Carrie Underwood
"American Idol" Carrie Underwood returned to her home state to perform at the Country Fever Music Festival in Pryor.
"I have been to so many places, and seen so many things, but you don't know how it feels to be back home," the 23-year-old country singer told the crowd Thursday.
Wearing knee-high black boots, short black shorts and an off-the-shoulder striped top, Underwood opened with "Young and Beautiful," a peppy number about celebrating life while you're young and pretty enough to enjoy it.
She also performed her hits "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Don't Forget to Remember Me," and included Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" midway through her set.
Underwood, a native of Checotah, was the winner of last year's "American Idol."
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Meet Britney's New Bodyguard
Spears and Taylor on May 24
Britney Spears has been spotted around Los Angeles lately with a new companion: A sandy-haired hunk who's been described as her male nanny, or "manny." In fact, he's her new bodyguard, PEOPLE reports in its new issue.
Perry Taylor is a 28-year-old U.S. Naval Academy graduate who seems to be a natural at looking after her son Sean Preston.
The onetime bar bouncer and ski instructor "was a nice, quiet guy with lots of friends," says a source who knew him back at the Academy, where he also played lacrosse. "He never seemed like the kind of guy who'd be lugging diaper bags around for Britney Spears."
Taylor certainly does do his share of heavy lifting around the Spears household: He's been photographed carrying the 9-month-old Sean Preston and pushing his stroller, as well as picking up groceries and bouquets of flowers. But a source close to the pregnant pop star insists, "He's not her nanny." Then why is he holding the baby? "He's protecting Britney and he's protecting the child." An officer and a gentleman.
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Beyonce: I Need a New Band – Fast
Beyonce Knowles
Beyonce Knowles needs a little help from her band – but she doesn't have one. The former Destiny's Child leader is looking for an all-female group to support her on tour for her second album, B'Day, which is due this fall.
The catch? She needs musicians as soon as possible, the Associated Press reports. Knowles is looking for a band to hit the road with her as soon as June 20, her record label said.
Aspiring band members can audition across the country on Monday, in Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Burbank, Calif., and Weehawken, N.J., but they'd better do their homework first.
They'll be expected to play Knowles's "Work It Out" from the Beyonce: Live at Wembley DVD. B'Day is scheduled for international release on Sept. 4 – Knowles's 25th birthday – but won’t hit U.S. shelves until the following day. Her debut solo release, 2003's Dangerously in Love, earned the singer five Grammy Awards.
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Lindsay Lohan: I'm All Grown Up
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan turns just 20 next month, but the actress already considers herself plenty grown up. "(I don't) need to do any more kid movies," Lohan tells Harper's Bazaar magazine in their upcoming issue. "The word kid makes you feel like a child. Someone I dated called me kid all the time. I hated it... I've been through more than some people have in lifetimes."
One of the actress's first grown-up movies, A Prairie Home Companion, which also stars such veterans as Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline, opens Friday. Even though Lohan may be concentrating on adult roles, one thing she isn't ready to commit to is a steady relationship. "I’ve become like the guy in relationships," Lohan tells the magazine, which hits newsstands on June 20. "Lately I just cannot be in a monogamous relationship. But there are people I want to date."
In terms of her body image, Lohan says photo shoots have helped her gain confidence and make her more comfortable with herself. "I went through a phase where I didn’t like my ankles, my legs. I wasn’t treating my body the right way.
Now I've learned how to," she said. As for her reputation as living in the fast lane, Lohan says people make too much of her busy lifestyle. "People like to think that just because I’m young and like to enjoy my life, I'm some crazy party girl," Lohan says. "I hate the term party girl – I hate it." "I'm in this career for the longevity of it," she adds, "not just for doing everything too fast and then running out of steam."
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Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey Couple Up
Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey
First came the sightings, then the rumors. Now a source close to the two finally confirms it: Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy are indeed a couple.
"They are very happy," the source tells PEOPLE. But even though the pair was spotted at an L.A. restaurant last month, don’t think they’re going public.
When McCarthy, 33, was asked recently on The View if she was dating a "well-known comedian who makes funny faces," she replied, “No comment. Does that ever work?" Rumors that the two were an item have been percolating since late last year.
When asked by PEOPLE at the December premiere of Fun With Dick and Jane whether he was seeing McCarthy, Carrey, 44, paused before saying: "I like her, she's a nice person." Reps for both stars declined to comment. McCarthy divorced her husband of five years, director John Asher, last year.
She is currently promoting her newest book, Life Laughs: The Naked Truth About Motherhood, Marriage and Moving On.
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Meredith Signs Off The View
Meredith Vieira
Instead of a tearful goodbye, Meredith Vieira's final appearance on The View Friday was full of raunchy humor and quirky tributes.
With Barbara Walters acting as emcee, Vieira was roasted by her cohosts and a string of guests, including Kesley Grammer and Joan Rivers. Walters began the ceremony, reminding Vieira of the early-morning hours at her new job on the Today show.
Noting that Vieira is an emotional person who cries easily, Walters said, "I can tell you from personal experience that once that alarm clock goes off at 4 in the morning, you'll really have something to cry about." Grammer was up next, where he offered a synopsis of Vieira's childhood while plugging his new film, X-Men: The Last Stand.
Rivers followed with her usual acerbic humor. "They said I should only say nice things about you, so I'm going to be very brief," Rivers said. Vieira's final episode came at the end of an emotional week during which her tenure on the show, which began at its inception in 1997, was celebrated by cohosts Walters
Earlier this week, she was presented with a pictorial montage that illustrated how much her children, Lily, 13, Gabe, 14 and Ben, 17, have grown since she started the show.Though making the decision to leave The View and take over Katie Couric's spot on the Today show was difficult, Vieira told the Associated Press that she doesn't regret her choice.
"It might end up being a mistake, but you can't run and hide," she said. "You have to take some chances."
As for comparisons to Couric, Vieira, 52, told PEOPLE: "I can't even go there. They said, 'All we want from 7 to 9 a.m. is for you to be you.' I said, 'I guess I can do that, I guess I can pull that off.'" Vieira announced her departure in April, saying, "If you're going to grow, you have to change.
I'm very honored that NBC has asked me to cohost the Today show." (Couric left Today to anchor the CBS News.) When Vieira announced her plans to leave, Walters described their time together on The View as "the most wonderful nine years," and cohost Behar said, "I'm miserable that you are leaving."
For Vieira, the move marks a return to a newsier program – a format she'll likely be comfortable with since she spent nearly 20 years working in news before joining The View.
Vieira, who also hosts the syndicated game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, said she is trying to work out a schedule that will allow her to remain with that show.
Rosie O'Donnell has been selected to take over Vieira’s spot on The View. She is scheduled to start in September.
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