May 04, 2005

Stuart Benjamin, Howard and Karen Baldwin, all of which are the leading performers of "Ray," the biopic of legend Ray Charles, have gotten the stage rights to Charles' life story and greatest hits from the late icon's estate and Ray Charles Enterprises for a musical production that's part biography.

The Hollywood trades reported that Ray brain trust want to incorporate Charles' best loved tunes, including "Georgia on My Mind," "You Don't Know Me," "Hit the Road Jack," "Unchain My Heart," "I Can't Stop Loving You," "What'd I Say" and his soulful take on "America the Beautiful."

Eric Clapton's band "Cream," which propelled him to stardom, has took to the stage in London late Monday May 2, 2005, 37 years after their farewell concert at the same venue.

To begin the four dates show, Clapton along with bassist-singer Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, performed at the Royal Albert Hall to a rapturous reception.

Linkin Park dispute with its record company Warner Music still continuing. The rock band said in a statement "The new owners of Warner Music Group will be reaping a windfall of $1.4bn [£740m] from their $2.6bn purchase a mere 18 months ago if their planned initial public offering moves forward. It means Linkin Park, their biggest act, will get nothing."

Further the band claimed that only $7m of the $750m proceeds of the IPO had been earmarked for corporate purposes. The investment team led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., even worse, has since cut $250m in costs, reducing the workforce by and its roster of artists by about Thus, those points are all obviously to Linkin Park disadvantage.

Recent news spark rumors Paula Abdul has had an affair with former American Idol contestant, Corey Clark, will all be revealed on an ABC News special. The special will report Corey's claim that he had a sexual relationship with Paula while on the talent show. Furthermore, the hourlong special is set to air at 10 p.m. EDT Wednesday May 5, 2005, after the "American Idol" results show airs at 9 p.m. EDT.

And if you are curious to know everything, either the contest results or the revelation, don't go anywhere.

Justin Timberlake has been reported by Britain's "News of the World" that he and girlfriend Cameron Diaz are going to tie the knot this weekend at the very exclusive Grand Hotel Du Cap Ferrat in Nice, France, the exact place where they met at the Cannes film festival. The source of that report is mentioned to be an "aide" to Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, who claims that Ozzy and Sharon had to cancel plans to see their daughter Kelly's heavy metal band's gig in London Saturday because they are supposedly going to attend Justin and Cameron's wedding.

Though quick denials come from Diaz publicist Brad Cafarelli who points the report as "totally false," News of the World mentions that a hotel source says "The hotel is fully booked for a special event next weekend. They have booked the whole hotel." Also the NY Post grabbed the dreaded "no comment" from a Justin representative, which may strengthen the report.

Pop diva Britney Spears and her husband Kevin Federline have finally come up with "Britney and Kevin: Chaotic" as the best title for their new reality series. As previously mentioned by UPN, the series is going to feature the "exclusive, never-before-seen private home videos" which the couple shot themselves during their courtship, engagement and wedding. The six-episode series will premiere with a special one-hour episode, airs on May 17, 2005 at 9 p.m. ET, and video clip is available on UPN's Web site.

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton is moving into acting. And for her first tim ever, she's going to act in the horror movie "House of Wax," which opens Friday, May 6th, 2005.

In the 1953 horror classic, Paris will portray a helpless female student at a co-educational institution, who finds herself hunted by murderous brothers, out to turn her into a wax display.

11 days after they got engaged, actress Jennifer Garner and her fiance Ben Affleck now spark pregnancy reports after the beauty was photographed with a bulging stomach. According to celebrity experts, the bulging stomach isn't caused by Garner's over- eating or lack of exercise, since she famously commits herself to an exhausting health and fitness regime. To strengthen the rumors, an insider says "Jennifer was showing quite a big bump and she was walking very carefully. The bulge is out of proportion with the rest of her body, which is really toned. I'd say she's a few months gone."

Rapper Lil' Kim is facing a 20 years in prison after she's been sued by two singer-songwriters who claim she failed to compensate them for cowriting and appearing on tracks on her 2003 album "La Bella Mafia." Anthony Jeffries and Vincent Hart, both 23 years old, filed a legal lawsuit Monday in New York State Supreme Court claiming the rapper whose real name is Kimberly Jones to break a deal to pay them $15,000 each for contributing vocals to "The Beehive."

In the complaint the two men mentioned the rapper gave nothing for their work, except a piece of jewelry she said was worth $10,000, which she then demanded back "under a threat of physical violence." Moreover, the accusers said Lil' Kim also hired them at $400 per show and made more than 30 appearances at her concerts but were only paid for one. The suit, to add, also asserted Lil' Kim for failing to pay an addition sum of $10,000 each plus royalties for cowriting three songs on the disc: "Hold It Now," "The Jump Off" and "Can You Hear Me Now."