Jacksons claim Grammys snub

Michael Jackson’s family are furious after being snubbed by the Grammy Awards. 

The late ‘Thriller’ star – who died from an acute Propofol intoxication last June – was honoured with a special musical tribute to mark being given a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award but organisers failed to invite his siblings, including those who performed in The Jackson 5 with him, to the star-studded music awards show in Los Angeles. 

His brother and former bandmate Randy tweeted: "So proud, my brother being honoured tonight with the Lifetime Achievement Award. My family would love to be there but, truth is, we weren't invited.

"Do you want more truth? Let me be clear. When I said 'my family' I meant my brothers, sisters and parents."
Michael’s three children, Paris, 11, Prince Michael I, 12, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II – aka Blanket – were there to honour their father but Randy is convinced the children were only invited as an afterthought.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Randy was incandescent. He believed the Grammys only thought of including Michael's children at the 11th hour as dad Joe Jackson complained there was no family representation.
"The brothers were hoping to attend and wear their silver gloves and matching suits to honour their brother. They feel insulted and hurt that they have been snubbed in this way. Michael would've wanted them there.
"The Jackson 5 was where the magic began. They're a huge part of his story and felt they had been horribly overlooked."
The eldest children took to the stage wearing black suits with red armbands to accept the late ‘Thriller’ singer’s award – which he was given for his contribution to the music industry, while Blanket remained backstage with his grandmother Katherine Jackson.

A source said: “Michael’s children themselves decided just Prince Michael I and Paris would speak on stage and accept the award on behalf of their dad.”
Meanwhile, Michael’s older brother Tito – who along with the ‘Billie Jean’ star, Randy, and siblings Jermaine, Jackie, and Marlon had performed with The Jacksons - is being sued after allegedly failing to perform at a tribute show for his brother in the US.

Promoter Roy Isaac has told Tito to repay the £4,700 he was paid for the concert within 30 days or he could face legal action.


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Dancing inmates get ad offer, but Cebu gov thumbs it down

Not just the long-time choreographer of King of Pop Michael Jackson was drawn to the dancing inmates of Cebu.
Amid their online fame, the detainees of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) have received a P250,000 offer to endorse a detergent product, according to report by Radio dzBB’s Cebu affiliate.

But the report said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was not keen on “commercializing" the inmates, who first became popular in cyberspace after videos of their dance numbers landed on sharing site YouTube.
The report quoted Garcia as saying that she did not want the inmates' image "cheapened."

She, however, clarified that she does not object to the inmates being featured in documentary programs on television.GMANews.TV tried to reach Governor Garcia and her brother, Byron, who runs the penitentiary and who also serves as the provincial government’s consultant on security.

Last January, Jackson’s choreographer Travis Payne visited the CPDRC and taught the inmates “The Drill," the last choreography Payne and Jackson collaborated on before the King of Pop died in June 2009.
The number was included in the DVD and Blu-Ray copies of the Jackson documentary, "This Is It."

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Stars remake "We Are The World" for Haiti victims

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Star-struck singers, rappers and actors, including Barbra Streisand, Kanye West and Miley Cyrus, checked their egos at the door on Monday to record a new version of "We Are The World" for Haiti earthquake victims, 25 years after the song raised awareness of the famine in Africa.
None of the singers of the original song were invited to participate in the update, which was recorded at the same Hollywood studio once again under the oversight of Quincy Jones and the song's co-writer Lionel Richie.

In all, more than 70 stars lent their voices to the song, and they all seemed in awe of each other.
"As celebrities, we're fans of one another, so we're all looky-looing in there, and getting autographs and numbers," said Natalie Cole.

Streisand, Celine Dion and Tony Bennett appeared to inspire the most stares. Fifteen-year-old Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber, who sang the opening line originally performed by Richie, joked that he would ask his new friend, R&B singer Akon, to get the telephone number of Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls.
Streisand, a noted perfectionist, ran through multiple takes of the line originally sung by Diana Ross, each one seemingly better than the previous one. Jazz singer Patti Austin came into her recording booth to coach her.
Guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana sang along, even though he is not a singer. Two members of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, appeared to ignore each other.
'INSPIRED CHAOS'

Classical crossover tenor Josh Groban described the event as "inspired chaos."
"Everybody left their ego at the door," he said, referring to a sign that Jones hung in the studio during the original session on the old A&M Records lot on January 28, 1985.

"To be smack-dab in the middle of a sandwich between Barbra Streisand and Weezy (rapper Lil Wayne) was personally a creative experience I don't think I'll ever have the pleasure of having again," Groban added.
For his part, Lil Wayne said his mother asked him to get a photo of Gladys Knight.
He was among a heavy quotient of hip-hop stars, including Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Drake, LL Cool J, and will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas as well as West.



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Rip Torn headed for rehab after arrested drunk in bank

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Rip Torn was released on bail on Monday and was headed for rehab after police said they found him drunk and armed with a loaded gun in a closed Connecticut bank last week.
Torn 78, was charged in court with burglary, criminal trespass and weapons offenses but did not enter a plea. He was released on $100,000 bond, a court spokeswoman said.

Torn's lawyer said the actor, whose most recent role has been as a network TV boss on NBC's comedy "30 Rock", was disoriented and believed he was at home at the time of his arrest. He was fond on Friday inside a bank in his home town of Salisbury, Connecticut.

"He will enter rehab on Tuesday," lawyer A. Thomas Waterfall said. The actor has previous arrests for drunken driving. Waterfall said he expected Torn to plead not guilty at his next court hearing on Feb 17.
"Mr Torn believed he was at home," Waterfall told Reuters. "Based upon that belief he would not have the necessary intent to commit a crime."

Police said in a report they responded to an alarm and found Torn inside the Litchfield Bank with a loaded revolver and "highly intoxicated."
"Clearly, there is no allegation he was brandishing a weapon in any manner, nor did he threaten anyone in any way," Waterfall said.

Torn, a cousin of actress Sissy Spacek, won an Emmy award for his role on "The Larry Sanders Show" in the 1990s and was nominated for an Oscar for "Cross Creek" in 1983. He also appeared in the movie "Men in Black".

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Porn Star Ex of Sandra Bullock's Husband

Sandra Bullock just may be celebrating an Oscar nod when nominees are announced on Tuesday -- but on Monday, her husband Jesse James continued to battle in an Orange County, Calif. court with his ex-wife, porn star Janine Lindemulder.

E! News reports that a judge denied Lindemulder visitation rights to see Sunny, her six year old daughter, who has lived with her father James and Bullock since January 2009.


But Lindemulder -- currently in a halfway house following a parole violation -- did win the right to make daily phone calls to Sunny. Bullock, 45, has been helping James, 40, raise Sunny for the past year while the adult film actress was in prison for tax evasion. She served six months in jail and was released in July.


On Monday, James complained in court about the latest ruling. He told the judge that his ex-wife texts "up to 20 times a day, demanding to talk to Sunny...But sometimes she'll go a week at a time where she doesn't make a call."


He also charges that Lindemulder "has no filter" when it comes to discussing her recent time in prison. "There's a lot of conversation about prison or jail and things that I don't think a 6-year-old can comprehend or process." He also told the judge that his ex was a no-show on Christmas.


The next hearing is scheduled for June 14; the judge praised the pair's progress despite the media scrutiny, but ordered them to undergo joint counseling.


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Grammys pay tribute to Jackson

The Grammys rode the 3D wave today with a special effects laden tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson and Usher performed in the tribute, mingling their voices with the voice of the late King of Pop against the backdrop of a 3D film featuring Jackson's 1995 eco-friendly Earth Song.

Free 3D glasses were distributed across the US so viewers could watch the show in 3D from their living rooms.
The Grammys' 3D effort follows the huge success of James Cameron's Avatar, which recently became the highest-grossing movie worldwide.

Jackson's children - Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, 11 - appeared after the tribute to accept a lifetime achievement award for the singer, who died in June of a prescription drug overdose.
"We are proud to accept this award on behalf of our father," Prince said.

There were plenty of other spectacular moments during the Grammys telecast, which opened with the flamboyant Lady Gaga performing her hit Poker Face in a glittery green butterfly outfit, falling prey to a faux kidnapping onstage and then materialising to perform opposite Elton John.
Multiple Grammy winner Beyonce belted out If I Were A Boy while Pink sang Glitter In The Air scantily clad and suspended from the air on a rope above the audience.


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Beyoncé, Swift score key Grammy Awards

It's turning out to be ladies night at the Grammy Awards as chart-toppers Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga dominated the stage at popular music's biggest night.

Coming into Sunday with a leading 10 nominations, pop diva Beyoncé proved a dominant force as she picked up four trophies at the non-televised Los Angeles gala Sunday afternoon: contemporary R&B album for I am...Sacha Fierce, best R&B song and best female R&B vocal performance for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) and traditional R&B performance for At Last, from the film Cadillac Records.

She then earned the televised show's first award of the night — song of the year for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) — and turned in a spirited performance of her song If I Were a Boy and Alanis Morissette's You Outta Know. Country ingenue Swift was honoured with the best country album Grammy for her bestselling release, Fearless.

"This is my first time walking up those stairs to accept a Grammy on national television!" she exclaimed. "I just feel like I'm standing here accepting an impossible dream."
She showed as much enthusiasm as when she accepted a pair of trophies (female country vocal performance and country song for White Horse) at the pre-show ceremony and declared, "This is my first Grammy, you guys!"

Outrageous dance-pop artist Lady Gaga kicked off Sunday night's broadcast with a fiery, eye-popping performance that segued into a duet with British icon Elton John. She too started the gala with a pair of Grammys already under her belt: dance recording for Poker Face and electronic/dance album for The Fame.
The Black Eyed Peas, another top contender this year, came into the broadcast having already won a trio of Grammys: for their album The E.N.D. (pop vocal album) and their hit songs I Gotta Feeling (pop performance by a duo or group with vocals) and Boom Boom Pow (short-form music video).

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The Ghost Whisperer Review: "Living Nightmare"

It has been two week's since our last installment of The Ghost Whisperer. And we have to say we weren't that impressed with "Living Nightmare". To come back from a mini hiatus, we were expecting more and it was just mean of the writers to hint around about the Shadows.

The visual effects, we have to admit, were pretty cool. Who wants to get weird and freaky yellow eye contacts now? Better yet, I think I know what I will be this year for Halloween! Demonic Mrs. Northman? Check and Check.

In any case, I am not sure if it was just us, but were any of you also confused throughout the episode? First we thought that Robert really was being haunted by a demon. Then we couldn't tie in why his whole family was dead. It almost felt like they had to wrap the sixty minute episode up at the end and left us feeling slightly used.


We feel as though maybe the writers did this because they know we are all waiting in anticipation for more information about the Shadows. So all in all this episode was a big tease. And like in reality, no one likes a tease.
Did you guy catch the on screen chemistry between Melinda and Eli? They really need to work on not showing that to us, because frankly, Jamie Kennedy is gross and her on screen hubby is so much hotter!


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Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga lead the way at 52nd Grammys

Divas and dance pop will rule the 52nd Grammy Awards Sunday. Whether their prominence says something about the need for escapism after a year in which reality TV shows were better than brutal reality or about the music industry's glomming onto pop success in an attempt to shore up its ever-shrinking bottom line, is anyone's guess.

At this year's popular-music celebration -- airing live from L.A.'s Staples Center at 8 p.m. on WFOR-CBS 4 -- Beyoncé, with 10 nods for I Am . . . Sasha Fierce, tops the nominations the way she has topped the charts and pop consciousness. Country-pop teen queen Taylor Swift follows with eight for Fearless, and Lady Gaga, who makes drag queens look demure, has five for The Fame. All three are up for the big categories of Album, Record and Song of the Year.

Ruling urban dance tribe Black Eyed Peas (with trademark femme Fergie) has six nods, including Album and Record of the Year, for The E.N.D. So does misbehaving rapper Kanye West, but his nominations are mostly for rap collaborations rather than for the major categories he has dominated in the past. No rap artists are nominated in the big, general categories, in contrast to recent years when Lil Wayne and West were widely lauded.

Most of the top nominees will perform Sunday night: Beyoncé, the Peas, Swift and Gaga. Dave Matthews Band, the lone rockers up for Album of the Year, will also play, as will Southern rock newbies Zac Brown Band, the token Best New Artist nominee.

A tribute to Michael Jackson features Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood and Usher and will include the premiere of a 3-D mini-movie for Earth Song that Jackson created for his This Is It tour. And the Recording Academy, in a bid for relevance and digital visibility, will let fans follow the awards on Facebook and Twitter.

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Miss Virginia wins 2010 US crown

A 22-year-old Virginia woman who said she once thought her only talent was singing is the newest Miss America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants.
Caressa Cameron, a broadcast journalism student at Virginia Commonwealth University, now plans a second year away from college as she travels extensively to raise money for charity and carry the 89-year-old pageant's crown.

"I hope to gain inspiration, I hope to gain momentum so that when this 365 days is over, I can shoot through the moon," Cameron said.
Cameron, the first black Miss America since Ericka Dunlap in 2005, says she wants to get a master's degree and eventually become a news anchor.

Cameron, the daughter of a background researcher for the government and a contractor, said she was inspired to compete in pageants at the age of 14, when Miss Virginia 2003 Nancy Redd visited her school.
"At that time, all I knew that I could do was sing - that's all I had," she said.
Cameron said that after that visit, she decided to try out for a school musical, which snowballed into more opportunities in the arts, drama and other areas.

"More doors and more doors continued to open," she said. "It's so important that we reach our young people, because there are so many young people that are at the very same crossroads that I was at."
"We need those people to let them know that just because your circumstances are a certain way, you don't have to succumb to them," she said. "You can do something amazing, like become Miss America."


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