By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

LONDON - Mika, Leona Lewis and Take That were the front-runners for Wednesday’s Brit Awards, the British music industry’s most prestigious prizes.

But much of the anticipation focused on an artist who isn’t nominated for any awards — Amy Winehouse. The troubled soul diva, who scooped up five Grammys last week, was due to perform alongside superproducer Mark Ronson on his reworking of The Zutons’ “Valerie.” The song, from Ronson’s album “Version,” is nominated for best British single.

Organizers would not confirm reports Winehouse also planned to sing one of the hits from her breakthrough album “Back to Black.”

Winehouse, 24, has had a tumultuous 12 months since she was named best female British act at last year’s Brits. Her five Grammys — which include record of the year for her autobiographical single “Rehab” — was a rare high point in a year of erratic behavior, canceled concerts, tabloid headlines and drug allegations.

Winehouse spent two weeks in a rehab facility before her Feb. 10 appearance at the Grammys. She performed by video link from London because of a holdup in obtaining a U.S. work visa.

The Brits usually attract a sprinkling of international stars as well as top British acts. Scheduled performers at Wednesday’s ceremony, hosted by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, include Kaiser Chiefs, Kylie Minogue and Rihanna.

The nominated acts are a mix of the new and the nostalgic. Take That — who split in 1996 but reformed a decade later minus original member Robbie Williams — were nominated in four categories: British group, British live act, British album for “Beautiful World” and British single for “Shine.”

Mika also had four nominations, including British male solo artist, British breakthrough act, British album for “Life in Cartoon Motion” and British single for “Grace Kelly.”

Lewis, winner of the TV talent contest “X Factor,” was in the running for British female solo artist, British breakthrough act, British album for her debut “Spirit” and British single for “Bleeding Love.”

Ronson, the Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and Kate Nash each have three nominations.

Paul McCartney, who has spent the past week in court trying to settle his acrimonious divorce from Heather Mills, was due to perform and receive a lifetime achievement award.

The awards are run by the British Phonographic Industry Ltd., an industry association. Most winners are selected by a vote of more than 1,000 industry members, including representatives from record companies, the media, retailers, record producers, disk jockeys and promoters.

The British single, British breakthrough act and British live act prizes are decided by public voting by phone or online.

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On the Net:

Brit Awards:

http://www.brits.co.uk

By RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

LAS VEGAS - Bette Midler unfurls the big feather boa Wednesday in her Las Vegas show, “The Showgirl Must Go On,” a sassy musical reprise of the best hits and worst jokes from her decades in show biz.

The glitzy production, backed by a 13-piece orchestra and 22 rhinestone-studded showgirls, opens with a computer-animated sequence of a whirlwind barreling down the Las Vegas Strip. Some 90 minutes later it ends with Midler towering high above stage on a platform and singing her Grammy-winning “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

In between, a boisterous Midler intersperses her songs with plenty of gutter-ball humor, as seen during a full dress rehearsal before 4,300 invited guests Monday night at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Midler entered the stage in a sparkly silver pant suit atop a burro before breaking into a classic Las Vegas-style showgirl number.

Tired and panting afterward, she kept the crowd laughing.

“Oh my God, I’m exhausted,” she said in a mock collapse. “See, that’s what happens when you do your own singing.”

Wednesday’s grand opening is the start of a two-and-a-half year, 200-show engagement at the stage once filled by Celine Dion, before she embarked on a worldwide tour for her album, “Taking Chances.”

It marks the 62-year-old Midler’s first major live performance run since her “Kiss My Brass” tour in Australia in 2005.

Midler worked with gusto, recreating such hits as the song that launched her career, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” from 1973, and many others: “Do You Want to Dance?” (1972), “From a Distance” (1990) and even an upbeat bola-swinging version of “My Way.”

She frequently joked at the size of the stage, at one point equating a walk to stage right to moving into another ZIP code. “If I have to cross this stage one more time, I’ll have a stroke,” she said.

Midler had a half-dozen costume changes and broke out many of the signature characters from over the years, such as Dolores DeLago, the singing mermaid on a wheelchair, and the crass joke-teller in a nightgown, Soph. She also poked fun at today’s troubled young celebrities, including Britney Spears and Spears’ pregnant teenage sister, Jamie Lynn before declaring herself the front-runner as a trashy party girl.

Along with the “Caesars Salad Girls” roster of dancers (”each and every one a tomato”), Midler got backup singing from three recent graduates of a famed school, for which she was pleased to spell the acronym, the Staggering Harlette Institute of Technology.

Various forms of the Harlettes have long been back up singers for the Divine Miss M, who got her start in show business in the 1966 movie epic “Hawaii.” She later landed on Broadway in “Fidler on the Roof” and in the 1970s, thrilled the gay clientele at New York’s Continental Baths with her trashy sass and Barry Manilow on piano. She went on to win four Grammys, an Emmy and star in movies such as “Beaches,” “Ruthless People” and “The Stepford Wives.”

The $95 million Colosseum was custom-made for Dion’s run, which began in March 2003, played to nearly 3 million fans and grossed more than $400 million over five years. For Midler, the stage was shortened and its rake, or incline toward the audience, was flattened, allowing more than 100 seats to be added, at a cost of $5 million.

Nearly $20 million was spent on the production, and more than that was guaranteed for Midler herself, said John Meglen, the president of Concerts West, an AEG Live company that books talent for Caesars. Midler shares the Colosseum with Elton John on different nights and then with Cher, starting May 6.

Tickets, ranging from $95-$250 for Midler’s first run of 19 shows, are more than 90 percent sold through mid-March, Meglen said, and are available through Ticketmaster. She performs five nights a week.

“She was right, we’re paying her a lot of money. But you know, Bette’s worth it,” he said.

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On the Net:

Bette Midler, http://www.bettemidler.com

17 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - MySpace, the online social networking site owned by News Corp, is in talks with music companies to launch an advertising-supported free music service, according to several reports on Wednesday.

MySpace has approached the four top music labels with plans for the service according to stories in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and technology Web site CNET.com.

A MySpace spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Yinka Adegok; Editing by Louise Ireland))

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, For The Associated Press 31 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - A lawyer for Britney Spears was turned down Tuesday in a bid for a gag order on attorneys in the pop star’s child-custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon rejected the request after attorney Anne Kiley argued that media coverage was “emotionally and physically” dangerous to Spears.

Federline’s lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, contended that Spears’ children aren’t in jeopardy without the gag order and that Spears is more concerned about the paparazzi frenzy that follows her.

Kaplan noted that the paparazzi swarms existed before Spears filed for divorce in November 2006.

Neither Spears nor Federline were present at the hearing.

Spears has not been allowed to see sons Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, since an incident at her home that led to the first of her two hospitalizations in a psychiatric facility this year and a decision by another court to put her father, James Spears, in charge of her affairs.

Outside court, Kaplan told reporters that Federline would like the singer to see her children.

“Both sides want to see the day that visitation can resume. It’s a question of working out the details of how that can happen,” said Kaplan. “Mr. Federline looks forward to his children having their mom in their life.”

The gag order request was discussed in open court before other issues were taken behind closed doors.

Kiley said she wanted a “narrowly tailored” order that would only restrict attorneys from speaking to the media.

Kaplan, who frequently speaks to reporters outside the courthouse after hearings, told Gordon he only summarizes what went on in court when the commissioner allows it and he never discusses the children’s whereabouts or schedules.

Kiley also argued that media vehicles and cameras outside the courthouse were “distressing because of other people trying to use the courthouse.”

“And you think this order would fix that?” asked Gordon.

“I think the First Amendment is important but this is about the practical aspects of the case,” said Kiley.

The commissioner said the public has a right to know court orders. He agreed that public safety and access to the courthouse was a concern but “that’s a law enforcement issue.”

Kaplan said he hoped things will be different now that the conservatorship is in place because there will be “no pre-leaking of information to favored media outlets as to where they (Spears and companions) are going and how they will get there.”

By Michael Kahn 28 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - A little Beethoven is good for the brain, according to a Finnish study published on Wednesday showing that music helps people recover more quickly from strokes.

And patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the researchers said.

Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added.

"These findings demonstrate for the first time that music listening during the early post-stroke stage can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent negative mood," the researchers wrote.

Strokes, which occur when blood flow to the brain is blocked, can kill brain tissue and are one of the worldwide leading causes of death and permanent disability. Treatments include blood thinning drugs and attempts to lower cholesterol.

The study involved 60 people who recently had a stroke of the middle cerebral artery in the left or right side of the brain. This is the most common stroke and can affect motor control, speech and a range of other cognitive functions.

One group listened to their favorite music every day or used audio books while another did not listen to any music. All volunteers received standard rehabilitation treatment.

Three months after stroke music listeners showed a 60 percent better improvement in verbal memory compared to an 18 percent benefit for those using audio books and 29 percent for people who did not listen to either.

The ability to focus attention also improved by 17 percent in music listeners, said Teppo Sarkamo, a psychologist at the Cognitive Brain Research Unit at the University of Helsinki, who led the study.

"We can't say what is happening in the brain but based on previous research and theory it may be music listening could actually activate the brain areas that are recovering," he said in a telephone interview.

Music might also in some way activate more general mechanisms that repair and renew the brain's neural networks after stroke, Sarkamo said.

Larger studies are needed to better understand exactly what is going on but these findings show that music may offer a cheap, easy additional treatment for stroke patients, he said.

"This could be considered a pilot study," Sarkamo said. "It is a promising start.

(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Maggie Fox and Dominic Evans)

49 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Little Richard got a standing ovation at the Ryman Auditorium — and he didn’t even perform.

The 75-year-old rock ‘n’ roll pioneer was seated at the rear of the auditorium during a concert by 1960s Motown stalwarts The Temptations and the Four Tops.

He got an extended ovation from the sold-out crowd of about 2,400 Sunday night after being introduced by Otis Williams, an original member of The Temptations.

“We’ve done some shows together,” Williams said.

Little Richard, a native of Macon, Ga., now lives in Tennessee.

He recently performed with Jerry Lee Lewis and John Fogerty on the Grammy Awards.

Ryman Auditorium is the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

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On the Net:

Little Richard:

http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/Little-Richard.htm