19 minutes ago

NEW YORK - “Saturday Night Live” has replaced a flu-ridden Janet Jackson with another diva: Mariah Carey.

Carey, 37, will fill in for Jackson on the March 15 “SNL” telecast, NBC announced Wednesday.

Jackson, 41, was scheduled to perform live Saturday night in support of her latest album, “Discipline,” which was released last month. The singer’s publicist, Patti Webster, said Tuesday she dropped out because she has the flu and “needs some time to get better.”

Carey’s latest album, EMC2, arrives April 15.

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NBC is owned by General Electric Co.

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NBC:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/

32 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Austrian director Michael Haneke will stage Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” at the New York City Opera in the spring of 2012, one of the first big names brought in by incoming general manager Gerard Mortier.

Haneke staged Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” at the Paris Opera two years ago, setting the opera in a modern-day high-rise office in Paris’ financial district. He won the grand prize at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for “The Piano Teacher.” His newest film “Funny Games,” an English-language remake (starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) of his own 1997 thriller, premieres in limited release Friday.

Mortier takes over City Opera for the 2009-10 season and is promising a shake-up with contemporary works and attention-grabbing productions.

David Jenison Wed Mar 12, 5:20 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Good Times may have helped launch her career, but it was a Good Time album that just ended Janet Jackson's latest chart-topping reign.

One week after Discipline became Janet's first number one album in seven years, Alan Jackson's Good Time gave the country star his fourth number one. Janet—who played Penny on the 1970s sitcom Good Times before breaking into music—slipped to number three behind Jack Johnson's Sleep Through the Static.

For those counting at home, that's three Jacks taking the top three spots.

Alan was tops, with Good Time selling 119,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, per Nielsen SoundScan. Sleep Through the Static sold 92,000 and Discipline, 57,000.

Alan previously topped the Billboard 200 with Drive, Greatest Hits, Vol. II and What I Do in consecutive years from 2002 to 2004. His last two albums, Like Red on a Rose and the gospel covers album Precious Memories, both opened at number four in '06. Though it's his 15th solo album, Good Time is the first that Alan wrote entirely by himself.

SoCal-based Irish-American punks Flogging Molly scored the next best bow just in time for St. Patty's Day with Float moving 48,000 copies at number four. Though it's the group's fourth studio album, Float is Flogging Molly's first to be recorded in Ireland.

The Black Crowes landed the third and final Top 10 debut with their first album in nearly seven years, Warpaint, flying to number five on 46,000 copies. This is the group's highest chart position since The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion topped the charts in 1992.

Warpaint actually benefited from some unusual headlines. Band management issued an angry press release last month after Maxim magazine reviewed and rated the album before it was made available to the press. Several media outlets picked up the story, and Maxim had to come clean and apologize.

Michael McDonald narrowly missed the Top 10 as his new Motown tribute album, Soul Speak, sold 28,000 copies at 12. The former Doobie Brother previously released Motown and Motown Two and landed a big hit with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" after MCI licensed the track for an ad campaign.

Another Jackson, Jackson Browne, opened at 24 as Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2 sold 20,000. The inaugural Solo Acoustic disc, which opened at 55 in '05, was the singer-songwriter's first performance album in nearly three decades.

Other notable debuts included Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks' Real Emotional Trash at 64, Los Tigres del Norte's Raices at 68, Cascada's Perfect Day at 70 and Ashton Shepherd's Sounds So Good at 90.

To recap, the week's Top 10 albums featured:

1. Good Time, Alan Jackson

2. Sleep Through the Static, Jack Johnson

3. Discipline, Janet Jackson

4. Float, Flogging Molly

5. Warpaint, Black Crowes

6. New AmErykah, Pt. One: 4th World War, Erykah Badu

7. Little Voice, Sara Bareilles

8. As I Am, Alicia Keys

9. Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift

10. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse

8 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Reality TV figure Jonny Fairplay will have to provide a court with more details about his tooth-busting dust-up with Danny Bonaduce before his lawsuit against producers of an awards show can go forward. “I think more facts should be set forth,” Superior Court Judge Michael C. Solner ruled Tuesday.

Solner gave Fairplay, whose real name is Jon Dalton, 20 days to amend his complaint to explain why the producers of Fox Reality Channel’s “Really Awards” were negligent and involved in the alleged battery.

The lawsuit stems from an October 2007 altercation in which Fairplay, a competitor on “Survivor: Pearl Islands,” jumped into Bonaduce’s arms on stage during the awards show to give him a hug.

Bonaduce, 48, responded by tossing Fairplay over his shoulders. Fairplay landed face first, losing one tooth, breaking another and loosening two more.

Fairplay, 34, sued Bonaduce, Fox Reality Channel and the show producers for battery, negligence and emotional distress. He claims the producers encouraged Bonaduce to go on stage uninvited, did not provide security and failed to provide prompt medical care afterward.

Vicki Greco, a lawyer for Fox and the producers Natural 9 Entertainment, said Bonaduce’s actions were unplanned and the companies were not responsible for the incident.

Fairplay’s lawyer, Daniel C. Lapidus, claimed Bonaduce told the producers “what he wanted to do and they told him to do it.”

Bonaduce, a child actor on “The Partridge Family,” starred in the 2005 reality show “Breaking Bonaduce.”

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 12.

5 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - George Strait says he still gets a thrill hearing his songs on the radio, and now he’ll have a whole channel of his music to get excited about.

“Strait Country” will launch April 1 on XM Radio channel 17 to coincide with the release of the country star’s 37th album, “Troubadour,” the satellite radio company announced Wednesday.

The station will run through May 31 and feature songs from Strait’s catalog as well as exclusive interviews and programming about the star.

He joins Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson as the only recording artists to have their own XM Radio channels.

“It’s always a thrill to hear one of your songs played on the radio, but to have XM Radio dedicate an entire channel to my music is just amazing,” Strait, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, said in a statement.

The singer’s career spans more than 25 years and includes 55 No. 1 hits. His latest single, “I Saw God Today” is No. 8 on Billboard’s country singles chart, and his duet with Kenny Chesney, “Shiftwork,” is No. 4.

“George’s tremendous achievements and body of work transcends musical genre and will make this channel a must-listen for all music fans across the country,” said Eric Logan, executive vice president of programming for XM Radio.

Gina Serpe Wed Mar 12, 5:10 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Nick Lachey's gonna live forever…at least in the annals of MTV reality shows.

The former boy bander has signed on to develop and executive produce an as-yet-untitled unscripted musical drama for MTV, which is being touted as a real-life version of Fame.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the series—which is hoping to be for performing arts schools what Laguna Beach was for beachside enclaves—will follow a group of multitalented students at Lachey's alma mater, the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati.

The show will meld footage of the students performing with the drama in their lives, per the trade, and play out like an edgier High School Musical; expect lots of student performances, rehearsals and impromptu dance sessions.

"The stories and relationships are all set to music that's organic in what's going on in the school and also performed by the kids," MTV executive VP of series development and programming, said, before busting into the requisite spiel on the cutting-edge nature of the program.

"This is a genre-busting, creative experiment I'm really excited about."

While the pilot has yet to be produced, the school has a history of producing showbiz-ready pupils. In addition to Lachey and his brother Drew, the school boasts Sarah Jessica Parker, Carmen Electra and character actor Todd Louiso among its alumni.

9 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Veteran rapper Ice Cube is putting the finishing touches on his new album, "Raw Footage," and plans to celebrate by cybercasting his concert at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin on Saturday.

The gig will stream on Ice Cube's online television channel, UVNTV.com, which he created with partner DJ Pooh.

"Raw Footage," Ice Cube's ninth solo album, is due in stores on June 17 via his own Lench Mob Records. It includes guest appearances from Musiq, Nas, Scarface and WC.

His previous release, 2006's "Laugh Now, Cry Later," sold 547,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and ended a six-year gap between albums. Ice Cube, 38, has become better known in recent years for acting in such comedy features as "Are We There Yet?" and "First Sunday."

Reuters/Billboard

11 minutes ago

DULUTH, Ga. - Kid Rock caused another scene at a Waffle House — this time, for charity. The entertainer came to sign autographs for hundreds of fans during a fundraiser at the suburban Atlanta eatery. The event came just a week after Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery from a fight last fall at another Waffle House.

Waffle House spokeswoman Kelly Thrasher said the Atlanta-based company wanted to “take a negative situation and turn it into a positive situation.”

Proceeds were to go to Nicholas House, a homeless shelter for families in DeKalb County, where the 37-year-old entertainer was arrested last October following a fight with a customer. Ritchie was scheduled to serve food to Waffle House customers Tuesday but changed plans when he realized he would only have time to sign autographs before his concert scheduled for later in the evening at nearby Gwinnett Arena.

Ritchie said he wanted to make up for the fight.

“The whole situation before was kind of silly,” he said as he signed autographs for fans. “We just thought after that unfortunate incident we’d try to do something silly but something more positive.”

With posters, CDs, guitars and hats in hand, the line of Kid Rock fans snaked around the building for hours waiting for an autograph and photo with the hick-hop star.

Some of the fans drove hundreds of miles to see him.

First in line: Ashley Miles, 21, from Morgantown, W. Va., and her mother, Terri Miles, from Maryland. They arrived at 8:30 p.m. Monday, set up chairs and waited all night.

“I love him; he is gorgeous,” the daughter said.

Next in line: Alisha Mullen and husband Wes Mullen, who arrived at 3:30 a.m. from Point Pleasant, W. Va. They brought sons Carson Taylor, 7, and Brady Taylor, 10.

When asked what he would say to Kid Rock, Carson smiled and said, “I’m a cowboy, baby,” mimicking Ritchie’s hit song.

Police say Ritchie’s tour bus had stopped at another area Waffle House on Oct. 21 after a performance in downtown Atlanta; an exchange of words with a customer escalated into a fight that spilled from the restaurant out into the parking lot.

Officers took Ritchie and five members of his entourage into custody about a mile down the road after the group left the Waffle House.

It’s not Ritchie’s first public altercation. About a month before the Waffle House incident, he was cited in a police report for misdemeanor battery after he was accused of slapping and punching Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. (Both musicians are ex-husbands of Pamela Anderson, who was a presenter at the show.) Charges were never filed in the case.

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On the Net:

Waffle House: http://www.wafflehouse.com/

Nicholas House: http://www.nicholashouse.org/

Kid Rock: http://kidrock.com

By Nellie Andreeva 51 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Country star John Rich, who forms half of the multiplatinum duo Big & Rich, will be a judge-mentor on talent show "Nashville Star," which is switching to NBC after five seasons on USA Network.

Additionally, Rich will write and produce the winner's debut single for Warner Bros. Records. "Nashville Star" premieres June 9 on NBC with Billy Ray Cyrus as host.

After the season ends, contestants will launch a full-scale North American concert tour. During its USA run, "Nashville Star" spawned small-town treks.

Rich is nominated for six Academy of Country Music Awards this year including song of the year. He has written hit songs for such artists as Gretchen Wilson, Faith Hill and Cowboy Troy. He also produced Jewel, Randy Owen of Alabama and James Otto's current albums as well as all of the Big & Rich albums. He's now producing his first solo effort on Warner Bros. and Wilson's fourth album.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Natalie Finn Tue Mar 11, 1:23 PM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Britney Spears has gone two-dimensional.    

Although she's supposedly busy whipping herself into camera-ready shape for an upcoming video, the 26-year-old pop tart has opted to skip a step and order up an animated version of her sleek self instead. 

Photos released Tuesday by Jive Records depict Spears in anime superhero mode, replete with long blond tresses and an angular jaw. In two of the shots, the singer is suited up in different futuristic, body-hugging outfits. 

Another is a hazy close-up of cartoon-Spears' face, while a fourth is a shot of a skyscraper with the word "Victory" printed vertically on its side, flanked by what looks like the moon. 

Jive would not comment on where the pictures came from, but Britain's Sun tabloid is reporting that they're stills from Spears' video for the upcoming single "Break the Ice," off of 2007's Blackout, and that the "Toxic" chanteuse came up with the idea. 

As far as her fans previously knew, Spears has been logging numerous hours in a North Hollywood dance studio rehearsing routines for her "Hot as Ice" video, having enlisted a couple of top L.A.-area choreographers to help her bust a move, not to mention bust out of her slump. 

While Blackout has sold over 2 million copies worldwide, Spears' attempt to recreate the "Gimme More" magic onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards did not go over well, with critics slamming every aspect of her performance, from her outfit to her attitude. 

Friends of Spears have said that she is finally serious about a comeback, now that the drama surrounding her physical and mental health, her parents, her driving record and her children has somewhat settled down.