Archive for News U.S.A
Amy Winehouse died after detox seizure, dad says
Maria Puente
USA TODAY
Trying to detox from alcohol, Amy Winehouse may have overdosed on a powerful anti-anxiety drug and suffered a seizure, says her father, Mitch Winehouse, adding fresh detail to the picture of the tragic end of a talented, short life.
Speaking in his first interview since the British neo-soul singer was found dead in her bed in London on July 23, Mitch Winehouse told CNN newsman-turned-talk-show host Anderson Cooper that traces of the prescription drug Librium, which also is used to treat withdrawal symptoms during detox from alcoholism, were found in his daughter’s body.
“Everything Amy did, she did to excess,” Winehouse said during the taping of Cooper’s new show, Anderson, debuting Monday. “She drank to excess and did detox to excess.”
He said shortly before her death she had seizures brought on by alcohol withdrawal but had been improving. “The periods of abstinence were becoming longer, and the periods of drinking were becoming shorter,” he said, dabbing tears during video clips of his daughter, the Associated Press reported.
Winehouse acknowledged he was speculating about what had happened; the full picture won’t emerge until after the official inquest into her death, set to begin next month in London. Amy Winehouse had suffered from drug and alcohol addictions for years.
Mitch Winehouse, who is trying to launch his own singing career, appeared on Cooper’s syndicated show in New York with Amy’s mother, Janis Winehouse; Amy’s boyfriend at the time of her death, Reg Traviss; her stepmother and her aunt.
The family is speaking out now to help promote the foundation they have set up in London to raise money to help people fight alcohol and drug addictions.
Cooper’s show donated $50,000 to the foundation after the interview was set up, a spokeswoman acknowledged, but it was not a payment for the interview.
Source: usatoday.com
Selena Gomez To Host 2011 VMA Pre-Show
Gil Kaufman
Mtv
With Lady Gaga slated to open the show and performances on tap from Lil Wayne and Adele, among others, the 2011 Video Music Awards are already mega. But things will heat up even before those stars take the stage thanks to Selena Gomez, who has been tapped to kick off the night’s festivities as the celebrity host on the pre-show black carpet.
The platinum recording artist and Emmy Award-winning actress will anchor the pre-show on Sunday, August 28, starting at 8 p.m. (live Eastern Time/ tape-delayed Pacific Time), reporting on breaking news and interviewing her peers alongside MTV’s team of correspondents, including Sway Calloway, Jim Cantiello and James Montgomery.
“I am very excited to be a part of the 2011 VMAs! After all of my years watching the VMAs, the pre-show has always been one of my favorite parts. It is a true honor to be hosting from the black carpet this year,” Gomez said in a statement.
Gomez will get some help from Cobra Starship, who will perform their dance hit “You Make Me Feel,” featuring Sabi, live during the VMA Pre-Show, which will also include an exclusive new teaser of “Jersey Shore.”
“We are so excited to be a part of the 2011 VMAs! I grew up watching them every year and it was an honor to be nominated two years ago and it is an even bigger honor to be able to play the pre-show this year,” said Cobra Starship guitarist Ryland Blackinton. “I will never forget when Pat Smear left the Foo Fighters live during the pre-show, and I’m planning on having him replace me this year.”
While Gomez is meeting and greeting the celebs on the black carpet, MTV News correspondents will bring you interviews with some of today’s hottest stars. We’ll set up shop in the lobby of a downtown Los Angeles hotel that is being transformed into a musical time portal featuring a paparazzi photo arena as the centerpiece to all the pre-show madness.
Who will follow Selena at the VMAs? Check out the big reveal!
In between, Cantiello will keep an eye on MTV News’ Twitter Tracker, which will provide updates on the global VMA conversation on Twitter and show the volume of Twitter traffic about VMA nominees, presenters, performers and attendees. He’ll also tweet photos from the paparazzi theater and ask fans to use them to make fan art and send them back so he can display them during the broadcast while he tweets about all the black-carpet action @MTV.
MTV News will also bring viewers a first look at the new Nicki Minaj video “Fly,” featuring Rihanna. The lead-in to the pre-show will be an all-new episode of “Jersey Shore” at 7 p.m. ET/PT, with the cast popping in to the live pre-show to predict who the night’s big winners will be.
As previously announced, Adele and Wayne will take the stage in addition to Bruno Mars, Chris Brown and Young the Giant. Confirmed presenters include Jonah Hill, Rick Ross, Seth Rogen, Gomez, Kim Kardashian and Odd Future. MTV will announce additional performers and presenters in the coming days.
Viewers can vote for all general VMA categories by visiting VMA.MTV.com online or m.mtv.com on their mobile phones through August 16. In addition, Best New Artist text voting is open to all wireless subscribers by texting BNA to 66333. Voting for this category continues through the show, which airs live Sunday, August 28. Verizon subscribers can vote on all categories via SMS by texting VMA to 66333 (standard message rates apply).
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for your favorites in the general categories by visiting VMA.MTV.com.
source: mtv.com
‘Last Friday Night’ brings Katy Perry to record-holding status
thecelebritycafe.com
American singer and songwriter, Katy Perry, 26, has tied with the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, as having five No. 1 hits from the same album on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“Last Friday Night” has recently brought her to five, joining her other hits, “California Gurls,” the title track, “Firework,” and “E.T,” according to BBC Newsbeat.
After finding out “Last Friday Night,” went to No. 1, Perry tweeted, “What a way to wake up! SO proud to announce that the little-engine-that-could of a song ‘LAST FRIDAY NIGHT’ is officially #1.”
“Think about the big artists that haven’t accomplished this,” a celebrity correspondent from E! News stated, according to CBS News. “Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber — hasn’t even had a top 10 hit yet, yet Katy Perry has come out with an album with five huge No. 1 singles. I mean, it’s a big, big accomplishment.”
Let’s not forget, this is only Perry’s second album. Although Jackson scored his five number ones in a shorter span of time than Perry, she has spent longer (18 weeks) at No. 1.
Source: thecelebritycafe.com
Lady Gaga Talks Eggs, Eats Paper On ‘Late Show With David Letterman’
Gil Kaufman
Mtv
If there’s one thing Lady Gaga is great at, it’s making an impression. And the singer clearly did that on Monday night when she stopped by “Late Show With David Letterman” to chat it up on the day her Born This Way album was released.
Wearing a black mask, barely there black boy shorts, knee-high lace-up leather boots, a black jacket over a black rubber bra, and another of her Morticia Addams-style black and blonde wigs, Gaga clearly put the late-night legend on edge with her odd behavior. She began by reaching out and complimenting his orange tie while stroking it, prompting the unflappable Letterman to quip, “Why stop?”
But Dave, who is used to being provoked by everyone from Madonna to Joaquin Phoenix and Courtney Love, took it all in stride and asked Mother Monster to explain why she came out wearing a mask. “You have a mask on. Does this represent something or we don’t care what this represents?” he asked her.
“I’m Batman,” Gaga shot back, humming a bit of the Dark Knight’s old-school TV theme. “What are you wearing, I mean, what aren’t you wearing, I mean it’s great, don’t get me wrong,” he stammered when asking about her revealing get-up. Gaga explained that she only liked the jacket, so that’s the part she chose to wear. “You and I are very different in that way,” Letterman responded. “I have never thought to myself, ‘I’m just going to wear my underpants.’ ”
“Why not, I’m sure you’d look nice,” Gaga said, taking off her mask. “You’d be surprised,” she added, to which he cracked, “Yes, I’d be very surprised … and you’d be surprised also … and so would the local authorities.”
Later in the interview, Gaga claimed that she found the outfit in the garbage on her way into the studio.
The pair continued their friendly banter, talking about Gaga’s days as a bad waitress (she flirted too much with guys who were on dates), which progressed to Gaga shamelessly flirting with the host while trying to avoid answering a question about whether she currently has a boyfriend. She revealed that she spent the previous night chatting with fans on Twitter and drinking a bottle of wine to celebrate the midnight release of the album.
When conversation turned to Gaga’s famous egg, which she busted out of again on “Saturday Night Live” this past weekend, she wondered what it would be like to get the funnyman in one of her oval creations. “I don’t think I’d fit,” Letterman demurred. “Maybe we could get in together,” she replied. “You could be the yolk.”
The infamous egg, which made its debut in February at the Grammys, is a spiritual place, the singer said. “How much time do you spend in it? Is it tough to get insurance?” Letterman wondered.
“Well, no, because for me, it’s a place where I can meditate and experience rebirth,” Gaga explained. “So I just get inside of it and close it and then when I feel that I have been reborn spiritually, I just, woo, come out.”
In keeping with the regeneration theme of the album, when asked how long this rebirthing process takes, Gaga said, “It depends. … I just really believe that you can be reborn over and over and over again until you find that part of you that is the best you that you can be, so I encourage everyone to be that way. I wonder what would happen if I put you in an egg?”
After a series of inane questions, including one about whether it’s true she relaxes by fly fishing and whether it’s true she once ate a Barbie doll’s head during a concert (actually, she said, it happens “all the time”), Gaga grabbed Letterman’s sheet of notes and ripped it up. “I’m just so fed up with all of this,” she grumped before handing back on half of the sheet and stuffing the other in her mouth to chew up.
Source: mtv.com
Lindsay Lohan — Oops, My Boob Fell Out Again
For the 2nd time in less than a week … Lindsay Lohan‘s right breast escaped its holster and hung out in Miami.
Once Lohan got a hold of the situation, she flashed another piece of her anatomy to photographers … her middle finger.
Source: tmz.com
Avril Lavigne concert set
CANADIAN pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne will perform in Shanghai on May 2 at Shanghai Grand Stage.
Tickets for the Shanghai concert will cost from 180 yuan (US$28) to 1,280 yuan.
Earlier this year, Lavigne released her fourth album “Goodbye Lullaby” that features the lead single “What the Hell.”
She is expected to sing the hit tune along with other favorites such as “Complicated,” “I’m With You,” “My Happy Ending” and “Girlfriend.”
By 2009, Lavigne had sold 16 million albums worldwide. Her success has continued with “Goodbye Lullaby,” which has reached top 10 lists in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It was also her third No. 1 album in both Japan and Australia.
The 27-year-old singer has said in the past that she likes rock music because it’s radical and fun, but now that she’s a little older, she hopes “Goodbye Lullaby” will show her mature side.
The album took more than 2 1/2 years to complete and its release date had been pushed back several times. “I write my own music and therefore it takes longer because I have to live my life to get inspiration,” Lavigne told the Kingston Herald newspaper in Canada last August.
“I know my fans look up to me and that’s why I make my songs so personal; it’s all about things I’ve experienced and things I like or hate. I write for myself and hope that my fans like what I have to say,”
Source: eastday.com
Hayley Williams On Cosmo Cover: ‘Sexy Is Whatever You Want It To Be’
James Montgomery
mtv
Hayley Williams can currently be seen on the cover of the May issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and, somewhat understandably, she’s excited (“really excited”) about that fact.
But rather than just let the photos speak for themselves, the Paramore singer has decided to talk about them — and her decision to do the cover shoot in the first place — in a new blog post on her band’s LiveJournal page.
“I wanna talk about the Cosmo cover. It’s a little more than a big deal to me,” she wrote. “To the general public, Cosmo is either a) a woman’s obsession, or b) a woman’s demise … Honestly, either of the two options equal out to be the same damn thing. It’s easy to let all the images of all these Godlike-looking women whisper to us how we think we’re supposed to look. It’s like, ‘Here, look at my boobs! Don’t you wish you had these?’
“And you know what? It’s never gonna change,” she continued. “As much as I tell myself I don’t care and I wear whatever I want, there will always be those moments when I’m at the checkout line at Target and I see some gorgeous person on the cover of any ol’ rag, and I’m like, ‘Ugh, is that how it’s gotta be?’ Only to realize that, next month, that girl on the cover is gonna be me.”
Williams then goes on to explain why she agreed to do the Cosmo cover, and how it fits into not only her role within Paramore, but her new outlook on life, as well.
“My #1 goal when the band began was to make myself invisible. Not only did I not want to be the focal point, I wanted to be unseen! And honestly, it never made a difference,” she wrote. “It never made people focus on me any less … so this time I’m taking a different approach. All three of us in Paramore have our own roles, and finally I will accept mine. I’m going to be okay with being a ‘powerful female.’ And if that’s what it is, I’m going to use that role to make a difference.
“Here’s my course of action,” she continued. “I will be myself. I will grow up. And I most definitely will find the time in my own life to be sexy if I feel like it. Who wrote the rules? Who said that a girl that lives in this same T-shirt and jeans nearly every day won’t wanna wear pumps and a short skirt tomorrow. And I’m hoping by seeing my crazy mug on a magazine cover, some girl who’s having a not-particularly-liberated day will think to herself that the May cover looks just a little different than the usual Cosmo cover and hopefully they can even be inspired. No, I don’t think I’m some kind of saving grace … but I do know that I never thought of myself as conventionally beautiful nor sexy. … I’m hoping that the more a magazine will take a chance on a girl like me, the more a girl will have a frickin’ chance in hell to be unique, powerful, strong in her weaknesses, confident in her flaws. Because that’s who I’m trying to become.”
She closed by telling her fans that “sexy is whatever you want it to be … it’s up to you,” and then backed up that assertion by poking fun at the rather unfortunate cover line (“75 Sex Moves Men Crave”) that accompanied her image.
“For the record, I really was hoping one of the headlines would be ’69 Ways to 69,’ but I guess it was a no go,” she wrote. “Honestly, I don’t think they could come up with that many.”
Source: mtv.com
Green Day Defeat Paramore In Musical March Madness Championship
James Montgomery
mtv
It’s all over but the shouting (and there’s still plenty of that): Green Day are the champions of MTV’s 2011 Musical March Madness tournament, knocking off an upset-minded Paramore in Monday’s title game to claim the crown.
In a contest that was waaay more thrilling — and higher scoring — than the actual NCAA basketball championship game, the guys in Green Day jumped out to an early lead, then held on for dear life as Hayley Williams and company staged a furious second-half comeback … one that, ultimately, fell short as polls closed at midnight. All in all, more than 120,000 votes were cast in the matchup, and Green Day ended up winning by fewer than 2,500. It was a nail-biter, a squeaker, and it came down to the wire. In other words, it was everything you could possibly want in a title game.
And, in Green Day, we have everything we could possibly want in a champion. After an ugly opening-round loss in last year’s MMM tournament, the pop-punk veterans committed themselves to redemption, and tipped off the 2011 competition by blasting Adam Lambert in round one. Focused, Green Day then took out their frustrations on fellow heavyweights U2 and Blink-182, before surviving scares from Panic! at the Disco in the Elite Eight and Disturbed in the Final Four. And now, having bested Paramore, they stand atop the MMM mountain … battle tested, redeemed and, ultimately, triumphant.
So congratulations to Billie Joe, Tré and Mike, who join last year’s champs, Coheed and Cambria, in the annals of Musical March Madness history. Your trophy is being engraved as you read this. And congrats are also in order for Paramore, who showed grit and determination on their road to the championship game — besting foes like My Chemical Romance, Tokio Hotel and Linkin Park — but just didn’t have enough left in the tank to take the title.
In fact, congratulations, and our sincere thanks, to all the fans and all the bands who took part in our Musical March Madness tournament. Your votes, comments, tweets and Facebook campaigns not only helped MMM shatter records, but genuinely impressed us, too. If there were a trophy to give all of you, we’d gladly pay to have it engraved.
So, that’s a wrap on the 2011 Musical March Madness tournament … it’s been quite a ride, filled with thrilling highs and crushing lows, shocking upsets and last-second heroics. And, after millions of votes, thousands of arguments, 63 matchups, six rounds and three weeks, it’s Green Day who reign supreme. And if your favorite band fell short, well, there’s always next year, right?
Source: mtv.com
Lady Gaga to get Glee tribute episode
Vicky Allison
splash news
US TV show Glee is going Gaga with an expanded 90-minute episode paying tribute to the pop superstar.
The hit musical-comedy will expand by a half-hour for the episode which pays tribute to the 25-year-old singer.
In the 90-minute episode, which is set to air on April 26, the New Directions high school glee club perform her current hit Born This Way and learn a lesson about self-acceptance.
source: monstersandcritics.com
Pregnant stars not afraid to bare bumps
Mom-to-be Mariah Carey strategically covers her, ahem, assets, with locks of honey-colored hair on the latest cover of Life & Style magazine, but it’s clear she’s following in the footsteps of some other famous women who showed the beauty of pregnancy in the buff on major magazine covers.
Source: usatoday.com
