— “Chasers,” 1994.

*** GARY COLEMAN DEATH UPDATES***

*** Sue and Willie Coleman, the estranged parents of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ star Gary Coleman are demanding an explanation from his wife Shannon Price over his death.

The couple’s been estranged since 1989 when their son filed a lawsuit against them for allegedly stealing his multi-million dollar fortune want to know how Gary ended up in a coma and why Shannon took him off life support.

*** AND*** Former Diff’rent Strokes child actor Gary Coleman died Friday at 12:05pm Mountain time at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Centre after suffering a brain hemorrhage. The 42-year-old, best known as Willis on the hit TV sitcom show was being treated for the serious head injury he suffered after a fall earlier this week. Coleman’s wife, Shannon Price, made the decision to pull his life support. Family members and close friends were at Coleman’s side when he died.

*** KENNETH STAR UPDATES***

*** Kenneth I. Starr was found crouched behind coats in the closet of his Upper East $7.5 million condominium, and yanked out by his collar when he was busted Thursday morning.

The financier to the stars (Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone, and Martin Scorsese)’s accused of stealing $30 million from his clients’ accused of defrauding and milking them out of millions of dollars and is being compared Bernard L. Madoff, whose serving a 150-year sentence for bilking tens of billions of dollars from his closely knit network of clients.

*** CHARLIE SHEEN UPDATES***

***Charlie Sheen’s expected to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault after his 2009 Christmas Day arrest in Aspen for allegedly assaulting wife Brooke Mueller.

The “Two and a Half Men” star could get up to 45 days in an Aspen jail as part of the plea deal he agreed to with Colorado prosecutors who said they’d drop the felony menacing charge in return for Sheen pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Sheen’s back in Aspen court on June 7 to enter his plea.

Sheen’s lawyer tried to negotiate for Sheen to have smoking privileges at the Aspen Pitkin Country Jail which has a no smoking policy but allows inmates to wear nicotine patches.

*** FERGIE MONEY SCANDAL UPDATES***

*** Sarah Ferguson will make a public apology for her recent “cash for access” scam on Oprah Winfrey’s show next Tuesday. A sting operation by British tabloid The News Of The World recently caught the Duchess of York setting a price tag of $825,000 (£500,000) on an introduction to ex-husband Prince Andrew, promising to open the door to lucrative international deals for the ‘client’. Fergie wants to reach the U.S. public, who’ve been supportive of her in recent years, and the businessmen over there who she needs to get on side to support her book deals & future ventures.

*** MORE IDOL CHATTER UPDATES***

*** Music by the Top 10 of season 9 of American Idol’s now out (released on May 11.) “American Idol: Season 9” CD includes Crystal Bowersox’s rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” and Lee Dewyze’s version of “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

The album also includes Aaron Kelly’s cover of Aerosmith’s classic “I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing,” Casey James’ performance of “Jealous Guy,” Didi Benami singing “Play with Fire,” Siobhan Magnus’ version of “Paint It Black” and Katie Stevens’ version of “Let It Be.”

There are also 3 acoustic performances – Michael Lynch singing India Arie’s “Ready For Love,” Andrew Garcia’s performance of Chris Brown’s “Forever” and Tim Urban’s version of The Rolling Stone classic “Under My Thumb.”

*** AND*** American Idol winner Lee De Wyze and runner-up Crystal Bowersox performed on a special Thursday concert on Today‘s 15^th Annual Summer Concert Series (normally held on Fridays during the summer.) Coming up next month…

JUNE

4 Justin Bieber
8 Christina Aguilera
11 Rascal Flatts
18 James Taylor and Carol King
25 Maxwell

***AND*** Crystal Bowersox and her boyfriend Tony Kusian, 26, broke up just hours before Wednesday night’s finale. He went home cuz being a small town boy, he wasn’t cool with the lifestyle…their decision to break up was mutual.

***AND*** Janet Jackson sez she was so blown away by the great reception she got when performing “Again,” “Nothing,” and “Nasty” on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, she’s thinkin’ ’bout touring again (only toured once since ’02.) She agreed Wednesday to appear at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on July 2.

*** AND***Simon Cowell will be honoured for his “outstanding contribution… and for his development of new talent” at the Bafta TV awards June 6^th at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One. The X Factor judge’s also going to be honoured with an International Emmy award in recognition of his television work. Cowell’s last appearance on American Idol in the US was at Wednesday night’s finale…he’s leaving the show to bring The X-Factor to America next year.

*** AND *** American Idol winner Lee DeWyze’s signed with 19 Recordings Limited and RCA Records, while runner-up Crystal Bowersox’s inked a deal with 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records. Lee currently holds the #3 and #10 spot on iTunes with his studio recorded tracks “Beautiful Day” and “Hallelujah”, while Crystal’s at #7 with “Up To The Mountain.” (Their “Falling Slowly” duet’s holding strong at #16.)

***AND*** Bret Michaels may replace Simon Cowell in the next season of American Idol. The Poison dude’s now recuperating from a brain hemorrhage and a recent stroke. He blew away both fans and judges when he made his 1^st stage appearance since being hospitalized when, despite doctors’ advice, he performed ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ with finalist Casey James. Simon sez Michaels would be a great fit.

***AND *** Simon Cowell will be presented with a special honour for his “outstanding contribution (to TV) and for his development of new talent ” at next month’s British Academy (BAFTA) Television Awards. The former American Idol judge and current The X-Factor and Britain Has Talent judge and creator’s also nominated for Best Entertainment Program.

Cowell’ll also receive an International Emmy award in November for having “reshaped 21st century television and music around the world.”

*** SIMON MONJACK DEATH UPDATES***

*** Brittany Murphy’s widower, Simon Monjack was granted his final wish when he was laid to rest beside his actress wife who died 5 months ago.

Around 75 family and friends gathered in Los Angeles to pay their respects to the 39 yr. old English screenwriter, who died Sunday from a suspected heart attack in the master bedroom of his LA home he shared with his late wife’s mother, Sharon.

Murphy’s mom found Monjack unconscious in the same room where her daughter died before Christmas and called 911.

Monjack’s low key funeral was held in the Chapel of the Hills where Murphy’s funeral was held then he was buried next to her at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills

His official cause of death’s still under investigation after prescription medication was found at the scene.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed Monjack had been putting off heart bypass surgery because he was too busy.

*** MORE NEWS***

***Jamie Bell’s being tapped to star in the new ‘Spider-Man‘ movie along with Alden Ehrenreich, Frank Dillane, Josh Hutcherson and Andrew Garfield. Jamie would take on the role from Tobey Maguire – who played the comic book hero in the 3 previous movies.

*** Lindsay Lohan’s been gulping down cups of organic tea which contains a small trace of alcohol. The 23 yr. old actress whose been forced to wear a SCRAM bracelet which monitors her alcohol consumption following a probation hearing regarding her 2^nd DUI conviction’s become addicted to a herbal drink which’s said to detox and energise the body. She’s been drinking the beverage for “over a year”.

*** AND*** Lindsay Lohan must check in nightly with her probation officer to find out if she’s required to undergo a drug test the following day. She was ordered to abstain from alcohol and illegal substances for the foreseeable future, wear a drug and alcohol-detecting device and submit to random drug tests following a probation hearing on Monday.

*** Joyce Dewitt’s been handed 3 years probation as part of a plea deal from her ’09 DUI in LA. She’s also been fined $510 (£340) and must attend a 9 month alcohol treatment program.

*** Kirsten Dunst’s s personal assistant Liat Baruch testified in court Thursday in New York she was keeping pot in the hotel room where the actress’ purse was stolen in 2007 but her boss had no knowledge of the drugs…nor was she going to share the drug with her.

Baruch took the stand at the trial of James Jimenez whose accused of stealing Dunst’s Balenciaga designer handbag from her suite at the city’s SoHo Grand Hotel.

Jimenez was convicted on a charge of criminal trespass in October but is facing a re-trial at Manhattan Supreme Court after a jury last year failed to reach a verdict on charges of felony burglary.

*** Matt Damon was roasted and honoured by fellow Hollywood actors and actresses Thursday night when he was presented with the prestigious American Cinematheque Award for his contribution to the film industry and his humanitarian work. The 39 yr. old actor was given the award by his close friend Ben Affleck and was the butt of many a joke by George Clooney, Clint Eastwood, Robin Williams, Charlie Theron, host Jimmy Kimmel, and received a recorded tribute from former US President Bill Clinton.

*** Leonardo DiCaprio’s joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund to create “Save Tigers Now,” to raise $20 million to protect the endangered tigers species. He’s currently in Asia learning about the declining number of animals and also hopes to double the population of the big cats by 2022.

*** Universal Studios in Los Angeles unveiled its $200m (£137m) rebuilt outdoor sets Thursday that features 13 city blocks over 4 acres to be used in films and in the behind-the-scenes studio tour.

Film director Steven Spielberg helped with the rebuild- he was one of the first to arrive after the fire started in June, 2008.

The new sets includes versions of New York’s Central Park, Wall Street and Broadway as well as London and Paris streets. Back to the Future, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Blues Brothers were all shot on Universal’s outdoor sets.

*** Paris Hilton’s the official “celebrity ambassador” for the USO’s new initiative “Songs for Soldiers” project which she launched Wednesday night at a Fleet Week party in New York ahead of this weekend’s US Memorial Weekend.

The goal of the program’s to give a new MP3 player to every active-duty service member in Iraq and Afghanistan after a City University of New York study found music’s one of the most prominent stress relievers for U.S. service men and women.

Each player has songs from a variety of artists who have donated their music to the effort. The special USO Songs for Soldiers MP3 players, created by FlatFlash Duo, can also store pictures, video and documents and fit easily into a pocket.

*** Scottish actor James McAvoy will play a younger version of Patrick Stewart’s character, Professor X in the next installment of X-Men: First Class. Shooting starts this summer in London and will be released in June 2011.

*** The Daytime Emmy Awards will have a special tribute to Dick Clark. Stars who’ll be saluting the American Bandstand icon… Cher, Barry Manilow, Garth Brooks, Marie Osmond, Ann-Margret, Frankie Avalon, The Spinners, Jay Leno, Simon Cowell, Las Vegas-based acts including Blue Man Group, Cirque du Soleil, the showgirls of Jubilee, Wayne Newton, Cheech & Chong, Jeff Foxworthy and Carrot Top. The 2 hour 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards’ live from the Las Vegas Hilton June 27, hosted by Regis Philbin (9 p.m.,live ET/delayed PT) on CBS.

*** Lindsay Lohan’s fightin’ parents called a truce to their battle and met to discuss their troubled daughter. Michael & Dina Lohan have been at each other’s throats since last year when Dina accused her former husband of failing to keep up with his child support payments.

Michael’s been calling for Lindsay to be sent to rehab to overcome an alleged painkiller addiction and after several demands to meet with his ex about his concerns for their daughter, the former couple met just days after Lindsay was confined to California and ordered to wear an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet in a probation hearing on Monday in connection with her ’07 arrest. Lohan’s parents met to discuss their family drama and the ongoing custody support battle.

*** Director Guillermo Del Toro’s confirmed upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit‘s been put on hold indefinitely because the movie’s been caught in a “tangled negotiation” over the future of the MGM movie studio. The film was s’posed to have started shooting this summer, but has been hit with delays.

*** The next installment in the James Bond franchise’s also been suspended indefinitely due to the uncertainty over the future of MGM. Production on the 23rd Bond movie, which was scheduled for a 2011 or 2012 release date, was suspended last month.

*** Bruce Willis turned out to congratulate Sir Ben Kingsley on Thursday as the British actor received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Oscar-winner got the 2,410th star at the ceremony before hundreds of fans. Willis posed for photos with his Lucky Number Slevin co-star, while Kingsley’s wife was on hand to support him.

*** Tyra Banks’ confirmed she’s not returning to modelling after rumours emerged she was coming out of her self-imposed retirement when she signed a contract with IMG Models earlier this month. She sez she’ll be working with the agency in a “broader capacity” … not as a model.

***Harvard University was abuzz with stars at Friday’s commencement exercises. Ashley Judd received her Mid-Career Master in Public Administration degree at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Meryl Streep got an honourary degree while Rose Kennedy Schlossberg, an English major, picked up a Harvard degree as her parents, Caroline and Edwin Schlossberg watched with other Kennedy clan members.

*** Kevin Eubanks bade farewell to The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Friday night, ending his 17-year run as bandleader. American Idol bandleader Rickey Minor makes his debut with Jay on Monday, June 7.

***Tom Cruise joined The Black Eyed peas on stage at their concert in London on Thursday to debut their new song for his new movie, Knight and Day. Cruise convinced producers of the action film to allow the Peas to record a song for the movie soundtrack and he joined will.i.am in the studio to watch him at work on Some Day. They met up in London this week when Cruise was in the city to promote the new release and while the Peas were on their European tour.

Cruise attended the band’s gig in the British capital with his wife Katie Holmes and was pleasantly surprised when he was personally asked by singer Fergie to join the group on stage for the finale. Cruise didn’t want to go up but caved after Fergie called him a “wuss”.

*** Hulk Hogan’s recovering after undergoing 4 hour back surgery last Wednesday to remove bone growths that had come loose from his spine. The surgery was successful and Hogan was released from hospital later that night. The veteran pro wrestler had laser surgery on his spine last summer after collapsing during an episode of his daughter Brooke’s reality TV show, Brooke Knows Best.

*** Jessica Simpson stunned diners in a restaurant when a piece of food accidentally flew off her fork and disappeared down her low-cut top, causing her to scream out in surprise, then almost flashing her boobs while she tried to retrieve it.

*** “Sex and the City”’s Kristin Davis adopted a baby elephant in Kenya that now lives at the Sheldrick orphanage. Davis met the pachyderm while “Sex and the City 2” and she decided to pay for it to be housed at a local shelter.

Hollywood loses another legend…Rihanna raises eyebrows (again) in her new, hot video…women’s undies are the big trend…Brits getting less sleep than evuh…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…

Diff’rent Strokes star Gary Coleman’s dead…Charlie Sheen’s expected to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault-could go to jail for 45 days… men’s biggest fears…men in India need smaller condoms…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…

Canada and Hollywood lose a TV legend...American Idol ratings continue to sink…U2′s Glastonbury Festival replacement’s been announced…top celebs with the best tans…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…

Lee De Wyze’s the new American Idol…Prince Andrews’ forgiven Fergie…older brothers influence their younger bros’ drinking habits…would you give CPR to a homeless dude …lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…

PussyCat Dolls frontwoman Nicole Scherzinger and partner Derek Hough won Dancing With The Stars ...Simon Monjack’s death may have been a drug overdose…Lindsay Lohan has to wear an anklet bracelet…Britney Spears’ the new Twitter queen…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…

Brittany Murphy’s husband found dead…The Duchess of York’s in big trouble…eating vegetables helps you get lucky…suspicious wives snoop alot…lots more harada-data and more in today’s killer show prep !

Continue Reading…