US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Rihanna "embarrassed" she fell for man like Brown
LOS ANGELES - After being beaten by singer Chris Brown in February, pop star Rihanna felt embarrassed she fell in love with the type of man he was and left him to set an example for young women, she said in an interview on Thursday. Rihanna's comments to ABC News mark her first TV interview in which she spoke about the beating, which occurred on the eve of the music industry's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and resulted in Brown's guilty plea to an assault charge.
Malawi threatens arrests over Madonna school row
LILONGWE - Malawi threatened on Thursday to arrest protesting villagers blocking construction of Madonna's multi-million dollar girls academy, a new controversy for the singer in the African country where she has adopted two children. About 140 villagers are demanding more money for land the government has leased to Madonna's charity -- Raising Malawi -- for 99 years.
Berlin holds MTV awards, 20 years after Wall fell
BERLIN - Pop star Beyonce and hip hop artist Jay-Z will perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Thursday, being held in the German capital to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Irish rockers U2 will also play an open-air concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate to coincide with the awards, an annual event which is one of pop's music's biggest nights outside of the United States.
A Minute With: Michael Fassbender and his "Fish Tank"
LOS ANGELES He may not be a household name in the United States, but Michael Fassbender is fast becoming one of the hottest young stars in Hollywood. The actor got his big break when Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks cast him in their "Band of Brothers" World War Two mini-series. He also appeared in the hit movie "300."
EMI sues U.S. website over Beatles music online
LONDON - Beatles record label EMI is suing U.S. music website BlueBeat.com, which it said was offering unauthorized downloads of the Fab Four's tracks for sale. "EMI has not authorized content to be sold on BlueBeat.com," a spokeswoman said.
Awash in notes? Piano "drowns" in Andsnes concert
LONDON - It could be one of the most disturbing images in classical music since Charlotte Moorman played the cello in the nude and brought out the New York City vice squad. Video footage of a black grand piano under tons of water in a Bergen dry dock isn't going to result in indecent exposure charges against Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and South African artist Robin Rhode, which is what happened to Moorman in 1967 when she played in the buff for Nam June Paik's "Opera Sextronique."
Martin, Baldwin to "ratchet up the funny" at Oscars
LOS ANGELES - Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were chosen as co-hosts of next year's Oscars to inject a fresh comedic twist into the ceremony while building on decades of tradition, new co-producer Adam Shankman said. Actors Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr and comedian Tina Fey were among names "thrown around" as possible hosts, Shankman told Entertainment Weekly magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, one day after the choice of Martin and Baldwin was revealed.
Robert De Niro movie a "Fine" mess
LOS ANGELES - There isn't much that's fine in "Everybody's Fine," an embarrassing misfire for Kirk Jones, who once gave us the exhilarating comedy "Waking Ned Devine," and for Miramax, a storied company now reduced to little more than a film library. Despite a cloyingly sentimental story that rings false in every moment, the production did attract a substantial cast headed by Robert De Niro. It's not going to help though when Disney's downsized specialty unit releases the film December 4.
Rockers No Doubt sue Activision over "Band Hero"
LOS ANGELES - Rock band No Doubt sued video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc over the use of their likeness on its new "Band Hero" product, accusing the company of turning the rockers into a virtual karaoke act. No Doubt and Activision had a contract allowing the company to use the band members in the game, but Activision, which is based in Santa Monica, California, went beyond the agreement by allowing gamers to use avatars of the band performing songs from other rock groups, the lawsuit states.
Sundance expands outside Utah for one night
LOS ANGELES - Sundance Film Festival organizers on Wednesday unveiled plans for a one-night expansion of January's event to theaters in eight U.S. cities, hoping to encourage a discussion about the role art and cinema play in people's lives. Sundance, the largest U.S. gathering for independent films, is held each January in Park City, Utah, a small town about 30 miles east of Salt Lake City. On January 28, the festival will send eight festival films and their makers to eight theaters across the United States for "Sundance Film Festival U.S.A."