Actor Kelsey Grammer gets hitched on Broadway

NEW YORK – Kelsey Grammer has tied the knot for the fourth time in a familiar place.

The "Cheers" and "Frasier" star married 29-year-old flight attendant Kayte Walsh on Friday at Broadway's Longacre Theatre — the same place where the actor had been headlining "La Cage aux Folles" with Douglas Hodge until earlier this month.

Stan Rosenfield, a Grammer representative, called the event "a private ceremony for family and friends." A reception followed at the Plaza Hotel.

Grammer, 56, received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the show playing Georges, the suave owner of a glitzy drag club on the French Riviera.

The ceremony was held before the evening performance of "La Cage," which revealed bad news the same day when it announced that Jeffrey Tambor had permanently pulled out of the production.

Tambor, best known for his roles on TV in "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Arrested Development," had replaced Grammer on Feb. 15 but "was experiencing complications from recent hip surgery and the pain and the challenge of performing in a musical eight times a week proved to be too physically demanding," according to a statement from producers. His last show was Thursday.

Chris Hoch, who regularly plays the role of Francis and understudies the role of Georges, will play the role on Friday night. Casting for the role of Georges will be announced soon. Harvey Fierstein, who replaced Tony Award-winner Douglas Hodge, remains in the show.

Grammer's divorce from his third wife, "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Camille Grammer, became final earlier this month. They had been married for 13 years and have two young children.

It's Walsh's first marriage.

Never say never: Bieber wins MVP at celeb game

LOS ANGELES – Justin Bieber finally won a trophy in L.A.

The teen singing sensation, who was shut out at the Grammys, was chosen most valuable player despite playing for the losing team in the NBA All-Star celebrity game on Friday night.

Bieber had eight points, four assists and two rebounds for the West team, which lost 54-49 to the East at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen led the Magic Johnson-coached East team with 17 points in a game whose defensive highlight might have been Pippen's third-quarter block of Bieber.

The vertically challenged Bieber scampered up and down the court, his famous shaggy 'do bouncing with every step as girls shrieked at the sight.

"He has the softest hair," marveled former Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox, who patted his West teammate Bieber on the head during the game.

Wearing a black T-shirt under his red-and-white jersey, Bieber spent most of the game hitching up his shorts that fell well below the knee. His pregame stretching included trying, but failing, to touch his toes.

Bieber showed off some slick moves, dribbling behind his back, and driving and dishing to taller teammate and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose. Bieber fed A.C. Green for the game's first basket, and the singer later hit a 3-pointer.

"I'm just running back and forth," Bieber said during an in-game interview. "I'm controlling this whole team. I'm just kidding."

With actor Jamie Foxx and Lakers star Lamar Odom watching, Bieber missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it with 30 seconds to go. Afterward, the 16-year-old was hurried off the court by burly security guards.

Bieber's week began when he lost out on his two Grammy nominations at Staples Center. But things picked up with another TV guest appearance on "CSI" and his "Never Say Never" concert movie was No. 2 at the box office.

Bieber's celebrity teammates were Zac Levi of "Chuck," R&B singer Trey Songz, rapper Romeo Miller, and Rob Kardashian, whose sister Khloe is married to Odom.

"He didn't embarrass the family," Odom said afterward.

Besides Rob and Khloe, who stood out in skintight leopard leggings, the Kardashian clan was represented by their stepfather Bruce Jenner and Khloe's half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner.

WNBA player Swin Cash was on the West team coached by Bill Walton. His assistants were actor Jason Alexander and Bill Simmons of ESPN.com.

Celebs on the East team were actor and comedian Nick Cannon, Jason Sudeikis of "Saturday Night Live," rapper and actor Common, and Michael Rapaport of "Pound Puppies."

They were bolstered by the shooting prowess of former NBA players Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, and WNBA player Tamika Catchings. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel and Ty Burrell of "Modern Family" were Johnson's assistants.

Feel-good "Idol" right for the times, producer says

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Is "American Idol" and its new judging panel going soft this year?

Yes, says executive producer Nigel Lythgoe. Brutal honesty was the right tone when the TV talent show and Britain's Simon "Mr. Nasty" Cowell brought a breath of fresh air to U.S. television 10 years ago.

But times have changed, economically and socially, and that's why newcomers Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and old hand Randy Jackson sent a record 300 plus wannabe pop stars from nationwide auditions onto a second round in Hollywood this year.

"I believe these are times when we need to be warmer, brighter, and we need to think we have a future," Lythgoe told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

"If we can translate that into kids coming on this show from flipping burgers one day to ending up as the star of a television series, then we are showing everyone there is a way out of our lives," Lythgoe said.

Lythgoe said judges and producers have been less harsh and more willing to give contestants a second chance in the early stages of the top-rated show. Some 60 contestants are still in with a chance of making it to the top 12.

"The judges this year have been particularly finicky and careful about giving people a second opportunity because they know everyone screws up with nerves," he said.

"American Idol" has undergone a major revamp in its 10th season following the exit of Cowell in May, four years of declining ratings for broadcaster Fox and lackluster record sales for recent winners.

Some 22.8 million viewers tuned in to Wednesday's episode, down from 24.1 million a week earlier, but the show is holding onto its status as the most-watched show on U.S. television.

"We have held up brilliantly considering we are in the 10th season and we have lost two stars in Paula (Abdul) and Simon. We are in a very good place," Lythgoe said.

The addition of Aerosmith frontman Tyler to the panel, along with Tyler talking of starting work on a much-delayed new album with the band, has led to fevered speculation that the veteran rockers might play a role on the TV show.

But the usually chatty Lythgoe was tight-lipped when asked about a possible Aerosmith tie-in or performance.

"I can say nothing about it. I am terrible sorry. I can say nothing", he said.

"I am not doing a show with Aerosmith. I am doing a show with Steven Tyler... Aerosmith just aren't in my thoughts when I am dealing with Steven Tyler," he added.

Grammys open with tribute, words from Aretha

LOS ANGELES – Aretha Franklin missed Sunday's Grammy Awards, but the Queen of Soul was far from forgotten.

The show's first 15 minutes were devoted to Franklin, who was hospitalized last year and has canceled concerts and personal appearances through May.

LL Cool J reminded audience members of Franklin's 18 Grammy wins at the start of the show, just before singers Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride and others performed a rousing medley of some of the music legend's greatest hits.

"Aretha Franklin is, and always be, the Queen of Soul," LL Cool J said. "Tonight, she's the queen of our hearts, too, and the queen of the Grammys."

The musical tribute opened with "Natural Woman," before moving into solos of "Respect" by Hudson, "Think" by Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine and "Sprit in the Dark" by Yolanda Adams.

Franklin was a huge fan of the performances, writing in an e-mailed statement, "I LOVED it! The ladies all sounded so wonderful and they looked fabulous.

"I enjoyed each and every performance, especially Yolanda doing 'Spirit in the Dark' and Christina's rendition of 'Ain't No Way.'"

It was an upbeat start to the show and if there was any doubt about Franklin's health, she made her first nationally televised appearance in a taped message Sunday night.

Wearing a white strapless gown, Franklin, 68, appeared to have lost weight, but made clear she had no intention of leaving the music scene anytime soon.

"I wish that I could have been with you all tonight, but since I couldn't — next year, OK?" Franklin said in the taped message.

Franklin had surgery late last year for an undisclosed ailment. She was photographed Friday.

She was certainly on the minds of fellow artists, including Lenny Kravitz, who credited Franklin's influence for part of his musical career.

"She's the queen," Kravitz told The Associated Press before the Grammys. "She's it. She's part of why I do what I do."

Liz Taylor treated for congestive heart failure

LOS ANGELES – Elizabeth Taylor has been hospitalized for treatment of congestive heart failure.

The Oscar-winning actress was at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Saturday, her spokeswoman Sally Morrison said.

The 78-year-old Taylor first disclosed in November 2004 that she suffered from congestive heart failure. The condition was compounded with other ailments including spinal fractures and the effects of scoliosis.

Morrison did not know how long Taylor would be in the hospital.

Taylor had been scheduled to attend an amfAR benefit gala Wednesday night in New York, where she was to receive an award alongside President Bill Clinton and designer Diane von Furstenberg, celebrating their dedication to AIDS research.

Elton John accepted the honor on her behalf.

The actress had near-fatal bouts with pneumonia in 1961 and 1990, and another respiratory infection forced her to cancel all engagements for several weeks in late 1992. Both her hip joints were replaced in 1994 and 1995.

She's also battled ulcers, amoebic dysentery, bursitis, and had a benign brain tumor removed in 1997. In recent years, she has had to use a wheelchair when out in public.

Taylor, who's appeared in more than 50 films, won Oscars for her performances in "Butterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966). But she's been just as famous for her marriages — all eight of them, including two to Richard Burton — and her lifelong battles with substance abuse, her weight and physical ailments, including numerous visits to the hospital for more than 20 major operations and countless treatments.

Roseanne's Snickers Bowl spot tops with TiVo users

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – As it turns out, TV viewers love watching whiny comedian Roseanne get knocked silly by a giant log.

A Snickers commercial featuring Roseanne and a similarly irritable Richard Lewis was the most popular Super Bowl ad Sunday based on the number of TiVo users who rewound it and watched it multiple times.

But, good news for the NFL, even a Roseanne beat-down was no match for an actual football play, as TiVo noted that the most-watched/paused/rewatched moment was the last-minute pass from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to receiver Mike Wallace that fell incomplete and spelled victory for the Green Bay Packers.

TiVo also noted that its users were largely uninterested in viewing ads for movies more than once during the big game. None of 13 came close to cracking TiVo's Top 10 list of the "most engaging" ads based on user behavior.

But for what it's worth, among movies, Marvel/Paramount's "Captain America: The First Avenger" scored highest, followed by "Super 8" from writer-director J.J. Abrams, Columbia's "Just

Go With It," Paramount's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and Universal's "Fast Five."

TiVo said that in determining how engaging the various moments of the Super Bowl telecast were, it looks at "trick play" activity -- pausing, rewinding, etc. -- relative to the surrounding 15 minutes of programing so that "engaging" moments aren't skewed by rising and falling audience numbers during the show.

The average TiVo user reached for their remote controls for the purpose of trick-plays 145 times during the Super Bowl.

After the Snickers "Logging" ad, the rest of the Top 10 most engaging ads were: Best Buy "Bieber and Ozzy," Pepsi Max "Love Hurts," Volkswagen Passat "The Force," Doritos "The Best Part," Teleflora "Help Me Faith," Doritos "House Sitting," E*Trade "Tailor," Cruze Eco "Misunderstanding" and Bridgestone "Carma."

TiVo noted that the Passat ad, which featured a child in a Darth Vader costume, scored the No. 4 slot even though it had already been viewed 14 million times online before its Super Bowl debut.

After the Roethlisberger incomplete pass that effectively ended the game, the next two biggest game moments were a third-and-goal incomplete pass from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers followed by a Steelers two-point conversion.

As for the halftime show, TiVo said viewership of the Black Eyed Peas and guests Usher and Slash was about equal to that of previous performances by The Who last year, Bruce Springsteen in 2009 and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in 2008.

Qigong: mindful movement made in China

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – If yoga is all the rage, can Qigong be far behind?

Sometimes called Chinese yoga, Qigong is a mind-body practice that melds slow graceful movements, mental focus and deep abdominal breathing to boost and balance a person's vital energy, or "qi".

As China's star rises in the west, devotees believe this 5,000-year-old energy cultivation system is poised to become the new kid on the block among rat racers hungry for a more serene form of fitness.

"As China becomes more of a player in the world, Chinese practice is becoming more mainstream," said Matthew Cohen, creator of the Tai Chi & Qi Gong Basics DVD, "just as yoga became popular when the Beatles went to India."

Cohen, an instructor at Sacred Energy Arts in Santa Monica, California, said unlike in India, yoga in the west has come to favor the athletic at the expense of the meditative.

"The world is getting more crowded, cars and computers getting faster," he said. "Qigong is about going slower, so internally you create space."

Tom Rogers, president of the Qigong Institute, a nonprofit educational organization, said Qigong is the precursor to all Chinese energy practices.

"Tai Chi is the most well known moving form of Qigong. Kung Fu is also a form of Qigong," Rogers said from his home in Los Altos, California

Rogers added that the idea of energy cultivation is foreign to westerners but common to other cultures.

"Look at e=mc2," Rogers said of Einstein's insight that matter and energy are different forms of the same thing.

"In the west we look at mass," he said. "Western physics made weapons. The east looks at energy."

The slow, spiral exercises of Qigong, such as Rolling the Ball or Wave Hands in the Cloud, require no equipment, can be done anywhere, and are easy to learn.

"I call it getting an MBA: Movement, Breathing and Awareness," Rogers said. "One is adjusting your posture so energy flow is better; two is slow, deep, abdominal breathing; three is awareness, or trying to get thoughts out of your head."

Balance, posture, breath control and relaxation are among the benefits of Qigong, according to Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise.

She said some research trials have also reported statistically significant decreases in the incidence of stroke, decreased blood pressure, and increases in bone mineral density and improved effectiveness of cancer therapy among practitioners.

"Exercise is not just about going on the treadmill or lifting weights," Matthews explained.

Rogers said as you become more adept, the benefits increase.

"Like an onion you peel the layers back and there's more and more to it: movements are more fluid, posture is better, energy is flowing, breathing is more efficient with movement," he said. "As your awareness deepens you're distracted by less and less."

He added that every chronic illness on the planet is affected by stress.

"Connect with that healer within. Turn that on," Rogers added.

Filmmaker Soderbergh hit with paternity suit in NY

NEW YORK – An Australian woman says Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh fathered her baby daughter, and she's suing for child support.

Soderbergh's lawyer declined to comment Thursday on the lawsuit, and his manager didn't immediately return a telephone call.

Frances Lawrencina Anderson's paternity suit says the "Traffic" and "Ocean's Eleven" director helped pay medical expenses during Anderson's pregnancy, and a DNA test showed he was the father of the girl she had in August.

"(Soderbergh) has acknowledged that he is the father of the child verbally," adds the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a state court in Manhattan. Anderson's lawyer didn't immediately return a call Thursday.

Soderbergh, who won the best directing Oscar in 2000 for "Traffic," married TV personality and novelist Jules Asner in 2003.

Anderson's lawsuit says she and Soderbergh had a sexual relationship at points including December 2009, when his play "Tot Mom" opened in her hometown of Sydney. Soderbergh wrote and directed the play, which reflects on media coverage of the case of slain Florida toddler Caylee Anthony.

Soderbergh, 48, gained acclaim and a screenwriting Oscar nomination for 1989's "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," which he also directed. He also got a directing nomination for 2000's "Erin Brockovich," making him one of few directors to be nominated for two films in one year.

Natalie Portman making films with Paris Hilton's ex

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Natalie Portman is joining forces with a former boyfriend of Paris Hilton to produce movies.

The Oscar-nominated actress' production company, handsomecharlie films, will develop projects with 1821 Pictures, a firm run by Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis.

The 18-month arrangement calls for 1821 to provide overhead funds to handsomecharlie with the opportunity for the two companies to co-produce projects that come out of the partnership.

Portman, a favorite to win the best actress Oscar on February 27 for her role as a ballerina in "Black Swan," has been slowly stepping into the producing realm. She made her debut as a producer on "Hesher," an indie drama that starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, produced and starred in the recent box office champ "No Strings Attached," and is an executive producer on the family drama "The Other Woman," which IFC Films releases Friday.

One of handsomecharlie's hot projects is the adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." That project is set up Lionsgate and in search of a director. Portman is partnered at handsomecharlie with producer Annette Savitch.

Latsis, who runs 1821 with Terry Douglas, was engaged to fellow socialite Hilton in 2005. Latsis and Douglas were executive producers on the Cameron Diaz thriller "The Box" and the Ricky Gervais comedy "The Invention of Lying," neither of which made much of an impact at the box office.