33 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Four paparazzi have been arrested for reckless driving while chasing Britney Spears’ car in the San Fernando Valley.

Los Angeles police Lt. Mario Munoz said officers observed several cars following a white Mercedes-Benz around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mission Hills.

The cars were following Spears’ car too closely and traveling at unsafe speed. They also made several unsafe lane changes, authorities said.

Munoz said officers stopped the Mercedes, interviewed Spears and released the 26-year-old pop star after verifying her driver’s license.

But the four photographers in the cars chasing her were booked for investigation of reckless driving.

14 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tim McGraw and Dwight Yoakam have never sung together, but they’ll act together in the romantic comedy “Four Christmases.”

McGraw began filming this week in Los Angeles, his spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Set for release during the holiday season, the movie stars Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn as a couple who, after years of avoiding their families during the holidays, are forced to visit all four of their divorced parents’ homes on Christmas Day.

McGraw, 40, plays a brother of Vaughn’s character.

Yoakam has a supporting role in the movie, along with Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau and Kristen Chenoweth.

Seth Gordon will direct for New Line Cinema and Spyglass Entertainment Group.

This will be McGraw’s fifth movie project. His screen credits also include “Black Cloud,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Flicka” and “The Kingdom.”

Yoakam, 51, has been in several movies, including “Red Rock West,” “Sling Blade,” “The Newton Boys” and “Panic Room.”

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New Line is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

___

On the Net:

Tim McGraw:

http://www.timmcgraw.com/login

Dwight Yoakam:

http://www.dwightyoakam.com/

28 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran British rock band the Rolling Stones has signed an exclusive worldwide recording agreement to release its next album through Universal Music Group, prompting speculation that it could leave EMI.

EMI has been hit by a wave of bad news in recent weeks, with key artists threatening to walk away from the company after its new owner, financier Guy Hands and his private equity group Terra Firma, unveiled plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs.

A statement released by the band on Thursday said it had signed a one-album deal for the group's next release which is due in March — the soundtrack for a film by Martin Scorsese called Shine A Light.

A spokesman for EMI said the agreement only covered one album but an industry source told Reuters that the EMI and Rolling Stones deal was due to expire shortly and said the group was considering its options.

The Shine A Light soundtrack will receive a physical and digital release across Universal Music's labels around the world.

Shine A Light draws on footage from two Stones concerts at the Beacon Theatre in New York in late 2006, which included guest appearances by Jack White of the White Stripes, Christina Aguilera and Buddy Guy.

The movie also features rare archive scenes and more recent behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

The Rolling Stones, one of the biggest bands in rock'n'roll history with album sales estimated at more than 200 million, embarked on a two-year world tour in 2005 which ended in London last August.

EMI said on Tuesday it would cut a third of its staff and many artists after it struggled in recent years with a poor release schedule, Internet piracy and the move to digital sales.

Universal is a unit of Vivendi.

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Erica Billingham)

21 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A production company co-founded by Madonna settled a lawsuit with a competing firm over plans to make a movie about prisoner abuse.

The settlement Wednesday allows Maverick Films to move forward with its film depicting a Stanford University psychology professor’s experiment using a simulated prison setting to study obedience in humans.

Beverly Hills-based Inferno Distribution agreed to drop a countersuit against Maverick.

The settlement did not involve the exchange of money, Inferno lawyer Jonathan M. Levitan said.

“I think both sides are happy to resolve the case outside of litigation,” Maverick attorney Gary S. Raskin said.

Maverick sued Inferno in October 2006, claiming the firm unfairly represented itself to gain access to confidential information about a movie Maverick was making called “The Stanford Prison Experiment.”

Inferno countersued in December 2006, alleging slander, unfair competition and interference with contractual relations.

The countersuit said the company was making an English-language version of a German movie that examined the psychological effects of prison.

Maverick Films was founded by Madonna and Maverick Records executive Guy Oseary in 2001. Madonna no longer owns an interest in Maverick Films.

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Back in the Apollo Theater’s heyday, audience members walked through an ornate, spacious lobby. Inside the theater, hand-painted detailing decorated the walls. And on the stage, stars were born.

Supporters have long tried to restore the Harlem landmark to those golden days of the 1930s and ’40s, when unknown teenagers Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan launched their careers at the theater’s “Amateur Night.”

Now, after years of struggling to finance an expansion and restoration, theater officials are beginning a national fundraising effort for what they are calling the “final phase” of the renovation.

The $47 million project calls for doubling the size of the theater lobby, building a grand staircase at its center and replacing its wall-mounted columns and marble wainscoting. Work inside the theater would include repainting the colorful, intricate patterns on the walls and restoring box seats.

Under the Apollo Theater Foundation’s plan, the names of musical legends would be memorialized on bronze plaques in a walk of fame in front of the venue. A revamped third-floor performance space would be placed in front of the building’s windows, allowing passers-by a peek inside.

The foundation also aims to raise $12 million for an endowment.

The nonprofit organization already has spent $37 million to replace the theater’s seats and stage and restore its famous marquee, said Jonelle Procope, the foundation president.

Architect Christopher Cowan said his firm was basing its restoration on the Apollo of the mid-1930s, when the whites-only theater was opened to blacks. The theater was built in 1914.

“In a way, you’ll be stepping back in time to experience the Apollo in its heyday,” Cowan said. “That’s the period of cultural significance for the Apollo. It became a center for jazz. It had amazing performers.”

The foundation plans to raise cash for the project through appeals in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington and New York.

“The Apollo has been the venue in which so much of American culture has been created and demonstrated to the world,” said Dick Parsons, chairman of Time Warner Inc. and the theater’s board of directors. “We still want it to be a place where stars are born and legends are made and culture is disseminated.”

Planners say they expect the project to be completed by the end of 2010.

___

On the Net:

Apollo Theater: http://www.apollotheater.org/

By D’ARCY DORAN, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago

LONDON (AP) — The Rolling Stones announced Thursday they have signed a deal to release the soundtrack to their Martin Scorsese-directed concert film through Universal Music Group.

The move does not bode well for EMI Group, the label that has been the Stones’ home for 16 years, raising the possibility that the band might follow Radiohead and Paul McCartney and leave the embattled record company.

“The band are looking forward to working with Universal Music and are excited about this new venture,” The Rolling Stones said in a statement.

In a one-album deal, Universal Music’s labels around the world will release the “Shine a Light” soundtrack in March. The album will be released in Britain by Polydor Records.

“We are really proud to be working with the Rolling Stones, and so is everybody in Universal Music globally,” Universal Music Group International chairman and chief executive Lucian Grainge said.

EMI said its relationship with the Stones was unaffected by the announcement. EMI spokesman Andrew Dowler stressed it had been always understood Universal Music would release the soundtrack because its studio affiliate Universal Pictures was producing the film.

“It’s good spin: Universal are suggesting this is a broader thing, but it’s about one film, one soundtrack and had nothing to do with their relationship with the label,” he said. “They’re an EMI band.”

EMI has lost McCartney and Radiohead, two of its biggest acts, in the past year, while others — including Coldplay — have expressed unhappiness with the label.

EMI was bought by Terra Firma Capital Partners last year, and on Tuesday, the private equity firm announced plans to cut as many as 2,000 jobs, about a third of the company’s work force, in a restructuring plan aimed at reassuring its restless artists, countering plummeting CD revenue and saving $400 million a year.

“Shine a Light” was filmed during a Rolling Stones performance at New York’s Beacon Theatre in autumn 2006. It includes appearances by Buddy Guy, the White Stripes’ Jack White and Christina Aguilera, along with rarely seen archival footage of the band.

The film will open the Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 7 and is expected to be released in cinemas in April.

Natalie Finn Wed Jan 16, 2:44 PM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Faith Hill is bowed but not broken. 

The country superstar had to take a brief timeout from recording her upcoming Christmas album to have knee surgery, but it hasn't stopped her from diving headfirst into 2008. 

"Who has time to slow down?" Hill said in a statement released by her publicist, Paul Freundlich. "Doctors had told me to stay off my feet for a bit and now I'm following their rehab program. I intend to be back better and stronger."   

Hill had to go under the knife to treat an old knee injury suffered during her days as a high school softball player, made only worse for wear over the years. Surgeons had to realign her kneecap and repair cartilage, meaning the Grammy winner had to just sit around and "Breathe" for awhile.

But not for long. Freundlich said that she has remained busy working on her much-anticipated Christmas album, due out sometime this year, and preparing for her appearance Feb. 8 at the Recording Academy's MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Aretha Franklin.   

Hills' holiday spirit can also be heard on "The First Noël," her recent duet with Josh Groban that's included in the easy-listening phenom's smash hit album Noël, which became the bestselling album of 2007 after getting a boost from the Santa Clause of talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.

Per the singer's Website, she and hubby Tim McGraw are still scheduled to perform two concerts—one private, one public—at Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville to benefit the area's Habitat for Humanity program.  

By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writer 42 minutes ago

NEW YORK - A battle is brewing to become the top-rated morning show in the nation’s most lucrative market — and you have to understand Spanish to listen.

On one side is Luis Jimenez, who hosted the nation’s No. 1 Hispanic radio show for more than a decade and even beat out Howard Stern in the New York ratings. He left his Spanish Broadcasting System station in New York last year and returns to the airwaves Thursday in the city on a station owned by archrival Univision.

On the other side is former sidekick Raymond “Moonshadow” Broussard, who is assuming Jimenez’s mantle on his old station along with co-hosts Juan Carlos and Franky Jay.

Industry experts say the competition will be a high-stakes fight that reflects how lucrative Spanish-language radio has become as traditional forms of radio flounder. In New York City alone, there are about 2 million Spanish speakers.

“It’s great for radio, and it’s great for Spanish radio. It’s bound to bring more attention and more dollars to that arena,” said Tom Taylor of the industry Web site radio-info.com. “And the Hispanic market continues to grow, even as the rest of the radio world is soft and flat.”

It also underscores the deep competition between Univision and Spanish Broadcasting System, who have been locked in a heated ratings battle in several major Spanish-speaking markets as they’ve expanded their media empires over the last decade.

Univision is a Spanish-language media giant, and it has one of the most watched networks in America. Spanish Broadcasting System specializes in radio, and saw its annual revenue grow to more than $176 million at the end of the last fiscal year.

“These are the two big Spanish operators around the country,” Taylor said. “Univision and SBS are big rivals, and this is a fairly personal fight that goes back well over a decade.”

Jimenez hosted “El Vacilon de La Manana” (The Morning Party) on 97.9 La Mega for more than a decade. He left last year for Univision, but was forbidden from broadcasting in New York or online because of a no-compete clause in his contract; he was allowed to broadcast in other cities. He is back on New York’s airwaves Thursday on the Univision station 105.9 La Kalle.

Broussard also left La Mega last year to work on a book, but he is returning to the station Thursday. To promote Broussard’s return, the station is giving away $10,000 an hour to kick off the new era.

In the absence of Broussard and Jimenez, Carlos and Jay maintained the hold on the top spot in the ratings in New York as they took over “El Vacilon.”

Jimenez says he has been refining a new morning show, complete with fancy new digs at Univision and more characters.

“The Luis Jimenez Show” will be six hours long starting at 5 a.m. Monday through Friday, and will be syndicated in six cities as well as Puerto Rico. Jimenez says he aims for Spanish-speakers born in the U.S., and infuses the broadcast with spanglish for the listeners who may understand — but not speak — the language. His new show will be more reality-based, and Jimenez is planning a contest to find the next “big” radio personality.

“Before, the show was more like a cartoon,” he said. “Now, people will really get the sense of reality. The voices they hear are real people, with real stories to tell, and everyone is a character,” he said.

He also returns to the Internet on a new Web site.

Still, Univision’s radio reach is small compared to SBS, experts say, and Jimenez has his work cut out for him in his new gig.

“I am worried,” Jimenez says. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t doing all this work, that’s why we’re coming up with this new show, working for the audience.”

Broussard is excited as well. “I realized that it was time to return to my true calling: radio,” he said.

Jimenez has experience growing a radio show, though, and that was before he had millions of fans eagerly awaiting his return. While on La Mega, he created “El Vacilon” and brought it to No. 1, drawing in millions of listeners with his prankster humor. He doesn’t consider himself a “shock jock” like Stern or Don Imus — he just wants to make people laugh.

He’s also well known outside of radio, as a standup comedian, and he made a film called “El Vacilon: The Movie.”

“Jimenez has great street cred, he’s a larger-than-life character,” Taylor said. “And he’s got the fan base to prove it. But radio is often about habit.”

___

On The Net:

http://www.luisjimenezradio.com/

http://elvacilon.lamusica.com/

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

LONDON (AP) — The tragic period romance “Atonement” dominated the race for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 14 categories, including best picture, actor, actress and director. < ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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“No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” also received multiple nods for Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, organizers announced Wednesday.

The BAFTA prizes, to be awarded at London’s Royal Opera House on Feb. 10, are considered an important indicator of Academy Award prospects. The British awards have a higher-than-usual profile this year with the Hollywood screenwriters’ strike muting the traditional glamour of the U.S. show-business awards season.

In an eclectic field of nominees, Joel and Ethan Coen’s noir western “No Country for Old Men” received nine nods, including best director and three best supporting performer nominations, for Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Kelly Macdonald.

Historical epic “There Will be Blood” also received nine nominations, including best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis.

“Atonement,” adapted from Ian McEwan’s literary tearjerker about an ill-starred romance played out against the backdrop of World War II, was nominated for best picture and best British picture. Stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy were nominated in the acting categories, and Joe Wright was shortlisted for best director.

“Atonement” won the best-picture prize at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, although Knightley and McAvoy lost out on the acting prizes.

The full list of best-picture nominees is “Atonement,” “There Will Be Blood,” “No Country for Old Men,” crime epic “American Gangster” and German drama “The Lives of Others.”

The best-actor contenders are McAvoy, Day-Lewis, George Clooney for “Michael Clayton,” Viggo Mortensen for “Eastern Promises” and the late Ulrich Muhe for “The Lives of Others.”

Leading actress nominees are Knightley, Cate Blanchett for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” Julie Christie for “Away from Her,” Marion Cotillard for “La Vie En Rose” and newcomer Ellen Page for “Juno.”

___

On the Net:

http://www.bafta.org

Natalie Finn Wed Jan 16, 1:56 PM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - George Michael is enlisting his fans to read without prejudice. 

The 44-year-old British singer has inked a reported $7 million deal with HarperCollins in the U.K. to pen a memoir that he has promised will "access all areas" of his life. 

"George is one of the best known and best loved pop singers in the world, with an extraordinary story to tell," said Harper Nonfiction UK publisher Belinda Budge. "I am particularly thrilled by this deal, as I have long been a fan of George's. Most importantly, this really will be a truly authentic book—and an exceptional one, as he's going to be writing it entirely himself."   

The as-yet untitled tome is expected to hit shelves in fall 2009. 

"George has promised HarperCollins a no-holds-barred biography, and it's certain to be just that," Andy Stephens, Michael's manager, said in a statement.

"People aren't stupid. They're beginning to notice that the truth is more interesting than the stories the press come up with." 

Well, the press had to start somewhere. 

Michael, whose last major hit single in the U.S. was his 1991 duet with Elton John on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," staged a successful European comeback tour last summer but never really was out of the public eye thanks to some of his quirky sex-and-drug-related exploits. 

The "Father Figure" singer was sentenced to 100 hours of community service in June after pleading no contest to unfit driving in England after police found his car stopped at a North London intersection, with Michael passed out behind the wheel, in October 2006.  

Tests found marijuana and GHB (or, liquid ecstasy) in his system, although the artist's lawyer maintained that it was prescription sleeping pills that prompted his involuntary nap.  

Similarly, in May 2006 Michael dozed off while stopped at a London traffic light, awakening after a concerned citizen tapped on his window.  

Michael good-naturedly spoofed one his more ignominious claims to fame in the recent series finale of the HBO sitcom Extras. In the episode, Ricky Gervais' character runs into an acquaintance of his sitting on a park bench that turns out to be a notorious gay pickup spot.  

After Gervais realizes what's going on, along comes Michael, inquiring where the action is—a reference, of course, to his 1998 arrest for "engaging in a lewd act" in the restroom of a Beverly Hills park. The ensuing scandal eventually prompted him to come clean about his sexuality. 

The "Careless Whisper" singer's resurgence has apparently translated to the U.S. Michael also helps kick off the upcoming ABC dramedy Eli Stone on Jan. 31, playing the Ally McBeal-ish title character's hallucinatory muse. 

Of course, Britain's 10th-richest musician can afford a few jokes at his expense. 

Michael, who found platinum-status success with his band Wham! in the early 1980s, became a bearded phenomenon with his Grammy-winning debut solo album Faith, which since 1987 has sold nearly 21 million copies.  

In an interview with BBC Radio in September, Michael said that he was looking to limit his drug use, but that smoking pot wasn't really getting in the way of his life. 

"In a strange way I've spent the last 15 to 20 years trying to derail my own career, but it never seems to suffer," he said. "I suffer like crazy. I've suffered bereavements and public humiliations, but my career always seems to right itself like a plastic duck in the bath. In some ways I resent that."