By Bob Tourtellotte 12 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California court on Monday denied an attorney's bid to challenge an order that gave control of troubled pop star Britney Spears' personal and business affairs to her father, Jamie Spears.

A three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeals said on Monday an appeal to the conservatorship granted to Jamie Spears cannot be heard by them. The ruling marks the second time attorney Jon Eardley has failed to insert himself into the legal proceedings on Spears' behalf.

"An order granting letters of temporary conservatorship is specifically excluded from those orders made appealable" under California law, the judges ruled.

A spokesman for Eardley had no immediate comment.

Eardley filed the appeal on March 11 to the conservatorship that put Jamie Spears and lawyer Andrew Wallet in charge of the singer's affairs. Wallet and Spears were made co-conservators by a California court in early February, and the order now extends to July 31.

Britney Spears, 26, has seen her life spiral out of control since her November 2006 breakup with ex-husband Kevin Federline. She has been in rehab, lost custody of her two sons and in January was taken to two Los Angeles-area hospitals where she was put under psychiatric evaluation.

In recent weeks, however, Spears seems to have been on the mend, and will appear on Monday in U.S. television show, "How I Met Your Mother."

Sam Lutfi, the self-styled manager who was Spears' constant companion through much of 2007 has had a temporary restraining order issued against him to keep him away from Spears. That order remains in place until April 16.

Lutfi and Eardley are both represented by the same Los Angeles-based spokesman, Michael Sands, but Sands has not disclosed any connection between them.

Eardley said in a court filing that Britney Spears hired him in a telephone conversation.

In February, Eardley tried to move the conservatorship case from state court to federal court, where he believed he might obtain legal standing.

But a federal judge ruled he could not represent Spears because at the time he said he had been hired, Spears had no legal authority to hire a lawyer.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Todd Eastham)

Gina Serpe Mon Mar 24, 8:15 AM ET

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Marilyn Manson's private parts are officially being kept under cover.

A Los Angeles judge has approved a motion filed by the shock rocker last week to keep sealed all financial and business records for the duration of the discovery process in the pending breach of contract lawsuit filed against Manson by his former keyboardist.

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Michael L. Stern ruled on the confidentiality order on Friday, despite protests from attorneys for Manson's former bandmate Madonna Wayne Gacy that the order was too broad for the needs of the case.

Gacy, whose real name is Stephen Bier, filed suit against Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, on Aug. 2, 2007, claiming the frontman misused millions of the band's money to bankroll his own eccentric whims. Manson literally followed suit, filing a countersuit against Gacy in December, accusing him of failing to meet contractual touring, recording and merchandising agreements.

Unauthorized purchases Gacy claims Manson made with group funds include the full skeleton of a four-year-old Chinese girl, various pieces of Nazi propaganda and a $150,000 engagement ring (money not so well spent, in retrospect) for ex-wife Dita Von Teese. He also claims in court papers that Manson paid for his entire wedding to Von Teese with the group's money as well as financed a drug habit.

Gacy claims the blind purchasing deprived him of more than $20 million in his cut of profits from the band's partnership, and maintains his former ally only sought the confidentiality order to hide his predilections from the public.

"He's trying to hide his skeletons from you all," Gacy's attorney, Keith A. Fink, said.

The document sealing is the same order, to the letter, as the one granted to Lindsay Lohan earlier this year in her since-settled lawsuit over a 2005 traffic accident. Manson's attorneys specifically requested the Lohan treatment from Stern, who served as judge in that case, as well.

As it stands, Gacy's attorneys, though no one else, will be allowed access to Manson's personal records. Barring any unforeseen appeals or delays in the case, a hearing in which the keyboardist's attorneys will renew their petition to depose the rocker is set for April 10.

By Julian Ryall 35 minutes ago

TOKYO (Hollywood Reporter) - A ballad from Madonna's upcoming album will provide the theme music for a new Japanese television show, the first time the pop diva has licensed a tune for a TV drama here.

The song, "Miles Away," will be used for the show "Change," which is scheduled to begin airing in April. It is taken from Madonna's "Hard Candy" album, which is set for release here April 30.

The show stars local heartthrob Takuya Kimura in the tale of a small-town elementary school teacher who is suddenly — if improbably — propelled into the position of prime minister of Japan. Madonna met Kimura when she appeared as a guest on the his "SMAPxSMAP" variety show in 2005.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

44 minutes ago

LONDON - The husband of Grammy-nominated British singer Corinne Bailey Rae has been found dead.

Police say Jason Rae was found in an apartment in the northern English city of Leeds on Saturday. Officers are awaiting results of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death.

A 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of supplying him with drugs but has been released on bail, officials said.

Thirty-one-year-old Jason Rae was a saxophonist with a funk band, the Haggis Horns.

Bailey Rae’s self-titled debut album sold more than 1 million copies in the U.S. after its release in 2006.

The 29-year-old was nominated for song of the year at the Grammy Awards in both 2007 and 2008.

By Andrew Hough 52 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of Gregorian chanting monks are on the cusp of international fame, after being signed by one of the world's biggest music labels.

The Abbey of the Holy Cross monks, whose heavenly notes are enjoyed by Pope Benedict, have signed with London-based Universal Records, the company told Reuters on Monday.

The record giant, home to international artists including Amy Winehouse, Bryan Adams and Eminem, will produce the Austrian-based choir's album, which is due for worldwide distribution later this year, it said.

The company discovered the choir, from the world's second oldest Cistercian monastery and based 15 km (10 miles) west of the capital Vienna, after they responded via YouTube to advertisements calling for medieval chanters.

They beat more than 100 other entries which had flooded in from all over the world from countries such as the United States, France, Italy, Ireland and Canada.

According to the monks' Web site, Pope Benedict made a rare visit last year to the Austrian monastery, founded in 1133 by St. Leopold III of the House of Babenberg.

Because of the Pontiff's visit they were forced to postpone releasing their own album, Universal officials said.

The monks' spokesman, Father Karl Wallner, said they had initially responded to the advertisement for fun.

"But now it has become a very serious and positive thing for us because Gregorian Chant is the expression of our spirituality, it's how we pray," he said in a statement released through the company.

"We're not Robbie Williams or Michael Jackson, we're just a group of monks who sing every day because it's our prayer and it's our life."

Label bosses had placed the adverts in various religious publications after discovering a resurgence of interest in the Gregorian chant, thanks to a best-selling computer game.

The Xbox space-age Halo game, which has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide, uses Gregorian chant within its main soundtrack.

The chant, traditionally sung by choirs of men and boys since the early Middle Ages, is one of the oldest known forms of written music.

"They are, without question, the best we heard," Universal artist and repertoire manager Tom Lewis, told Reuters.

"We are excited about the prospect of having a very beautiful and special record on our hands."

He said it was an unusual way of signing an artist but the company was looking for something "particularly extraordinary."

Their first album is due for release by the British summer.