October 11, 2006

Paula Abdul, the woman of many accomplishments, has been named "Woman of the Year" by a Nevada ballet company for her efforts in dance and choreography.

The award honors prolific stage and screen personalities who are known for their connection to musical theater. As of Paula, she's been chosen for her "warm personality and talent," a representative for the Ballet said.

It's been three years that Stacie Orrico takes a break from music industry. And now the pop/R&B singer is back to the scene with her third solo album in hand.

The effort, simply titled "Beautiful Awakening", will be released on January 16th next year on Virgin Records. The soulful, R&B-powered set is a follow up to Stacie's 2003 self-titled gold album, which spawned two Top 10 singles and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Fans of soul diva India.Arie could soon enjoy her previously unreleased version of "I Am Not My Hair" in a new Lifetime Television movie, "Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy."

The version, which is the original version of the song, actually is a duet between the R&B/soul singer and pop-rocking artist Pink. It will be available on iTunes beginning Oct. 23.

Probably there's no time for Rachel Weisz to take a break even for a while. Currently filming "Definitely, Maybe" while preparing to begin production on "Smart People" in December this year, the Oscar-winning actress sure will get busier as she has given positive sign to star in "The Brothers Bloom" for Endgame Entertainment.

An indie adventure flick, pic centers on a team of skilled con artists which consists of two brothers. Weisz will portray a mysterious millionaire who turns the tables on them after the younger brother threatens to quit the business. In the meantime, the two male leads have yet to be cast.

The time has come and here it is Don Omar gladly presents "King of Kings" tour. The reggaeton superstar launches the U.S. theater tour October 13 in Atlanta.

Omar, best known for his songs "Dile" and "Dale Don Dale", will play 17 U.S. cities, as well as three dates at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan.

While his break up with Jennifer Aniston makes the gossip pages almost everyday, Vince Vaughn is provoking another speculation as the actor has been spotted canoodling with a mystery blonde.

The star showed up at the after-show party of "24 Hour Plays", a London theater production he had appeared in, wearing a stained sweatshirt and jeans with his fly open and was spotted canoodling with the woman.

In response to the Harry Potter fans' high anticipation for the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", Warner Bros. Picture as the flick distributor finally has marked November 17 to be the release of the movie's theatrical teaser trailer.

The company announced that the trailer could only be seen in front of its CG animated feature "Happy Feet" which has been set to open in the same day. The online version of it is likely to be available by the following week prior to its wide release in both conventional and IMAX theaters on July 13, 2007.

Usher, the five-time Grammy Award winner, is sick with flu and that forces him to absent from the Broadway musical "Chicago", in which he's been playing Billy Flynn since August 22.

Fans of the star were disappointed with the fact that they have lined the streets near the Ambassador Theater each night demanding refunds after discovering that it is Usher's understudy who would be performing.

They've been worked hard on their second album, a follow up to their breakthrough record "From Under the Cork Tree", and now as the set is almost finish Fall Out Boy talk its details.

The album, which has yet been titled, will reportedly feature "guitar solos" from Panic! At the Disco's Ryan Ross and New Found Glory's Chad Gilbert. Additionally, the band also promises that the album would be heavy with guest stars, with a few hip hop artists will be making cameos.

For those who are still eager to treasure the glory of classic punk rock band the Ramones, here comes one good news for you, folks. Variety has revealed that a biopic of the troupe is under process to be developed by producer Rory Rosegarten who is known to have produce many episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Entitled "I Slept with Joey Ramone", the project will be made based on Mickey Leigh and Legs McNeil's authorized biography of the same title of which film rights has been optioned personally by Rosegarten. The man has also negotiated a deal with Ramone's mother Charlotte Lesher, who is the executor of Ramone's estate, for the rights to use the band's music in the film.

Ciara, the multi-platinum R&B/pop sensation, will have her sophomore effort "Ciara: The Evolution" hit the stores December 5, 2006. The album is the follow-up to her 2004 triple-platinum "Goodies" which spawned three #1 singles and earned the songbird four Grammy nominations among others.

As for the new set, Ciara recruited a handful of notable names, including Rodney Jerkins, will.i.am, Pharrell Williams, and Lil Jon. Additionally, she also does a collaboration with fellow rapper 50 Cent for the set's song called "Dope Boys".

Apparently generating thrills is still being Gregory Hoblit's priority in making film feature. The Texas-born filmmaker is reportedly involved in talks to helm techno-thriller flick "Untraceable" which is currently in development under Columbia Pictures banner.

Revolving around an FBI investigator tracking down a serial killer who posts pictures of his graphic murders on his own website, pic was originally based on spec script "Streaming Evil" penned Robert Fyvolent and Mark R. Binker, but the writing work later was handed to Allison Burnett to rewrite under current title.

"I just think (seals) are adorable," she said. "I've always loved animals and I want to do anything I can to help."

And bring her love for the seals to life, Emmy Award-winning host Ellen DeGeneres is lending her famous name to Dawn Saves Wildlife, a Web-based program to educate visitors about how they can help save the environment and protect aquatic animals from pollution.

Mega-watt A-list Hollywood super-duper couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, keeps making donation. The actress-actor are now working together on a film about slain U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, donated $100,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation on Tuesday Oct 10th, which would have been the late Wall Street Journal reporter's 43rd birthday.

"On this day our thoughts go out to Danny's family," Jolie and Pitt said in a statement released through their political advisor. "The Daniel Pearl Foundation is celebrating this day, his birthday, with music festivals around the world. The festivals are a great reminder of not just Danny's work as a journalist but of his life and his love of music."

It's kinda unusual way, if not creepy, to promote a film feature. Variety reported that a vial of blood from "Saw" franchise star Tobin Bell has been mixed with red ink for the new poster of "Saw III." About 1,000 posters printed will be sold online for $20 each while the first one will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross.

"We decided to do a poster and he's (Bell) wearing a red cloak," so said Lionsgate marketing honcho Tim Palen as he revealed the process behind his uncommon idea. "I was talking to the printer and asked what we could do to get the deepest blood red. I asked if it would be possible to use actual blood. There was silence. He said, 'We could try, but are you serious?' I said I was dead serious."

What is it about Johnny Depp that's so hot? It is his being reported to marry longtime girlfriend, French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis.

Rumor has it that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor and his girlfriend of eight years, Vanessa, are planning to get married at their home in the South of France next summer.

Mel Gibson is speaking out for the first time about the anti-Semitic comments he made to police when they booked him for drunken driving last summer. The actor tells Diane Sawyer in a two-part interview for ABC's Good Morning America, set to air Thursday and Friday mornings, that his anti-Semitic statements were "just the stupid rambling of a drunkard".

In the media interview, the movie star also tells Sawyer he is committed to make amends, saying "What I need to do to heal myself and to be assuring and allay the fears of others and to heal them if they had any heart wounds from something I may have said. So, this is the last thing I want to be is that kind of monster." Watch the exclusive interview with Mel Gibson Thursday, Oct. 12 and Friday, Oct. 13 on "Good Morning America," which airs across the country from 7 to 9 a.m.