A legendary Hollywood music producer was sentenced here on Friday to 19 years to life in prison for killing actress Lana Clarkson in his Los Angeles suburb mansion.
Phil Spector, 69, was earlier convicted of second-degree murder in April for the death of the actress on Feb. 3, 2003. Full story
The musical fountain in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, opened to the public since it becomes warmer, according to China Tibet Information Center.
The fountain will remain open for two hours each day until the National Day Holiday in October. Since opening to the public, it has attracted a large number of tourists.
The musical fountain in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, opened to the public since it becomes warmer, according to China Tibet Information Center. The fountain will remain open for two hours each day until the National Day Holiday in October. Since opening to the public, it has attracted a large number of tourists
Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise relax by having movie marathons.
The couple - who have a three-year-old daughter, Suri, together - love nothing better than kicking back and taking in several films in a row after a busy day at work.
Katie explained: “We like to watch three movies in a row. We have a special screen at home, it’s pretty big. I love to watch movies on the big screen.
“Sometimes Tom wants to watch ones which I don’t, but I’ll watch it anyway, and then we’ll talk about it afterwards.”
The 30-year-old actress is a huge fan of her husband’s work, and could happily watch his films all day.
She said: “I love Spielberg movies, I love my husband’s movies, Ang Lee’s movies. I love dramas. I love musicals. So it’s hard. I couldn’t even pick a top five!
“Suri loves ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and all the Disney movies. It’s great for me because I get to revisit them!”
Katie and Tom, 46, threw a princess-themed party to celebrate Suri’s birthday earlier this month, with Katie admitting her daughter became obsessed with princesses after a visit to Disneyland earlier this year.
Katie revealed: “It was really special at Disneyland, my parents were there so she had Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time.
“She loved meeting the princesses. She thought that was the best part. Actually, she loves being a princess!”
Friday’s premiere of “High School Musical 2″ on the Disney Channel more than doubled the viewership of the first movie, “High School Musical,” attracting an audience of 17.2 million to make it the most-watched basic cable progrom ever, according to Nielsen Media Research.
“High School Musical” drew 7.7 million viewers in 2006.
The basic-cable record had been held by CNN’s airing of a 1993 debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement that drew 16.8 million viewers.
Among children 6 to 11 and youngsters 9 to 14, two out of three children in those age groups watching TV were tuned in to “High School Musical 2,” the Disney Channel said Monday. Among girl viewers age 6 to 11, it was four out of five.
The “High School Musical” brand has become a cultural phenomenon with hit records, concerts and newly minted young stars including Ashley Tisdale and Zac Efron. The sequel followed the summer adventures of students Sharpay and Troy and their fellow Wildcats of East High.
“High School Musical 2″ garnered a top honor Sunday for best TV movie at the Teen Choice awards and the movie’s star, Zac Efron, earned the coveted title, “hottie.”
“‘High School Musical’started two years ago’and the only reason we’re up here today is because of you guys,” Efron said above the screams of girls in the packed audience.
The Teen Choice Awards annually are handed out to many of Hollywood’s young, and they help gauge popularity among younger fans whom TV networks and movie studios target.
The nominees compete in a range of categories from the serious, such as best comedy or breakout actress, to the just plain funny, like best liplock and hissy fit. Winners are given a surfboard instead of a trophy or statuette.
The awards show, which aired on Sunday night on the Fox broadcast network from Los Angeles, was co-hosted by actress-singer Hilary Duff, 19, and actor-comedian Nick Cannon, 26.
Duff, who shot to stardom in 2001 in the hit TV series Lizzy McGuire,” is the only person who has hosted the show twice in it’s nine-year history.
The show featured songs from Kelly Clarkson, Fergie, Shop Boyz and Avril Lavigne. The only slip-up in the live TV broadcast was when Dane Cook, who was named best comedian, uttered an expletive onstage.
Fergie performed “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and was honored as this year’s Teen Choice female artist of the year.
Other winners included Ryan Seacrest for best hissy fit, in the comedy movie “Knocked Up,” and Steve Carell for choice scream, in the film “Evan Almighty.” Carell also was named best TV actor in a comedy for “The Office.”
Miley Cyrus won two awards for summer artist and for best TV actress in a comedy with “Hannah Montana.” That show also was named best comedy TV program.
Despite promises to take “all measure necessary” to remove music from a website that offers free streamed music from top artists, the site’s cofounder says he’s will continue to operate his service — legally.
France-based Deezer.com has been registering users at a fast pace because of its user-friendly interface and streamed music from thousands of artists including Maroon 5, Rihanna, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
The site offers about 200,000 songs and has signed up 300,000 registered users in the past few months, cofounder Jonathan Benassaya said on Monday. Most of the users are in France, he said, although the site is available in 16 languages.
Benassaya insisted on Monday the service is legal, or that it will be soon.
“We are not robbers,” he protested. “We want to pay for the rights to our music but it takes time to put all the agreements in place.”
Asked if Deezer.com should have waited until the agreements were in place to launch the service, Benassaya pointed out that YouTube launched its service before it signed deals with content owners to distribute their video. He also said Deezer.com has been operating since April and that only now has Universal raised its objection.
But Universal Music, a division of Vivendi Universal SA, said on Friday that Deezer.com’s use of its music was illegal and that it would take “all measures necessary” to get its music removed from the website, according to press reports.
Deezer.com originally operated as Blogmusik.net but pressure from the music industry forced it to shut down in February. It reappeared with its new name last week after signing an agreement with SACEM, a group that collects royalties for authors and songwriters in France.
Nokia on Wednesday launched a series of Web services under the brand name Ovi that allows users of its phones to download games, maps and music directly to their cell phones.
The Finnish Mobile phone maker’s new Music Store is in direct competition with Apple’s iTunes offering. Although Apple’s iTunes is less expensive, Nokia’s service is a huge step forward in accessibility.
IPhone users have to download songs to their computers, but Nokia’s Ovi users can download songs directly to their phones. Ovi will be available in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2007, but at the present there is no timetable for entering the United States.
The company has struck deals with the world’s four biggest music labels, Universal Music, Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony BMG, and some of the largest game makers, including Electronic Arts and Gameloft for its game store, N-Gage.
“The services unit will, in terms of sales, be extremely small in the beginning,” said Nokia spokesman Kari Tuutti. “But that’s really the future we see for Nokia, to be able to develop our business around offering services to people.”
Tuutti said there are already more than 900 million people in the world with a Nokia mobile phone in their pocket, who he expects to replace with an Ovi-enabled phone in the next two years. Customers can’t download Ovi to their current Nseries phones, they have to upgrade to the new models being launched this autumn.
Nokia is launching worldwide the 350 euro (476 U.S. dollars) N81, and a larger capacity version of its N95, with 8 gigabytes, for 550 euros (748 dollars) in October. Later in the year there will be some lower-priced models with the Ovi software, including the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, for 325 euros (442 dollars), and the Nokia 5610 XpressMusic for 300 euros (408 dollars). Nokia is hoping that other rival phone makers will want to use its Ovi software, but it’s doubtful they will at first.
The first Nseries handset with the capability to access Ovi, Finnish for “door,” will be the N81, a slider phone that comes with 8GB of memory. The device has been slightly optimized for gaming, with thumb buttons on either side of the phone’s face, a bit like a PSP or Nintendo DS, so users can play games with two hands instead of one thumb. It also comes with a navi-scroller that is touch sensitive, similar to an iPod scroll wheel.
The Chinese government is working on specific regulations for collecting royalties from television, radio stations for using music works, a senior official said here over the week.
However, it has not been decided when the regulations will be publicized, Liu Binjie, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the National Copyright Administration (NCA), was quoted as saying.
The Chinese government’s efforts in combating piracy and protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) have resulted in more shops and restaurants signing up to pay royalties on the ubiquitous background music that had long been used for free.
Background music played at department stores or hotels — also called “muzak”– received legal protection in China in 2001 under revisions to the Copyright Law. The law states that both live and mechanical performances enjoy the same rights.
Up to now, most big hotels, department stores and supermarkets in Beijing and Shanghai have paid fees to the Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC) for using the songs under their administration, according to sources.
And Karaoke bars in China’s main cities were made to pay 12 yuan (1.50 U.S. dollars) a day in royalties to music artists for each room, according to a regulation set by China’s National Copyright Administration late last year.
However, most television and radio stations in China are still using music works without paying any royalties.
The Music Copyright Society of China is now negotiating with television and radio stations on copyright fee payments, China Press and Publishing Journal reported.
The Music Copyright Society of China is the country’s only officially recognized organization for music copyright administration.
The association has now administered copyrights for over 14 million music works by 4,000 members.
Public venues including hotels, restaurants and department stores are charged with different standards by the society. The usual fee is 2.54 yuan (33.9 U.S. cents) per square meter per year for a department store of 10,000 to 20,000 square meters to use the music, the society said.
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