Ryan Seacrest gets restraining order against stalker

LOS ANGELES - Court records show Ryan Seacrest has obtained a temporary restraining order against a man accused of stalking the host of "American Idol."

Seacrest's lawyers obtained the stay-away order Friday, hours after they say Chidi Uzomah was detained at the E! Entertainment Television headquarters in Los Angeles.

The filing claims Uzomah was carrying a knife and was trying to see the popular television and radio host.

Police refused to confirm details about the incident. Jail records reviewed Friday did not indicate 25-year-old Uzomah had been booked.

Theatergoers would do well to follow "Rainbow"

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – A theatrical pot of gold awaits anyone who enters the St. James Theater, where the magical revival of "Finian's Rainbow" has opened. The classic musical, receiving its first Broadway revival in nearly half a century, has the kind of score, written by Burton Lane (music) and Yip Harburg (lyrics), that can still make any theatergoer swoon.

The longtime rap on this 1947 work is that the book, co-written by Harburg and Fred Saidy, was too problematic for modern times. But seeing the show again, in this version artfully adapted by Arthur Perlman, proves not only that the complaint is unjustified but that the racial and economic issues it touches upon are more relevant than ever.

Alternating between antic silliness and pointed social commentary, the story revolves around the arrival in the Southern state of "Missitucky" of the Irish Finian (Jim Norton) and his lovely lass of a daughter, Sharon (Kate Baldwin). Having stolen a pot of gold, Finian is determined to bury it somewhere near Fort Knox in the belief that this will cause it to grow.

The pair are chased by the gold's owner, a leprechaun named Og (Christopher Fitzgerald), who soon raises havoc in the racially divided community through such antics as turning a bigoted and corrupt white senator (David Schramm) black. Meanwhile, Sharon falls in love with the handsome Woody (Cheyenne Jackson), even while trying to avoid being charged as a sorceress.

Harburg's liberal sentiments are well reflected in his lyrics to such songs as "Necessity" (delivered in showstopping fashion by Terri White) and "When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich." Needless to say, such lines of dialogue from the senator as "My whole family's been havin' trouble with immigrants ever since we came to this country" and, referring to the Constitution, "I haven't got time to read it! I'm too busy defendin' it!" garner knowing laughs.

But whatever one thinks of the story, there's simply no disputing that this is one of the greatest musical comedy scores ever written. Here's but a partial listing of the classic numbers: "Old Devil Moon," "Look to the Rainbow," "If This Isn't Love," "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" and, of course, "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"

The production, wonderfully directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle in an expansion of the concert version presented last season at Encores!, does full justice to the material. Although the scenery and costumes are little more than serviceable, the performances couldn't be bettered. Norton is an impish delight as Finian, as is Fitzgerald as the lovestruck leprechaun; Baldwin is gorgeous in looks and voice as Sharon; Jackson, stealing hearts with his crooning of "Old Devil Moon," is the embodiment of a Broadway leading man; and Chuck Cooper and David Schramm are terrific in their respective turns as the white and black version of the senator (the role was played -- in now politically incorrect fashion -- by a single performer in blackface in the original production).

Also making terrific contributions are former American Ballet Theater ballerina Alina Faye as the mute Susan, who expresses herself entirely through dance, and well-known blues musician Guy Davis as the harmonica-playing Sunny.

"This Is It" a fascinating look at work in progress

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Looks like the world has missed one helluva concert. Whatever cynicism one might harbor about the Hail Mary piece of cinema "This Is It" -- which can be called the first concert rehearsal movie ever -- what this strange yet strangely beguiling film does is capture one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity.

The screen is filed with performers, musicians, choreographers, crew members and craftsmen, but the movie's laserlike focus is on Jackson. You understand what it takes to attain such dizzying heights in entertainment -- and perhaps why he chose to stay away for a decade.

After its 17 simultaneous premieres Tuesday, the film will open on more than 3,400 domestic screens along with 96 in Imax theaters and another 27 internationally for a two-week run. That run will be extended if demand is there. Demand will be there. (The Columbia release took in $2.2 million from Tuesday night screenings in North America.)

In case someone just dropped in from Mars, "This Is It" was to be 50-year-old Michael Jackson's final comeback, a planned run of 50 sold-out concerts that were to take place at London's O2 Arena over the summer -- all of which came to a sudden and tragic end with the performer's death on June 25.

Kenny Ortega, the director of the stage show, has put together this movie from 120 hours of digital video footage -- for which Sony reportedly paid $60 million -- taken during rehearsals at the Staples Center in Los Angeles between March and June of this year, along with casting sessions at the Nokia Theater and video sequences filmed on the Sony lot.

What strikes you is how thoroughly professional, even slick, this footage is. Whatever was it intended for -- a making-of doc to accompany the concert DVD, or a television show? This is no footage rounded up from the crew's cell phones. Interviews with the cast, musicians and production personnel further underscore a clear intent to go public with this material.

Whatever the case, how fascinating it is to watch a huge, complicated concert take shape. Make no mistake, this was a show intended for a stadium with a dazzling, mixed-media staging. One can even imagine a music critic in London fuming about overproduced numbers that don't trust Jackson's great song catalog to deliver the goods.

On the other hand, this production may have been just right in scale for the O2 Arena. Dancers pop up through trap doors in elevators operating at "toaster speed." A bulldozer rumbles onstage for a "green" number about saving rain forests.

Shooting in front of a Sony green screen, 11 male dancers are transformed into 11 million. Jackson gets mixed into old, black-and-white movie footage so he can admire Rita Hayworth's wiggle in front of an orchestra and dance around bullets shot by Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart.

Split screens convey Jackson, nearly always in sunglasses, performing the same number on different days with different wardrobes and different approaches. There's no question who the director is here. Jackson is in complete control. Ortega watches over the production while Jackson manages every moment onstage. His directions are almost poetic. About the tempo of one number, he instructs, "It's like you're dragging yourself out of bed." Another time, he says, "It has to simmer."

The audience at the Nokia premiere didn't seem to know how to react to rehearsal footage. They giggled nervously at missed cues and interruptions. To be clear: No one should expect a concert film. Jackson clearly is conserving his energy, holding back on dance moves and vocal intensity. He is searching for his concert, the way a sculpture chisels away at marble to discover a statue.

Interestingly, two of his best songs, "Billie Jean" and "Man in the Mirror," look like they were going to be staged simply. Then again, perhaps Ortega is showing early footage before the addition of dancers and singers. There's no way to tell.

The frustration -- beyond the greater one, that a tragedy prevented this concert from happening -- is not knowing what you're looking at. Where are Jackson and his conspirators at any given moment in the creative process? The film tries to be a concert film without having the actual footage. So when everything comes to a halt, audiences get thrown.

"This Is It" is not a "sacred document," as Ortega asserted to the Nokia crowd. But it is a fascinating one. It shows a songwriter-performer who knows his material intimately. While not always certain what he wants, he knows it immediately when he gets it. At one point, Ortega asks his star how he will see a certain cue onstage. Jackson pauses and then says, "I'll feel that."

And you know he would have.

Hart, Vito voted off `Dancing with the Stars'

NEW YORK – Michael Irvin pulled off another late comeback to survive on "Dancing with the Stars."

The former NFL star narrowly advanced through Tuesday's elimination episode that saw the exit of both actress Melissa Joan Hart and snowboarder Louie Vito.

Hart and her partner, Mark Ballas, were eliminated after a low score on Monday's show. Vito and his professional dancer, Chelsie Hightower, lost in a dance-off with Irvin and his partner, Anna Demidova.

Seven celebrity contestants remain on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars": Irvin, entertainer Donny Osmond, model Joanna Krupa, singers Mya and Aaron Carter and TV personalities Mark Dacascos and Kelly Osbourne.

George Clooney-produced cop show gets go-ahead

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – A drama pilot executive produced by George Clooney has TNT singing the "Delta Blues."

The cable network has green-lighted "Delta," from Clooney and Grant Heslov's Smokehouse Pictures and Warner Horizon. Written by Liz Garcia ("Cold Case") and Josh Harto, it centers on an outstanding but unusual Memphis cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and lives with his mother.

"Delta" was put in development at TNT about a year and a half ago and was included in the cable network's development slate during its May 2008 "upfront" presentation to advertisers. Since then Clooney and Heslov moved their production company from Warner Bros. to Sony.

"Delta" marks the first pilot for Smokehouse. With previous producing partner Steven Soderbergh, Clooney fielded two improvisational series, "K Street" and "Unscripted." Both shows had 10-episode runs on HBO.

TNT has been high on cop dramas, programing such series as "The Closer," "Saving Grace" and, most recently, "Dark Blue." The network, which runs repeats of crime procedurals "Law & Order," "CSI: NY," "Cold Case," "Numbers," "Without a Trace" and "Bones," also has been in talks to acquire the recently canceled NBC police drama "Southland."

Warner Bros. nears deal for animated feature

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Warner Bros. is strutting back into animation. The studio is in final negotiations to acquire a movie pitch centering on a peacock from writers Austin Winsberg and Heath Corson.

The film's story is being kept under wraps.

The move marks a bolstering of animation efforts for Warners, which was once very active in the sector but has since scaled back its theatrical efforts. With director George Miller, the studio did develop and produce 2006's "Happy Feet," the music-themed penguin movie that earned nearly $380 million worldwide and won the animation Oscar. The studio is developing a sequel.

Warners, which controls vaunted properties like "Superman" and "Scooby-Doo," does produce a slew of animation content for television and home video.

Winsberg is a veteran TV writer who has worked on shows such as "Jake in Progress" and "Still Standing."

A Minute With: Kenny Ortega on the 'It' in "This Is It"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – By now, most anybody who has read of the upcoming Michael Jackson movie, "This Is It" which debuts globally October 28, knows it was directed by Jackson's friend and dance choreographer Kenny Ortega.

Ortega had been hired to stage the King of Pop's London concerts, also called "This Is It," which would have begun last July had the "Thriller" singer remained alive. Jackson died, of course, on June 25 from a lethal combination of drugs.

After Jackson's death, Ortega was hired to edit together 80 hours of video taken on stage and behind the scenes of the "This Is It" rehearsals for the 111-minute movie. Many of the recent interviews with Ortega have been about Jackson's sudden death and the events around it, so Reuters took a minute to talk about the movie and what fans will actually see.

Q: How about for a change of pace, we focus on the movie:

A: (laughs). Thank you.

Q: It has been called part documentary, part concert film, but what does that mean? What's the "It" in "This Is It"

A: It's such a unique idea. I call it a "musical mosaic." We took the remnants of what we had and constructed a musical story that I think will help fans appreciate what Michael was putting into "This Is It", what his dreams for it were, what his goals were for it."

Q: Does it have a plot or themes? What happens onscreen?

A: It doesn't have a plot line. There is not a narrative, however there is definitely a story. It is a story of a master of his craft, a great genius in his final theatrical work and creative process. You see him interacting. It's a privileged path to observe Michael as the creative architect and mastermind behind his work. And this is something that I don't think people knew he did, let alone ever seen him do.

Q: So, we get a picture of Michael as a creative force.

A: Yeah, as the conductor.

Q: Not only in music and dance, but also in his own words as he's talking about the show and his reasons for including different songs or staging different dances?

A: That's right, and in other people's words, too ... Nowhere near the 80 hours did we have Michael in rehearsal. However, we had enough to be able to cut together a pretty big portion of what Michael was planning for the tour. The film is somewhat wall-to-wall music. The band, the singers, Michael live. You see it, you really feel it, you sense it. It's raw, unguarded, it's a unique behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of putting a show together.

Q: When you were sitting in that dark, editing room looking at the video, were there times where you said to yourself, "I have to show that. That is pure Michael"? And what were they.

A: Absolutely. First of all, when I assumed this and took on the responsibility to direct this ... I realized it was my responsibility, the journey wasn't over, and then I called upon Michael immediately, and I was just like, "you're not letting me go in there alone." And everyday, I really did bring Michael with me as best I could. And never forgot he was there. He was in my mind and in my heart, Michael, along with some of the other creative friends that worked with us on the concert.

We started to look at the footage and we had two things in mind: most importantly Michael's integrity and secondly, what is going to serve the fan base. And the footage talked to us. It jumped out at us. There were times, I swear, when we heard Michael say "Use it all; do it all." And I'd look at (my collaborator) and say, "did you just say that?" And he'd say, Michael said, "Do it all." And I'd say, "that's what I thought. I thought I heard Michael say "do it all."

Q: The opposite question is, were there parts of Michael you didn't want to show?

A: It's unguarded, and it's raw, and it's real and it's truthful, and it's not always pretty and he's not always lit, you know. We weren't really overly protective. It has soul and heart and truth and warmth and magic. The real answer to that question would be "no."

Q: For all that has been said and written about Michael, what don't people know that comes through in the movie?

A: That he did it all. He did it all. He wrote the music. He understood the music. He knew every part that everybody was supposed to play. He could sing you the bass line or the guitar part. He could play the horn line or the string line. He knew the harmonies, he sang them all.

I think what we walk away with, for those that might have forgotten ... I think this will remind people, I hope it will remind people, of this incredible talent that existed, you know, and the tremendous legacy he left for us.

'Flashpoint,' 'Passchendaele' big winners at Directors Guild bash

TORONTO - The slick CTV series "Flashpoint" and last year's epic war film "Passchendaele" were the big winners at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards.

"Flashpoint" earned the title of best TV drama, also picking up awards for direction and sound editing, while "Passchendaele" won for best feature film and production design.

Paul Gross's First World War story headed into the race with five nominations, including best direction for Gross, who also wrote, co-produced and starred in the film.

He lost out to Kari Skogland, who helmed the historical Belfast drama "Fifty Dead Men Walking."

The CBC-TV miniseries "The Summit" won for best TV movie/miniseries and production design, while the final run of "Corner Gas," which concluded in the spring, was named best TV comedy.

The awards were handed out Saturday at a Toronto gala hosted by comedian Shaun Majumder.

A year of tragedy and triumph for Jennifer Hudson

CHICAGO – In the year since three members of her family were brutally killed in Chicago, Grammy and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson has found ways to heal and start a new life.

And it appears the 28-year-old is happy again.

The actress and singer has gushed over her role as a new mother. She has started going out again, including an appearance at a New York gala just days ago. And she's poured herself into her work, from a gospel-tinged rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl months after the slayings to a "VH1 Divas" concert in New York last month.

Now she is set to return to Chicago in a few weeks to film an ABC prime-time special in which she'll share memories of her childhood Christmases in her old neighborhood and the church where she started singing.

It will be a bittersweet journey as she films "Jennifer Hudson: I'll Be Home for Christmas," which is scheduled to air in December.

A year ago, just as her career was really taking off with roles in movies like "Sex and the City" and "The Secret Life of Bees," Hudson had to return home for the worst reason possible.

On Oct. 24, 2008, the bodies of her mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, were found in the family's home on the city's South Side. The body of her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found days later in a sport utility vehicle on the city's West Side, just over 10 miles away. All three had been shot.

Hudson has repeatedly declined to talk about publicly about the killings. She and her publicist declined interview requests from The Associated Press.

"She's heartbroken," said Bob Israel, 40, who was friends with Jason Hudson and lives near the Hudsons' Chicago home. "They were a close-knit family."

William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia, was charged with first-degree murder in the killings. Prosecutors alleged Balfour killed them in a jealous rage because he was upset Julia Hudson was dating another man.

Balfour pleaded not guilty and remains jailed. Several calls to his public defender were not returned.

The following days were tumultuous for Jennifer Hudson, including a trip to the Cook County medical examiner's office to identify King's body.

A picture of the cherub-faced boy, nicknamed "Juice Box," was posted on Hudson's MySpace page after the killings and has remained there.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," she wrote on her MySpace blog. "My sister and I take great comfort and strength from your love and concern."

After the funeral and a star-studded memorial service, Hudson, who won her an Oscar in 2007 for her supporting role in "Dreamgirls," spent the next few months away from the public eye.

By February, she had launched back into work, filming a video for "If This Isn't Love," followed by the Super Bowl performance and a Grammy win for best R&B album for her self-titled debut CD.

Hudson, who first gained fame as a finalist on "American Idol" in 2004, returned to Chicago last month to perform "Spotlight" for "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

"It feels good to be home," Hudson told the crowd on Chicago's Magnificent Mile.

The trip garnered the respect of many, including residents in Englewood, one of the city's most troubled neighborhoods where Hudson grew up.

"People look up to her," said Aaron Wright, 38, who lives in Englewood. "Even in tragedy, you still come home and represent where you come from. For her to come back home, that gave everybody else strength."

These days, Jennifer Hudson is focusing on her son, David, named after her fiance Daniel David Otunga.

Hudson recently talked with reporters about her son, saying she's looking forward to seeing "who he becomes, who he takes after, what he decides to do, if he'll sing."

Michael Jackson fans say film covers up grim truth

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A small group of Michael Jackson's dedicated fans have started an "awareness" campaign surrounding the upcoming movie "This is It," saying it covers up the grim reality of the dead pop star's final days.

The group represents fans from at least 10 countries who claim the movie, which hits theaters around the world on October 28 and is based on Jackson's rehearsals for a series of London concerts, conceals the "dire state" of his health while enriching its promoters that they hold partly responsible for his death on June 25.

"In the weeks leading up to Michael Jackson's death, while this footage was being shot, people around him knew that he looked like he might have died. Those who stood to make a profit chose to ignore it," the group says on its website, www.this-is-not-it.com.

Jackson was preparing for the concerts at the time of his sudden death, which was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County Coroner and attributed to an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol as well as the sedative lorazepam.

Police have focused their investigation into his death on the entertainer's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. So far, no charges have been filed.

Kenny Ortega, the director of "This is It" who also was choreographing the concert rehearsals, told Reuters earlier this week that he saw no signs of drug dependency in Jackson, that the singer was excited to be performing and that the film was not intended to make a profit.

In a separate interview on Thursday, Ortega called the movie a "musical mosaic...that I think will help the fans come to appreciate and understand what Michael was putting into "This Is It", what his dreams were for it, what his goals were for it."

"It is a story of a master of his craft, a great genius in his final theatrical work and creative process," Ortega said.

The concert promoters, AEG Live, did not return calls for comment.

The group is made up largely of longtime Jackson fans, some of whom have spent time with the entertainer over the years and attended nearly every day of his 2005 child molestation trial.

They say they became so concerned about Jackson's health that on June 21, four days before his death, they wrote to him asking him to stop the tour if he was not up to it.

"It is our wish to help people understand where the responsibilities lie, pertaining to Michael Jackson's passing, in the hope that if they choose to watch the film, they will do so with critical eyes," the group said in a written statement.

"In fact, we believe that those around Jackson chose to look the other way when it was evident he was having problems," the fans said.

"We want to celebrate Michael Jackson and his amazing legacy, but we cannot do so until the truth comes out, justice is served and the lies are exposed."

The fans say they will hand out fliers promoting their cause at the premieres next week for "This is It."

Judge orders retrial in Travolta extortion case

NASSAU, Bahamas – The trial of two people accused of trying to extort John Travolta following the death of his son in the Bahamas has ended in a mistrial after a lawmaker suggested the still-deliberating jury had acquitted one of the defendants.

Senior Justice Anita Allen said she was reluctantly ordering a new trial "in the interest of justice" because the politician's statement, in a speech broadcast on television and radio, gave the appearance of an improper leak from the jury room.

"The dilemma that we face is great," Allen told the court. "I am erring on the side of caution. Justice must be transparent."

Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and his attorney, politician Pleasant Bridgewater, were accused of threatening to release private information about the January death of Travolta's 16-year-old son Jett at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama.

Lightbourne, who was among the medics who treated Jett, allegedly sought $25 million from the actor with the assistance of Bridgewater, who resigned her seat in the Bahamas Senate after she was charged in the case.

Jurors were still deliberating when lawmaker Picewell Forbes told an audience at a Progressive Liberal Party convention that Bridgewater was "a free woman." He did not go into details.

Immediately afterward, Alex Storr, the party's deputy chairman-elect, said Forbes had misspoken. He said the information was incorrect and no verdict had been issued. He apologized on behalf of the party.

But the judge said that Forbes' comment gave her no choice but to dismiss the jurors. She did not set a new trial date.

The jury, which deliberated about nine hours, had spent a month listening to testimony including from Travolta, who flew to the Bahamas to take the stand. Michael Ossi, one of the actor's attorneys, said his client would cooperate in any way possible and testify again if necessary.

"We are committed to seeing this through, and we are committed to seeing justice served," Ossi said. "And whatever the prosecution asks us to do is exactly what we will do."

Howard Butler, a Florida-based lawyer for Travolta, referred further questions to a publicist who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In closing statements, lawyers for the defendants, who denied the allegations, told the nine-member jury that their clients were set up by lawyers for Travolta. They also said authorities misinterpreted their actions.

The alleged plot centered on a document that would have released emergency responders from liability if the family refused an ambulance ride to the hospital for Jett, who suffered a deadly seizure at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island on Jan. 2.

Travolta said he signed the waiver because he initially wanted his autistic son flown directly to Florida for treatment. But he later changed his mind, and the document did not come into play.

The actor testified that Lightbourne threatened to sell stories to the media suggesting that he was at fault in his son's death.

Another 'Dancing with the Stars' celebrity sinks

LOS ANGELES – Natalie Coughlin won't be going for the gold on "Dancing with the Stars."

The Olympic swimmer and her professional partner, Alec Mazo, were eliminated Tuesday from ABC's popular dancing competition. The pair received a total score of 22 out of 30 from the show's judges for their paso doble Monday. After viewer votes were combined with the judges' scores, the 27-year-old Olympic gold medalist was eliminated from the show.

"I guess I didn't show it, how much I loved it," said Coughlin, "but I really did, and I'm sorry."

Before Coughlin's dismissal, the show's 16 professional dancers honored the late Michael Jackson with a performance fusing classic ballroom and Latin styles set to "I Want You Back," "Man In The Mirror" and "Thriller." Jackson family members including Katherine, La Toya and Jermaine Jackson watched the tribute from the front row in the ballroom.

"He's just an inspiration to all of us," said professional dancer Mark Ballas.

The nine remaining celebrity contestants competing for the "Dancing with the Stars" mirrorball trophy are entertainer Donny Osmond, actress Melissa Joan Hart, model Joanna Krupa, professional snowboarder Louie Vito, former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, singers Mya and Aaron Carter and TV personalities Mark Dacascos and Kelly Osbourne.

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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On the Net:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars

U2 concert to be live-streamed Sunday

U2 and YouTube are collaborating to live-stream the band's Sunday night concert from the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California.

Fans on five continents will be able to watch the concert live as it is played.

It's the first time a show of this size will be streamed live, U2 and YouTube claimed in their announcements of the event on Monday.

The show, the second-last the Dublin band will do this year in its 360 Degree tour, is expected to draw 96,000 fans to the Rose Bowl.

The live-streamed event, starting at 8.30 PT on Oct. 25, will be available in 16 countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

The full concert will be streamed on the U2 website. After it is over, fans can watch it again on the U2 website or on YouTube.

"A live stream of this magnitude gives us the opportunity to extend the platform and engage millions of people," YouTube spokesman Spencer Cross said.

YouTube would not say how many users it was expecting, but said it believed the network would be able to handle the traffic.

The video sharing service, which first ventured into live events with a concert broadcast in November 2008, said it is seeking out more live-streaming partnerships.

A Twitter feed where fans can share their experiences and a donation portal for U2 charity Red will accompany the concert.

"Astro Boy" lands on big screen with dynamic style

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Since making his debut in a 1951 Osamu Tezuka manga, the beloved Astro Boy has been retooled as a fondly remembered 1960s black-and-white animated series and, subsequently, full-color renditions in 1980 and again in 2003.

Finally going the big-screen, computer-generated route, the iconic Japanese hero manages to keep his innate lovability intact in a visually dynamic if overly eager-to-please family feature cobbled together with parts reclaimed from various animated classics.

Although the social-political allegorical elements could have benefited from a slyer, less obvious touch, an energetic voice cast headed by Freddie Highmore and Nicolas Cage ultimately saves the day.

Designed to cater to older kids and their nostalgic parents, the heavily marketed Summit Entertainment release, which opens Friday (October 23), could be well positioned to attract a sizable demographic.

For the uninitiated, Astro Boy began life as Toby (Highmore), the wunderkind son of brilliant scientist Dr. Tenma (Cage) who is tragically killed in a robotic experiment gone terribly wrong.

Anguished, Tenma creates Astro Boy in Toby's image, but despite succeeding in programing him with all of his son's memories and characteristics, he ultimately rejects him as a convincing substitute.

Filled with rejection and chased by the military, Astro Boy flees from Metro City, the affluent metropolis perched in the sky, and crashes down to Earth, where vagabond kids scavenge for rusty, discarded robots and bring them back to their Fagin-like father figure, Hamegg (Nathan Lane).

There's obliviously a strong Pinocchio undercurrent running through the "Astro Boy" mythology, but in trying to make the movie version as accessible as possible, director David Bowers ("Flushed Away"), who shares screenplay credit with Timothy Hyde Harris ("Space Jam"), also has borrowed liberally from "WALL-E," "The Iron Giant" and "Robots," to name a few of its more notable influences.

A little more subtlety could also have been applied to a political subtext involving Blue Cores and Red Cores, power sources made with positive "blue" energy and negative, unstable "red" energy, with both being co-opted by the war-mongering President Stone (Donald Sutherland).

Then there's a whole other overt Marxist element that also might not go over so well in red states.

But that spirited voice cast, also including Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy and Kristen Bell, is among the year's best, and those gleaming, stylized backgrounds (taking their cue in part from the work of Katsushika Hokusai, a 19th century Japanese woodblock artist), effectively merge Eastern and Western sensibilites, even though the East in question was outsourced to Hong Kong.

Polanski undergoing medical treatment: lawyer

GENEVA (Reuters) – Film director Roman Polanski, arrested in Switzerland three weeks ago to face extradition in a U.S. sex case, has been moved from jail for medical treatment, his French lawyer said on Saturday.

"All I know is that he has been taken from prison for medical attention. I don't know where he is or when he will be returned to prison," French lawyer Herve Temime told Reuters.

He said he did not have any other details.

Temime said last week after visiting Polanski in a Zurich jail that he was depressed and tired and expressed concern about his medical condition.

Polanski, 76, was arrested in relation to the U.S. case involving sex with an underage girl dating back over 30 years, when he arrived in Switzerland on September 26 to collect a life-time achievement award at a Swiss film festival.

Polanski, who holds French and Polish citizenship, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977 and spent 42 days in prison undergoing psychiatric tests.

However, he fled the United States before the case was concluded because he believed a judge would sentence him to up to 50 years behind bars despite a plea agreement for time already served.

Polanski, who won the best director Oscar for 2002 Holocaust film "The Pianist," was also accused of giving drugs and alcohol to the girl.

Folco Galli, spokesman for Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice, declined to comment on whether the film-maker had been moved to hospital, or on the state of his health.

"He is still in detention. If necessary he has all the medical care (needed). It can be in prison or in hospital, in general," he told Reuters.

U.S. authorities have up to 60 days to make a firm extradition request. U.S. judicial sources have said the complex extradition process could take years if Polanski challenges it.

Nicolas Cage sues ex-manager for "financial ruin"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor Nicolas Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit against his former business manager on Friday, accusing him of negligence and fraud that sent the "National Treasure" star "down a path toward financial ruin."

Cage claimed that his recently-fired business manager had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed him in speculative and risky real estate investments "resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses."

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and first obtained by celebrity web site TMZ.com, Cage said he had now been forced to "sell major assets and investments at a significant loss" because of the actions of his business advisor and accountant over the past seven years.

The lawsuit said the advisor had also failed to alert Cage to the fact that his money was running out, and had over-extended his lines of credit with banks.

The former business manager, Samuel Levin, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Cage, 45, is one of Hollywood's most prolific actors with more than 50 movies to his name, including an Oscar-winning role as an alcoholic in "Leaving Las Vegas" and action movies such as "Face/Off" and "Gone in Sixty Seconds".

Cage earned some $40 million last year according to Forbes.com and has six movies expected to hit theaters in the next two years.

He was recently hit with a claim for $6.6 million dollars in back income taxes, interest and penalties by U.S. authorities.

Cage said he did not realize the extent of his problems until September 2008 when he hired a new business manager. He asked for $20 million in damages, saying that his reputation has been "irreparably tarnished."

Monty Python documentary looks on the bright (and silly) side of life for these jesters

NEW YORK - Those who don't know Monty Python, and don't care, have been blessed with six hours they can spend on something other than watching IFC's new documentary series.

Of course, all Python disciples can look forward to comedy catnip in "Monty Python: Almost the Truth (the Lawyer's Cut)," shown from Sunday through next Friday (Oct. 23).

History. Hysterics. Silly walks. All bundled into an everything-you-wanted-to-know-or-rediscover chronicle of this legendary British comedy troupe, now marking 40 years.

It's not the first Monty Python documentary, but it's certainly the latest, longest and last (at least for now).

And its distinctive style is clear from its first moments. After the very silly, Pythonesque title sequence, each of the five surviving Pythons is heard from in fresh on-camera interviews (plus archived interviews with its sixth member, the late Graham Chapman), musing on their respective beginnings.

No soaring introductory pronouncements of what Python accomplished and represents. That will be spelled out, step by step, in the fullness of six hours, as interviews, film and audio clips decipher how Monty Python became the most groundbreaking, transforming wellspring of comedy in the history of the world (OK, maybe a wee exaggeration).

Chapman, along with fellow Brits John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Terry Jones, plus Minnesota-born interloper Terry Gilliam, were children during the Second World War. They were shaped by radio comedy as much as television. They bridled at, and feasted on, the uptight, tradition-bound 1950s culture of their youth. They harnessed the gloriously unhinged, subversive 1960s and used it as their launching pad.

On TV (notably "Monty Python's Flying Circus," produced for British TV), in live performances, recordings and feature films (including the incomparable "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Life of Brian"), the Pythons' absurdist narratives and characterizations mixed raging intellect with shameless looniness. (IFC is including those two films, as well as "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl" and all four seasons of "Flying Circus" in its on-air "Python-a-Thon.")

Though the group has been effectively disbanded for years as each Python struck out to pursue his own projects, it lives on undiminished. As recently as 2005, "Monty Python's Spamalot," a lavish musical based on the 1974 "Holy Grail" film, became a Broadway hit.

Meanwhile, classic Pythonesque drollery enjoys eternal life. The mere thought of "the Knights who say 'Ni"' or "Eric the half-a-bee" or the gay lumberjack song will reduce any Python fan to helpless silly-state, never mind the passage of decades.

Why? "MPATTTLC" is marvelous at how it accounts for Monty Python in suitably comprehensive fashion. For any viewer with nothing better to do (and what could be better?), it's six hours gloriously spent.

Putting it together was a labour of love as well as persistence and filial pride for Bill Jones, the son of Python Terry Jones. He produced the miniseries with his partner and childhood chum, Ben Timlett.

First order of business: enlisting the five errant Pythons.

"It took a while to convince them," Bill Jones said in an interview from his and Timlett's London office. "Getting them all to agree on something is very difficult."

He said the recruiting process began more than two years ago, "and by the time they came on board, it was just nine months before delivery."

"At first, nobody wanted to do another Python documentary, me included," Terry Jones said pleasantly during a separate phone call. "Mike Palin got worried when they were going to pay: Nobody else had ever paid us to be interviewed for our own documentaries before. Somehow that made him suspicious."

Among the Pythons, Terry Jones can be conveniently singled out as the explosive Mr. Creosote in "Monty Python's Meaning of Life" and as the co-director, with Terry Gilliam, of "Holy Grail" (imagine how smoothly THAT went!).

"The whole idea of Python was to be totally unpredictable," Terry Jones said when asked to summarize the troupe's de facto mission statement. "We were trying to be undefinable." Indefinable? Too bad. "Pythonesque" is now defined in the Oxford English Dictionary.

But en route to inventing that ineffable quality, the Pythons travelled a sometimes chaotic path. Six erudite, irreverent and wilful chaps were destined to butt heads, and the documentary is particularly fascinating as it charts their fractious creative process.

"I had always known that John Cleese and your dad would have big fights," Timlett said to his partner, Bill Jones, recalling their shared childhood. "I remember how he used to call your dad 'little plum."'

"How the hell did they keep working together?" marveled Timlett. "It does seem a bit strange."

"It's not strange," Jones replied, "because they absolutely love arguing. It kept them interested in working together. They loved getting it all out."

As this miniseries demonstrates deliciously, no one got it out like the Pythons.

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IFC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.

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On the Net:

http://www.ifc.com

Fox Reality Channel shutting down

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Fox Reality Channel will cease operations next year.

Fox Networks Group told staffers Wednesday that the 4-year-old channel will end its run March 31.

The network aired a mix of acquired reality repeats such as "Temptation Island" and "Last Comic Standing" as well as original reality content like "American Idol Extra."

The company has not yet announced what it will do with the channel, which is distributed to 50 million homes.

"With the changing cable landscape, we've made a strategic decision to shift some resources and refocus on emerging channels," the company said. "However, Fox Reality Channel will remain on our lineup for at least the next several months."

Tommy Lee Jones logs "Lincoln"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Tommy Lee Jones is in negotiations to direct and co-star in "The Lincoln Lawyer," a Matthew McConaughey-starring film based on the 2005 best-seller by Michael Connelly.

"Lawyer," which is set up at Lakeshore Entertainment, centers on Mickey Haller, a wheeler-dealer Los Angeles lawyer who operates out of the back of his Lincoln. Haller is content with a career defending garden-variety criminals until he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy accused of murder.

McConaughey is on board to play Haller. It's unclear which role Jones would play. The playboy character, which could be the second male lead, is described in the book as somewhat younger than Jones, but the part could be adjusted to accommodate an older interpretation.

John Romano wrote the screenplay.

Jones and McConaughey had breakout roles during the mid-'90s playing characters in the justice system: McConaughey as a young defense attorney in "A Time to Kill" and Jones as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in "The Fugitive."

Jones has only one directing credit, the Mexico-set crime drama "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," which earned critical plaudits and about $5 million for Sony Pictures Classics in 2005. Jones also played the lead in that film, winning the best actor award at the Cannes festival.

Jones next appears in the ensemble unemployment drama "The Company Men," which marks the directorial debut of television producer John Wells. McConaughey next will shoot the border thriller "Southland."

Connelly turns out frequent best-sellers. "Blood Work," based on his novel about an FBI profiler, became a Clint Eastwood movie in 2002.

Barbra Streisand auctions off objects for charity

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Singer and actress Barbra Streisand will auction hundreds of pieces of furniture, art, clothes and other possessions this week in a Beverly Hills charity auction.

The auction on Saturday and Sunday comes as the 67-year-old Streisand's latest album "Love Is the Answer" has landed her back at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart, making her the first artist to top the chart in five consecutive decades.

Together, the items are worth up to $600,000 but they are expected to sell for more because they belonged to Streisand.

All proceeds from the sale will go to The Streisand Foundation, which distributes funds to several causes, from the Natural Resources Defense Council to Human Rights Watch.

Among the items is a gold painted wooden "A" that she kept in her kitchen for years as a memento to her decision to drop an "a" from the spelling of her first name four decades ago.

Streisand is also selling a painting believed to be from Dutch artist Kees van Dongen worth up to $200,000, along with a chipped antique phonograph, shoes, books and a dental cabinet with more than a dozen slim drawers originally used for tools, that Streisand bought at age 18 for her jewelry.

"A lot of these items are very difficult for her to part with," said Darren Julien, the auctioneer handling the sale. "Like the dental cabinet, it was her first purchase."

Julien said Streisand is selling the items, which span everything from art nouveau pieces to American Indian baskets, and Georgian furniture to Americana knickknacks, because they do not fit with the re-design of her Malibu home.

"If you really can't use it, why not let someone else enjoy it?" Streisand was quoted as telling the Los Angeles Times last week.

Streisand previously auctioned her furniture, art and personal items, including a 2004 memorabilia auction that generated about $500,000 in sales.

PIANO, BOOKS

Known for her liberal activism, Streisand is selling a piano that brings together her musical career and her passion for Democratic politics. It comes with a picture of her sitting at the keys, with portraits of herself with President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton placed behind her.

While some of the sale items are valuable on their own, such as a pair of George III mahogany bookcase cabinets from 1790 worth up to $40,000, others are more affordable.

There are several books, revealing an interest in author Elie Wiesel, along with dozens of Streisand's shoes and a rust-colored rabbit fur coat.

There are also objects that show Streisand's creativity as an interior designer, including a Gothic-style table with carved sphinxes that she had planned to turn into a vanity sink, before changing her mind.

"If she wasn't a singer or an actress she would have been a designer," Julien said.

Vince Vaughn victorious with "Couples Retreat"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The critically maligned Vince Vaughn comedy "Couples Retreat" easily took the top spot at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, helped by the absence of any other new releases.

The film earned $35.3 million during the three days beginning on Friday, confounding industry forecasts of an opening in the $20 million range.

Paradoxically, the Universal Pictures project was released four days after studio chiefs David Linde and Marc Shmuger were ousted from the General Electric Co unit in the wake of a dismal summer at the box office.

Vaughn stars as one half of a couple who join three other couples on a tropical island for some counseling. He co-wrote the script with his "Swingers" co-star Jon Favreau, who also appears, alongside the likes of Kristin Davis and Jason Bateman.

It marks Vaughn's best opening since "The Break-Up" launched with $39 million in 2006. But critics overwhelmingly trashed the picture. Time magazine said it was "offensive." USA Today said it was "tedious."

Universal said women accounted for 61 percent of the audience, while 56 percent of the audience was aged 30 and older.

One other film arguably made a bigger splash, a low-budget horror flick driven almost exclusively by fan-driven word-of-mouth. Paramount Pictures' "Paranormal Activity" jumped 15 places to No. 5 after earning $7.1 million in just 160 theaters. The top three films, by contrast, were each in about 3,000 theaters.

For the past two weekends, the scary-house film played to sellout crowds at midnight-only screenings in a handful of markets determined by online balloting.

Taking a page from the playbook of the underground smash 1999's "The Blair Witch Project," the Viacom Inc unit is letting the fans do the marketing through such social-networking sites as Twitter. Its own marketing costs have been minimal.

"Most people found out about this through the recommendation of a friend," said Rob Moore, the studio's vice chairman.

Paramount bought the $15,000 movie last year at the Slamdance Film Festival, an indie rival of the concurrent Sundance festival in Utah.

Last weekend's top film, "Zombieland," slipped to No. 2 with $15 million, while past two-time champ "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" was down one to No. 3 with $12 million. The respective totals for the Columbia Pictures releases stand at $47.8 million and $96.3 million. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp.

Walt Disney Co's 3D reissue of the hit Pixar cartoons "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" was also down one, to No. 4, with $7.7 million; its 10-day tally rose to $22.7 million.

Actress, movie maker barred from leaving Iran-report

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iranian authorities prevented a well-known movie actress and a film maker from traveling to the United States because of their activities after a disputed election in June, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Sarmayeh daily appeared to refer to involvement in huge opposition protests that erupted after the June 12 presidential poll, which defeated candidates say was rigged to secure the re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It said actress Fatemeh Motamed-Aria and documentary movie producer Mojtaba Mirtahmaseb were stopped at Tehran's airport on Thursday as they prepared to depart for a work-related visit to Los Angeles.

Eight other people in the group were allowed to leave for a week-long conference on Iranian cinema, Sarmayeh said.

"These two were stopped from leaving because of their activities in post-election events," the newspaper said, without giving a source.

It quoted Mirtahmaseb as saying: "After completing the last stages of our passport inspection, airport agents showed a court order to me and Mrs Motamed-Aria and said that neither of us can leave Iran." He added that no reason was given.

There was no immediate comment from the authorities.

Rights groups say thousands of people, including leading reformers, journalists, lawyers and others, were detained after the election. Most have since been freed, but more than 100 people have been charged with fomenting the street unrest.

The authorities have denied opposition charges of vote rigging and portrayed the post-election protests as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the ruling clerical establishment in the Islamic Republic.

The elite Revolutionary Guards and an Islamic militia largely quelled the mass protests after the vote. Opposition supporters have staged occasional, smaller rallies since then.

After The Police, Stewart Copeland feels lovely

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police, has always had a few choice, four-letter words for his bandmate Sting. And while that is not news for fans of the 1980's megagroup, his new word may be. It is "love."

Well, "Strange Things Happen," which is the title of Copeland's new autobiography. It spans his 57 years from learning to beat on drums to The Police reunion of 2007/2008.

Still, Copeland being who he is and his relationship with the bassist he calls "Stingo" being what it is, the idea of love is not arrived at easily. In fact, it is preceded by words like "claw" at his mate's neck or worse, "murder" him.

"The Police is not a cozy place. We push and prod and challenge each other. We rattle each other's cage," Copeland told Reuters.

Yet, he is quick to explain that all the conflict that led to their bitter breakup 20 years ago is not rooted in the sort of deep-seated animosity that fans may assume, given their history. Rather, they are artists who often have different visions but who share the same passion for music.

Born of the creative need to get their songs right, The Police ushered into the musical arena their own blend of reggae- and punk-infused pop hits such as "Roxanne," "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic."

"I don't think there is anything to hide in the story I have to tell," Copeland said. "I think it's pretty clear to the reader, the love and respect I have for my two colleagues. (Sting and Andy Summers on guitar)

"I use some pretty colorful language to describe them because they are pretty colorful characters."

TRAINING, TALENT AND CONFLICT

Copeland is the first to say there is no mystery to him, nor deep introspection that comes from "Strange Things Happen." But upon a close read, fans discern that great art -- whether music, books, painting or theater -- is born from a combination of training, talent, luck, passion and sometimes conflict.

In Copeland's case, he had them all, but none of it came together in quite the way it did when The Police took the stage. The band formed in the late 1970s as punk rock was taking hold in clubs in London and New York, and after a lot of hard work and some experimentation, great music flowed.

Individually, however, the trio differed in the way they heard and felt music, and their arguments led to a bitter breakup in the late 1980s.

All that history has been covered before. Copeland even made a documentary movie about it in 2006, "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out." What his fans may not know is how Copeland's changed after The Police, which is what "Strange Things Happen" truly addresses.

There is Copeland's work composing musical scores for movies and operas; his playing with musicians in Italy and other countries; his adventures in tribal African and his life as a husband and father of seven kids living in Los Angeles.

What emerges is a picture of an artist as an everyday guy -- a sort of "everyday Joe" for music fans and artists.

Yet, always hanging over Copeland's adulthood is the long arm of The Police, and in 2007, the old group reunites.

"I can take not one more word from you about anything," Copeland writes about his thoughts when listening to Sting complain in their first rehearsals.

"Do not even make eye contact with me, let alone make another suggestion about how I would play my drums ... you (expletive) piece of (expletive.)," he writes.

After the tour starts, things get better. Then, they get worse, before getting better, then worse once again.

The tour, which encompassed 151 shows worldwide, sold over 3 million tickets and took in $358 million. Fans loved it.

"Here's the thing: we wouldn't be any good at music unless we cared a lot about it," Copeland said. "We really care that we go out there and terrify the world, that we slash and burn. It's really important to us. That's why we start shouting."

"Strange Things Happen" hit bookshelves on October 6

NBC cancels cop show "Southland"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – It's the end of the road for NBC's cop drama "Southland," which has been canceled before the launch of its second season.

Although supportive of the show, NBC brass considered the six episodes produced for the new season to be too dark and gritty for broadcast TV -- especially now that the network's 10 p.m. week-night dramas must air an hour earlier to accommodate "The Jay Leno Show."

"Southland" was originally slated to debut in its new Friday 9 p.m. time slot last month. But NBC decided to push the start to October 23 and air "Dateline NBC" in the meantime. It is not clear when the six produced episodes will air.

"Southland" got off to a good start when it premiered in midseason in the Thursday 10 p.m. time period, succeeding NBC's long-running medical drama, "ER." But despite solid reviews, the series suffered ratings erosion.

It hasn't been a good start for NBC's scripted dramas this fall, with rookies "Trauma" and "Mercy" struggling along with most of the returning veterans, including "Heroes" and "Law & Order: SVU," which is still settling into its new Wednesday 9 p.m. slot.

There is a possibility that "Southland" could be shopped to cable networks. The cancellation of "Southland" ends (for now) a long relationship between NBC and executive producer John Wells, the man behind such hits as "ER" and "The West Wing."

British actress gets "An Education" in Oscar buzz

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British actress Carey Mulligan plays a teen who gets seduced in "An Education".

But it's Mulligan who is wooing the critics with her first lead role in a movie.

Even though she remains cool about it, Mulligan's turn in the coming-of-age movie "An Education," which opens in the United States on Friday, has set Oscar watchers buzzing and led one U.S. movie critic to compare her to screen icon Audrey Hepburn.

Critics are impressed with how Mulligan, 24, played a 16 year-old in a romance with a grown man, but the actress said she cannot pinpoint what they see in her performance.

"The first time I watched it I was really upset, because I thought it was really boring," Mulligan told Reuters.

"If you watch your own face for that amount of time, there's nothing particularly interesting to you about your own face," she said.

As for those who say Mulligan could be nominated for a best actress Oscar for "An Education," the daughter of hotel industry workers said the buzz is bewildering.

"It's sort of a bizarre thing to think about," she said. "Obviously, it's really flattering."

In "An Education," Mulligan plays London schoolgirl Jenny, who forgets her dreams of attending Oxford University when she meets a daring man twice her age named David (Peter Sarsgaard) and falls for him during trips to Paris and the orchestra.

Set in the early 1960s, the movie from BBC Films explores Jenny's "education" in love and deception, as David charms her parents into acquiescing to the romance, before revealing himself to be something more than he admits to.

"An Education" opens in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on Friday before expanding to other cities. It debuts in England on October 30.

OSCAR WATCH

In Entertainment Weekly magazine's Oscar Watch blog, writer Dave Karger said, "She's going to charm the pants off the Academy (behind the Oscars) and should have no problem scoring a best actress nomination."

Influential Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert, writing of Oscar prospects, said; "Who looks like a sure thing for nomination? Carey Mulligan from 'An Education,' I'd say. The scenes in Paris will remind you of Audrey Hepburn."

The annual awards season gets underway toward the end of the year with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences being the last to announce its nominees in February 2010.

Mulligan said the reaction to her performance is especially surprising because "An Education" is her first lead role, and when it premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, the team behind the movie was not sure it would get picked up for wider distribution.

Mulligan had supporting roles in the 2005 film "Pride & Prejudice," based on the Jane Austen novel, and the 2005 BBC television adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Bleak House"

Her brother went to Oxford University, and with a grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, Mulligan said she might one day study psychology and mental illness.

But for now, she said acting gives her "an education."

"You're thrown into a world where you meet people who aren't your age," she said. "Maybe you grow up a bit faster."

2 celebrities hang up their 'Dancing' shoes

LOS ANGELES – Politician Tom DeLay and actress Debi Mazar have turned in their last dance. Both are leaving "Dancing With the Stars."

DeLay withdrew from the ABC dance-off Tuesday after being diagnosed with stress fractures in both feet, while Mazar was eliminated the traditional way: low scores and insufficient fan support.

Each performed the samba on Monday's show. DeLay earned 15 points out of 30 for his performance with partner Cheryl Burke. Mazar and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, finished with 17.

Viewer votes are combined with judges' scores to determine which contestant is eliminated each week.

Fan votes kept DeLay afloat, but doctors and show producers advised him to quit the competition because of his injuries.

"I want to dance no matter what," the 62-year-old former House Republican Whip said Monday, but he reconsidered on Tuesday.

Mazar said she struggled with the samba and missed a key step during Monday's performance. Judges said the dance lacked sizzle.

"It was neat and precise. But for me, it just didn't ignite," head judge Len Goodman said.

The 45-year-old actress said she "loved every moment" on the show.

"I definitely know a few more steps, and I've had a great time," Mazar said after learning her fate.

Queen Latifah and hip-hop dance group Jabbawockeez also performed on Tuesday's episode.

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On the Net:

http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars

Record labels sue Guns N' Roses for copying songs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two independent record labels sued U.S. rock band Guns N' Roses for $1 million, claiming the group used portions of two songs by a German musician on their last album "Chinese Democracy."

Guns N' Roses and Universal Music Group's Interscope-Geffen A&M label were sued by British label Independiente and the U.S. arm of Domino Recording Company, who own the licensing rights to songs by German electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss.

Singer Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses band members and album producers copied portions of two of Schnauss' songs -- "Wherever You Are" and "A Strangely Isolated Place" -- for a song used on the band's last album called "Riad N' the Bedouins," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday but made available on Monday, seeks $1 million in damages. A spokesperson for Interscope-Geffen A&M, owned by Vivendi's Universal Music Group, was not available for comment.

"Chinese Democracy," the band's first new album in 17 years that was released last November, resulted in disappointing sales.

Besides Rose, the only original member in the band, the other current and former band members named in the suit include guitarist Brian Carroll, better known as "Buckethead," bassist Tommy Stinson, and Robin Finck, who currently plays lead guitar with rock act Nine Inch Nails.

Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa dies at 74

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa, who fought South America's dictators with her voice and became a giant of contemporary Latin American music, died on Sunday at age 74, her family said in a statement.

Sosa had been in intensive care in a hospital for days with kidney problems. Her body was taken to the Congress building in Buenos Aires for public visitation Sunday afternoon and her remains were to be cremated on Monday, local media reported.

Known affectionately as La Negra -- 'the Black One' due to her dark hair and skin -- Sosa was dubbed "the voice of the silent majority" for championing the poor and fighting for political freedom.

Her version of Violeta Parra's "Gracias a la Vida" ("Thanks to Life") became an anthem for leftists around the world in the 1970s and 1980s when she was forced into exile and her recordings were banned.

"Her undisputed talent, her honesty and her profound convictions leave a great legacy to future generations," her family said in the statement posted on her Web site.

The breadth of her powerful voice earned her plaudits abroad and popularity at home and she cut a striking figure with her long hair and trademark ponchos at live shows into her 70s.

In the turbulent 1960s and 1970s Sosa was a key exponent of the highly politicized Nuevo Cancionero (New Song) movement, which sought to take folk music back to its roots.

She also was a member of the Communist Party and her political sympathies attracted attention from the authorities during Argentina's bloody 1976-83 dictatorship, when up to 30,000 people were killed in a crackdown on leftist dissent.

State censors banned her songs and she fled to Europe in 1979 after being arrested in the middle of a concert along with the entire audience in the university city of La Plata.

She frequently asserted herself as a woman of the left but maintained that her only true vocation was singing.

"Really, I was born to sing," she said in a magazine interview in 2005. "My life is dedicated to singing, finding songs and singing them.

"If I get myself involved in politics, I'd have to neglect what's most important to me, the folk song."

ROOTS

Sosa hailed from a working-class family in the poor sugar-growing province of Tucuman, getting her first taste of fame when she won a local radio talent show at the age of 15.

A specialist in interpreting other people's songs, she embraced the poetry of Argentina and Latin America. While she dabbled in rock and tango in later years, her roots were always in folk music.

Several months before the military dictatorship invaded the British-ruled Falkland Islands in 1982, Sosa returned to her homeland to find that her songs had won her a new, younger generation of fans.

At a string of comeback concerts she sang with up-and-coming stars of popular Argentine music, including Leon Gieco and Charly Garcia, and toured extensively in Europe, Brazil and the United States. She received a 10-minute standing ovation during a performance at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Sosa continued singing up until this year and remained hugely popular, outselling popular teen artists and reggaeton singers in the top charts.

Her last album, "Cantora 1 and 2," a collaboration with Shakira, Caetano Veloso, Jorge Drexler and other artists, was one of the top 10 best selling albums of the year, and she has been nominated for several Latin Grammys this year. The winners will be announced in November.

During her career, Sosa received a string of international accolades that recognized her defense of women's rights, including several Latin Grammys and the CIM-UNESCO prize, with judges praising her "great ethical and moral values" and "her constant defense of human rights."

In poor health for several years, Sosa returned to the public stage with a new album in 2005.

"I'm not young or beautiful, but I've got my voice and the soul that comes out in my voice," she said in a newspaper interview in 2001.