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Motown gala 'means everything' to founder Gordy

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:52 EST

Hundreds have gathered to salute Detroit-style royalty - the King of Motown, the Queen of Soul and the Kid of Rock.

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, along with Aretha Franklin and Kid Rock - not to mention Motown's original kid, Stevie Wonder - are in downtown Detroit Saturday for the Motown 50 Golden Gala.

Gordy said "it means everything" to be at the gala, a fundraiser for the Motown Historical Museum. The museum had been the original home of Motown Records Corp.

Sheryl Crow takes up cause of wild horses in West

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:13 EST

Sheryl Crow is joining others in calling on the federal government to halt roundups of wild horses in the West, branding them as inhumane and unnecessary.

The Grammy Award-winning singer has asked President Barack Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to scrap a proposed roundup of 2,500 mustangs in northern Nevada.

"With one voice we are insisting that our government stop managing these beautiful and important animals to extinction," Crow said in a statement released by the Cloud Foundation, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based horse advocacy group.

'New Moon' takes record $72.7M box office bite

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:47 EST

Vampires and werewolves have vanquished a dark knight. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" took in $72.7 million in its first day to break the single day domestic box office record previously held by "The Dark Knight," which had a $67.2 million opening day last year.

The Friday haul for the "Twilight" sequel includes a record $26.3 million from midnight screenings alone.

If "New Moon" maintains its pace, it might have a shot at the all-time best opening weekend record of $158.4 million, also held by "The Dark Knight."

Losing Winfrey would be big blow for Second City

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:47 EST

Step outside Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios and into the near west side neighborhood that's been home to her television talk show for two decades, and it's easy to get a sense of what she's meant to Chicago.

"I used to live across the street from Harpo and when I moved there it was me and cross-dressing crack addicts and Harpo. And now it's strollers and little white dogs all over," said Paul O'Connor, whose job has been to sell the city to businesses looking to relocate and those wondering why they should stay.

Along with the upscale condominiums and pricey restaurants that replaced the rundown apartments, abandoned warehouses and vacant storefronts, it's a sentiment that helps explain just how nervous people in Chicago are about Winfrey's announcement that next season, the 25th, will be the last for "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

German auction house pulls disputed painting

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:37 EST

A German auction house says it has withdrawn from sale a painting that the Max Stern estate claims was one of hundreds the Jewish art dealer was forced to sell off by the Nazis.

Karl-Sax Feddersen, responsible for legal affairs at the Duesseldorf-based Lempertz auction house, said the picture by Alexander Adriaenssen had been pulled from Saturday's sale and its owner notified.

He said the painting is valued at euro4,000 to euro5,000.

Tween Justin Bieber fans lose control at NY mall

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:08 EST

New York police shut down a mall appearance by teen pop singer Justin Bieber (BEE'-ber) after thousands of young girls showed up and got a little too wild.

Nassau County police say girls and adults in the crowd of nearly 3,000 started pushing and shoving as they waited for the 15-year-old sensation to arrive Friday at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City.

Five people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.

Motown caps 50th anniversary with hometown gala

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:22 EST

Black ties and gowns filled a ballroom Saturday in a big-bucks salute to Detroit-style royalty - the King of Motown, the Queen of Soul and the Kid of Rock.

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, along with Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Kid Rock came to Motown's original hometown for the Motown 50 Golden Gala. The 50th-anniversary event, which fetched $350 and up for a ticket, was a fundraiser for the Motown Historical Museum. The museum was the original home of Motown Records Corp., which Gordy started with an $800 loan.

The event drew about 750 people and many of the big names and behind-the-scenes people from the label, which moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Detroit's output included scores of hits, including "My Girl" by The Temptations, "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye.

Travolta appears at fundraiser in Fla. hometown

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:52 EST

John Travolta and his family made their first public appearance in their adopted Florida hometown since his son's death, helping raise thousands of dollars for charity at a screening of the actor's new comedy Friday night.

Travolta, wife Kelly Preston and daughter Ella Bleu greeted hundreds of fans for a sneak preview of Disney's "Old Dogs," which opens Wednesday.

An emotional Travolta thanked the crowd for supporting the family since 16-year-old Jett Travolta died Jan. 2 at the family vacation home in the Bahamas.

Horoscopes for Saturday, November 21, 2009

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:32 EST

Aries

March 21-April 19

A disagreement between lovers may express itself now in small, petty ways. Don't let your temper start to boil because of such trivialities. A business trip begun now should turn out well, but be prepared for delays created by less responsible people

Lucky Number

004

Financial Outlook

very good

Compatible Sign

Libra

Taurus

April 20-May 20

The aspects are exciting for accomplishing a great deal of work today. Gardening, painting, and paper-hanging chores, clean-ups, furniture refinishing, and reupholstering are favored. Your health is fine, with much stamina and energy available to serve your purposes.

Lucky Number

373

Financial Outlook

excellent

Compatible Sign

Taurus

Gemini

May 21-June 21

Jackson moonwalk glove sells for $350K in NYC

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:13 EST

The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 - plus tax - on Saturday.

Winning bidder Hoffman Ma of Hong Kong will pay $420,000, including taxes and fees, for the rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove Jackson wore on his left hand for his moonwalk on Motown's 25th anniversary TV special.

The glove was the top item in a collection of Jackson memorabilia on the block at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. Its pre-auction estimate was $40,000 to $60,000.

Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans'

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:07 EST

"Anything's possible in this storm!" says the man with the badge in Werner Herzog's delirious "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," a true feat of daring and one of the craziest films of the year.

It's a very loose remake of the 1992 "Bad Lieutenant," in which director Abel Ferrara unleashed Harvey Keitel as a drug-addled spin cycle disguised as a detective. The character of the drug-abusing cop, at work and play, has been relocated from New York to New Orleans, and in place of Keitel's flaying anguish, Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest.

The storm the character refers to in the opening scene is a biggie: Hurricane Katrina. In the first scene of "Bad Lieutenant," Cage's Terence McDonagh dives into snake-infested, sewage-laced floodwaters to save a prisoner whose cell has been flooded. Is this a characteristic act of bravery or a rare exception to a rotten soul's rule? It's up to us to decide.

Football and TV: Views on ratings increases, Thanksgiving duds, NFL Network squabbles and more

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:02 EST

For every action in the television football world, there is a reaction:

Action:

The most watched show on all of television is the late Sunday afternoon doubleheader game on Fox and CBS, which is averaging 23.9 million viewers, up 8 percent from last year. The No. 1 show in prime time is NBC's Sunday Night Football (19.8 million viewers, up 22 percent). The No. 1 show on cable is ESPN's Monday Night Football (14.2 million viewers, up 15 percent).

Charges dismissed against country singer John Rich

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:12 EST

A Nashville judge has dismissed assault and harassment charges against country music singer John Rich.

Rich and other witnesses testified Friday before Judge John Aaron Holt that he did not punch aspiring singer Jared Ashley at a private nightclub in March 2008.

Ashley, a former contestant on the cable TV music show "Nashville Star," claimed Rich later threatened him in a voice mail message.

Oprah's departure presents problem for TV stations

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:13 EST

For more than two decades, Oprah Winfrey has been the inspirational, change-your-life champion who reigned over daytime television much like Johnny Carson once ruled late night.

Now she's ready to say goodbye, leaving a huge void for broadcast TV even as she raises the possibility of more Oprah than ever when she starts her own cable network.

Winfrey told viewers Friday that she will dim the lights on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" at the close of its 25th season in late 2011.

"Going Rogue" is going big

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:57 EST

"Going Rogue" is going big.

Publisher HarperCollins said Friday that Sarah Palin's memoir sold 300,000 copies its first day, among the best openings ever for a nonfiction book. In 2004, Bill Clinton's "My Life" debuted with sales of 400,000 copies. The year before, Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History" started at 200,000.

"Going Rogue" was released this week and its print run already has been increased from 1.5 million copies to 2.5 million, HarperCollins announced Friday. Palin, the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate, is in the midst of a nationwide promotional tour.