Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts

Lindsay Lohan driving case returns to LA court


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lindsay Lohan's attorney returns to court Friday for a hearing in the actress's latest criminal case, as discussions continue about a possible plea deal before trial.


The 26-year-old isn't required to attend the hearing.


The hearing is intended to take care of any issues before a March 18 trial on misdemeanor charges that Lohan lied to police about a June car crash and was driving recklessly.


Attorney Mark Heller also plans to meet with prosecutors Friday to try to negotiate a plea deal. He wants to delay the case so Lohan can pursue psychotherapy and perform community service.


Lohan was on probation at the time of the accident and she faces jail time if a judge determines she violated her sentence in a 2011 theft case.


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Greek man charged in NY Dali theft pleads guilty


NEW YORK (AP) — A Greek man has admitted to stealing a Salvador Dali painting from a New York City gallery, only to return it in the mail.


Phivos Istavrioglou pleaded guilty on Tuesday following his arrest in the theft of a work titled "Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio."


Prosecutors say the fashion industry publicist walked into the Manhattan gallery in June, put the painting valued at about $150,000 in a shopping bag and walked out. He anonymously mailed the piece back to the United States from Greece after seeing news coverage of the theft.


Under the plea deal, Istavrioglou avoids additional jail time if he remains incarcerated until his formal sentencing on March 12. He also must pay more than $9,000 in restitution.


His lawyer said it was a stupid thing to do.


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Singer Morrissey says no to Kimmel, 'Duck Dynasty'


LOS ANGELES (AP) — The TV series "Duck Dynasty" is coming between Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel.


The singer and animal rights activist says he canceled his appearance Tuesday on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" because "Duck Dynasty" cast members will be on the talk show.


Morrissey says he can't perform on a show with what he called people who "amount to animal serial killers."


A&E's "Duck Dynasty" reality show follows a Louisiana family with a business selling duck calls and decoys.


A&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment from it and the Robertson family.


A person familiar with the Kimmel show's plans confirmed that Morrissey was to appear. The person lacked authority to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.


The person says Morrissey's performance will be rescheduled.


ABC says the Churchill band will perform Tuesday on Kimmel's show but declined comment on the switch.


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Reach AP Television Writer Lynn Elber at http://www.twitter.com/lynnelber .


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'Argo' wins best picture on scattered Oscar night


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just as Oscar host Seth MacFarlane set his sights on a variety of targets with a mixture of hits and misses, the motion picture academy spread the gold around to a varied slate of films. "Argo" won best picture as expected, along with two other prizes. But "Life of Pi" won the most awards with four, including a surprise win for director Ang Lee.


"Les Miserables" also won three Academy Awards, while "Django Unchained" and "Skyfall" each took two.


Among the winners were the front-runners throughout this lengthy awards season: best actor Daniel Day-Lewis for his deeply immersed portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's epic "Lincoln," best actress Jennifer Lawrence as a troubled young widow in "Silver Linings Playbook" and supporting actress Anne Hathaway as the doomed prostitute Fantine in the musical "Les Miserables." Christoph Waltz was a bit of a surprise for supporting actor as a charismatic bounty hunter in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," an award he'd won just three years ago for Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds."


The 22-year-old Lawrence, who got to show her lighter side in the oddball romance "Silver Linings Playbook" following serious roles in "Winter's Bone" and "The Hunger Games," gamely laughed at herself as she tripped on the stairs en route to the stage in her poufy, pale pink Dior Haute Couture gown. Backstage in the press room, when a reporter asked what she was thinking, she responded: "A bad word that I can't say that starts with 'F.'" Keeping journalists in hysterics, she explained, "I'm sorry. I did a shot before I ... sorry."


That's the kind of raunchiness MacFarlane himself seemed to be aiming for as host while also balancing the more traditional demands of the job. There was a ton of singing and dancing during the three-and-half-hour broadcast — no surprise from the musically minded creator of the animated series "Family Guy" — including a poignant performance from Barbra Streisand of "The Way We Were," written by the late Marvin Hamlisch, during the memorial montage. But MacFarlane also tried to keep the humor edgy with shots at Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Chris Brown and Rihanna.


An extended bit in which William Shatner came back from the future as his "Star Trek" character, Capt. James T. Kirk, had its moments while a joke about the drama "Flight" being restaged entirely with sock puppets was a scream. A John Wilkes Booth gag in reference to "Lincoln" was a bit of a groaner, perhaps intentionally, while MacFarlane relied on his alter ego, the cuddly teddy bear from his directorial debut "Ted," to make a crack about a post-Oscar orgy at Jack Nicholson's house. (MacFarlane already has indicated he's one-and-done with Academy Awards hosting.)


But it was Day-Lewis who came up with the kind of pop-culture riffing that's MacFarlane's specialty. In accepting his record third best-actor award from presenter Meryl Streep, he deadpanned that before they'd swapped roles, he originally was set to play Margaret Thatcher "and Meryl was Steven's first choice for 'Lincoln,' and I'd like to see that version."


Besides best picture, "Argo" won for Chris Terrio's adapted screenplay and for William Goldenberg's film editing. Affleck famously (and strangely) wasn't included in the best-director category for his thrilling and surprisingly funny depiction of a daring rescue during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. But as a producer on the film alongside George Clooney and Grant Heslov, he got to take home the top prize of the night.


"I never thought I'd be back here, and I am because of so many of you in this academy," said Affleck, who shared a screenplay Oscar with pal Matt Damon 15 years earlier for their breakout film "Good Will Hunting."


Among the wisdom he's acquired since then: "You can't hold grudges — it's hard but you can't hold grudges."


Lee, who previously won best director in 2006 for "Brokeback Mountain" (which also didn't win best picture), was typically low-key and self-deprecating in victory. His "Life of Pi" is a fable set in glorious 3-D, but Spielberg looked like the favorite for "Lincoln." The film also won for its cinematography, original score and visual effects.


"Thank you, movie god," the Taiwanese director said on stage. Later, he thanked his agents and said: "I have to do that," with a little shrug and a smile.


"Les Miserables" also won for sound mixing and makeup and hairstyling. The other Oscar for "Django Unchained" came for Tarantino's original screenplay. Asked about his international appeal backstage, Tarantino was enthusiastic as usual in saying: "I'm an American, and a filmmaker, but I make movies for the planet Earth."


Speaking of global hits, the James Bond action thriller "Skyfall" won for its original song by the unstoppable Adele (with Paul Epworth). It also tied for sound editing with "Zero Dark Thirty," the only win of the night for Kathryn Bigelow's detailed saga about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.


Among the other winners, "Searching for Sugar Man," about a forgotten musician's rediscovery, took the prize for best documentary feature. Pixar's fairy tale "Brave" won best animated feature.


One of the biggest moments of the night came at the end, as First Lady Michelle Obama announced the winner of the best picture prize. Backstage, Affleck described how surreal it was when he heard her say the word: "Argo."


"I was sort of hallucinating when that was happening," he explained. "In the course of a hallucination it doesn't seem that odd: 'Oh look, a purple elephant. Oh look, Michelle Obama.'"


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Contact AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire


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Adele, 'Les Miserables' cast sing on Oscar stage


LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was an extra starry, musical day at the Dolby Theatre.


Adele took the stage first Friday, followed by the cast of "Les Miserables," singing together of the first time.


Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, along with co-stars Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sasha Baron-Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks rehearsed their performances on the Oscar stage. They were backed by members of the musical's stage productions from London and Broadway.


"Les Miserables" director Tom Hooper sat in the front row of the theater as his cast sang.


Moments earlier, Adele dazzled the tiny audience of show workers with her performance of the James Bond theme "Skyfall."


"I need a lot more reverb on me," she said after her first run. "You might need to get a new reverb machine."


The 24-year-old multiple Grammy winner arrived wearing a black tunic, black leggings and flats, with no makeup and her hair in a ponytail.


"I'm going to have very high heels on the night, guys," she announced from the microphone, sipping tea between verses.


"Do you need the dresses?" she asked, and a team of stylists brought out the gowns Adele is considering for her Oscar performance.


The dress producers favored? "It's very heavy — I mean I struggle to stand in it," Adele said. "Come and feel how heavy it is, so you don't think I'm a wimp!"


She performed her Oscar-nominated song five times before leaving the theater. "It's been good, yeah?" she asked producer Neil Meron, who nodded in approval.


Just after Adele wrapped, the star-studded "Les Miserables" cast took the stage. Hathaway chatted with Bonham-Carter as Jackman sang a capella. Then Hathaway checked her microphone with a quick verse.


"Ooh, that was flat," she said.


The entire cast assembled for a final run-through when Jackman spontaneously began singing "My Bonny Lies over the Ocean."


"My bonny lies over my daddy," the ensemble responded, breaking into laughter.


Other stars rehearsing Friday included Jennifer Hudson, who is set to perform a song from "Dreamgirls" at Sunday's ceremony.


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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .


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Online:


www.oscar.com


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Oscar animators ready to be taken seriously


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In the animated feature film category at this year's Oscars, there's a film set in medieval Scotland, another that features old-school video game characters, one that relies heavily on dry British humor, while the other two take inspiration from the supernatural.


It's not exactly kid stuff — and that's how the directors like it.


"I think this year with these films — and so many more — the envelope for animation is being pushed," said "Brave" director Mark Andrews at an Academy Awards event Thursday night honoring the animated feature film nominees. "We keep seeing more risky, deep films that we wouldn't have seen 10 years ago coming out. I wanna be one of those guys pushing it more and more and more because it's not only an awesome medium, but there's so many more stories that we can tell."


The Scotland-set "Brave," a darker fable from Pixar about a rebellious red-headed princess named Merida, will face off against four other animated films at Sunday's 85th annual Academy Awards. The category was first introduced at the 2002 ceremony, with "Shrek" winning the inaugural trophy.


Despite the less lighthearted tone of this year's animated nominees, none cracked the best picture category for a spot alongside the likes of "Argo," ''Lincoln" and "Zero Dark Thirty." (Only three animated films have ever been nominated for best picture at the Oscars: "Beauty and the Beast," ''Up" and "Toy Story 3.")


"Edward Scissorhands" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" mastermind Tim Burton could take home his first-ever Oscar at the Dolby Theatre ceremony for "Frankenweenie," his black-and-white stop-motion film based on his 1984 live-action short film of the same name.


"Frankenweenie" is among three of the five Oscar nominated films this year that employ stop-motion, the intricate and time consuming animation method that use miniature sculptures and sets. Despite a strong stop-motion presence at this year's Oscars, Burton cited finances, not the omnipresence of computer animation, as the reason that more stop-motion films aren't produced.


"In the case of 'Frankenweenie,' it's not like it was a studio wish-list to-do: 'Let's make black-and-white stop-motion animation,'" said Burton. "You hope it can survive. We all love it."


The other stop-motion nominees are the English seafaring comedy "Pirates! Band of Misfits" from director Peter Lord and the undead tale "ParaNorman" from directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler.


"Wreck-It Ralph" director Rich Moore told the crowd at the motion picture academy's Beverly Hills headquarters that he never envisioned the video game adventure from Disney as a musical, but "Book of Mormon" co-writer Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez did create an original song for the film.


"It didn't work, so it's not in the movie," said Moore. "That's our process. We try lots of stuff. We throw it against the wall, and the stuff that sticks stays in the movie. It's a very organic process making films like this."


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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.


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Rapper Ja Rule set to leave NY prison in gun case


ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Platinum-selling rapper Ja Rule was set to leave an upstate prison on Thursday after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession but head straight into federal custody in a tax case.


The rapper, who had been in protective custody at the Mid-State Correctional Facility because of his celebrity, has some time remaining on a 28-month sentence for tax evasion, correction officials said. His sentences were expected to run concurrently.


Ja Rule may have less than six months left and may be eligible for a halfway house, defense attorney Stacey Richman said. An order to pay $1.1 million in back taxes is one of the main reasons he wants to get back to work, she said.


"Many people are looking forward to experiencing his talent again," Richman said.


Ja Rule scored a Grammy Award nomination in 2002 for the best rap album with "Pain is Love." He also has appeared in movies, including "The Fast and the Furious" in 2001 and "Scary Movie 3" in 2003.


Ja Rule, who went to the prison in Marcy in June 2011, is getting out at his earliest release date, state correction spokeswoman Linda Foglia said. He had two misbehavior reports for unauthorized phone calls in February 2012 and had work assignments on lawn and grounds crews and participated in education programs, she said.


In the gun case, New York City police said they found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun in a rear door of Ja Rule's $250,000 luxury car after it was stopped for speeding, and he pleaded guilty in 2010.


He admitted in March 2011 in federal court that he failed to pay taxes on more than $3 million he earned between 2004 and 2006 while he lived in Saddle River, N.J.


"I in no way attempted to deceive the government or do anything illegal," he told the judge. "I was a young man who made a lot of money — I'm getting a little choked up — I didn't know how to deal with these finances, and I didn't have people to guide me, so I made mistakes."


Richman said the 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, is looking forward to his daughter's graduation.


"He's a devoted father," she said.


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Police say NY TV anchor threatened wife with death


A New York City TV anchorman issued a death threat against his wife as he was being arrested on charges of attacking her at their Connecticut home, according to a court document released Tuesday.


New York City police, meanwhile, disclosed that they were called 11 times to the couple's home when they lived in Manhattan. One call resulted in an arrest, but the case was sealed, they said.


In the Connecticut case, a Darien police officer wrote that Rob Morrison, who works for WCBS-TV, "threatened that if he was released from police custody, he would kill his wife."


The document was offered in Superior Court in Stamford, in support of an order of protection against Morrison. Judge Kenneth Povadator ordered Morrison to stay 100 yards away from Ashley Morrison except when they're both at work.


She works for "CBS Moneywatch."


Rob Morrison, 44, was charged Sunday with strangulation, threatening and disorderly conduct. Officers had been called by his mother-in-law to the couple's home in Darien. They said Morrison had been belligerent toward his wife throughout the night and had wrapped his hands around her neck, leaving red marks.


Morrison's lawyer, Robert Skovgaard, did not enter a plea at the arraignment. He said afterward a plea would come "at the appropriate time."


Skovgaard said Monday that the allegations had been exaggerated and on Tuesday he referred to his previous statement.


Outside the courthouse, Morrison said: "I did not choke my wife. I've never raised my hands to my wife."


The NYPD said it was called 11 times between 2004 and 2009 to the couple's home on West 90th Street. In the 10 cases that did not result in an arrest, the calls involved verbal disputes and harassment, with no allegations of physical violence, the police said.


It was not clear if violence was alleged in the case that was sealed. Skovgaard did not immediately return a call about the New York incidents.


Morrison was released Tuesday on the $100,000 bond he posted Sunday. He is due back in court in Stamford on March 26.


Morrison, who has been a combat correspondent and was a reporter and anchor for WNBC-TV, anchors WCBS-TV's news programs "This Morning" and "News at Noon." Ashley Morrison worked for Bloomberg Television before joining "CBS MoneyWatch."


The couple has a young son.


Skovgaard said that because of the order of protection, Morrison "will not be going home tonight."


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Associated Press writer Colleen Long in New York contributed to this report.


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TV special shows glory, trauma of military dogs


LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's been almost seven months since a bomb exploded on a strip of dirt in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Leonard Anderson can only remember a reassuring voice.


He has seen the ambush and its aftermath on film, though: The man behind the voice putting a tourniquet on Anderson's leg as a medic tended to the other, listening to his own cries for help and his dog's whines of worry.


The blast that severely wounded the military dog handler was captured on film by one of four camera crews that were embedded with front line troops last year. The voice that reassured him belonged to Craig Constant, a cameraman for Animal Planet's "Glory Hounds" TV special, which airs Thursday.


It took the network a year to get permission to film the two-hour special, which followed the animals into combat zones where insurgents and buried explosives could be around any bend or under any pile of dirt.


Military dogs are prized targets for Taliban insurgents, Anderson said. They sniff out bombs, making safe passage for troops to follow and saving countless lives. The U.S. Department of Defense calls each dog a piece of equipment, but Constant says they're much more than that.


"They call them tools, and they are not. They are soldiers. They just have four paws instead of two feet. They walk in front of the platoons. It's a deadly game, and they die all the time. But they save lives by finding IEDs that technology can't find," said Constant, referring to the military terminology for improvised explosive devices.


Anderson became the handler for an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois named Azza when he asked for the job as kennel master at the base in Sperwan Ghar, said the 29-year-old who loves animals.


The breed is among four — including Dutch shepherd, German shepherd and Labrador retriever — that is commonly used by the military because they are of similar size and temperament, easy to train and enjoy working, said Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association.


Azza became a military dog when she was 3 and detecting explosives was her specialty, said Anderson.


On the day of the blast, early morning on July 28, Azza and Anderson were about a mile from the base camp. They didn't need to go into the field — Anderson's job was to assess daily needs, plot routes and assign teams. But the self-described adrenaline junkie said he couldn't do his job if he didn't know where his men and dogs were headed and what they were facing.


Constant and his sound technician were about 10 feet behind them when the bomb went off. Military experts who examined the blast site said it was activated by remote control, not set off by touch.


But the dog bore the guilt: Constant remembers most vividly the anguished look on her face and her whines.


"Azza just looked at him. She had a human face. She was helpless. She was concerned. She was fixated on him," Constant said.


The explosion knocked the camera out of Constant's hands. He picked it up, planning to film, but dropped it when he saw Anderson.


"I don't know how he survived. There was a 6-foot-by-5-foot crater, and he was right on top of it," said Constant, who suffered ear drum damage and shrapnel wounds. The sound technician was wounded in the leg.


Anderson slipped in and out of consciousness while a medic and Constant, who is a former Marine, worked on his legs. Azza watched and whined.


"The only thing I remember from that day is Craig's voice talking to me telling me to 'calm down,' 'be easy,' 'it's going to be all right,'" Anderson said. "I woke up in Texas and that's when I asked, 'Where is my dog?' and 'What's going on?'"


Anderson doesn't know how many surgeries he had in Afghanistan, Germany and San Antonio, Texas, but he estimates around 20 based on what doctors and relatives have told him. He lost his left forearm and four fingers on his right hand, suffered upper body injuries and lost the skin on both legs.


Azza has been retired and was adopted by Anderson, his wife and their sons, ages 1 and 2. Memories of combat still haunt her, he said.


"She has some pretty bad nightmares, moving, breathing real heavy. I will slowly wake her up. She will get up and pace the house," he said.


Constant believes "Glory Hounds" shows the importance of dogs and their combat work.


"They really showed the truth and consequences of what these guys do. It's sad to watch because the story is told as much as you can tell it in two hours," he said.


His only regret from filming the show was that he didn't have his camera trained on Azza while they were helping Anderson.


"I wish to God I could have shot that. I wish I could have gotten that on film," Constant said. "It would have changed people's ideas about dogs" being viewed as merely equipment or property, he added.


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"Glory Hounds" airs Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT and repeats on Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. ET/PT.


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Online:


http://www.animalplanet.com


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Singer Mindy McCready dies in apparent suicide


HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — Perhaps there was one heartbreak too many for Mindy McCready.


The former country star appears to have taken her own life Sunday afternoon in Heber Springs, Ark. Authorities say McCready died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head and an autopsy is planned. She was 37, the mother of two young sons.


If confirmed, it was at least her fourth suicide attempt since 2005, ending a series of tumultuous public events that marked much of the singer's adult life.


Speaking to The Associated Press in 2010, McCready smiled wryly while talking about the string of issues she'd dealt with over the last half-decade.


"It is a giant whirlwind of chaos all the time," she said of her life. "I call my life a beautiful mess and organized chaos. It's just always been like that. My entire life things have been attracted to me and vice versa that turn into chaotic nightmares or I create the chaos myself. I think that's really the life of a celebrity, of a big, huge, giant personality."


This time it seems the whirlwind overwhelmed McCready.


Her death comes a month after that of David Wilson, her longtime boyfriend and the father of her youngest son. He is believed to have shot himself on the same porch of the home they shared in the small wooded community of large lakefront houses about 65 miles north of Little Rock, Ark., and his death also was investigated as a suicide.


It was the most difficult moment in a life full of them. McCready issued a statement last month lamenting his death. And she called him her soul mate and a caregiver to her sons in an interview with NBC's "Today" show.


"I just keep telling myself that the more suffering that I go through, the greater character I'll have," she said, according to a transcript of the interview.


Like so many times before, McCready showed a little toughness in the midst of a personal storm, again endearing herself to her fans. But as usual, the brave face for the camera hid a much more complicated internal struggle that surfaced publicly time and again over the last 10 years.


This time, along with her remembrances of finding Wilson as he lay dying, she also answered questions about whether they'd argued earlier that evening about an affair and if she'd shot him.


"Oh, my God," the "Today" transcript reads. "No. Oh, my God. No. He was my life. We were each other's life."


It's unclear what circumstances led to McCready taking her own life, but it appears she was struggling again with twin issues that have persisted for years — substance abuse and the custody of her children. She checked into court-ordered rehab and gave her children up to foster care earlier this month after her father asked a judge to intervene, saying she'd stopped taking care of herself and her sons and was abusing alcohol and prescription drugs.


It's not clear where her sons, 6-year-old Zander and infant Zayne, were Sunday.


A deputy stationed outside McCready's home Sunday night referred questions to the Cleburne County sheriff, who was unavailable. Yellow crime-scene tape cordoned off the front yard and a dark-colored pickup truck sat in the driveway.


News of McCready's death spread quickly Sunday night on Twitter, with major country stars paying their respects to the onetime Nashville darling.


"Too much tragedy to overcome. R.I.P Mindy McCready," wrote Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks.


And Carrie Underwood added: "I grew up listening to Mindy McCready...so sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them..."


Melinda Gayle McCready arrived in Nashville in 1994 still in her teens with tapes of her karaoke vocals and earned a recording contract with BNA Records. She had a few memorable moments professionally, scoring her first No. 1 hit almost immediately.


"Guys Do It All the Time," a self-assured dig at male chauvinism, endeared her to female fans in 1996. She also scored a hit with "Ten Thousand Angels," and her album of that title sold 2 million copies.


Beyond that, though, she's mostly remembered for a string of dramatic moments as she spent the next 15 years chasing another huge hit. Her problems included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons, arrests, overdoses and discord in her love life.


She made headlines in April 2008 when she claimed a longtime relationship with baseball great Roger Clemens. Published reports at the time said she met the pitcher at a Florida karaoke bar when she was 15 and he was 28 and married. Clemens denied the relationship. A decade earlier she was engaged to actor Dean Cain, but the two never married.


She also had a turbulent relationship with Billy McKnight, a country singer who is the father of her oldest son. McKnight was arrested in 2005 on charges of attempted murder after authorities say he beat and choked her.


During this period she also pleaded guilty to obtaining the painkiller OxyContin fraudulently at a pharmacy and got probation. She violated the probation with a drunken driving arrest in May 2005, a few days before McKnight was arrested. And in July 2007, she was arrested in her hometown of Fort Myers, Fla., on misdemeanor charges of scratching her mother, Gayle Inge, on the face during a scuffle and resisting sheriff's deputies.


Less than a year later, McCready was arrested and charged with violating her probation by falsifying her community service records relating to the 2004 drug charge. A month later, she entered an extended care facility for undisclosed treatment, and followed that with a 60-day jail sentence. Inge took custody of Zander.


There were at least three suicide attempts between July 2005 and December 2008.


She tried to get help in an unusual way, joining the cast of "Celebrity Rehab 3" with Dr. Drew Pinsky. McCready came off as a sympathetic figure during the show's run. Pinsky called her an "angel" and in an interview in 2010 said it appeared McCready was doing "rather well."


Pinsky helped treat McCready for love addiction on the show and said he'd referred her to professionals who could continue to help her afterward.


"A love addict basically is somebody that really didn't have a good model for intimacy in their childhood, often times traumatized in one way or another, thereby intimacy becomes a risk place, becomes an intolerable place," Pinsky said. "And so what they tend to do is attach themselves to idealized, bigger than life, unavailable others, specifically go after some public figure that's married or go after some rock star who is himself a sex addict and not interested in a relationship, and then idealize that person and actively pursue them to the point of obsession."


McCready suffered a seizure in one of the show's scarier moments. Test showed she has suffered brain damage, something she attributed to her abusive relationship with McKnight.


McCready is the fifth celebrity to pass away since appearing on Pinsky's show and the third from Season 3. Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr and "Real World" participant Joey Kovar both died due to overdose. In the months after her stint, she said she found some peace and told The Associated Press in early 2010 she hoped to get her career restarted, write a book about her experiences and begin production on a reality show with her brothers. She'd just met Wilson and talked openly about their relationship, though the producer and musician declined to speak on the record.


With a publicist, reporters, cameras, makeup artists and musicians swirling around her during a press day for her last album "I'm Still Here," McCready fended off questions about a sex tape and said she and Wilson started out as friends.


"And I've never had a relationship like that before where we started completely as friends," she said. "It turned into friends really caring about each other and then it turned into love and I've never had that happen before."


At the time, Pinsky thought the relationship was on the right track: "She's an easy person to like and to care about and we hope she does well," Pinsky said. "So far so good as far as I can tell."


McCready said her main goal in 2010 was to pull her family back together: "I would like my son back with me and for my brothers and I and he to be able to go and do this (TV reality show), and I think after that I will be a pretty happy girl."


The new album debuted at No. 71 and failed to gain radio airplay. McCready's plans never materialized and she soon was in legal trouble again, this time fighting for custody.


McCready took her older son from her mother, the boy's legal guardian, in late 2011. She fled to Arkansas without permission over what she called child abuse fears. Authorities eventually found McCready hiding in a home without permission and took the boy into custody.


She and Wilson had their son in April 2012.


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Music Writer Chris Talbott reported from Nashville, Tenn. Associated Press writer Tamara Lush contributed to this report from Tampa, Fla.


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Judge sets May trial date for Kardashian divorce


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian has a due date for her baby and now a trial date for her divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries.


A judge on Friday set a May 6 trial for the reality TV star who wants to end her marriage before July, when her child with Kanye West is due.


Kardashian filed for divorce on Oct. 31, 2011, after she and Humphries had been married just 72 days. Their lavish, star-studded nuptials were recorded and broadcast by E! Entertainment Television.


The trial is expected to last three to five days and could reveal details about Kardashian's reality show empire, which includes "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and several spinoffs.


Two judges determined Friday that Humphries' lawyers had adequate time to prepare for the trial.


Humphries wants the marriage annulled based on his claim that Kardashian only married him for the sake of her show.


She denies that allegation and says the case should be resolved through what would be her second divorce.


Humphries' attorney Marshall Waller asked for a delay until basketball season is over.


But Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon refused, saying firefighters, police officers, truck drivers and others have to miss work for trials, and Humphries must do the same if necessary.


Waller filed paperwork Thursday to withdraw from the case but didn't mention that development in court and refused to answer any questions about the document on Friday.


Waller said he was still hoping to obtain and review 13,000 hours of footage from Kardashian's reality shows to try to prove the fraud claim but noted he does not yet have an agreement to receive the footage.


Kardashian's lawyer said her client was ready for trial.


"Let's get this case dispensed with," attorney Laura Wasser said.


Humphries has provided a deposition in the case, as have West and Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner.


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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP


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Kim Kardashian makes another bid to end marriage


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian's divorce case is returning to court Friday with her attorney urging a speedy end to her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries.


Lawyers for the pregnant reality star and the Brooklyn Nets power forward disagree over a timetable for a trial to end the marriage, which Humphries wants annulled.


Kardashian is asking a judge to order a trial as soon as possible. Humphries wants the case to remain on hold until the basketball season ends.


Setting a trial date may be complicated by a filing Thursday by one of Humphries' attorneys to leave the case, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Humphries. The attorney, Marshall Waller, had stated in recent court filings that he was still seeking evidence from several companies that produce Kardashian's reality shows to try to prove their fraud claims.


Kardashian's attorney Laura Wasser has repeatedly sought a trial date so that the marriage can be ended and denies that the couple's televised marriage was based on false pretenses.


The model is due to give birth in July to a child conceived with her boyfriend Kanye West. Each side accuses the other of trying to use Kardashian's pregnancy for a legal advantage.


"It appears from (Kardashisan's) moving papers that what is really going on here is that an 'urgency' in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy ... is perceived by (Kardashian) as an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage by trying to force this court to prematurely set this matter for trial," Waller wrote in a court filing earlier this month.


"(Humphries) to his great discredit thinks that because (Kardashian) is now pregnant he can exert some leverage over (her) knowing that she wants to be divorced," Wasser wrote.


Kardashian filed for divorce on Dec. 31, 2011 after 72 days of marriage. The pair was married in a star-studded ceremony that was televised by E! Entertainment Television.


The case has already drawn in West, the producers of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner.


Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney will determine Friday how the case will proceed. He has previously said the case should be ready for trial early this year.


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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP


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Epic to pull song with offending Lil Wayne lyric


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Epic Records is going to "great efforts" to take down a new Future remix leaked over the weekend with a vulgar Lil Wayne lyric that has offended the family of Emmett Till.


The New Orleans rapper made a sexual reference to the beating death of Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy tortured and shot in Mississippi in 1955 for whistling at a white woman. Till's family objected and the Rev. Jesse Jackson reached out to his management, The Blueprint Group, on the family's behalf.


The label issued a statement Wednesday night apologizing for the release of the song.


"We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's 'Karate Chop,' which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics," the statement said. "Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the support of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. ... we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version."


Epic will release an official version of the song that "will not include such references."


Neither Jackson nor members of Till's family could be reached late Wednesday. A publicist says Lil Wayne has had no comment so far.


He appears briefly on the song, alluding to the black teenager's beating in a way too vulgar to print.


Till, a native of Chicago, was in Mississippi visiting family in 1955 when he was killed. He was beaten, had his eyes gouged out and was shot in the head before his assailants tied a cotton gin fan to his body with barbed wire and tossed his body into the Tallahatchie River. Two white men, including the woman's husband, were acquitted of the killing by an all-white jury.


Till's body was recovered and returned to Chicago where his mother, Mamie Till, insisted on having an open casket at his funeral. The pictures of his battered body helped push civil rights into the cultural conversation in the U.S.


Bob Dylan wrote a song about it: "The Death of Emmett Till."


A Facebook posting on the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation page Wednesday night said Epic Records Chairman and CEO LA Reid had reached out to the family to personally apologize.


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Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott


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Beyonce hopes her documentary inspires Blue Ivy


NEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce is hoping that her ultra-revealing documentary will someday provide inspiration for Blue Ivy, the year-old daughter she and husband Jay-Z have.


"I hope that she will see all of the beautiful times (and) all the tough times that led up to her being here," the singer said Tuesday night at the New York premiere of her upcoming HBO documentary, "Life is But a Dream."


She added: "I'm hoping that ... it can comfort her and inspire her in her life when she needs it."


The autobiographical film takes a no-holds-barred look at the entertainer. It stems from personal conversations the 31-year old singer made using the video camera on her computer over the past couple of years. It also includes home movies of the Grammy-winning singer and her two sisters.


In the film, Beyonce candidly discusses personal matters like her miscarriage, reports of faking her pregnancy, and firing her father as her manager.


She claims the process of talking into a camera to get all her thoughts out was therapeutic.


"I really grew so much," she says of the process. "This movie has really been my therapy. I've healed from so many wounds and I've been able to understand why some of the things I've been through, why I went through, so feel really proud, and hopefully I can inspire other people."


The singer has been private about her life in the past. But she felt the time was right to let people know how she felt.


"I felt that after 16 years of being a public singer, people didn't know who I was," she admitted. But then she added: "I will always keep certain things to myself because it's only natural."


Oprah Winfrey made a surprise visit to the premiere, and posed with Beyonce on the red carpet. Before going into the Ziegfeld Theatre, Winfrey, known for her tough, results-driven interview style, was asked if this was the kind of story she would have done on Beyonce.


She said Beyonce did a "much better job" of telling her own story. "I wouldn't have been in the bedroom and in the closet and in the car and on vacation," she said.


Beyonce acted as the film's executive producer and co-directed it with Ed Burke. He previously worked on some of her video projects. "Life is But a Dream" airs Saturday on HBO.


_____


Online:


http://www.hbo.com


___


John Carucci covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at — http://www.twitter.com/jcarucci_ap


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Young Afghan musicians in NY for date at Carnegie


SCARSDALE, N.Y. (AP) — For these young people from Afghanistan, it's the perfect trip to America. They get to scarf down New York pizza, go ice skating — and take the stage at Carnegie Hall.


The Afghan Youth Orchestra, many of whose members are not far removed from eking out a living on the streets of Kabul, is on the New York leg of a U.S. tour that melds Western classics with traditional Afghan music.


About 50 players held a joint rehearsal Monday with 25 members of the Scarsdale High School orchestra, which meant that young musicians from a war-torn country where music was banned for several years by the Taliban were playing alongside those from one of New York's toniest suburbs.


"This is all providing a model for the future of Afghanistan," said William Harvey, the Afghan orchestra's American conductor and arranger. "The recomposed music, taking the best from both worlds, and the cooperation between the Afghan kids and the Scarsdale kids, shows what has to happen for Afghanistan."


Among the pieces rehearsed in advance of Tuesday night's Carnegie program were adaptations of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and Ravel's "Bolero," both incorporating Afghan instruments and rhythms.


A handful of people in the Scarsdale auditorium got to hear familiar melodies perked up with such instruments as the sitar, dilruba and ghichak. Some of the Afghan musicians were barefoot.


"I love the 'Bolero,'" said Milad Yousofi, 18, a pianist from Kabul who, like the rest of the orchestra, attends the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, which was founded just three years ago.


Yousofi is hoping the orchestra's U.S. visit — it played in Washington last week and is headed for Boston — will help him find a way to continue his musical education in America.


"I'm very excited and amazed that we are going to Carnegie Hall," he said. "New York is my dream city. I want to come here as soon as possible. But then I want to go back to Afghanistan and teach."


Hojat Hameed, 21, a violinist who also plays electric guitar in a rock band, said he became interested in music when he heard a Celine Dion recording.


"That made me want to become a musician," he said. "I could feel I wanted to come home to music."


Some of the Afghans may have been saved from desperate lives by the music school.


"One of my violinists used to sell chewing gum on the street," said Harvey, who spoke to the musicians in English and Dari, one of Afghanistan's two main languages. "She had to. The Taliban had beaten her father paralyzed and he couldn't work."


"The return of music to Afghanistan is a victory of the human spirit," Harvey said.


Ahmad Sarmast, who founded the school, said hearing the orchestra play was "a touching experience."


"The Taliban deprived children of their music," he said. "It was like a genocide of music. Now this is an incredible way of showing pride in our people, our youth, our school, our country."


He said the school, which is funded by the World Bank and others, is free and provides enough of a stipend to keep the musicians off the streets. And it accepts boys and girls, another reversal of Taliban orders.


Amedee Williams, who heads the Scarsdale music program, said he heard last year that the Afghan school was trying to raise funds for a tour. He contacted the school and suggested their orchestra members could save on New York hotels by staying with Scarsdale families. That turned out not to be necessary, but it forged a partnership that resulted in the Scarsdale orchestra joining the Afghans at Carnegie Hall.


Before the joint orchestra rehearsed on Sunday, he said, all the youngsters had pizza. Afterward, they went ice skating, which was a new activity for the Afghans "and some of the Scarsdale kids," Williams said.


"There was a lot of hand-holding, supporting each other," he said. "It was good to see."


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Producers: 'Chicago' cast to join Oscar performers


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Academy Awards producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have run out of rehearsal space. Dressing rooms, too.


The award-winning production duo is planning the most performance-filled Oscar show ever. They promise a "wow moment" in each of its 13 acts, so the show demands a more dynamic stage and more dressing rooms and rehearsal time than previous Oscar productions.


"I don't think any Oscars have been as performance-based," Meron said.


It's no surprise, given the pair's hit-filled history: They produced 2003's best picture, "Chicago," and count TV's "Smash" and the recent Broadway revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" among their credits.


Running out of space for their Oscar production's A-list roster of performers — including Barbra Streisand, Adele and Norah Jones — is what Zadan calls a "great problem."


"When you do an Oscar show, you don't have a dressing room problem. The presenters don't get dressing rooms. And how many people perform on the Oscars, like one or two?" he said. "We have a staggering amount of performers, and each of them needs a dressing room... We're measuring the magnitude of how big the show is by the fact that we don't have (enough) dressing rooms."


Just added to the list of stars who may need spots? The cast of "Chicago."


The producers announced Monday that Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere will reunite on the stage where "Chicago" won its Oscar 10 years ago.


"In a night of celebration of the music of the movies, we find it very appropriate," Meron said.


So will the musical cast sing?


"We can't talk about what they're going to do!" Zadan said.


Here's what they will talk about:


— Expect a dynamic, screen-filled set to accommodate the movie-focused numbers: "We're using a lot of cutting-edge technology with new LED screens of different sizes, shapes and configurations... It's kind of thrilling what we're doing with screens," Zadan said. "There will be, too, the regular screen that you have to use each year... but then we have all kinds of other screens that we're using in the show that are completely unique and different and allow us to do stuff with cinema, so it's not a concert thing where somebody comes out and sings a song. It's all integrated into movies."


— Look for a lot of host Seth MacFarlane: "He's going to be very present as a host, as a host should," Meron said.


— And expect to hear him show off his chops: "Seth will sing. He's got a great voice," Zadan said.


"Seth really does understand and have great reverence for the music of the movies," Meron added. "He loves it."


— And about those "wow moments?" Among them will be a celebration of the James Bond film franchise, a tribute to movie musicals, Streisand, Adele, a "special appearance" by Daniel Radcliffe, Charlize Theron, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and maybe something from the cast of "Chicago."


"We think seeing the cast of 'The Avengers' is pretty wow," Meron said.


Better book them a dressing room.


___


Contact Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy.


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Mardi Gras ball 1st Superdome event since blackout


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — This time, the lights stayed on in the Superdome.


The glitzy Mardi Gras Krewe of Endymion rolled its parade and super float through the Superdome on Saturday night and Kelly Clarkson performed amid purple, green and gold lights in the first major event at the venue since the Super Bowl blackout.


While the black tie ball was nowhere near the size of the championship game a week ago, it was a test for dome officials and the stadium's electricity provider, Entergy, which has come under scrutiny since the lights went dark for more than a half hour.


The bright stadium lights were dimmed for the ball, but there were no signs of any electrical problems.


Darin Coker and his wife, Jeannine, wondered whether the ball would be affected in any way after the outage.


"I got my dress six months ago," she said. "I was hoping they would get it fixed before tonight, and I was glad to hear they did."


The couple, both former New Orleans residents, drove in for the weekend from their home in Ruston, La., to attend the ball and catch other parades with friends and family. Darin Coker said he loved the sight of the dome's exterior, all aglow in purple, green and gold lights — traditional colors of Mardi Gras — and hoped outsiders wouldn't see the blackout as a black eye for a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.


"I was watching the game from home, and I was like, oh no, we were doing so good. The city looked so good," he said. "The city has come so far, and I hate to hear people say, 'Oh look at them, they just can't get it together.'"


Entergy said the blackout appeared to have been caused by a problem with a device the company installed to prevent power outages. It's still unclear whether the device had a design flaw or a manufacturing defect, causing an outage to about half of the stadium during the NFL's championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.


Entergy removed the equipment that failed, "and we're looking forward to hosting the Endymion ball," said Eric Eagan, spokesman for the Superdome.


The dome looked much different than a week ago, set up for a crowd of more than 30,000. The turf was covered with a floor and tables were set up where the field usually is.


The only hiccup Saturday occurred when the Endymion float had trouble negotiating a turn along its parade route on the way to the dome. The 330-foot float — the largest-ever for Mardi Gras — had to be separated and then re-attached to resume its journey.


The parade has 25 floats that roll through the dome, as revelers aboard them toss beads and trinkets to ball attendees gathered at tables and lower-level stadium seats.


Clarkson, the first winner of TV's "American Idol," was the parade's celebrity grand marshal. Her hits include "Because of You" and "Since You've Been Gone." She is one of several stars serving as celebrity riders in this year's Carnival parades.


On Sunday, actor G.W. Bailey of TNT's "Major Crimes" and the "Police Academy" movies is scheduled to reign as the king of the Bacchus parade.


On Monday, actor Gary Sinise and New Orleans musicians Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Harry Connick Jr. will ride in the Krewe of Orpheus parade with Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress Mariska Hargitay.


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Kiefer Sutherland honored by Harvard theater group


CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Golden Globe-winning actor Keifer Sutherland has been awarded the pudding pot after being honored as Man of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.


The roast for the actor took place despite a massive snowstorm hitting the Boston area. The Friday evening event, including presentation of the traditional pudding pot, was moved to the Charles Hotel in Cambridge.


The 46-year-old Sutherland has been in dozens of films. He's perhaps best known for his role as Jack Bauer in the television series "24," for which he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy awards. He is currently starring in the television show "Touch."


Last year's Man of the Year was Jason Segel.


The 2013 Woman of the Year, Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAR'), was honored last week.


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Music teachers now eligible for new Grammy honor


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Music teachers are now eligible for a Grammy honor of their own.


Recording Academy president Neil Portnow says the group has established a music educator award that will be presented for the first time next year.


Portnow announced the new award Thursday at the Grammy Foundation's 15th annual Music Preservation Project event at the Saban Theatre.


"We're dedicated to preserving the great music of the past, present and future," he said. "Music education is perhaps the most vital part of the Grammy Foundation's mission."


Kindergarten through college teachers are eligible for the new annual award, which will be presented at a special ceremony the day before the Grammy Awards. Students and colleagues can nominate candidates online.


Thursday's event, dubbed "Play it Forward," featured performances by Dionne Warwick, LeAnn Rimes, Emmylou Harris, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Yolanda Adams and Lupe Fiasco, who is up for best rap album at this year's Grammys.


Adams, who performed two rousing songs backed by a gospel choir, thanked the Grammy Foundation "for preserving the authenticity of all music."


She cited Warwick and Aretha Franklin among her music heroes.


Other artists shared their musical inspirations in video clips that punctuated the program. Ike Turner cited Pine Top Perkins, Quincy Jones named Billy Carter and Isaac Hayes recalled Minnie Pearl. Buddy Holly inspired Waylon Jennings and Bootsy Collins was moved by the guitar work of Lonnie Mack.


The 55th annual Grammy Awards will be presented Sunday at Staples Center and broadcast live on CBS.


___


AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .


___


Online:


http://www.grammyintheschools.com/


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Selena Gomez works the front row at Neo show


NEW YORK (AP) — Selena Gomez sat front and center at the fashion show to preview the first collection in her collaboration with Adidas' streetwear Neo label.


But the runway at Wednesday evening's show was a next-gen catwalk: Teenager bloggers were charged with styling the outfits instead of industry professionals.


Gomez thanked them as she stood on stage at the end of the show. She was flanked by models in denim shorts, Bermudas, slouchy sweats and T-shirts that read "Pirate Love." There were a few graffiti prints sprinkled in, and some varsity jackets.


The clothes, mostly in sunny yellow, bright pink and navy, were more surf than sport, which is Adidas' normal niche.


The show was very briefly interrupted by a protester trying to hand out leaflets about sweatshops.


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