37 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Bon Jovi is headlining a concert series to raise funds for lung cancer research — a cause that became personal for the New Jersey rockers after bandmate Richie Sambora’s father died of the disease last year.

The group was dedicating the kickoff concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan on Tuesday night to the guitarist’s father, Adam Sambora. It came days before the opening of the band’s “Lost Highway World Tour.”

Funds raised during the yearlong concert series will go to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where Sambora’s father received treatment.

The series, organized by Stand Up for a Cure, also will feature performances by Jerry Seinfeld, Andrea Bocelli and other artists. Future concert dates have not yet been announced.

The non-profit group also has commissioned three mobile care centers in the New York area, which will be named after the rocker’s parents, Adam and Joan Sambora.

According to the National Cancer Institute, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among both men and women in the U.S., and will kill more people this year than breast, prostate and colorectal cancer combined.

___

On the Net:

Bon Jovi:

http://www.bonjovi.com/bonjovi/

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center:

http://www.mskcc.org

Stand Up for a Cure:

http://www.sufac.org

37 minutes ago

YONKERS, N.Y. - Buckle up, Hannah Montana!

In a blog item posted Monday, Consumer Reports magazine says 15-year-old superstar Miley Cyrus, who plays Hannah Montana on television, is seen in her new movie riding without a seat belt in the back seat of a Range Rover.

So is her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Yonkers-based magazine says.

The movie is the 3-D Disney concert film “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” which is based on Miley Cyrus’ TV show and has made more than $50 million in less than two weeks.

Telephone calls and e-mails to Disney and to several of Miley Cyrus’ representatives, seeking comment, were not immediately returned Monday.

The magazine says 65 percent of the 13- to 15-year-olds killed in auto accidents in 2006 were not wearing seat belts.

“It seems to us that Miley, her father and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract — rather than encourage — this trend,” the blog item says.

___

The Disney Channel is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

___

On the Net:

Consumer Reports safety blog:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/

Miley Cyrus:

http://www.mileycyrus.com/movies/index.htm

Disney:

http://tv.disney.go.com/

Gina Serpe Tue Feb 12, 2:04 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Forget the other 12, the step that apparently works best for Amy Winehouse is the one where she dominates a major awards show.

Janis Winehouse, the mother of the newly minted five-time Grammy Award winner, took to the airwaves just two days after her daughter's triumphant performance, appearing on the British morning show GMTV to tell the world that her daughter is back on the straight and narrow.

"She's on the road and that's what it's about," Janis said, speaking in a brief taped interview from inside her London home airing Tuesday. "She's on the road to recovery.

"I think she had a back-against-the-wall situation. If you don't get cleaned up, A, you can't get the visa, B, you can't tour…you know, everything in place. It's like, you know, wake up, Amy!"

Janis said that, while rehab is working wonders for the 24-year-old, it was her big showing, and show of support, at the Grammys, that really put Winehouse over the edge in terms of cleaning up her act.

"It was a case of, Amy couldn't get to L.A., and my feeling was, L.A. came to Amy," she said. Winehouse's visa to travel to the States was initially rejected by the U.S. Embassy last week. Although officials reversed themselves and approved the visa on Friday, Winehouse and her handlers opted instead to perform at the show via satellite link-up from London.

The decision, her mother said, was for the best.

"I think it would have been too much for her because all of the traveling and flying there. I mean, seeing what the Grammys were like, I thought if Amy were there, she'd be a little girl lost in it.

"Amy is…there's no sort of double standards. What you see is how she is. She's a very, very genuine and sincere girl."

Not to mention a talented one, if mom—not to mention the Recording Academy—does say so herself.

"I knew she was good. We all knew she was good. But it's a case of, in that world, in that media world, you can be good for maybe five minutes, a month, two, a year, whatever. But Amy just gets better."

Among her haul Sunday were Grammys for Best New Artist, Record and Song of the Year for "Rehab" and Pop Vocal Album honors for Back to Black.

All this, Janis said, despite the constant media glare on her daughter and what seemed for a time like her daily public and destructive travails. Even those problems, the elder Winehouse told the chat show, can't be pinned entirely on Amy.

"The thing about the media is if they can get anything tacky about a star, they go for it."

Last month, the Sun tabloid went for it in a big way, publishing still photos in its print edition and snippets of a full video online showing Winehouse smoking what appeared to be a crack pipe and admitting to having taken Valium in footage that was filmed at the singer's London home.

A few days later, the singer checked into rehab—yes, yes, yes.

"She was sort of with it but not with it," Janis said. "I was helpless because there was nothing I could do. Amy had to do it for Amy and that's the way it is…She's got a solid family and we're all there for her.

"Where I know about addiction, addiction is something that once it's got hold of the person, it's like, whoa, you know—very hard to get off."

Though the "I'm No Good" songbird is no longer in the live-in rehab facility at London's Capio Nightingale Hospital, a member of the singer's PR firm, the Outside Organization, confirmed that Winehouse is currently receiving outpatient treatment.

"She will see a therapist and she will still be getting help," Janis Winehouse confirmed to GMTV. "She still wants the help. It's Amy coming back. She's definitely on the road back."

It's unclear just yet whether that road will include a pit stop at next week's Brit Awards, the U.K.'s answer to the Grammys. Back to Black collaborator and über-producer Mark Ronson is nominated for Best British Single for his redo of the Zutons tune "Valerie," which features none other than Winehouse on vocals.

The singer has long been rumored to be taking the stage at the London-set awards show, taking place Feb. 20, though neither the event's organizers nor Winehouse's camp have commented on the reports.

By MIN LEE, AP Entertainment Writer 8 minutes ago

HONG KONG - British author Ian McEwan said he is happy with the movie adaptation of his best-selling novel “Atonement” despite initial reservations about its big budget and the medium of film.

McEwan praised director Joe Wright’s “lush visual sense” and “real sense and eye for instinct, for the emotional heart.” The author also hailed screenwriter Christopher Hampton’s ability to incorporate details from the book.

Speaking Tuesday at the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, McEwan said he was impressed with Irish actress Saoirse Ronan’s handling of the novel’s key character, Briony Tallis, whose false testimony as a child irrevocably changes the fortunes of her sister’s lover.

“Even if you couldn’t have access to her mind, you really got the sense of her mind just turning. And I think that’s really important to the success of the film,” he said.

The 59-year-old Booker prize winner added that the movie’s other two stars, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, “worked marvelously together.”

“I think Joe Wright turned out to be an absolutely superb caster,” he said.

McEwan said he was initially skeptical of the movie’s $40 million budget, worrying that the big investment would allow commercial considerations — such as pressure to cast a marketable star — to trump artistic integrity.

But “all my fears were allayed,” he said.

He said he typically regards film as an “inferior” medium to books because “you cannot give the reader the fine print of consciousness. You cannot convey that sense of the onward rush of thought and feeling that you can in a novel.”

“Atonement” has already shone in the awards season, clinching best dramatic film at the Golden Globe Awards and best film at the British Academy Film Awards. It is also up for seven Oscars, including best picture and best supporting actress for the 13-year-old Ronan.

McEwan said he draws his observations about British class divisions from his own working-class upbringing, which he described as “not much money but just enough that no one starved.”

He said one memorable experience was when he was a university student and met the family of his first girlfriend, whose father was a minister who taught at Oxford.

He said he was impressed by the family’s diet of croissants, green peppers — and yoghurt, which he said he had “never seen in my life.”

“To me it was a revelation — such wonderful food. No one I knew had squeezed orange juice for breakfast. No one fussed over grinding coffee. And for me it was something of a moment. I suppose you could call it a moment of peering over a class barrier,” he said.

____

On the Net:

Ian McEwan: http://www.ianmcewan.com

Atonement: http://www.atonementthemovie.co.uk/site/site.html

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer 27 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Joe Jackson defends smoking, hates politics and loves music.

On the music side, he’s just released his 24th album, “Rain,” and is planning a world tour to promote it this spring.

It’s been four years since Jackson’s last record — a long break for a guy who practically released albums annually during the first two decades of his career.

“I had 10 songs that I really thought were some of the best I’ve ever written, and I didn’t want to make a new album until I felt like that,” he said.

It features Jackson’s most spare arrangement yet: piano, bass and drums.

“I was interested with this record in trying to see how big and how varied it could sound using the absolute minimum of resources,” he said.

Jackson spent the past several years crafting the songs on “Rain.” But the 53-year-old musician has also been busy with other pursuits.

He recently moved from London to Berlin, which he calls “an unusually free and tolerant city,” and has been working on a theater piece about the life of Bram Stoker, who wrote the 1897 horror novel “Dracula.”

“It isn’t really a traditional musical but has music in it. … It’s a bit of a hybrid,” Jackson said. “It’s really quite an original piece. I’m quite excited about it.”

He hopes to see it staged when he wraps the tour.

As for the smoking issue, Jackson isn’t a heavy smoker, but he has written op-ed pieces for The New York Times and the Telegraph of London and written an essay, “Smoke, Lies and the Nanny State.”

“It’s one of those issues where we’re really only hearing one side of it because the anti-smoking movement is so powerful,” he said. “It’s for sure absolutely not as dangerous as we’re currently being told. … There’s no good evidence that smoking up to about 10 (cigarettes) a day does you any harm whatsoever.”

It doesn’t affect his voice, either, he said.

But speaking out on the smoking issue is about as political as Jackson will get.

“I certainly have no great respect for politicians as a whole,” he said. “I think politics is a cesspool.”

___

On the Net:

Joe Jackson:

http://www.joejackson.com

27 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - An appellate court has upheld Ronald Isley’s 37-month federal prison sentence for tax evasion.

The three-judge panel rejected the 66-year-old R&B singer’s argument that his sentence was unreasonable due to his age, poor health and lack of proof that the federal prison system can provide him adequate health care.

In its ruling, the appellate court said the trial judge was correct in sentencing and “best balanced the need to sanction Mr. Isley’s `pathological’ tax evasion against the need to accommodate Mr. Isley’s poor health.”

Isley was sentenced in 2006 after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return.

Prosecutors said Isley avoided paying taxes numerous times over a three-year period and declared bankruptcy after the IRS seized his yacht, cars and other property in 1997.

He was discharged from bankruptcy four years later, but then did not file tax returns for the years 1997 to 2001 and in 2002 did not sign his return and failed to pay all taxes due.

Isley suffered a minor stroke in July 2004, but got married one year later and continuously performed concerts at that time. He is incarcerated at the Terre Haute Federal Corrections Institution in Indiana and his projected release date is in April 2010.

Isley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was part of the Isley Brothers, whose hits included “Twist and Shout” and “This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You).”

Sarah Hall Tue Feb 12, 4:46 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Miley Cyrus may think she has the best of both worlds, but according to Consumer Reports, she could be doing even better.

In a blog item posted on its Website Monday, the magazine called out the teen sensation and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, for failing to wear seatbelts in a scene from the Hannah Montana concert movie.

The scene in question shows the Cyruses riding in a Range Rover on their way to a rehearsal for Miley's tour. Neither is buckled in.

"It seems to us that Miley, her father, and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract—rather than encourage—this trend," Consumer Reports writes, noting that 65 percent of 13- to 15-year-olds who died in car accidents in 2006 were not wearing their seatbelts at the time.

Buckled up or no, Miley continues to be a smash hit.

Disney's 3-D film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, has proven to be a major blockbuster, grossing more than $50 million over its two weeks of release.

On top of her successes on tour and on the big screen, the 15-year-old star recently racked up Kids' Choice nominations for Favorite Female Singer, which she won last year, and Favorite TV Actress for Hannah Montana.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for Mar. 29.

36 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The newest members of the Country Hall of Fame are Emmylou Harris, Tom T. Hall, the Statler Brothers and the late Ernest “Pop” Stoneman.

Their upcoming induction was announced Tuesday in Nashville.

Tammy Genovese of the Country Music Association says Harris is a revered song interpreter, while Hall is a renowned storyteller with his music.

She says the Statler Brothers are America’s poets and Pop Stoneman was a patriarch of country music. They will be formally inducted later this year.

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, For The Associated Press 27 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears’ father sought to fire her business manager because he circumvented court orders by providing the pop star with a car after she was released from a psychiatric ward, according to court documents released Monday.

Manager Howard Grossman also violated court orders by arranging meetings for her when she was released from the hospital Wednesday against her parents’ wishes, said papers filed by attorneys for James Spears, her temporary conservator.

The 26-year-old pop star was seen cruising around Los Angeles later that day in a Mercedes-Benz with a swarm of paparazzi on her tail.

“The temporary co-conservators have lost all confidence in their ability to work with Mr. Grossman,” because of his conduct, attorneys for James Spears wrote in papers seeking to fire the manager. The papers were sealed until after Grossman was served.

Court Commissioner Reva Goetz gave Spears’ temporary conservators the right to fire Grossman after a closed-door hearing Thursday in which they aired the allegations in the documents.

Grossman would not immediately comment on the documents when reached by The Associated Press. He has refused to say whether he was fired.

Jeryll Cohen, attorney for James Spears, said Grossman had been told that two of the troubled star’s cars were to be delivered from a dealership to the singer’s father, who was named temporary conservator of his daughter and her estate after she was deemed unfit to care for herself and manage her finances.

Grossman said he had one of the Mercedeses delivered to the hotel because his client requested it.

“Spears asked him to, and he wanted to comply with her request because he wanted to ‘build her confidence in him,’” according to Cohen’s declaration.

The delivery of the car violated a court order giving James Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet, the co-conservator of her estate, control of the singer’s assets.

Grossman also arranged for Spears to meet with attorney Adam Streisand at the Beverly Hills Hotel in violation of court orders preventing Spears from meeting with any lawyer without her father’s permission, according to the documents unsealed Monday.

Streisand unsuccessfully sought to represent Spears in court Feb. 4 when he argued that she told him by phone that she wanted her father removed as conservator. Goetz found that Spears lacked the capacity to hire her own lawyer.

Grossman said in an e-mail contained in the court records that some of the messages from Cohen were received after Britney Spears contacted him.

He said he rejected Spears’ request to give her a credit card. Under the terms of the conservatorship, he was not permitted to give Spears any money or credit cards.

The papers also claim Grossman refused to turn over e-mails from Sam Lutfi, Spears’ friend and sometime manager. Grossman said Lutfi demanded money in the e-mails.

Cohen said in a written declaration that Grossman did not comply with Lutfi’s demands, but that he “has since refused to provide copies of any such e-mails” to James Spears and his attorneys.

A restraining order was issued preventing Lutfi from contacting Spears. Goetz also ordered Spears not to have contact with Lutfi.

A hearing on the temporary conservatorship is scheduled for Thursday — the day it is set to expire.

Jeffrey Wexler, another attorney for James Spears, declined to comment.

Natalie Finn Mon Feb 11, 1:47 PM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Michael Jackson can't believe it's been 25 years since Thriller came out, launching him into the stratosphere of pop stardom.  

While a lot can happen in a quarter of a century, of course, an anniversary version of his multiplatinum hit machine, digitally remastered and featuring a handful of guest stars, will drop Tuesday.  

And in honor of the big 2-5, the typically reclusive artist took time out to thank the fans who have stood by him throughout. 

"It's hard to believe that 25 years ago Quincy Jones and I embarked on an album named Thriller," Jackson said in a video message released Monday by record company Sony-BMG. 

"To be able to say that Thriller still holds the record as the biggest selling album of all time is just mind-blowing. I have you, my fans throughout the world, to thank for this achievement." 

The former gloved one has sold more than 750 million albums worldwide, including more than 100 million copies of Thriller, which spawned the tunes "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin," among others. Seven of the nine tracks were top-10 singles.

And while Jackson's escapades and legal troubles and general weirdness and face masks on his kids and… Anyway, while the man has overshadowed the music for some time now, the 49-year-old icon said his fans haven't heard the last of him. 

"There is still much more to come for Michael Jackson," he continued. "My passion for music has never stopped…It's my hope that Thriller continues to live on for each new generation to discover." 

A new generation will get to rock with Thriller 25 starting tomorrow.  

A massive spin campaign—which, according to a press release, apparently started with the SoBe Life Water Super Bowl commercial featuring Naomi Campbell and a troupe of lizards dancing to "Thriller"—is planned for 2008. 

The 21st-century heralding of Thriller will include a 40-part commemorative podcast, a YouTube dance-video contest and, starting Mar. 1, an XM Satellite Radio station devoted entirely to Jackson's music for a month.

Meanwhile, the actual new album features all of the 1982 original's nine songs, plus seven revamped tracks, including "Beat It 2008," featuring Fergie," and Kanye West's "Billie Jean 2008" remix. Will.i.am and Akon also contributed new vocals to the disc.