Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon's Regifted Engagement Ring?

According to our friends at Perez Hilton.com, that engagement ring Mariah Carey's been sporting looks AWFULLY familiar!
A source close to Cannon's ex-fiance, Selita, confirmed exclusively to PerezHilton.com, "That IS the same ring."
Should Mariah be insulted at the re-gift, or happy that she's hooking up with such a thrifty guy?

Hollywood's Hot New Couple

The rumors that have been flying around are true!!! In this week's issue of InTouch weekly, there are pictures of the hot new lovebirds, Jonh Mayer and Jennifer Aniston, laying poolside in Miami.

Witnesses apparently said the two were inseperable.

When InTouch asked how he was doing after spending four days with his new love, John smiled and responded, "My weekend was good."

So what can their Hollywood 'name' be? - Johaniston perhaps?

Check out this week's InStyle to see all of the pictures!!!!

Tom Cruise in talks for M:I4

Sources close to Tom Cruise have told Access Hollywood the actor is in talks with Paramount about making Mission: Impossible 4. Paramount produced all of the prior Mission: Impossible films.

Cruise played super agent Ethan Hunt in the first Mission: Impossible film in 1996, and it grossed $467 million worldwide in the box office. 2000's Mission: Impossible 2 yielded $545 million at the global box office, and 2006's "Mission: Impossible 3 had $395 million in ticket sales.

Although Cruise and Sumner Redstone, the CEO of Paramount, had a public dispute in 2006 when the studio ended its relationship with Cruise's production company following the actor's fall from grace, the two have reportedly been seen in Los Angeles restaurants together.

In other Cruise news, 61-year-old singer Cher revealed to Oprah that she had a relationship with the actor earlier in his career. In the taped interview, to be aired on The Oprah Winfrey Show next week, Cher said she dated Cruise when he was 23-years-old and an emerging star.

She said Cruise was finding life in the spotlight difficult and that it could have been a "great big romance because I was crazy for him."

"He was shy," she said in an excerpt of the interview published by Sky News. "He said he felt like such a boob in school and nobody talked to him. We went on a date once for dinner in a New York restaurant and the waitress was from his old school."

"He told me she never talked to him back in school, but now he was recognized he got all her attention," Cher said.

Her fling with the now 45-year-old actor is believed to have ended when he met first wife Mimi Rogers.

Tom Cruise's appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to commemorate the 25-year anniversary of his breakout film Risky Business have already been taped, a source close to production told the Associated Press Wednesday. The two-part interview includes a snowmobile ride, a frank discussion of his media image and candid talk about his personal life.

"In his 25 years in the business, Tom Cruise has become the epitome of a true Hollywood star," Warner Home Video senior vice president and general manager Jeff Baker said in a statement Wednesday. "We are very proud of this timeless classic and the film that became his breakthrough role."

Is Mariah Carey engaged?

A source close to Mariah Carey told Access Hollywood that the diva is engaged to singer-actor Nick Cannon. Although reps for the couple were not available for comment, rumors about an engagement have been circulating awhile.

At an after party for her Tribeca film "Tennessee" in New York, Carey, 38, worse a new bauble on her ring finger. People asked Cannon what he loved about Mariah, and his reply was "everything"... but Carey has said that she is only in love with one man - her dog!

The two were also spotted at New York's Tenjune nightclub Saturday night.

"Mariah and Nick looked really cozy. They were cuddling and made sure they held hands all night," an onlooker reported. "Mariah looked really proud to be there with Nick, and he seemed to be having a great time."

Both Cannon and Carey were recently in serious relationships. Cannon was engaged to Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks in 2007, but the two ended their relationship the same year. Carey had been seeing music executive Mark Sudack recently, although she never confirmed the relationship.

If the rumors are true, it will be the first marriage for Cannon and the second for Carey. She was married to her record executive, Tommy Mottola, from 1993-1998.

Paula gets confused again on Idol

Paula Abdul seemed very confused on last night's episode of American Idol. Each contestant sang twice, but after everyone sang their first time, host Ryan Seacrest asked for the judges' comments.

Abdul gave comments to contestant Jason Castro, critiquing his first song, then his second - even though he only sang once!

"Oh my God, I thought you sang twice," Abdul said when judge Randy Jackson informed her of the mistake. "You know what? This is hard!" Simon Cowell also tried to save her, repeatedly asking who was her favorite.

Afterwards Abdul said she was thrown a "curveball" and was "confused," resulting in an "honest mistake."

"In seven years we've never had to do that," Abdul told Seacrest about the judging. "We were only following directions."

Although audience members were laughing, Seacrest did try to minimize any embarrassment. "Paula, you’re seeing the future, baby. You're seeing the future," he said.

See Madonna Perform Live!

Madonna to Perform Live at New York's Roseland Ballroom April 30th
Watch the Show Live on MSN!

In celebration of the release of Madonna's upcoming album HARD CANDY, Control Room, MSN and Verizon Wireless will present the one and only Madonna live in New York's famed Roseland Ballroom on Wednesday, April 30th. The show will be available live on MSN Music In Concert at http://music.msn.com/inconcert and will also be available for viewing post-show.

Now fans can Madonna-fy their online world with promo banners, Myspace codes, and desktop backgrounds:

Pre Concert: http://www.controlroom.com/myspace/madonna/downloads.htm
Post Concert: http://www.controlroom.com/myspace/madonna2/downloads.htm

Kate Hudson on People's 100 Most Beautiful Issue

People's 100 Most Beautiful Issue is on sale Friday, and the cover girl of the special edition is Kate Hudson. The 29-year-old told People: I was a tomboy. I had three brothers. I was the girl with the dress on that always came back in the house filthy with scrapes and bruises. But I was always very girly. I had to be able to twirl so that my underwear showed."

The single mom said she looks best "at the end of the night, when everything's soaked in and I'm still up. I like the leftover makeup in the morning. You've got to wash your face but there's always the leftover eye makeup, I love that."

Others in top 100 are Salma Hayek, Mary J. Blige, Rumer Willis, Sarah Silverman, Christina Applegate, Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Isla Fisher, the cast of Gossip Girls, Julianne Moore, Vanessa Hudgens, Taylor Swift, Jessica Alba and Cash Warren and Carrie Underwood.

The Opportunity of a Lifetime!!!!!

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET YOUR BIG BREAK AND SEE THE WORLD. TEN TIME GRAMMY WINNER ALICIA KEYS IS LOOKING FOR A BACKGROUND SINGER TO JOIN HER ON THE AS I AM TOUR!!!

Entering Instructions:

Submit a video of yourself singing acapella for at least 30 seconds. (Original Compositions Only. / No Cover Songs Allowed).

Once your video has been submitted, enter your MySpace URL and video URL in the forum to the right.

Make sure to review the rules and regulations before entering.

Qualifications:
Must be female between the ages of 21-30.
Have a valid Passport.
Immediately able to Travel.

By entering, you agree to the full set of rules and regulations

Winner: The winner will be chosen on or around May 15th. One (1) Performer, selected at the sole discretion of the Sponsors/Judges, will be given the opportunity to perform in at least one (1) show as a back-up singer for Alicia Keys!!

Check out Alicia's MySpace page

I'm treating IPL like a film: Preity Zinta

Indian Premier League has got the imagination of every cricket fan across the world. CNN-IBN spoke to the owners of King’s XI Punjab, better known as the Mohali IPL

team, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia.

Meha Bhardwaj: Are you happy you’ve got just about everybody you wanted on the team, be it Sreesanth, Brett Lee…

Preity Zinta: Irfan Pathan, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Piyush Chawla...yes you’re right. We’ve got everybody we wanted. Thank God we already had Yuvi on the team.

Meha Bhardwaj: I know commercial interest is fine but…

Preity Zinta: I’m purely in for the game. I’ve been a sportsperson all my life and I think it’s time for some action now.

Meha Bhardwaj: And how much is Ness influencing you in this?

Preity Zinta: I think we have all influenced each other. I’m really lucky to be supported by such wonderful friends and partners. It’s a long journey.

Meha Bhardwaj: I want to take you guys back to the auction days. So much was happening. There was this whole talk about the kind of money that was going to be involved, the kind of money we’ve never heard of and suddenly you have players being sold off. As an Indian viewer, people were glued to television channels because they had never seen anything like this. So when you were sitting inside, what was going on inside – like putting in one crore…

Preity Zinta: This department was with Ness and Tom. I think they did a fantastic job and thanks to them and our coach we have the best team.

Ness Wadia: There was a lot of planning like any business meeting or pitch. So we went through it (our strategy) two-three times and also on the phone during lunch time. I think we had strategies in place. Most important thing was that we were not interested in pushing other people’s prices up. We were really interested in getting the players we wanted to get. We were so focussed on what we were doing, frankly speaking, the rest didn’t really matter. Of course, there’s luck as well.

Meha Bhardwaj: Were you also involved in the technical bit like — we are going to have three all-rounders, etc?

Preity Zinta: Of course, that’s team strategy.

Meha Bhardwaj: Were you a part of it as well Preity?

Preity Zinta: Honestly, on the table two nights before, it was all going above my head. So I sat back when it came to things I didn’t know about.

Meha Bhardwaj: How did the Brett Lee and Sreesanth happen? Did you go for Sreesanth because of the character he brings to the game?

Preity Zinta: No we have a fast wicket and on fast wicket we need fast bowlers. Of course, the strategy was put together by Tom and Ness. And there was budget to be considered too.

Ness Wadia: I think Sreesanth is one of the better players today in the Indian team. He’s been through that first high and now he’s sort of coming off, not into a low but in sort of a lull like most sportsmen do where they start thinking where am I, what’s happened etc. I’m pretty sure he is going to bounce back, and as far as the selection strategy was: everyone had 10 players and there was a number to be pulled out and whichever number came out, that was the number for bidding. So when we were looking at spinners, we were short of spinners and we had no spinners left. We had Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla, so we just wanted to safeguard ourselves and we took a lot of decisions which were risking our model as opposed to just going and buying for the sake of buying.

Meha Bhardwaj: Preity, are you going to be involved in just about everything when it comes to IPL. I’m not saying movie are going to take a backseat, but for the moment, before the launch and before the tournament begins, is Preity Zinta’s life about King’s XI for the moment?

Preity Zinta: Absolutely. King’s XI Punjab, is a team of Punjab and there cannot be a chance we don’t mention Punjab. It’s not a country playing another country. It’s a state playing another state. In Bombay, people have already started calling me K11P, as they do it in the film industry. But yes, I’m treating IPL like a film. I’m dedicating three months of my life to it till the tournament gets over and then I will go back to films. I have four films releasing this year. So it is a very exciting year for me in terms of film as well as cricket. Hopefully, we will win the tournament.

Meha Bhardwaj: Are you worried that the timing of these games are going to be in the evenings when people will be flocking to the stadiums instead of watching your films?

Preity Zinta: I’m going to tell all my producers to not release any movie between 19 April and 30 May. It will be suicide.

Meha Bhardwaj: Your very good friend Shah Rukh Khan owns another team Knight Riders. Now when you have conversations with Shah Rukh do you say — Oh you know what? We’re going to beat you hollow because we have Brett Lee. Do you have any of these friendly banters?

Preity Zinta: The only friendly banter we have is Kolkata and Mohali are coming to finals.

Meha Bhardwaj: Ness, any regrets about any players you wanted but could not get — like Dhoni went for a huge sum of six crore?

Ness Wadia: Our focus was not to have too many international players. We focussed on Indians who could play.

Meha Bhardwaj: Did you think during the auction that it was nicer to get these Indian players because at the end of the day people here welcome them in stadiums?

Preity Zinta: We are Indians. I mean, come on, you put me in a stadium and tell me are you going to cheer for Pathan or for Yuvi as opposed to Gilchrist? No offence, they are lovely cricketers. It is like when you go to an ozzie crowd and have Indians play there with them. They will first cheer for their home heroes and then they will cheer for the other guys.

Meha Bhardwaj: But you’ve got international players. Are you are happy with them?

Ness Wadia: We are happy with international players and we also have a lot of young Indian players below the Sreesanths and Pathans and Yuvis of the world. I think we’ve got a good mix.

Meha Bhardwaj: On the parting note, for everybody who is watching this show, what about would you like to say about King’s XI Punjab? What’s the message you want to give to your viewers?

Ness Wadia: I think the first thing we’re going to cricket fans is a great cricket team. We’ve got a lot of entertainment. We’ve got the likes of Brett Lee and Sreesanth, Yuvraj and India’s greatest all-rounder Irfan Pathan. So I think you will see a very Indian team. You’ll also see a lot of youngsters coming in. We’ve got guys like Tanmay Srivastava and Ajitesh Argal. Then there’s a young emerging cricketer Yash Gandhi who’s scored 365 runs. So this is basically a team for the people of India. It is a team which has a lot more Indians than the rest. It is India’s pride.

Preity Zinta: For me, it’s live Punjabi, play Punjabi. So we’re in Punjab and the spirit of Punjab means always having a huge heart and being very hospitable, and being a little crazy and having lots of fun. It’s young, it’s dynamic, it’s fun and we’re going to go and win the cup!

Not just glamour girls, Bollywood women get into business too

New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) If the men are doing it so are the women. From opening restaurants to starting hotels, actresses are also blurring the lines between the worlds of Bollywood and business. While actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Shah Rukh Khan and Suniel Shetty are thriving in the business world, their counterparts Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Preity Zinta are also giving them tough competition.

Sushmita was probably the first to turn entrepreneur when she set up her company Sensazione in 2006. Through her company, she plans to open a chain of hotels, lounges and spas. Besides, she has acquired 12,000 sq ft of space in Kolkata for a ‘lifestyle zone’, which apart from a huge open space will house a nightclub, a restaurant and a cigar lounge.

She says frankly that she was tired of being an actor and business had always been a second career option.

“Had I not been an actor, I would have been an entrepreneur. The lounge bar in Kolkata and my dream project, the spa, are all part of my effort to touch people’s lives,” the actress has been quoted as saying.

Sushmita has other plans too.

Under the banner of her production house Tantra Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, the ex-Miss Universe also wants to make meaningful films. Her first venture is “Rani Lakshmi Bai - The Warrior Queen”. The actress, who is directing as well as acting in the film, is currently busy with the pre-production work of the historical epic.

Her colleague Preity Zinta has become co-owner of the Mohali cricket team of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with partner Ness Wadia and two others. She is determined to make a go of it and says: “When I do anything in life for the first time, I want to succeed.”

“It’s 2008! Women should get more active in business. It’s very different from working on a film where you’re on your own when ‘action’ is called on camera. In a boardroom, there’s constant conference and multi-tasking. The creative process is different in both the spheres.”

And Aishwarya Rai, according to reports, has stepped in to resurrect father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan’s company AB Corp and is negotiating with filmmakers to restart production work.

Then there is Ayesha Takia who with restaurateur boyfriend Farhan Azmi is set to launch their first boutique hotel in Goa.

“It’s a dream come true for Farhan and I. We have been planning to do something together for the past year,” Ayesha said in a press announcement.

The couple has acquired a 200-year-old Portuguese bungalow in Candolim, which is just 10 minutes away from the beach. They plan to build a luxurious swimming pool, a lounge area and are working out details on how to entertain guests with good music and superb cuisine.

“Each of our boutique hotels will have 20 rooms,” Ayesha has said.

Her appreciative boyfriend adds: “Ayesha is interested in doing other things rather than just acting which is so great.”

There are others too — for instance, Raveena Tandon is contributing significantly to the running of her husband Anil Thadani’s film distribution business.

Former actress Twinkle Khanna is a successful interior designer and won the Elle Décor International Design Award. She floated a company called Mock-Ups that specialises in interior decoration, designing and executing spaces. Besides designing homes and offices, she also owns an interior designing store - the White Window - in Mumbai.

In 1940, legendary actress Devika Rani tried her hand at business by taking the charge of Bombay Talkies after her husband’s death, but she had to face failure.

But the new brigade is set to rewrite the rules.

Kings reign over hearts but fail to conquer

PL: Daler Mehndi enthralls audience, Yuvraj and Dhoni remain crowd favourites

It was the ‘karmyudh’. Kings XI Punjab led by local hero Yuvraj Singh took on MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and the stadium could hardly contain its excitement.

It had the settings and the flavour of a festival — the dhol, bhangra, cheer-leaders, a star performance by Daler Mehndi and the Bollywood superstar Preity Zinta’s nervous presence. It was the much-anticipated carnival for the Tri-city.

Even though the PCA Stadium was far from being packed to capacity, a group of around 100 dancers did a 15-minute bhangra sequence followed by fluttering flags with the Kings XI Punjab team slogan ‘Live Punjabi’ and ‘Play Punjabi’ written on them.

Then it was Daler Mehndi’s turn to enthrall the audience, singing the Kings XI Punjab’s theme song ‘Panga na lena’ and also few hits from his famous albums.

As the evening progressed, the stadium began to fill. From the cricketing point of view, the match was a spectacle to behold, with 24 sixes and 35 fours hit during the match.

Once the floodlights came on, the crowd went crazy and started whistling and dancing in the aisles. It was a grand cricket party.

Beer mugs were the order of the day. Young girls were going gaga over Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, while Murali was the favourite among the children. Yuvraj and Dhoni remained the crowd favourites.

Zinta was seen biting her nails out of sheer nervousness while her team chased a tough target of 241 runs.

Yuvraj did manage to lustily hit a couple of blows but he could neither repeat his ‘six-sixers’ feat nor could he win the match for his team. Once his wicket fell, the crowd went silent with disappointment.

Though Sangakkara and Hopes kept the crowd’s hopes up till the end, the target remained tough to achieve. Right after the defeat of Kings XI Punjab, people deserted the stadium.

In the next round, the Kings XI Punjab will play Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians on April 25 and most certainly, people will be hoping their favourite son Yuvraj Singh to make a come back.

Wins and losses are part of the game, says Preity The day finally dawned when Preity’s team — Kings XI Punjab — played their first match in IPL and she was all charged up for the D-day. Dressed in a white tee, Preity Zinta had her team’s logo on tees’s back. As Yuvraj Singh walked off to the centre pitch for the toss, Preity closed her eyes and was seen praying with folded hands. To her dismay, Yuvi lost the toss. But she, along with her franchisee and real life partner Ness Wadia, wished luck to Yuvi’s boys when they took to the field. Throughout the match, Priety showed signs of nervousness, excitement, and after the match’s disastrous results, resentment. She, however, said sportingly, “Wins and losses are part of the game, we will come all guns blazing in our next outing.”

Bollywood takes a back seat

Like other leading South Africans, Herschelle Gibbs won’t be in at the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) this week, but he is itching to get a chance to show off his Twenty20 skills in the company of the best players of the world.

The tournament that could revolutionise cricket starts on Friday and apart from being the most hyped cricket event in history, it could be among the most viewed.

Every match will be shown live by SuperSport in South Africa, while the Indian investors who have spent so extravagantly clearly expect millions of Indians to be following the games.

“I’m going to tell all my producers to not release any movie between April 19 and May 30. It will be suicide,” said Preity Zinta, a Bollywood actress and joint- owner of the Mohali-based Kings XI Punjab franchise, one of only two of the eight teams that has not signed at least one South African.

Gibbs and other SA stars will have to wait until they have finished their Standard Bank Pro20 obligations before they fly out to India.

With Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, JP Duminy and Monde Zondeki all available, more than half the Cape Cobras players who helped their side qualify for the semifinals could be jettisoned for the knockout stages, which culminate in the final on April 25.

“It’s going to be very interesting to see who plays for us in the semifinals,” said Gibbs, whose own contributions to the franchise’s success have been patchy.

Gibbs has been in touch with the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers team that signed him for 575000 a season. “They say it’s no problem for me to join them a bit late. If the Cobras reach the final I will probably miss three games.”

He’s not sure whether his late arrival will have an impact on his pay packet.

What he is sure about is that the IPL will be spectacular. The Hyderabad side looks particularly exciting with explosive batsmen such as Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Shahid Afridi, as well as Gibbs himself in the line-up.

“It’s a combination which could do serious damage to bowling line-ups,” said Gibbs. The downside is that the Chargers’ bowling attack , spearheaded by Chaminda Vaas and RP Singh, is not the most formidable among the franchises.

“I expect the standard will be very high,” said Gibbs. “For any international player, your reputation is always at stake when you go out on the field.”

For Gibbs, 34, the IPL is a financial bonanza, especially now that his Test career may be over, but he says that playing good cricket remains what he most wants to do.

“The Test side is looking like a settled combination and Neil McKenzie (who took Gibbs’s opening batsman berth) has played really well. I’m very happy for Neil. I’ve known him a long time and I’m glad he has got this chance.”

Gibbs said he hadn’t completely given up on playing Test cricket again. “I’m taking it day by day. I had a brief chat with Mickey (Arthur) when I was in Bangladesh and he indicated he was keen to have a few experienced players for the tour of England.”

Gibbs, who remains a probable choice for the one-day part of the tour, has produced some of his best performances in England. His consistency on an SAA team tour in 1996 earned him his first call-up for the national team, he shone at the 1999 World Cup and he was one of the stars of the 2003 Test series.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing in England. It’s a tour everyone wants to go on, but I would rather be playing cricket than watching.”

Gibbs explained the latter remark by saying there were “one or two offers” which could see him playing in England this year, whether he is a member of the Test squad or not. “There is a possibility of some county stuff. There are one or two decisions that have to be made.”

First, though, there is a titl

How IPL has changed cricket forever

Woh 44 Days!

The event that every cricket fan – and even those not normally interested in the game – has been waiting for a long time is almost upon us. The cash-rich Indian Premier League will commence at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on April 18, and for the next 44 days interest will be riveted on the 59 matches to be contested between eight teams. The participants are a mix of Indian and foreign superstars, recently retired stars and Indian talent of the future; and the tournament which has attracted considerable attention is tipped to attract large crowds, a record TV audience and reap unprecedented revenue.

In pic: Indian industrialists Vijay Mallya (L), Ness Wadia (R), IPL official Lalit Modi (2nd L) and Bollywood actors Shahrukh Khan (C) and Preity Zinta pose during a news conference after the Indian Premier League`s (IPL) player auction in Mumbai. Reuters

Thin is in Bollywood

From Hollywood to Bollywood the latest craze in the Indian film industry is being slim and sexy. Forget Sri Devi and Madhuri Dixit who with their curves and wholesome beauty were the epitome of the classic Indian diva.

At the moment, winds are blowing in the opposite direction. The prerequisites of making a name in Bollywood a big secret known to all is to look slim and sexy.

The situation has gone so far that if youre a roly-poly then its better you start searching for an alternative, for the watch word here is looking thin. Well, on a positive note, no book has mentioned that being in shape is bad. But, like everything else, excess of anything is always harmful!

Anyways, so much so for the aspiring ones. Now lets cut to the B-world.

The B-world is abuzz with actresses dramatic makeovers. A very recent example of such a transition is that of Kareena Kapoor.

The Jab We Met actress, who has found new love in the arms of Saif Ali Khan, has transformed herself from thunder thighs to fitting into the smallest hot pants. And yes theres no denying that she looks hot in her ultra slim avataar.

“All the girls today, like Kareena is looking fit. It’s all due to yoga. She is not anorexic. She is very well-toned. I think it’s a requirement, which is based on presence of mind. Today the healthy lifestyle and fitter body is what in everybody’s mind, said Shonal Rawat, a supermodel.

Model turned actress Bipasha Basu also made the whole world go crazy over her super fit body which she very proudly showed off in Dhoom 2 and Race.

Following the footsteps were Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Esha Deol who looked hotter than ever after shedding all that extra flab.

The bubbly and effervescent Preity Zinta had every reason to boldly bare her midriff in the film Salaam Namsate.

Well, the ‘getting-skinny-with-it’ trend is certainly booming in Bollywood. And for now, our girls are content with losing weight, doing power yoga and dramatic makeovers. Hope that this competition doesnt go on any further than this otherwise there will be hell lot to pay. (ANI)

Preity Zinta in marketing overdrive, sells autographed IPL tickets

The Indian Premier League (IPL) team franchisees are in a marketing overdrive. With the league set to kick off on 18 April, Bollywood stars have got into the act.

After Shah Rukh Khan, it is Preity Zinta's turn to promote her Mohali team KingsXIPunjab. A step in this direction: Zinta and Australian speedster Brett Lee make themselves present to personally sell tickets with their autographs.

The tickets start as low as Rs 50 and move in the range of Rs 250, Rs 750, Rs 2000, Rs 3000 and Rs 7000. Seats in the North Pavilion will cost Rs 3000 while the student community can buy a ticket for as low as Rs 50. To grab a seat at the Pavilion Terrace, one will have to shell out Rs 2000 and for the A/c lounge Rs 7000.

KingsXIPunjab coach Tom Moody was also present. Tickets will also be available online at www.ticketpro.in and at Baskin Robbins, Planet M and Future Group's Pantaloon Factory, LeeCooper and Big Bazaars outlets across major cities like Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar apart from the box office of the PCA Stadium.

Zinta said, "It is great to see so many people turning up to buy tickets and joining us to support and cheer their team – KingsXIPunjab. Not only that, this is also an effort towards attracting new audiences to come and experience the excitement and thrill of this great game."

KingsXIPunjab is part of the eight competing teams promoted by the IPL. It is held and promoted by a consortium which includes Zinta and Industrialists Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Mohit Burman. The team will be led by Yuvraj Singh, who is also the icon player.

The team is a mix of leading national and international players like Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan, Sree Santh, Piyush Chawla, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardane, Romesh Powar, James Hopes, VRV Singh, Kyle Mills, Luke Pomersvack, Uday Kaul, Yash Gandhi, Tanmay Srivastava, Karan Goel, Ajitesh Agral, Simon Katach, Sunny Sohal, Pankaj Dharmani, Sahil Kukreja, and Wilken Mota.

Bollywood glams up cricket

IPL has rewritten the rules of the game with American-style cheerleaders and movie mavens doing a song-and-dance before every match.

POLITICS and sports do not mix. Or should not mix. Right? How about sports and cinema? Well, sports and cinema have come together to serve up a heady cocktail for a cricket-crazy nation.

Without the presence of leading film stars, it is doubtful if the on-going cricket razzmatazz that is the Indian Premier League would have grabbed Indians.

So enduring is India’s love affair with cricket, that a relatively unknown television channel which successfully bid for the exclusive rights to what is easily the biggest sporting event in the history of this country has seen its viewership zoom sky high.

Commercials during the match telecasts have helped the channel recover a good part of the huge fees it paid to win the telecast rights.

IPL is also a huge success mainly due to its high off-field entertainment quotient.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni dispatching South African quickie Shaun Pollock for a huge six or Rahul Dravid having his woodwork scattered by Harbhajan Singh will always thrill cricket fans.

But now, it is the added bonus of the American-style cheerleaders doing their eye-catching jigs at the IPL matches, and Bollywood stars performing box-office hits, that has made the IPL a not-to-be-missed event.

For never before had Indian sports fans been offered such a wide variety of celebrity-driven entertainment. IPL has re-written the rules of the game. The bidding amount for individual players paid by rival teams in an open auction had set the tone for the IPL.

In roadside eateries and at village wells throughout the country, Indians marvelled open-mouthed at the astronomical sums that were paid to cricketers. Dhoni fetching 4 crore rupees (RM3.13mil) had the entire nation’s tongues wagging.

Quite cleverly the IPL format focuses as much on cricket as it does on the tamasha (entertainment events) that precede each match. The opener at Bangalore on April 18, for instance, was a star-studded affair.

The master showman and liquor king Vijay Mallaya, who owns the local team Royal Challengers laid out a veritable feast for the eyes.

Young foreign women appeared inside glass-like bubbles hung astride the stadium on hardly visible wires, cheerleaders from the Washington Red Skins performed alongside stiltwalkers and Bollywood biggies like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta worked the capacity crowd which had crammed the stadium several hours before the start of the match. Zinta, incidentally, owns the IPL team, Kings IX Punjab, while Khan is co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Captains and owners of all the eight IPL teams appeared on the platform. All this while, eye-catching fireworks lent the sky a million hues.

In short, Day One of IPL, which, incidentally, saw Mallaya’s Royal Challengers going down tamely to the Riders, presaged a great future for the new form of city-based club cricket in India.

A strong note of dissent, however, was sounded by well-known cricket historian Ramchandra Guha.

Criticising the introduction of cheerleaders, Guha said: “All the organisers are doing by making scantily-clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base, voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male ? it is revolting and shows the game in poor light.”

Echoing similar objections, an opposition leader in the Maharashtra legislature sought a ban on cheerleaders appearing in IPL matches in Mumbai.

Admittedly, cricket has taken a backseat to off-field entertainment but in time, hopefully, IPL will come to focus on the game.

Already, the IPL experiment is beginning to pay off insofar as hitherto talented but unknown regional players have received national exposure. This should undoubtedly enrich the national pool of cricketers for the selection of the Indian Eleven.

Weeks before the start of the IPL, television ads sought to whip up regional passions with fans of individual teams disdainfully spurning rival teams.

In a typical TV ad, a dentist, for instance, is shown maltreating a patient upon noticing that the latter supports a rival team.

In other words, IPL is a major brand-building project. Each team has roped in a high-octane brand ambassador. Kolkata Knight Riders is fortunate that it has its biggest brand ambassador in its owner Shah Rukh Khan.

The numero uno film hero along with wife Gauri and a whole contingent of his Bollywood friends occupy a part of the VIP stands in all matches featuring the Riders.

And, what is more entertaining for the crowds is that led by Khan the entire Bollywood crowd claps and dances to celebrate every little success of their team on the field. Similarly, Zinta is seen enthusiastically rooting for her Punjab Kings.

The Chennai Super Kings, owned by a local cement company, has roped in the current heartthrobs of the Tamil cinema for promotion.

Vijay and Nayantara appeared at the pre-launch promotional party for the Chennai team and if you did not know that it was for an IPL team you would have mistaken it for the premiere of a Tamil film.

Meanwhile, the Riders are leading the league table with Delhi and Chennai coming a close second and third, respectively.

However, it is still early days and team fortunes could change dramatically, given the glorious uncertainties of cricket.

Preity Zinta: Beyond Bollywood

The fact that Preity Zinta bid for an IPL team suggests she is not a run of the mill Bollywood actress. The fact that she won it suggests she 'Preity' much gets what she wants. Photo Credit: IANS/File

12 February 2008 (Sawf News) - The fact that Preity Zinta bid for an IPL team suggests she is not a run of the mill Bollywood actress. The fact that she won it suggests she 'Preity' much gets what she wants.

Zinta and her boy friend Ness Wadia won the bid for the Mohali team by committing a whopping $76 million and she understands that her foray into cricket is a big risk.

"I am not as rich as the other people in it. I don't have IPOs; I don't have public money. I was putting a lot of my hard-earned money," she told the Mumbai Mirror in an interview.

The reason why she took the risk is because "I have always believed that until you go to the edge of the cliff, you will not experience the thrill of life."

That is vintage Zinta for you.

She admits she has a lot to learn about the game.

"Believe me; I know only what are boundaries and sixers - but so what? Did I know anything about films when I got into Bollywood?" she asks.

The 33-year-old daughter of a former Army officer says she will attend every match that her team will play.

When quizzed what will become of her film career she jokes, "I will take the shooting to the stadium and shoot the matches."

"On a serious note, I have already adjusted my dates," she adds.

She may be a novice but has her instincts right. Her team captain, Yuvraj Singh, who is currently on tour in Australia with the Indian cricket team, has recently been in the news more for his interest in Bollywood debutante Deepika Padukone than his wielding of the willow.

Zinta is however unfazed by his poor form and a known attitude.

"How can anyone forget the six sixers he hit in a single over in T-20 competition?" she asks pragmatically.

Zinta shows some of the same pragmatism talking about her love life.

"I am a normal girl - I want to get married and have kids. But I can't get married just because everybody wants me to," she says.

Today's Celebrity Birthdays 4/30

Cloris Leachman - age 82 - Oscar- and Emmy-winning American actress who played Phyllis Lindstrom on CBS's "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and its spinoff, "Phyllis;" films include "Young Frankenstein" and "Spanglish"

Willie Nelson - age 75 - Grammy-winning American country singer-songwriter and actor

Gary Collins - age 70 - American actor and talk show host who was in "Airport" and "The Sixth Sense," among others

Burt Young - age 68 - American actor, author and painter best known as Paulie in the "Rocky" films

Bobby Vee - age 65 - American pop singer

Jill Clayburgh - age 64 - American actress best known as the title character's mother on Fox's "Ally McBeal;" films include "An Unmarried Woman," "Starting Over" and "Running with Scissors"

Perry King - age 60 - American actor who played Cody Allen on NBC's "Riptide"

Merrill Osmond - American lead singer of The Osmonds

Jane Campion - age 54 - Oscar-winning New Zealand director whose work includes "Sweetie," "The Piano" and "The Portrait of a Lady"

Adrian Pasdar - age 43 - American actor and director best known as Nathan Petrelli on NBC's "Heroes" and Jim Profit on Fox's "Profit"

Clark Vogeler - age 39 - American guitarist for the post-grunge band The Toadies

Chris Henderson - age 37 - American guitarist for the alternative rock band 3 Doors Down

Carolyn Dawn Johnson - age 37 - Canadian country music singer-songwriter

J.R. Richards - age 36 - American musician and lead singer for the alternative rock band Dishwalla

Akon - age 35 - Senegalese-American R&B and hip-hop singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer

Jeff Timmons - age 35 - American singer and founding member of the pop group 98 Degrees

Johnny Galecki - age 33 - American actor best known as David Healy on ABC's "Roseanne" and Leonard Hofstadter on CBS's "The Big Bang Theory"

Lloyd Banks - age 26 - American rapper and member of the group G-Unit

Kirsten Dunst - age 26 - American actress whose films include "Interview with the Vampire," "Bring It On" and the "Spider-Man" series

Amy Winehouse to sing Bond theme song?

Amy Winehouse, the multi-Grammy Award winning British singer, is back in the studio and is reportedly recording the theme song for the new James Bond movie which is set to be out in theaters this November.

Although Winehouse has been working with Mark Ronson to produce a new song, according to the spokespeople for her record label, the work on a soundtrack for the film is only speculation.

However, Ronson reveled to a magazine that he has been laying a new track entitled “Quantum of Solace” for the latest bond installment, but claims that there is no guarantee that their song would actually be featured in the movie.

Soundgarden’s former front man Chris Cornell recorded the theme song for “Casino Royale” the last Bond film which was released inn 2006.

CSI Star Arrested

Gary Dourdan, the forty-one-year-old CSI regular, was arrested in Palm Springs for drug possession on Monday.

According to Access Hollywood, the police found a car parked on the wrong side of the road where it was assumed the driver was sleeping inside. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer discovered Dourdan “disoriented and possibly under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.”

A search of the car revealed various drugs including: cocaine, Ecstasy, and heroin. The actor was jailed for five hours before he was released on a $5,000 bail.

At the beginning of April, it was reported that Dourdan will not be returning to CSI once his contract with CBS expires in May.

Pink Floyd Pig Has Gone MIA

The two-story inflatable pig belonging to former Pink Floyd front man Roger Waters’ was lost on Sunday night during his Coachella performance. The organizers of the acclaimed California music festival are offering a $10,000 award and four life-long festival tickets for its return.

The pig, which has been a feature stage prop for Pink Floyd since their single “Pig on the Wing,” floated away during Waters’ closing set. The pig was lost once before in 1977 during a photo shoot in London, but was later recovered for their “Animals” album cover.

The lost Coachella pig, which is not actually the original but merely a prototype of past pigs, features the slogan “Don’t be led to the slaughter” along with a cartoon of Uncle Sam holding meat cleavers. The flip side says “Fear builds walls” and has a checked-off ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Search teams have been put together to locate the pig, and concerned festival goers are asked to email lostpig+coachella.com with any information on its whereabouts.

Scott Weiland Senteced to Jail

Scott Weiland, the forty-year-old front man for Stone Temple Pilots, was sentenced to eight days in jail after pleading no contest to a DUI charge in a LA Superior Court.

Weiland, who has recently left the Gun’s and Roses compilation band Velvet Revolver and is famed for his problems with drugs and alcohol, was originally arrested on a free-way off ramp Nov 21st.

In addition to the jail time, he has been given four years probation and is required to enroll in a year-and-a-half long substance abuse program.

Stone Temple Pilots is scheduled to go on a lengthily reunion tour beginning May 17th, and Weiland must serve his sentence by May 28th.

Weezer's Virtual Food Fight

Buzznet is proud to announce the launch of the Weezer “Pork and Beans” virtual food fight. Celebrating the recent iTunes release of Weezer’s first single off the soon-to-be released self-titled album, “Pork and Beans,” this allows users to splatter the profiles of their friends through the simple insertion of codes within each page’s notes section.

Promoting fan involvement for the release through this heated food fight, Buzznet users can retaliate at will by tagging the top of each of their chosen profile pages with a heaping helping of the canned food favorite. Additionally for the promotion, a donation will be made in the name of the participants to Conscious Alliance, a non-profit organization that distributes food and resources to communities in the United States most in need.

Listen to "Pork and Beans" on IMEEM

Check out embeddable "Pork and Beans" player:

Jimi Hendrix Sex Tape to Be Released

A sex tape rumored to star Jimi Hendrix has been obtained by LA adult film company, Vivid Entertainment.

The footage allegedly features the guitar icon engaging in several sex acts with two women in a hotel room during the late 1960s.

Vivid, who recently received the film from a collector, had it tested for authenticity and claims that the tape is indeed real.

Vivid Entertainment has previously released the sex tapes of Kim Kardahsian and Pam Anderson.

Niel Diamond on American Idol and Jimmy Kimmel Live

Legendary recording artist and American icon Neil Diamond will be appearing on American Idol and Jimmy Kimmel Live this week in support of his new album, Home Before Dark. Home Before Dark, produced by Rick Rubin, will be released on Columbia Records on May 6.

Neil Diamond will appear as a mentor to the remaining five contestants on American Idol on Tuesday April 29 and Wednesday, April 30. The idols will be singing Neil Diamond’s songs on April 29, where Diamond will also appear in pre-recorded segments giving the contestants guidance and advice on their song choices and interpretations. On the April 30 elimination show, Neil Diamond will perform live on the American Idol stage.

Neil Diamond will also be taping an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday, April 29. The 5-song set will be recorded outside and open to the general public. The taping is set to begin at 6:15pm at 6840 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. The Neil Diamond performance will air on Jimmy Kimmel Live in May.

Today's Celebrity Birthdays 4/29

Carl Gardner - age 80 - American singer and founder of the R&B group The Coasters

Rod McKuen - age 75 - bestselling American poet, singer and composer who also wrote and sang the title song for "A Boy Named Charlie Brown"

Otis Rush - age 74 - Grammy-winning American blues singer and guitarist

Duane Allen - age 65 - American singer and lead vocalist for the country and gospel group the Oak Ridge Boys

Tommy James - age 61 - American singer-songwriter, musician, producer and frontman for the rock band Tommy James and the Shondells

Nora Dunn - age 56 - American comedian and actress who was on NBC's "Saturday Night Live"

Jerry Seinfeld - age 54 - Emmy-winning American comedian, writer and actor best known for NBC's "Seinfeld"

Kate Mulgrew - age 53 - American actress who played Mary Ryan on ABC's "Ryan's Hope" and Captain Kathryn Janeway on UPN's "Star Trek: Voyager"

Daniel Day-Lewis - age 51 - Oscar-winning British-Irish actor whose films include "My Left Foot," "The Last of the Mohicans," "Gangs of New York" and "There Will Be Blood"

Michelle Pfeiffer - age 50 - American actress in "Scarface," "Dangerous Liaisons" and the new "Hairspray," among others

Eve Plumb - age 50 - American actress best known as Jan Brady on ABC's "The Brady Bunch"

Carnie Wilson - age 40 - American singer and TV host who was a member of the pop group Wilson Phillips

Andre Agassi - age 38 - American pro tennis player; formerly World No. 1; won eight Grand Slam singles tournaments and an Olympic gold medal

Master P - Grammy-winning American rapper, record label owner and founder and CEO of the conglomerate No Limit Entertainment

Uma Thurman - age 38 - American actress whose films include "Dangerous Liaisons," "Pulp Fiction" and the "Kill Bill" movies

Mike Hogan - age 35 - Irish musician and bassist for the alternative rock band The Cranberries

Zane Carney - age 23 - American actor best known as Tommy Barry on CBS's "Dave's World"

R.E.M, NIN, and STP are headlining New Orleans’s Voodoo Music Experience

R.E.M., Nine inch Nails, and Stone Temple pilot, three of the biggest bands of the 1990s, are all set to headline New Orleans’s 10th Annual Voodoo Music Experience festival.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, and are priced at $100 for the three-day long event that runs from October 24-26.

Also set to perform are native New Orleans acts including: the Newville Brother’s, Irving Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and New Orleans Bingo! Show.

Last year the festival was headlined by Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine, and Wilco.

Roger Clemens may have had an affair with Mindy McCready

Roger Clemens, the forty-five-year-old major league baseball player, has denied rumors concerning the ten-year affair he allegedly engaged in with country music star Mindy McCready.

Although the former Red Sox pitcher confirms that he has a relationship with McCready, he claims that is was not an inappropriate one. According to The Daily News, Clemen’s lawyer reported that Roger “considered her a close family friend,” and that he “has never had a sexual relationship with her."

The supposed affair began when the singer was fifteen and while Clemens was a twenty-eight-year-old father of two, and details of their relationship could potentially come out during McCready’s upcoming projects which include a documentary about her life and a reality TV show.

The Daily News sited several anonymous sources and claimed that, even after ending their affair, Clemens was still involved with McCready’s life and helped her through her self-destructive relationships with other men, as well as through her financial troubles.

This information could prove damaging to Clemens lawsuit against his former trainer Brian McNamee, because Roger’s case is based partially on his character, which will most likely become tarnished in light of a scandal involving an extra-marital affair with a minor.

Additionally, the rumors of the affair have caused Clemens to be under investigation for perjury during his testimony to Congress.

The WB Network is Coming Back as a Website

The Warner Bros. Television Group is bringing the WB network back as an online video site that will feature original programming as well as re-runs of WB classics such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

The WB.com is supposed to target viewers between the age of 16 and 34, and the launch of the website is an attempt to attract the attention of younger viewers who, in the digital age, spread their time between watching television shows as they air, and catching the programs streamed online at their leisure.

For example, The CW’s Gossip Girl found a following online, but failed to pull in ratings for the Network, causing the WB/UPN merger to quit streaming the show’s latest episodes over the Internet. Warner Brother’s new website will attack the issue form the opposite direction.

Producer Josh Schwartz, the writer for The O.C. and Gossip Girl, will be creating a new show for the WB.com, and according to a statement form Warner Brothers, Schwartz’s program "takes viewers to the front of the line and behind the soundboard of a fictional Hollywood rock club."

Toby Keith was Under Fire

Toby Keith, the forty-six-year-old country singer, came under fire while performing for U.S. troops on a military base in Afghanistan.

According to People, Keith, who is on an eighteen show tour throughout the Persian Gulf, was playing “Weed with Willie” when the base was attacked.

Keith and his band ran to a bunker for cover, where they stayed for around an hour signing autographs for the soldiers.

As soon as it was clear, the band returned to the stage reportedly picking up exactly where they left off.

Lori Loughlin joins 90210 cast

'Full House' and 'Summerland' star Lori Loughlin has joined the cast of the new 'Beverly Hills, 90210." Her character is named Celia Mills and is the wife of Beverly Hills High's new principal and the mother to Annie, a role that was reportedly offered to Hilary Duff.

Angela Bassett to star in 'ER'

Media sources have speculated whether George Clooney will return for the fifteenth and final season of 'ER.' Well, that story is still unknown, but several other stars have been added to the mix or are making a return to Country General's emergency room.

One such is Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett, who will be making her first appearance on both the series and the small screen.

"Bassett will play a tough attending with a troubled past who's coming back to Chicago after a few years in Indonesia doing tsunami relief," the Hollywood Reported noted. "Her arrival in the second episode next season promises to shake County General's ER to the core."

The 49-year-old will make her entrance on the second episode of the season.

Original cast member Noah Wyle will also be returning to the show, joining current cast members John Stamos, Maura Tierney, Parminder Nagra, Linda Cardinelli, Gloria Reuben, Mekhi Phifer and Goran Visnjic.

Baby Mama's Amy Poehler expecting real baby

Fiction is turning to reality for 'Baby Mama' star Amy Poehler. The comedian, who stars in the film with former-SNLer Tina Fey, is reportedly expecting her first child in the fall with husband Will Arnett.

But the 36-year-old has another reason to celebrate. 'Baby Mama' was the top box office draw of the weekend, taking in $18.3 million in ticket sales.

The number two spot was taken by "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" with $14.6 million. In third was the former No. 1, Jackie Chan and Jet Li's kung fu movie, "The Forbidden Kingdom," with $11.2 million. In fourth place with $11 million in ticket sales was another comedy, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

"Comedy is definitely king right now," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of tracking firm Media By Numbers LLC. "Audiences are definitely showing an interest in going to the movies and having a good time and having a laugh."

Kathy Griffin is back on the market!!

Attention guys: Kathy Griffin is single again.

The star of the TV show D-List and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are over. In fact, Wozniak is marrying to someone else!

"He is an awesome guy, but I have to say he is in the friends category now," says Griffin. "As a matter of fact, I got an email last week from him, and he is going to marry someone else… I think he might be married. I don’t really know that for sure, though."

Could all of his money not buy Kathy's love??

Or was it Kathy that just couldn't get him to propose??

She could have been Mrs. Mac...guess she missed her chance

Country singer invovled with the murder of former SNLers father

It's like something straight out of a country song. Man gets drunk, gets into fight, gets him with a pocket knife, friend dies.

That's allegedly what happened to famous country songwriter Richard Fagan, who was just nabbed by Nashville cops for murdering friend and roommate Gaetano Thomas Oteri, and admitted to stabbing him with his pocket knife- and then later got picked up for a DUI after taking a few shots. Fagan's roommate just happens to be ex-SNL star Cheri Oteri's father. Oteri is famous for many of her skits, ones of them being "Spartan Fever" as well as her "Simma Down" skit.

Fagan wrote such country classics as "Be My Baby Tonight," "Sold," and "I Miss You a Little."

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Oteri family

Today's Celebrity Birthdays 4/28

Harper Lee - age 82 - American author of To Kill A Mockingbird, the 1960 Pulitzer Prize winner

Ann-Margret - age 67 - Swedish-born American actress who was in "Bye Bye Birdie," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Grumpy Old Men," among others

Marcia Strassman - age 60 - American actress who played Julie Kotter on ABC's "Welcome Back, Kotter;" starred in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"

Paul Guilfoyle - age 59 - American actor best known as Captain Jim Brass on CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"

Jay Leno - age 58 - Emmy-winning American TV host and comedian who hosts NBC's "The Tonight Show"

Kim Gordon - age 55 - American singer and guitarist for the alternative rock band Sonic Youth

Mary McDonnell - age 55 - American actress best known for playing President Laura Roslin in SCI FI's "Battlestar Galactica"

Too Short - age 42 - American rapper popular in the 1990s; currently runs the record label Up All Nite Records

Simbi Khali - age 37 - American actress best known as Nina Campbell on NBC's "3rd Rock from the Sun"

Bridget Moynahan - age 37 - American actress who starred in ABC's "Six Degrees;" films include "Coyote Ugly" and "I, Robot"

Big Gipp - age 35 - American rapper and member of the hip-hop group Goodie Mob

Elisabeth Röhm - age 35 - German-born American actress best known as Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn on NBC's "Law & Order"

Jorge Garcia - age 35 - Latino-American actor and stand-up comedian who plays Hugo "Hurley" Reyes on ABC's "Lost"

Penélope Cruz - age 34 - Spanish actress and designer whose films include "Belle Époque," "All the Pretty Horses," "Vanilla Sky" and "Volver"

Nate Richert - age 30 - American actor and musician best known for playing Harvey Kinkle on ABC/The WB's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"

Jessica Alba - age 27 - American actress who starred in Fox's "Dark Angel;" was in two "Sin City" films and both "Fantastic Four" movies

Miley Cyrus embarrassed by sexy magazine spread

Miley Cyrus has had her fair share of sexy photo scandals - but this one is definitely for real!

The 15-year-old teen queen appears in the June issue of Vanity Fair in poses that make her appear naked. One photo in the spread, shot by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, shows the Hannah Montana star topless and wrapped in what looks like a satin bedsheet.

In the article by Bruce Handy, Cyrus said, "Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought it was really cool. That's what she wanted me to do, and you can't say no to Annie... I think [the photo is] really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way."

But she had a completely different view Sunday. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," the singer-actress told E! in a prepared statement. "I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

The Disney Channel also defended its cash cow, telling E! News "a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

Vanity Fair spokeswoman Beth Kseniak defended both the magazine and its photographer: "Miley's parents and/or minders were on the set all day. Since the photo was taken digitally, they saw it on the shoot and everyone thought it was a beautiful and natural portrait of Miley."

Parents expressed their outrage this weekend after "Entertainment Tonight" showed commercials promoting a Monday story - that Cyrus posed topless (but with her chest covered) for Leibovitz and Vanity Fair.

"Parents should be extremely concerned," said Lin Burress of Telling it Like It Is, a marriage and parenting blog, during an interview. "Very young girls look up to Miley Cyrus as a role model."

Numerous news reports have speculated that the photo spread could cause permanent damage to the franchise built around Disney's Hannah Montana.

"For Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl is now a business decision for her," Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, said in last week's Portfolio magazine. "Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back."

NFL Draft - Top 10 Picks

The Miami Dolphins selection of Jake Long as the number one draft pick came as no surprise to many NFL followers. The Dolphins had signed the offensive tackle on Tuesday. But the rest of the first round had some unexpected moments, particularly due to the numerous trades made.

One of the most interesting was the Baltimore Ravens decision to trade twice, eventually settling for University of Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco, the number 18 pick.

"We decided it was time to pull the trigger on the quarterback that we felt like was the guy to lead our team into the future," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said.

Other surprises included the New England Patriots selecting linebacker Jerod Mayo over its choice of cornerbacks and Atlanta trading back into the first round to take projected second-rounder offensive tackle Sam Baker.

The top ten is as follows. For a complete list of draft picks, visit ESPN's 2008 NFL Draft page.

1. Dolphins, Jake Long, OT, Michigan.
2. Rams, Chris Long, DE, Virginia.
3. Falcons, Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College.
4. Raiders, Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas.
5. Chiefs, Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU.
6. Jets, Vernon Gholston, LB, Ohio State.
7. Saints (from 49ers via Patriots), Sedrick Ellis, DT, USC.
8. Jaguars (from Ravens), Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida.
9. Bengals, Keith Rivers, LB, USC.
10. Patriots (from Saints), Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee.

Obama declines Clinton challenge

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama declined a challenge from Hillary Rodham Clinton to debate without a moderator prior to the May 6 primaries in North Carolina and Indiana.

"I'm not ducking. We've had 21 [debates]," Obama told Fox News Sunday.

"For two weeks, two big states, we want to make sure we're talking to as many voters on the ground, taking questions from voters," he added. "We're not going to have debates between now and Indiana."

Clinton, who is trailing in delegates and the popular vote, has been pressuring Obama to increase the number of debates before the upcoming primaries. She spent Sunday campaigning in North Carolina while Obama took a break from the campaign trail and returned to his Chicago home.


In other political news, a new Democratic Party ad opposing Republican candidate John McCain will be released Monday. It depicts the Arizona senator as a future president who will keep troops in Iraq for 100 years, and is part of a half-million dollar, three-week national cable television campaign that attempts to link McCain's policies to those of President George W. Bush.

McCain also derided Obama for opposing his idea a summer "gas-tax holiday," which McCain believes will help low-income people save on fuel costs.

"I noticed again today that Senator Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break, a little bit of relief so they can travel a little further and a little longer, and maybe have a little bit of money left over to enjoy some other things in their lives," McCain said. "Obviously Senator Obama does not understand that this would be a nice thing for Americans, and the special interests should not be dictating this policy."

GLAAD Award Winners

"Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" were repeat winners at Saturday's 19th annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards held at Kodak Theatre.

According to GLAAD, the awards "recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives."

The two ABC shows received awards for outstanding drama and comedy series, respectively - the same awards they won last year.

On "Ugly Betty," Michael Urie plays the flamboyantly gay assistant Marc St. James, and Rebecca Romijn portrays the transsexual magazine editor Alexis Meade. Matthew Rhys plays Kevin on "Brothers & Sisters," a member of the family who happens to be gay and whose dating life is a frequent subject on the show.

Singer and musician Rufus Wainwright was also honored for making a difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community.

"I'd like to thank GLAAD so much for allowing the world to see us as we are – as human beings – and to fight for us when we are being defamed and maligned," Wainwright said in his acceptance speech. "And also to allow gay people, who think that everything's fine, to actually realize that it's not, and that there is a lot of work to do."

The following is a complete list of award winners:

Vanguard Award: Janet Jackson (presented by Ellen DeGeneres)
Stephen F. Kolzak Award: Rufus Wainwright (presented by Sharon Stone)
Pioneer Award: Herb Ritts (presented by Tom Ford, and accepted by Cindy Crawford on behalf of the Herb Ritts Foundation)
Outstanding Drama Series: Brothers & Sisters (ABC) [Accepted by: Executive Producers Alison Schapker, Monica Breen, and Producer David Marshall Grant, with Sally Field, Rachel Griffiths, Matthew Rhys, Ron Rifkin, and Balthazar Getty]
Outstanding Comedy Series: Ugly Betty (ABC) [Accepted by: Executive Producer Silvio Horta, with Michael Urie, Becki Newton, and Christopher Gorham]
Outstanding Reality Program: Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo) [Accepted by: Kathy Griffin, Jessica Zajicek, Tiffany Rinehart, and Tom Vise]

Today's Celebrity Birthdays 4/27

Jack Klugman - age 86 - Emmy- and Tony-winning American actor who starred in ABC's "The Odd Couple" and NBC's "Quincy, M.E."

Anouk Aimée - age 76 - French actress whose films include "A Man and a Woman," "Leap Into The Void" and "Festival in Cannes"

Casey Kasem - age 76 - American radio personality and actor who founded the American Top 40 franchise; voice-over roles include Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo" and Robin in "Batman"

Judy Carne - age 69 - American singer and actress best known for the NBC sketch comedy show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In"

Cuba Gooding, Sr. - age 64 - American singer for the soul group The Main Ingredient

Ann Peebles - age 61 - American singer-songwriter best known for her hit "I Can't Stand the Rain"

Kate Pierson - age 60 - American singer and founding member of the New Wave band the B-52s

Doug Sheehan - age 59 - American actor who played Joe Kelly on ABC's "General Hospital" and Ben Gibson on CBS's "Knots Landing"

Ace Frehley - age 57 - American musician who was an original member and guitarist for the rock band Kiss

Sheena Easton - age 49 - Grammy-winning Scottish pop singer and actress

James LeGros - age 46 - American actor who played Mark Albert on Fox's "Ally McBeal" and was in "Living in Oblivion" and "Psycho," among others

Schae Harrison - age 45 - American actress who portrayed Darla Einstein-Forrester on CBS's "The Bold and the Beautiful"

Grant Show - age 45 - American actor best known as Jake Hanson on Fox's "Melrose Place"

Mica Paris - age 39 - British soul singer who currently hosts the UK version of "What Not to Wear" on BBC One and Two

Travis Meeks - age 29 - American singer and guitarist for the post-grunge band Days of the New

Patrick Stump - age 24 - American co-founder, lead singer, composer, rhythm guitarist and pianist for the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy

William Moseley - age 21 - British actor who plays Peter Pevensie in "The Chronicles of Narnia" films

7-year-old charged with grand theft auto

A seven-year-old Florida boy was uninjured after stealing his grandmother's SUV and going for an eight-minute joyride - leaving a path of destruction in his wake - in a Palm Beach Gardens neighborhood Friday.

The unidentified boy reportedly ran into parked cars, mailboxes and signposts. According to police, the boy stopped after a collision with a sign caused the right front wheel to fall off.

Police spokeswoman Ellen Lovejoy said it is unlikely that the boy will be prosecuted. He was arrested so he can get help, as his adventure was "unusual behavior for a seven-year-old," she added.

The child's mother said her son grabbed the keys, backed the Dodge Durango out of the driveway, and took off... perhaps taking the auto maker's slogan to "grab life by the horns" a bit too seriously.

"When [the grandmother] came in, she saw the keys were gone," Lovejoy said. "Her car was gone too."

Fortunately, no one else was injured during the spree.

Amy Winehouse released from custody

The "Rehab" singer was released from Holborn police station after initially being declared "in no fit state" for an interview.

The British songstress had voluntarily turned herself in around 5 p.m. Friday after a man filed a report claiming Winehouse "headbutted" him outside a London pub April 23 when he tried to get her a cab.

A police spokesman told People that after a doctor decided Winehouse was not fit for an interview, she spent the night in the police station. The doctor gave the okay Saturday morning for the singer to be questioned.

"A 24-year-old woman today received a caution for common assault and has been released from custody," the police spokesman said, not releasing Winehouse's name because she was not charged with a crime.

According to MSNBC, a caution means that although Winehouse was not charged, the assault will remain on her record and could count against her if she ever faces similar charges in the future.

Winehouse spokesman Chris Goodman released a statement that said the singer "admitted to a common assault by slapping a man with an open hand and accepted a caution."

"Amy was fully cooperative with inquiries and apologized for the incident," the statement said. "She thanks the police for their professional handling of the matter."

Today's Celebrity Birthdays 4/26

Carol Burnett - age 75 - Emmy-winning American actress and comedienne best known for her self-titled CBS variety show

Duane Eddy - age 70 - Grammy-winning American guitarist; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994

Maurice Williams - age 70 - American singer and musician who founded the R&B/soul group Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs

Bobby Rydell - age 66 - American singer and teen idol during the early 1960s

Gary Wright - age 65 - American singer and musician

Giancarlo Esposito - age 50 - Denmark-born actor best known as Agent Mike Giardello on NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street"

Roger Taylor - age 48 - British musician and drummer for the pop/rock band Duran Duran

Joan Chen - age 47 - Chinese actress and director best known as Josie Packard on NBC's "Twin Peaks"

Chris Mars - age 47 - American musician and drummer for the alternative rock band The Replacements

Michael Damian - age 46 - American actor, singer and producer who was on CBS's "The Young and the Restless" for 18 years

Jet Li - age 45 - Chinese actor and martial artist who was in the films "Romeo Must Die" and "The Forbidden Kingdom," among others

Jimmy Stafford - age 44 - American musician and founder of the Grammy-winning rock band Train

Kevin James - age 43 - American actor and comedian best known as Doug Heffernan on CBS's "The King of Queens"

Marianne Jean-Baptiste - age 41 - British actor and musician who currently plays FBI agent Vivian Johnson on CBS's "Without a Trace"

T-Boz - age 38 - American R&B singer and rapper for the group TLC

Jay DeMarcus - age 37 - American musician who is the bassist, songwriter and backup vocalist for the country trio Rascal Flats

Jose Pasillas - age 32 - Mexican-American musician and drummer for the rock band Incubus

Tom Welling - age 31 - American actor, director and model best known as Clark Kent on The WB/The CW's "Smallville"

Jordana Brewster - age 28 - American actress who was in "The Fast and the Furious," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" and "The Faculty"

Marnette Patterson - age 28 - American actress who played Nicole Farrell on NBC's "Something So Right"

Channing Tatum - age 28 - American actor, producer and model who was in "Coach Carter," "She's the Man" and "Step Up"