February 24, 2011

Lindsay Lohan's father Michael has held his hands up and admitted he is "100 per cent" responsible for his daughter's personal troubles. The "Mean Girls" actress is currently facing a prison spell as she prepares to go to trial over a felony theft charge stemming from allegations she stole a necklace.

Lohan also spent time behind bars and in rehab last year to tackle a substance abuse and alcohol problem. Now her dad Michael has spoken out about her woes, confessing the Lohan family broke down after he lashed out and attacked his wife Dina's brother for taking drugs. And Michael believes the collapse of his marriage to Dina prompted Lindsay's downfall.

Country star Tim McGraw has become the latest celebrity to dismiss reports he's planning a political career, suggesting he has too chequered a past to run for office. The politically-minded singer/actor has hinted he would be interested in running for Governor of Tennessee, where he lives with his wife Faith Hill and their kids - but the time isn't right for him.

During an appearance on CNN's "American Morning" news show on Wednesday, February 23, McGraw said, "Somewhere down the line, if I feel I can give back, I certainly wouldn't say no to it, but it would be a while, and my kids would have to be grown because I certainly don't want my closet opened anytime soon."

Justin Bieber is set to pay publishing mogul Hugh Hefner a visit at his iconic Playboy Mansion - and he's taking his father with him. Magazine entrepreneur Hefner took his fiancee Crystal Harris to see Bieber's tour documentary "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never on Valentine's Day - and now the "Baby" hitmaker has asked Hefner if he can attend the raunchy palatial property and meet the infamous Playboy Bunnies.

And Hefner insists he will be happy to play host to the teen superstar and his father Jeremy. Speaking to CNN's Piers Morgan, Hefner reveals, "Today we got news that Justin and his father want to come to the Mansion."

Rare recordings by Neil Diamond at the beginning of his career are to be released on a new CD to mark his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next month.

"Neil Diamond: The Bang Years 1966-1968" features 23 "career-defining" tracks the crooner wrote and recorded when he was a struggling artist at independent label Bang Records. The album, which will be released on the eve of his Hall of Fame induction on March 8, features "extensive and revelatory liner notes" written by Diamond himself.

Justin Bieber was left starstruck on daytime TV on Wednesday, February 23 when the singer's ice hockey hero, Wayne Gretzky, paid him a surprise visit on the set of U.S. chat show "The Talk". The "Baby" hitmaker, 16, was playing a game of air hockey on air with co-host Holly Robinson Peete when she called for some help - and introduced the Canadian great onstage.

The retired sportsman, who was accompanied by his young daughter Emma, took over from the actress and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Gretzky then presented Bieber with his very own replica jersey, bearing the sporting legend's name on the back with his number 99, complete with an autographed message.

Bosses at an epilepsy organization are calling for Kanye West's latest music video to be taken off the Internet over fears it could cause seizures among sufferers. The hip-hop star's promo for "All of the Lights", which features Rihanna, uses so much flashing imagery that regulators at the U.K.'s Ofcom authority have deemed the video unsuitable to be broadcast on British television.

Experts at Cambridge Research Systems claim the video contains flashes that could trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy.

Larry King faced off with his TV show replacement Piers Morgan on Wednesday evening, February 23 to defend comments he made accusing the Brit of "overselling" his new program. Morgan took over from the 77 year old after he announced plans to leave his nightly show last summer.

The British journalist dominated headlines ahead of the January relaunch - but his interviews have failed to win over as many viewers as King's chat show. King praised Morgan for being a "fine broadcaster" last week, but slammed him for talking up the format too much.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror has announced the nominees for the 37th Annual Saturn Awards. Dominating the list is Christopher Nolan's "Inception" with nine, including for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director and Best Writing.

"Tron Legacy" and "Let Me In" follow "Inception" 's domination in movie categories with seven nods each. The "Tron" sequel is up against "Inception", "Hereafter (2010)", "Iron Man 2", "Never Let Me Go" and "Splice" for best sci-fi flick title. The remake to the Swedish film, meanwhile, is up for Best Horror/Thriller Film which is also eyed by "The American", "Black Swan", "Kick-Ass", "Shutter Island" and "The Wolfman".

Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl dedicated his NME Godlike Genius Award to his late Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain in London on Wednesday night, February 23.

The drummer was handed the accolade during the star-studded ceremony at the O2 Academy in Brixton, where famous friends like Sir Paul McCartney, Jack Black and his Them Crooked Vultures bandmates Josh Homme and John Paul Jones paid tribute to the rocker in video messages.

Previews for both ABC's dramas "Criminal Minds" and "Off the Map" have gone viral. In the former, a killer from the past will return. Emily Prentiss suspects her old Interpol nemesis, making her fear for the safety of her BAU team as he closes in on her. How she solves the mess will be seen in "Valhalla" which airs March 2 at 9/8c.

Right after "Criminal Minds", "Off the Map" will follow. While the Paget Brewster-starring TV series is marred with a series of suspicious murders, the Caroline Dhavernas TV show will follow three brothers as they are trapped in an abandoned gold mine and rescued by Lily Brenner and Otis Cole.

One by one, Britney Spears' new song from her forthcoming album "Femme Fatale" is teased. Now, Dr. Luke provides her devotees with a quick listen to her track "How I Roll" which comes from production hands of Bloodshy and Avant.

"Show your knee socks/ With tequila on the rocks/ Til you make your body pops/ To the speakers," she sings in the track. Although the songs that have been teased seem to be dance tracks, "there are [still] a few mid tempos [in the album] that could be considered ballads."

Actor Kelsey Grammer plans on serving up a feast to remember when he weds fiancee Kayte Walsh in New York on Friday, February 25 - reports suggest he'll be spending $215-a-head on high-priced food items.

The Plaza Hotel reception will feature ginger prawns, goat cheese truffles, braised beef short ribs, wild mushrooms and lobster, according to TMZ.com. The cake will be designed by Sylvia Weinstock.

Universal Pictures has debuted another new trailer for "Paul" which is going to grace U.S. theaters on March 18. Making its way out via IGN, it has more funny scenes despite its raunchy content. It features Kristen Wiig's Ruth Buggs getting high after smoking weed, a federal agent curious of alien's d**k and the alien freaking other men out among other scenes.

The movie revolves around two sci-fi geeks, Graeme Willy and Clive Collings, who meet an alien named Paul who later hitches a ride with them. Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.

Ke$ha tries her best to fill the gap between her debut album "Animal" and her not-yet-titled sophomore set. After releasing an extended play "Cannibal" last year, now the pop singer is preparing to roll out a remix album called "I Am the Dance Commander + I Commander You to Dance".

Details including release date, cover art and tracklisting have been revealed. She is going to release it in the U.S. on March 22. Listing ten tracks on it, the CD features such DJs as Switch, Skeet Skeet, Fred Falke, Dave Aude and more as they put their unique spin on her most popular tracks. An unreleased live track "F**k Him He's a DJ" will be included as well.

Justin Bieber is back at the top of the U.S. album charts with his new remixes album. "Never Say Never - The Remixes" is his second number one on the Billboard 200. It opened at the top with 161,000 first-week sales.

Bieber first topped the countdown with "My World 2.0" in April, 2010. All four of the teen sensation's albums feature in the new top 40 - Bieber becomes the first artist to achieve that feat since 1993 when Garth Brooks was a quadruple threat.

Robert Pattinson will once again be featured on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. The British actor has conducted a photo session with legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz and several behind-the-scene pictures have landed online.

In one image, he is seen wearing an all-black outfit. He later dons a white shirt and black hat in some other shots which feature him posing with a backdrop of what looks like a lake. Another photo, meanwhile, has him wearing a more formal attire with a black suit and matching tie.

The futuristic outfits Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber wore in their Super Bowl Best Buy TV advertisement are to be auctioned off to raise cash for Sharon Osbourne's cancer charity. The two stars have autographed their space suits, which cost a massive $30,000 each, and rock matriarch Sharon insists it's a must-have for any Bieber fan - because the teen's costume still smells of his sweat.

Showing off the outfits on her U.S. daytime show "The Talk", she says, "These outfits cost $30,000 each. Justin was sweating all day, so it's covered in his sweat. They are unbelievable outfits... They're signed by the guys and it smells just like Justin! The money goes to a great, great cause."

Justin Tennison, the star of reality TV fishing drama "Deadliest Catch" has been found dead, a year after cast mate Captain Phil Harris passed away.

Police discovered the body of engineer and deckhand Tennison in a hotel room in Homer, Alaska on Tuesday, February 22. He was 33.

Jennifer Lopez broke into tears in the February 23 episode of "American Idol". The female judge couldn't hold back her tears when announcing that the aspiring singer didn't make it to the next round, "It honestly breaks my heart to say this, but you did not make it into the top 24."

Chris seemed to take the news quite well, saying calmly to the camera "Now I'm gonna go home and keep writing music, you know, take care of my fiancee and make a miracle happen." This guy touched viewers' hearts with his story of staying devoted to his fiancee who is suffering from brain damage.

Madonna constantly annoys her daughter Lourdes - by borrowing the teenager's clothes without asking. The Material Girl and her 14-year-old daughter run a fashion line for teens and their styles are so similar, they often borrow each others garments.

But Lourdes gets fed up when some of her clothes go missing - only to find out her superstar mum has been raiding her closet.

Rapper Jay-Z has reportedly lost his bid to convince basketball star Carmelo Anthony to join his team, the New Jersey Nets. The hip-hop mogul, who holds a share in the professional team, was said to have met with Anthony and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov on Saturday, February 19 to discuss a move.

Jay-Z was then said to have cornered Anthony the following day, February 20 at a party thrown in conjunction with the NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles.

Jazz star Esperanza Spalding has brushed off the harsh criticism she's received after beating Justin Bieber to the Best New Artist Grammy Award at this year's ceremony, insisting she's not making music to be popular. The little-known bassist and singer was a surprise winner at the Grammys, triumphing over more mainstream acts like Bieber, Drake, Florence and the Machine and Mumford & Sons.

The Grammy upset sparked outrage among fans of teenage pop sensation Bieber, prompting them to post nasty messages on Spalding's Wikipedia.com profile, which is edited by members of the public. But Spalding is refusing to let the rude comments stop her from revelling in the limelight.

Lindsay Lohan is preparing to go to trial over a felony theft charge after a Los Angeles judge warned the actress she will serve jail time if she chooses to accept a plea deal. The embattled star has pleaded not guilty to accusations she stole a necklace from the Kamofie & Company jewelery store in Venice, California last month, and maintains the item was loaned to her.

Her lawyer, Shawn Holley, previously expressed interest in settling the case with prosecutors if they agreed not fight for a prison term, but Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz shot down the possibility on Wednesday, February 23. He warned the "Mean Girls" actress that pleading guilty or no contest to the charge will be an automatic admission of probation violation on an existing DUI charge - and that will send her to jail.

After making a dance mishap in a promo video for 2011 Academy Awards, James Franco and Anne Hathaway have shown off their better dancing skills. Via his Twitter account, the "127 Hours" actor has shared a link to another YouTube video featuring him and his Oscar co-host reenacting a carnival scene from "Grease".

Children's feet dangling, a man doing a pirouette, the lights at the top of a carousel and men bobbing their heads to music are seen in the clip before Franco and Hathaway appear in all-black ensemble like the ones worn by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the classic musical film. Franco later twirls Hathaway who looks gleeful.

Next week on "Survivor: Redemption Island", there will be a so-called "biggest blindside ever" which is planned by Stephanie. The 26-year-old waitress enthusiastically talks about it with Russell. While Stephanie is ecstatic with her plan, Andrea is on the other hand pissed off with something her pals did.

Matt is the latest contestant who has been voted out in this latest installment of "Survivor" franchise. The 22-year-old pre-med student has his name written down in February 23 episode titled "You Own My Vote". Upon learning his fate, he simply said, "Good work guys, my goodness. Have fun."

Simon Pegg's new alien comedy "Paul" has proven to be out of this world - after entering the U.K. box office chart at number one. The extra-terrestrial movie knocked animated hit "Gnomeo and Juliet" off the top spot, taking in $8.3 million in its first week of release.

"Gnomeo and Juliet" fell to two after grossing $3.3 million, Colin Firth's royal drama "The King's Speech" came third with takings of $2.6 million and its Oscar rival "True Grit" held steady at four with $2.3 million.

Billy Ray Cyrus is trying his best to "mend" his relationship with his family after recently blaming fame for "destroying" their bond. The country singer hit the headlines after revealing in an interview he was "scared" for his superstar daughter Miley Cyrus following her rise to fame in the hit series "Hannah Montana" and a string of scandals.

He told GQ magazine, "The damn show destroyed my family... I hate to say it, but yes, I do (wish the show hadn't happened). I'd take it back in a second... I'm scared for her (Miley). She's got a lot of people around her that's putting her in a great deal of danger."

Actress Amber Heard refused to use safety wires while filming new movie "Drive Angry" 3D - to ensure her dangerous stunts look convincing. Heard plays a coffee shop waitress, Piper, who teams up with Nicolas Cage to take on the leader of a satanic cult in the film.

The 24 year old admits she loved showing off her athletic abilities in action-packed scenes with Cage - and even completed stunts without a safety harness. She says, "I jumped from an RV (recreational vehicle) full of satanic cultists on to the hood of a '69 Charger with its windshield shot out only to be pulled inside by Nicolas Cage as he was barreling down the highway."

Mike Posner and Lil Wayne are neighbors in a music video for "Bow Chicka Wow Wow" remix. The J Records artist and the Young Money rapper get trouble in keeping their girlfriends happy, but as soon as the music kicks in, things get steamy.

"Bow Chicka Wow Wow" appears among new tracks in Mike's well-received debut album "31 Minutes to Takeoff" which has been on sale since August 2010. It's produced by The Smeezingtons and released as the third single from the CD which also features Travis Barker.

Kim Kardashian paid tribute to her late father Robert by throwing a birthday dinner in his honor on Tuesday, February 22. The socialite and reality TV star invited friends and family to Carousel Restaurant in Los Angeles to mark what would have been the attorney's 67th birthday.

The Kardashians dined on Robert's favorite Armenian foods, before bringing out a massive white cake decorated in colorful flowers and butterflies, with the message: 'Happy Birthday Robert!'. In a post on her Twitter.com page, Kardashian writes, "Happy Birthday Dad! Celebrating at his favorite Armenian restaurant with the family! Armenian food was sooo yummy!" Robert Kardashian was 59 when he died of oesophageal cancer in 2003.

James McAvoy has shared his interesting thought on Charles Xavier and Erik Lensher's relationship in "X-Men: First Class". He says, "It's kind of a love story, like 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', which, really, was a love story between two men," when asked about the physics of their characters' friendship.

"This is the first time in their lives they've met someone who is an equal of sorts, someone who understands them and can connect and push them too," the depicter of Charles explains further to Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex. "Especially Charles, he's fascinated with Erik and his potential. For Erik, Charles is the first person he's trusted to really tell about his past and the first person to understand the horrible things he's been through."

Fox has decided to give "American Dad!" early renewal although the show's rating has sunk down a bit since its 2005 premiere. The animated TV series starring Seth MacFarlane as one of the voice cast will be back for seventh season, bringing it through the 2012-2013 season, so it was officially announced.

Despite the decrease in rating, "American Dad!" actually still manages to pull a fairly dependable audience. Last season, it reportedly scored 5.9 million viewers. "This is fantastic news," Roger the Alien said. "But you do realize I'm not real, right?" That quote by Seth's animated character in its renewal press release seems to express the network's satisfaction with the figure.

Longtime "Doctor Who" star Nicholas Courtney has died. He was 81. The British actor, best known for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the cult show, passed away in London on Tuesday, February 22 after a short illness.

Courtney started his acting career with appearances on U.K. TV series including "The Avengers" and "The Champions" before landing his role on "Doctor Who". He made his first appearance in the sci-fi hit in 1965, and went on to star in more than 100 episodes until 1989.

Terrence Malick has given away a sneak peek to his next top-secret project. The first official image from the romantic film has been debuted via The Hollywood Reporter, featuring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams with the background of a field.

The pair sport somber expression, but somehow show natural affection with their gesture. There is still no word on their roles, but the still hints that their characters are romantically linked. Javier Bardem, Barry Pepper, Olga Kurylenko and Rachel Weisz are also cast in the film with Bardem and Pepper reportedly portraying priests.

Lady GaGa has debuted a promotional video for her Viva Glam line with MAC Cosmetics. Staying true to her unique style, GaGa makes the ad creepy but still elegant with the scenes switching from black-and-white to colorful tone several times.

She appears in several mysterious shades on a curtain before her reflection is seen in a mirror surrounded by bedazzled skulls and a martini glass with a goldfish swimming inside. Towards the end of it, she is seen putting a nude-colored lipstick on her lips.

Justin Bieber dominates winner list of this year's Shockwaves NME Awards by grabbing one prize in each of the "worst" and "least" departments. The Canadian singer who has a new haircut to get a more mature look is named the Least Stylish, saving Cheryl Cole, Ke$ha, Lady GaGa and Liam Gallagher from bringing home the title.

Bieber gets his other "honor" by winning Worst Album. The second CD of his two-part debut album "My World 2.0" pushes aside Cheryl Cole's "Messy Little Raindrops", Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Kings of Leon"s "Come Around Sundown" and My Chemical Romance's "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys".

Halle Berry was the guest of honor at the 13th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards on Tuesday, February 22 as she picked up one of the night's top prizes. The actress received the Lacoste Spotlight Award in recognition of her professional excellence and appreciation of the importance of costume design.

Samuel L. Jackson presented her with the trophy, telling the audience: "My dear friend and colleague. Don't you love her name? It's like a stanza of music." The 1930s-set movie "The King's Speech"-starring Colin Firth as British monarch King George VI - was a big winner, landing the Excellence In Period Film prize at the ceremony at Los Angeles' Beverly Hilton hotel.