Nick Lachey
Nick Lachey breaks out on his own with his sophomore disc, What's Left of Me, which hits stores on Tuesday. PEOPLE looks at the former Newlywed's return to the music game, plus other events to watch for in the coming week
SUNDAY, MAY 7: Eva Longoria will leave behind Wisteria Lane to take center stage at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium as the host of the ALMA Awards, honoring Latino achievement in television, film and music. Among the nominees: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Mariah Carey are up for outstanding female musical performer and Benicio Del Toro for outstanding actor in a motion picture (for Sin City). Marc Anthony will also receive an achievement award for his musical contributions. The ALMA Awards will air on ABC on June 5.
MONDAY, MAY 8: David Blaine is testing his limits again. Since May 1, the daredevil has been immersed underwater in an eight-foot acrylic sphere at New York City's Lincoln Center, where he's been breathing through a tube. On Monday, he'll attempt to hold his breath underwater longer than any other human being – the current record is eight minutes and 58 seconds – on the live ABC special David Blaine: Drowned Alive (8 p.m. ET).
TUESDAY, May 9: Fans will finally get to hear all of Nick Lachey's innermost musings when the former Newlywed releases his sophomore solo album, What's Left of Me. In his MTV special, Nick Lachey: What's Left of Me, the singer insisted that though the album's songs refer to his breakup with Jessica Simpson, "It's not in any way vindictive or an assault on her. In a lot of ways, it's more of an assault on me." You be the judge.
FRIDAY, MAY 12: The ladies of The View will have a very special guest when, for the first time, Oprah Winfrey makes an appearance on the morning chatfest (ABC at 11 a.m. ET). Of course, the daytime diva has a good reason to schmooze with Star, Joy, Elisabeth, Meredith and Barbara – she'll be chatting up her May 15 ABC special, Oprah Winfrey's Legends' Ball, featuring footage from a slew of parties she hosted last year with an A-list guest list including Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin.
NEW THIS WEEK:
• Movies (now in theaters): Mission: Impossible III, starring Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames; Hoot, starring Luke Wilson; An American Haunting, starring Sissy Spacek; Down in the Valley, starring Ed Norton and Evan Rachel Wood; Art School Confidential, starring John Malkovich; The Proposition, starring Guy Pearce and Emily Watson
• Music (in stores Tuesday): Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium; Neil Young, Living with War; Paul Simon, Surprise; The Isley Brothers, Baby Makin' Music; Mission: Impossible 3 soundtrack; Chris Isaak, The Best of Chris Isaak; Jagged Edge, Jagged Edge; Harry on Broadway: Act 1, Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O'Hara
• DVDs (in stores Tuesday): Munich; The New World; Rumor Has It…; Nanny McPhee; Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete Sixth Season; Scrubs: The Complete Second Season.
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Patrick Kennedy Admits, 'I Need Help'
Capitol, Rep. Patrick Kennedy
A day after crashing his car into a security barrier near the Capitol, Rep. Patrick Kennedy announced that he is entering rehab for addiction to prescription pain medication. "I know I need help," the Rhode Island Democrat said in a brief statement he delivered at a press conference on Friday.
Kennedy, the son of Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, is heading to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for treatment. This is not his first time seeking help with addiction.
Last Christmas, Kennedy returned to Washington, D.C., after a stay at the Mayo Clinic feeling focused and in good shape, he said. But, he added Friday: "As in every recovery, each day has its ups and downs." Yesterday was definitely a low.
Capitol police witnessed Kennedy's car accident and cited him for failure to keep a proper lane, unreasonable speed and failure to give full time and attention to the operation of a vehicle.
A police report said Kennedy's "eyes were red and watery, speech was slightly slurred, and upon exiting his vehicle, his balance was unsure."
Kennedy later issued a statement saying he'd taken a sleeping pill and another drug that can cause drowsiness and had told officers he was "headed to the Capitol to make a vote" at the time of the accident, which was about 2:47 a.m.
The officers who pulled Kennedy over were instructed by an official "above the rank of patrolman" to take him home and no sobriety tests were conducted at the scene, Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the Associated Press.
Of the incident, Kennedy said Friday: "I simply do not remember getting out of bed." He said he also did not remember being pulled over, adding, "That's not how I want to live my life."
Kennedy called his struggle with addiction a "chronic condition" and said he is "taking full responsibility" for his actions. Asked if he planned to resign, he shook his head and said, "I need to stay in the fight."
Soon after the Friday press conference, Ted Kennedy issued a statement reading, in part: "I love Patrick very much and am very proud of him. All of us in the family admire his courage in speaking publicly about very personal issues and fully support his decision to seek treatment."
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Mary Kay Letourneau & Vili Fualaau: One Year Later
Mary Kay Letourneau & Vili Fualaau with daughters Alexis, 7, and Audrey, 8
Ten years ago Vili Fualaau, then a sixth grader in suburban Seattle, and Mary Kay Letourneau, his 34-year-old teacher and a married mother of four, began an affair that produced two children and became a national scandal.
This month, the couple will celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary. Although Letourneau spent seven years in prison for second-degree rape of a child, she and Fualaau never stopped professing their love.
Last May, nine months after her release, they were married at a Seattle-area winery. In its new issue, PEOPLE offers an exclusive look at their life together after a year of marriage. "We do normal things," says Letourneau, 44, who shares a rented three-bedroom beachside house in Normandy Park, Wash., with Fualaau, 22.
Recently "we all went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, then over to Blockbuster to get a movie." But there are challenges. Letourneau, who lost her teaching license, and Fualaau, who hopes to become a tattoo artist (they rely on the substantial six-figure fee they received for the TV rights to their wedding), are focused on getting full custody of their daughters Audrey, 8, and Alexis, 7.
For now Fualaau's mother, Soona, who raised the girls while Letourneau was in prison, has custody of them, but in June Letourneau and Fualaau hope a Seattle court will give them custody.
"It'll be nice to take the girls to Disneyland and not have to ask the state or notify Vili's mom," says Letourneau. Her four other kids, from her marriage to Steve Letourneau, are slowly re-entering her life.
Last October Steve Jr., 21, told his mother he was moving to Seattle from Anchorage and asked if he could live with her. Mary Claire, 18, a freshman at the Art Institute of Seattle, stays over frequently, and Jacqueline, 12, and Nicholas, 14, also visit regularly.
Still, the situation is complicated for Fualaau. "I feel like I don't really have a place except that I'm their mother's husband," he says. His wife's children "had a mom and dad and then I came into the picture and they think, 'I hate that guy; if he hadn't come along this would never have happened.'"
Fualaau's relationship with Steve Jr., who is only one year younger, can be strained. "I feel a bit of competition, like, 'Who deserves Mom's attention more?' " he says. "I back down because she's his mom and I don't want him hating me. But I get so frustrated."
Another strain: Last December, a police officer stopped Fualaau in SeaTac, Wash., for speeding and reported smelling alcohol on his breath.
This April a jury found him guilty; his lawyer is looking at options to keep him out of jail. Despite the arrest, Fualaau's everyday life is, for the most part, ordinary. He and Letourneau devote most of their time to their kids, but every Saturday night is couples night. For their anniversary "Vili has a plan and he's keeping it secret," says Letourneau. Once in a while she envisions having another child. "One more would just be ideal," she says. "If we could have a boy, it would be Vili's dream."
A Day in Their LivesRecently, Audrey and Alexis, returning from ballet class, dug into a box of costumes in their living room. "It's spirit day," explains Letourneau, referring to a tradition practiced by Fualaau's family, "and the girls get to dress up."
Audrey, the tomboy, slips into a devil outfit; Alexis, the girly-girl, chooses angel's wings. Later Alexis tries to sneak a stray cat past her mother. "Let him go," Letourneau says. "Steven's allergic to cats." On a trip to the supermarket, the girls start fighting, prompting Letourneau to pull Audrey aside. "I reminded her that she is older than her sister, and that seemed like a chance to bring up what happened to me and Vili," says Letourneau. "I told her, 'Mommy and Daddy fell in love, but the rules were that we needed to wait until Daddy was older.' "
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Ashlee: Marriage 'Not On My Mind'
Olita and Simpson at the April 12 MTV Australia VMAs
Ashlee Simpson has learned to slow down and relax thanks to her beau, Braxton Olita – but says she's in no rush to marry young like her big sister, Jessica.
"I'm a lot more peaceful and chilled out," the singer tells Teen People of her life since she began dating Olita. "I honestly couldn't be more content."
Simpson, Teen People's June/July cover girl and one of its Hottest Stars Under 25, tells the magazine she was friends with Olita, the 20-year-old Hawaii native who plays guitar in her band, before their relationship turned romantic. "He's the yin to my yang; people call him my 'Little Buddha,' " she says.
"When he comes around, everything changes. Braxton has taught me a lot." Still, Simpson, 21, says she's not looking to follow in big sister Jessica's footsteps and get married at a young age. (Jessica was 21 when she tied the knot with Nick Lachey; they split last year.) "I've watched Jessica go through a really hard time. Marriage is definitely not on my mind," she says.
"Sometimes things don't work out the way you thought they would. I'm absolutely in love and in a committed relationship, but we live day-to-day. There's a lot of growing you do in your twenties, and I definitely want to wait until my late twenties or thirties or whenever the time is right."
Next up, Simpson will kick off her summer tour on May 6 in West Palm Beach, Fla. And in the future, she hopes to pursue acting. "I'm reading scripts and looking at films that are more Quentin Tarantino-style," she says. "I'd like to do a really great movie by the time I'm 25."
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Celine Dion Set for 500th Vegas Show
Celine Dion
After 18 years of touring around the world, Celine Dion has embraced a life of domesticity – sort of. OK, so she doesn't really do much vacuuming these days.
"It doesn't mean I won't do it again, but I'm fortunate that I don't have to do it now," says the singer, who reportedly earned an estimated $38.5 million in 2005 and has sold more than 175 million albums over the years.
Dion and her husband René Angélil have settled into a happy routine in Las Vegas, where they live in a suburban three-bedroom home 30 minutes off the strip with a little guy who is the world to them: 5-year-old son René-Charles.
"I love being a mom – it relaxes me to read stories to him, do finger painting, play with Play-Doh," says Dion.
"I think people have a hard time imagining I can have a normal life, but I do." Well, that might be stretching it. Four or five nights a week Dion sells out the 4,148-seat theater at Caesars Palace, where fans pay up to $225 to see the five-time Grammy winner perform songs like her 1998 hit "My Heart Will Go On." Sunday, May 7 will mark her 500th show.
"It's like I blinked and it's 500," says Dion, 38, who has extended the three-year contract, reportedly for $100 million, that she signed in 2001 to the end of 2007. Even fellow stars like Michael Jackson and Britney Spears have been to the show. Dion's favorite fan so far? Her son, who saw the show for the first time last year. She was a ball of nerves knowing he was in the audience with dad Angélil, 64, who is also Dion's manager. "It was the only time I felt nauseous before a show," she says.
"My son was going to be there looking at me as a performer and not as a mom reading stories at bedtime." After all, a stable routine is the reason she took the gig in the first place; no longer touring the world, the family enjoys that normal life she was talking about. "I am a full-time mom. That's my priority," she says. "Then I go and sing a few songs at night."
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