Latin Grammy-winning singer Soraya
Latin Grammy-winning singer Soraya died Wednesday morning in Florida after a battle with breast cancer, the Associated Press reports.
She was 37. She died in a Miami hospital, said Lorena Oriani, a spokeswoman for her record label, EMI Latin The Colombian-American, whose mother, aunt and grandmother died of breast cancer, was diagnosed with stage three of the disease in June 2000.
She successfully underwent treatment but was said to have suffered a relapse at the beginning of the year.
A soulful singer whose music ranged from romanticism to social conscience, Soraya won a Latin Grammy for best singer/songwriter album with her self-titled 2003 release.
She was well known for integrating cumbia and flamenco music with her own style of pop rock and had released her last album in 2005.
This week, she posted a farewell message to fans on her Web site. "I have not lost this battle, because I know the fight was not in vain,” she wrote. “Instead, it will help end a larger battle, which is early detection to prevent this terrible disease."
A public memorial service will take place at 6:30 p.m. EST on Friday at Unity on the Bay in Miami. Donations may be made in Soraya's name to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Source
Lindsay Lohan's New Love
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Burke
Lindsay Lohan's merry-go-round of a love life just keeps on turning.
The star – recently linked to model Jamie Dornan and shipping heir Stavros Niarchos – was spotted smooching singer Jamie Burke on Sunday.
In fact, the 19-year-old actress (in New York City to promote her upcoming films Just My Luck and A Prairie Home Companion) has been spending lots of quality time with the British-born bartender, 21, who briefly dated Lohan's friend Kate Moss, 32, in January.
Last Thursday, the twosome partied hand-in-hand at Manhattan's G-Spa, and on Saturday Lohan attended Burke's band's performance at Delancy Lounge. "They are not serious," says one friend, adding that Lohan and Burke first met at a New York City club about three months ago. "But he's sweet and loving."
Lohan's rep had no comment on the relationship. Could this put a damper on Lohan's friendship with Moss? The two were last seen pole dancing together at Scores strip club on Jan. 11, not long after Moss and Burke returned from a romantic ski trip to Colorado.
Source
Stern Trumpets Satellite Over 'Terrestrial'
In this April 27, 2006, file photo, radio shock-jock Howard Stern poses for photographers during red-carpet arrivals at the inaugural Howard Stern 2006 Film Festival in New York. Stern made it clear Wednesday morning, May 10, 2006: He's staying put on satellite radio.The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" said three companies had made overtures through his agent to return to terrestrial radio, but there was no interest from his end.
No censorship, no fines, no Federal Communications Commission. It's no wonder Howard Stern announced that there's no way he would abandon satellite radio for a return to traditional broadcasting.
"I'm very flattered terrestrial radio can't let go of me," Stern said Wednesday on his morning radio show. "But I would throw up if I had to go back. I'm never going back."
The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" said three companies had made overtures through his agent for a terrestrial deal, but there was no interest from his end. He did not name the companies, although radio industry expert Tom Taylor said it was no surprise that Stern would draw such attention.
"He's a terrific talent, and star talent is always going to be in demand," said Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.
Stern, five months into a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, said he was thrilled by the show's evolution since his January arrival. When Stern announced his move in October 2004, Sirius had about 650,000 subscribers. That figure now stands above 4 million.
"I've never been happier," Stern said. "We're flying high and doing great."
Stern made his comments during an on-air interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. He insisted on speaking with the AP about the reports that he might consider a simulcasting deal where he split time between Sirius and a traditional outlet.
Stern competitors Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia recently made such an agreement with CBS Radio. Stern worked for CBS before making his move to satellite in January.
In February, CBS sued Stern for breach of contract, including using his old show to promote his coming satellite gig, but lawyers on both sides said Wednesday they are close to a settlement.
CBS' lawsuit, which also names Sirius, asks that the defendants be forced to return any financial benefits they received from using CBS radio's air time for promotion.
On his show Wednesday, Stern said that Opie and Anthony's return to traditional radio signified their "failure" on satellite, and he reiterated his intent to continue his program exclusively on satellite.
"The story is I wouldn't do it (terrestrial radio) for any reason," Stern said. "Not for money. I left because I couldn't stand the censorship. I couldn't stand" the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC and Stern were locked in a long, pitched battle that led to staggering fines for the content of the shock jock's show.
Opie and Anthony, on their morning show, continued their long-running feud with Stern by questioning his claims. "He's lying through his teeth," said Hughes about any offers for Stern to come back on terrestrial radio.
On Tuesday, the New York Post identified one of the potential bidders for Stern as Citadel Broadcasting, whose chief executive, Farid Suleman, worked with Stern for several years at Infinity Broadcasting until his departure for Citadel in March 2002.
Calls to Citadel for comment were not immediately returned.
Source
Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Host 'SNL'
Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives for an exhibit opening at the Nomadic Museum in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 12, 2006. On Saturday night, May 13, 2006,Julia Louis-Dreyfus will return to "Saturday Night Live," where she began her career over two decades ago.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus will return this weekend to "Saturday Night Live," where she began her career over two decades ago.
"It's exactly the same schedule and pattern as it was 21 years ago except more fun," Louis-Dreyfus told The Associated Press on Wednesday, shortly before the show's customary "table read" of potential sketches.
She hosts Saturday's show (11:30 p.m. EDT, NBC), with Paul Simon as musical guest.
Louis-Dreyfus first honed her comedic skills at improv theaters in Chicago. She was just 21 when she moved to New York and joined "SNL." Her eventual husband, Brad Hall, made the same trip from Chicago to the NBC show as a cast member.
But Louis-Dreyfus' three seasons at "SNL" mostly during Eddie Murphy's heyday were tense for her.
"I think a lot of it was my own fault. I didn't know how to navigate the waters of show business in general and specifically doing a live sketch-comedy show," she says.
"I've learned a little bit since then."
Of course, Louis-Dreyfus, 45, went on to play Elaine Benes in "Seinfeld," and currently stars on CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
She is, to her surprise, the first female former cast member to host "SNL."
"How's it possible that Gilda (Radner) or Jane (Curtin) or all of these people didn't host," Louis-Dreyfus wonders. "For some reason they didn't, and here I am."
Louis-Dreyfus says she had been approached in the past to host "SNL," but thought raising her two children with Hall took precedence over a week of rehearsing and then hosting the show. Now that the kids are a little more grown, she says, the timing is right.
"We're going to get a huge kick out of being able to show the whole place to our kids," Louis-Dreyfus says of herself and Hall. "We spent a lot of our lives here."
Source
Keith Discharged, Damage-Free
Keith Richards waits on a bus after arriving at the Shanghai airport on April 6, 2006. Richards had surgery Monday, May 8, 2006, in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head following a fall, his representative said. The Rolling Stones guitarist was "up and talking" soon after surgery at The Ascot Hospital in Auckland, but was expected to take several weeks to recuperate, LD Communications said Monday in a statement issued in London.
Fans can count on Keith Richards to not fade away.
The Rolling Stones guitarist was discharged from his New Zealand hospital Wednesday, two days after undergoing one--and only one--operation to treat a "mild" injury stemming from a mishap on Apr. 27.
According to the band's publicist, Fran Curtis, Richards will continue to be an outpatient at Auckland's Ascot Hospital and return regularly for checkups.
The news of the artist's release seems to put to rest rumors that Richards' spill while on vacation in Fiji was more serious than the band had initially let on. The New Zealand Herald reported earlier this week that the musician had undergone two separate surgeries with potentially extensive brain damage
Curtis, however, was quick to shoot down the widely circulated report that the rocker's latest misadventure was a bigger bang than first thought.
"Keith Richards did not undergo a second operation," Curtis said Wednesday. "The first and only operation was done on Monday, May 8, and was 100 percent successful. There was no brain damage. He continues to improve as expected."
The statement was issued in response to the paper's claim that Richards had undergone an initial unreported surgery on Apr. 28 to stop bleeding in his skull, claiming the 62-year-old received a craniotomy for subdural hematoma, a blood clot that forms on the outer membranes of the brain, a major operation which requires drilling through and removing a portion of the skull.
The paper claimed Richards was readmitted to the hospital Monday, the day of his reported surgery, for a second operation after complaining of "major headaches" and reportedly passing out.
For her part, Curtis insisted from the get-go that Richards suffered nothing more than a mild concussion and underwent "a small operation to relieve the pressure" built up in his head. She even went one better, claiming that his condition was better than expected, as the aging wildman had already been "up and chatting, and phoning New York" since his surgery.
The alleged brain damage wasn't the only rumor the Stones camp shot down this week.
Britain's Sun tabloid claimed in a front-page report that the rocker's two daughters, 21-year-old Theodora and 19-year-old Alexandra, along with Richards' wife, Patti Hansen, had flown to New Zealand to mount a bedside vigil on behalf of their patriarch.
Curtis did confirm that the rocker's fam made the trip Down Under, but denied that any vigils were being held. Though if they were, it clearly worked.
As for concerned fans, Richards' release brings the Stones one step closer to resuming their A Bigger Bang tour, which was initially scheduled to kick off May 27. After Richards' injury, the band postponed its planned 35-gig launch to June.
Source
Club Where Rapper Proof Was Killed Closed
Proof, a member of rap group D12 and a close friend of Eminem, shown on March 13, 2003 in Detroit. nightclub where the rapper Proof, a protege of Eminem, died in a shootout that also killed another man will close for a year under a deal with authorities. The CCC nightclub also must pay fines for illegally operating after hours, the Wayne County prosecutors said. The settlement and the fines are to be announced at a court hearing Thursday May 11, 2006.
A nightclub where the rapper Proof, a protege of Eminem, died in a shootout that also killed another man will close for a year under a deal with authorities.
The CCC nightclub also must pay fines for illegally operating after hours, the Wayne County prosecutors said. The settlement and the fines are to be announced at a court hearing Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Proof, 32, whose real name was Deshaun Holton, died April 11 after being shot following a fight that occurred 2 1/2 hours after the club's legal closing time. Proof was a member of the rap group D12 and was the best man at Eminem's January wedding.
Army veteran Keith Bender, 35, also was shot and died a week later.
Police say Proof shot Bender before Bender's cousin, Mario Etheridge, shot Proof. Etheridge is charged with carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm in a building.
Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy, who sued the club's owners, said state law for a nuisance violation permits only a one-year closing.
Club co-owner Alfred Thompson declined comment Wednesday.
Source
Ashlee Simpson Coy on Nose Job Rumors
Ashlee Simpson
NEW YORK - Ashlee Simpson' is laughing off rumors that she had a nose job — but she's not denying it either. Recent photos splashed across the Internet and in tabloids suggest the multiplatinum singer has made an alteration to her profile, removing the bump that made her nose distinctive.
When asked about the speculation during a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Simpson giggled and said: "Everybody's already saying it, so I just don't talk about it. I'm like, OK, whatever. It doesn't bother me."
But when asked whether the rumor was true, the 21-year-old singer didn't confirm or deny it, but just giggled more.
"Maybe — who knows!"
Simpson — the younger sister of Jessica — is about to launch a summer tour in June. Her latest album is "I Am Me"; her first album, "Autobiography," was released in 2004 and sold 3 million copies.
Source
'American Idol' Shocks With Latest Cut
In this photo provided by Fox Television, Chris Daughtry, 26, of McLeansville, N.C. performs on stage during the "American Idol" television show, Tuesday May 9, 2006 in Los Angeles. Daughtry became the latest contestant to be voted off the show Wednesday May 10, 2006.
Shock. Total shock. That was the reaction in the audience when "American Idol" finalist Chris Daughtry predicted by many to be the last singer standing was booted off in Wednesday's voting.
In the most competitive "Idol" race yet, Daughtry's exit narrowed the contestants to three. The winner will be named May 24.
"Surprised?" Host Ryan Seacrest asked an unsmiling Daughtry, visibly caught off guard.
The 26-year-old rocker, drowned out by loud boos and screams of "No!" replied: "Yes."
The other "Idols" stood speechless, mouths agape. Even the judges usually unflappable didn't foresee Daughtry's ouster: Simon Cowell's jaw fell slack; Paula Abdul's eyes filled with tears.
Contestants sang Elvis Presley classics two songs each in Tuesday night's program. Daughtry's cover of The King's "Suspicious Minds" drew rave reviews from judges, including Abdul, who said "See ya in the finals."
Cowell called his second performance a rendition of "A Little Less Conversation" "flat" and "not as good as the first."
Katharine McPhee, 21, had the next-lowest vote total.
McPhee, considered one of the best singers in the talent contest, stumbled with some of the lyrics in her "Hound Dog/All Shook Up" medley on Tuesday's program. Cowell derided the performance as "shrieky," comparing it to a "desperate, manic audition."
"It hasn't been one of your best nights," he told her.
Nearly four years since its debut, "Idol" continues to rule the ratings. It has attracted 25 million to 33 million viewers each telecast this season.
Source
