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01 Jan 70, 12:01:00

French-Colombian Hostage Liberated After 6 years

Six years after she was taken hostage, French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt was liberated. Ingrid was one of the high profile hostages taken by FARC insurgents. She was taken hostage while campaigning for the Colombian presidency in 2002. The Colombian army also liberated 15 other hostages, 3 of them Americans. French president Nicolas Sarkozy welcomes her back in France. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
O2 Wireless Festival 2008

Scenes from the first two days of the O2 Wireless Festival from London's Hyde Park, London, England.]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Celine In Milan

Celine Dion performs at DatchForum on July 3, 2008 in Milan, Italy.]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Eddie’s Maxi Me

If only Mel B had been able to get inside Eddie Murphy’s head, she might’ve avoided that whole paternity suit. Now is her chance. Twentieth Century Fox has built a 15-foot, 3-ton replica of his noggin in New York’s Times Square. Adventurous visitors can climb in through his ear. It’s a publicity stunt for Murphy’s next movie “Meet Dave.� He plays a teensy-weensy creature from another planet who travels around in a human-sized spaceship that’s made to look just like him. When it lands on Earth, hilarious hijinks ensue. Or at least, that’s what the studio would have us believe. I, for one, would like to know who gave this idea the green light. Can you imagine the crickets after it was pitched? “There’s this guy, see, but he’s not really a guy. He’s a spaceship. And there’s this little guy that lives inside him that looks just like him. He’s from another planet, and he comes to Earth, and people think the spaceship is really a guy just like them. But it’s not. It’s really a spaceship. Can I have $100 million dollars?� Does that not sound like the dumbest idea ever? I like Murphy. He’s a talented guy, but it really seems like he’s just in it for the cash at this point. He admitted as much about ‘Beverly Hills Cop III.’ “They said 'this is how much we're going to pay you'. I said, 'Let's go shoot it! I don't care if the script ain't right,� Murphy told Extra. It’s disappointing. There’s nothing wrong with a star making a bad movie that he truly believed in. But when you fork over your own hard-earned cash for a flick, you hope that the millionaire onscreen worked just as hard to earn theirs. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
David Arquette: There Is Such A Thing As Free Lunch

We haven’t seen much of David Arquette lately since he started producing his wife Courteney Cox’s show ‘Dirt.’ Of course, now that the series was cancelled, he has a little more time on his hands. It seems he’s putting that time to good use. On Wednesday, Arquette was at the Venice, California, Boys and Girls Club helping serve lunches. The appearance was to publicize the USDA’s free summer lunch program. Arquette said he got involved because “there are a lot of hungry Americans who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.� The summer lunch program is for low-income kids whose meal programs end when the school year does, but only a fraction of those kids are aware of the program. Hopefully, Arquette’s high-profile will let more them know about the service. Those who’d like to help, along with Arquette, can contact their state’s education department. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Minogue Honored

On Tuesday, Prince Charles pinned the Order of the British Empire on Australian popstress Kylie Minogue. Her biggest hit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head� is one of those songs you literally can’t get out of your head. I wonder, though, if old Chucky has more than the vaguest notion who Minogue is. He doesn’t seem the type who has a lot of dance music on his iPod. Then again, perhaps he spends his evenings dancing through the castle singing, “La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la...� with his shirt off. Until Camilla puts a stop to such nonsense and tells him to come to bed. Minogue later told the British press that she felt “both humble and proud to be recognized for doing a job that I love so much." She also revealed that she plans on toning down her sexy look now that she’s hit 40. "It's difficult to age with dignity in the pop business, but I'd like to think I've managed it so far,� she said. “But I won't be wearing hotpants any more!" Charles, old boy, are you listening? ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Madonna’s Lightning A-Rod

Maybe it’s true what Billy Crystal said in ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ Men and women can’t be friends. Certainly not if you believe the tabloids. A man and a woman cannot hang out together without starting tongues wagging. Like Madonna and Alex Rodriguez. So he went to her house. So she sat in his seats at a Yankee’s game. What is the big deal? Just listen to Us Weekly editor-in-chief Janice Min. "I think from those facts we put forth, a lot of people would infer that something more is going on," she said, defending the magazine’s insinuations. Yes. A lot of small-minded people who have a lot of time on their small-minded hands. And the last time I checked, journalists are not supposed to report inferences. Then poor A-Rod’s wife leaves town to get away from the rumors, and they attack her, too, for staying at Lenny Kravitz’s place in Paris. Kravitz was forced to issue his own defensive statement. "I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer," he said. These gossips must have some pretty empty lives -- and some pretty vivid imaginations -- in order to weave such elaborate, illicit tales from such paltry shreds of truth. Sounds to me like they might want to focus some of that excess energy on their own significant others. It might loosen up other parts of the body and tighten up those acid tongues. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Want To Ripa A New One

Kelly Ripa has everything. I hate her! She has the most adorable husband. The perfect job -- she gets millions for what, like an hour a day? Perfect little children. Sickening. Worst of all, it seems like she’s genuinely happy. You don’t get that forced, fake, trying-too-hard thing from her like you do from some people who seem to have it all. Like when Tom Cruise laughs. There’s that edge to it that he’s just about to crack. Or Victoria Beckham. Her smile never quite reaches her eyes, does it? She has everything Ripa does, yet still seems like she spends most of the day under the covers before finally venturing forth to nag. But Ripa. She’s got it all. So why does she need another magazine cover? The bubbly little thing was all genuine smiles at the unveiling of her Hamptons magazine cover on Wednesday. I’m so happy for her. And I mean that. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Bacchae To The Future

Still running after 2,500 years. Euripides ‘The Bacchae’ really has legs. The National Theater of Scotland’s new production of the ancient Greek tragedy opened the Lincoln Center Festival on Wednesday. And it holds up just as well as ‘I Love Lucy.’ Tony-Winner Alan Cumming plays Dionysus, the pleasure-loving god of loving pleasure, who swoops down upon Thebes and demands to be recognized by its disbelieving, prig of a king Pentheus. Adapted by David Grieg, the play echoes the current struggle between puritans and partiers. But what makes the show really current is its over-the-top, campy production. Cumming is a rock star in a gold lame’ kilt who descends upside-down and bare-bottomed, backed up by a gospel Greek chorus in flaming red togas. But Cumming’s Dionysus isn’t all fun and games. His moments of cold, earth-shattering rage make it all too clear that Thebes had better put up or shut up. Coming off a wave of success in the UK, ‘The Bacchae’ is sure to find an appreciative audience in NYC. After all, who can’t appreciate a god whose first commandment is “Thou shalt honor thy cabernet and thy merlot.�? ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
More Wrinkles In 90210

Rumor has it Shannen Doherty has been added to the list of old ‘90210’ stars making an appearance in the new one. The girl who did it all and did it louder long before Britney, Lindsay, and Paris is going back to the Peach Pit. Doherty was let go from the show allegedly because of her disruptive behavior and unreliability. She and co-star Jennie Garth, who has a regular role on the remake, were also known to have exchanged a word or two. Tori Spelling’s new tell-all details a fistfight between them. Garth says that’s all behind them. "A lot of time has passed, and I'm a big girl,� she said. “I'd have no problem with her coming on the show." Spelling, however, has suddenly postponed her appearance on the pilot, claiming she needs time to recover from the recent birth of her second child. She will reprise the role of Donna Martin in a later episode. One in which Shannen Doherty doesn’t appear, I’ll wager. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Five Card Studs

Now, I know why stars go bankrupt. It seems like practically every night, there’s another charity event. Last night, it was Ante Up for Africa, a celebrity poker tournament. Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, George Lopez, Charles Barkley, and Adam Sandler were among the stars who chucked their chips in the pot to help people in Darfur. It’s a great cause, of course. Over 2.5 million people have become refugees since 2003. It’s an awesome thing to do, but it costs $5,000 to enter. The pool started at over $418,000. Jason Alexander started with a winning streak. "All the tournaments I've ever won have been for charity," he said. "When there's no actual money for me, I'm very good." ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Tyra Banks Looking Waxy

If you haven’t yet kissed her fat one, then try kissing her wax one the next time you’re in D.C. Tyra Banks' famous rear end has been immortalized in wax by Madame Tussauds so that future generations can kiss it, too. Along with the rest of her. The wax museum unveiled the eerie thing on Wednesday. And I’ll bet Banks thought she’d never, ever top that Emmy. Now she’s on display in the Glamour Room, rubbing waxy elbows with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, and Beyonce’. Banks also received another honor on Tuesday. She came in second on In Touch magazine’s poll of the best, uh, chest areas in Hollywood. Top of the rack was Jessica Simpson. Other celebs who can look forward to lower back problems included Scarlett Johansson, Carmen Electra, and Lindsay Lohan. ]]>

01 Jan 70, 12:01:00
Tila Tequila Shot Down At Love

Tila Tequila has had her little silicone-padded heart broken yet again. Fortunately for viewers of her MTV reality show, the object of her unrequited love had the deliciously bad taste to do it in front of the cameras, rather than waiting until after the finale like Bobby Banhart did last season. The cast attended the last episode’s viewing party on Tuesday. Just in case you haven’t seen the show -- and most of us haven’t -- this is it in a nutshell. A bunch of 15-minute-fame wannabes compete for the heart of the diminutive-yet-voluptuous Tequila by performing ridiculous yet vaguely sexual tasks. In the finale, for example, the two remaining suitors must melt a block of ice with their bodies in order to get to a heart frozen in the middle. How’s that for subtle imagery? The last ones standing are straight guy Bo Kunkle (that’s a star’s name for sure) and gay woman Kristy Morgan, a former Playboy model. So, after that nail-biting challenge and a couple of season retrospectives, Tequila must decide who will receive the key to her heart. And the winner is... Kristy Morgan. But Kristy has other ideas. She’s not sure that she’s ready for a relationship with a woman, so choking through sobs, she turns it down. That spurs an onslaught of tears from Tequila who doesn’t understand why she keeps getting her heart broken. I sympathize. How can she not find love among the fine, quality people that MTV’s casting department chooses for her each season? It almost makes you think that searching for a life partner on television is a bad idea. ]]>