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Confetti punctuates circus around Lohan surrender

LYNWOOD, Calif. – Hitting bottom under Hollywood's glare, Lindsay Lohan began serving jail time Tuesday for a probation violation that underlined the starlet's inability to put a 2007 drug case behind her.

Incongruously — or maybe not given the media frenzy surrounding her personal drama — someone showered the actress and the crowd with a blast of confetti outside the Beverly Hills courthouse as she walked in to surrender with dozens of cameras following her.

Two weeks after sobbing at her sentencing, Lohan was more composed but nervous Tuesday, fidgeting with her hair in court as she waited to begin serving her time for violating probation. The judge ordered the cameras off for the moment a bailiff handcuffed the 24-year-old and whisked her into a lockup cell.

Her estranged father, Michael, shouted in court, "We love you, Lindsay!"

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel sentenced the "Mean Girls" star to 90 days in jail, three months in rehab and increased scrutiny by probation officials on July 6 after determining the actress violated her probation by missing seven alcohol education classes since December. Sheriff's officials said Lohan will end up serving only about two weeks behind bars because of jail overcrowding and anticipated credits for good behavior.

After Tuesday's brief court hearing, news helicopters chronicled her ride in an unmarked sheriff's cruiser to a suburban women's jail about half an hour away. The helicopters surrounded the facility as Lohan entered through a side entrance. Clusters of camera crews awaited Lohan's arrival inside marked areas surrounded by yellow sheriff's tape on the grass in front of the county jail, which is located next to a busy freeway in a blue-collar area.

Lohan will serve significantly longer than the 84 minutes she spent at the same jail in her 2007 case. Revel ordered that the actress cannot be freed on house arrest, electronic monitoring or work release.

Lohan's surrender was long anticipated but not without last-minute drama. Last week she moved into a sober living facility founded by famed celebrity attorney Robert Shapiro, who on Friday said he agreed to represent her.

But by Monday afternoon Shapiro was standing before Revel, announcing he would not be handling it. That prompted widespread speculation about who would represent the actress.

On Tuesday morning it was Lohan's longtime attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, who accompanied the starlet to court and stood beside her. Holley acted like she had never left the case and said afterward she will continue to represent Lohan.

"She's scared as anyone would be, but she's as resolute and she's doing it," Holley said after the hearing.

Lohan was booked into the jail at 10:11 a.m. and sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore described her as "extremely cooperative."

Once there, she traded in her dark denim jeans, gray top, black corset belt and black jacket for a jail jumpsuit. She will now spend much of the next few weeks in an isolation unit that has housed celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Michelle Rodriguez.

After a pair of high-profile arrests, Lohan pleaded guilty in August 2007 to two misdemeanor counts of being under the influence of cocaine. She also pleaded no contest to two counts of driving with a blood-alcohol level above 0.08 percent and one count of reckless driving.

She was sentenced to three years of probation but has struggled with the terms, earning a one-year extension in October but still failing to complete her alcohol education program as ordered. Holley said Tuesday she submitted proof that Lohan had finally completed the program.

Lohan was first arrested after a hit-and-run crash on Memorial Day weekend in 2007. Two months later, she was arrested after commandeering a sport utility vehicle and engaging in a chase that ended in downtown Santa Monica. The incident has spawned a civil case that has been delayed because of Lohan's jail stint. Revel noted that during both of her arrests, Lohan lied about her involvement and said her recent apology didn't ring true.

The incidents proved to be more than just a blip in Lohan's personal life. The star of films such as "Mean Girls," "Freaky Friday" and "Herbie Fully Loaded" has seen movie roles evaporate. Her last release, "Labor Pains," didn't even get a theatrical release.

In recent months, she also has sparred publicly with Michael Lohan, who she sometimes calls her "ex-father." The two arrived separately for Tuesday's hearing.

Jail is only the beginning of a period of increased court scrutiny for Lohan, who will now have to report to a probation officer within a day of leaving jail and will have to enter 90 days of rehab.

The time away is impacting several Lohan projects, including her starring role in a biopic on porn actress Linda Lovelace. It has left her unable to promote her upcoming turn as a gun-toting nun in Robert Rodriguez's "Machete."

It will also silence her on Twitter, the microblogging service where Lohan frequently goes to post updates and defend herself. Her final post — roughly 12 hours before she walked into the Beverly Hills courthouse — made light of her once promising film career and her looming incarceration.

"The only 'bookings' that I'm familiar with are Disney Films, never thought that I'd be 'booking' into jail eeeks," she wrote.

ANTHONY McCARTNEY and DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writers

MICHAEL JACKSON'S SECRET SON SURFACES

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson has an alleged secret son.

Insiders claim Donte Williams Jackson, who lives with the late “Thriller” star’s 80-year-old mother Katherine Jackson, is the result of a fling between the legendary King of Pop and an unknown woman.

The 18-year-old has spent most of his life being looked after by Alejandra Oaziaza, who has four children with Michael’s brothers Randy and Jermaine.

It was initially believed Donte was the son of Randy and Alejandra, but he was born just eight months after their son Randy Jr.

A source told The Sun newspaper: “‘Michael was very close to Donte. We’re not even sure if Donte knows who his parents are.”

“He’s one of the nicest kids you could possibly meet.”

Insiders claim Donte came about after a fling in Las Vegas in the early 1990s.

Donte is the second alleged secret son of the legendary singer, who has children Prince Michael, 13, and Paris, 12, with ex-wife Debbie Rowe and eight-year-old Prince Michael II, also known as Blanket, whose mother is unknown. It is also believed 26-year-old dancer Omer Bhatti is his child. (msn.com)

Naomi Campbell to testify at Taylor war crimes trial

ONDON (AFP) - – British supermodel Naomi Campbell will give evidence at the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor about a "blood diamond" he allegedly gave her, her spokeswoman said Friday.

"Naomi Campbell has confirmed she will attend the Charles Taylor trial at The Hague as per the court's request. She is a witness who has been asked to help clarify events in 1997," her spokeswoman said.

The war crimes court ordered Campbell last week to testify on July 29 about a diamond she was allegedly given by Taylor after a celebrity dinner hosted by then South African president Nelson Mandela in September 1997.

Taylor has been on trial since 2008 for his alleged role in the civil war in Sierra Leone, accused of arming rebels in return for illegally mined diamonds.

"Miss Campbell has made it clear that she is willing to help the due process of law," said the spokeswoman from The Outside Organisation PR firm.

"For avoidance of doubt she is not being accused of any wrongdoing and is not on trial."

Campbell will have to testify about claims by her former agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow that she was given the diamond.

The prosecution alleges the gem was among those Taylor had obtained from Sierra Leone rebels and took to South Africa "to sell... or exchange them from weapons."

It believes Campbell's evidence will be direct evidence of Taylor's possession of rough diamonds, a claim he has denied.

When it ordered the model to appear, the Special Court for Sierra Leone warned she could face up to seven years in jail if she failed to turn up.

Campbell had previously refused to talk to prosecutors about the alleged gift.

The court "hereby orders you to appear as a witness in the case of Prosecutor v Charles Ghankay Taylor on Thursday July 29, 2010 at 9:00am (0700 GMT) or to show good cause why you cannot comply with this subpoena," states the subpoena addressed to the model.

The court said there was "at least a good chance that the information provided by Ms Campbell would be of material assistance" in the case.

Taylor, 62, is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from the 1991-2001 civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he is alleged to have armed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in exchange for rough diamonds.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers, enslavement and pillaging.

The RUF is blamed for the mutilation of thousands of civilians who had their hands and arms severed in one of the most brutal wars in modern history, which claimed some 120,000 lives.

Talent Agency WME drops Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson has been dropped by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

Earlier this week, the agency's Patrick Whitesell informed the actors' representatives that he would no longer be represented by the agency.

Gibson's longtime agent, Ed Limato, died July 3, and a funeral will take place in New York next week.

WME partner Ari Emanuel had previously expressed hostility toward Gibson after the actor made anti-Semitic remarks and made remarks implying skepticism about the Holocaust.

An agency source said the only reason the agency had represented Gibson in the first place was his association with Limato. "Mel was really important to Ed," an agency source said. "He was with him for 32 years and I think Ed saw him as a son." But he added, "The world knows how Ari feels and he has never changed that opinion."

Gibson's troubles have only increased in recent weeks with allegations of bigoted tirades against blacks and Latinos and reports that he is under investigation for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Several studio executives have said in the wake of these disclosures that they consider the troubled actor to untouchable in the industry. "I'd rather get engaged to Lindsay Lohan than have anything to do with him," one studio chief said.

A spokesman for Gibson said the star had always planned to do without an agent after Limato's death. He added, "At this point he doesn't seem to be in need of an agent." He said Gibson has projects lined up for the next two years. Those include starring roles in two films: "The Beaver," a dark comedy directed by and co-starring Jodie Foster, and "How I Spent My Summer Vacation," that Gibson co-wrote.

KIM MASTERS /THR

Minnie Riperton performs "Loving You" on Soul Train

Paris Hilton marijuana charges dropped in SAfrica

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa – A court in South Africa has dropped a marijuana-smoking case against Paris Hilton.

The socialite appeared late Friday in a FIFA World Cup courtroom after being arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana at a quarterfinal match between Brazil and the Netherlands.

The authorities dropped the charges against Hilton, after her co-accused, Jennifer Rovero, "acknowledged to be in possession of cannabis, and pleaded guilty," said Brig. Sally De Beer, a spokeswoman for South African police.

Rovero, 31, from New York, was sentenced to a fine of 1000 rand ($130) or 30 days imprisonment, De Beer said.

A publicist for Hilton said the incident was a "misunderstanding."

"Paris Hilton was questioned today by police in South Africa on allegations of smoking marijuana," a publicist for Hilton, Dawn Miller, said in a statement.

"However I can confirm that the incident was a complete misunderstanding and it was actually another person in the group who did it," the statement said. "The case has been dropped against Paris and no charges will be made."

When told the case had been dropped, Hilton said "thank you" and left the courtroom.

Hilton wrote on Twitter later: "Hey guys, there's a lot of crazy rumors going around. Just want you all to know the truth. Everything is completely fine. I was not charged or arrested, cause I didn't do anything."

She said she was helping police with their investigation.

"Everyone was super nice and friendly to me," Hilton wrote. "I love South Africa! Such an amazing place, especially during The World Cup! Hope that clears everything up."

The socialite was wearing an off-white sleeveless blouse in court. Her hair was in pigtails and she had heavy black eyeliner.

Hilton and Rovero were believed to have left court without speaking to reporters after a white van left the building with two of the passengers covering themselves to hide their identities.

Hilton was detained in Port Elizabeth earlier Friday, on suspicion of possessing marijuana, two South African police officers said on condition of anonymity earlier in the day.

The officers spoke on condition of anonymity, since they were not authorized to release Hilton's name before she appeared in court.

A local radio station in Johannesburg said Hilton was detained outside the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium, following the quarterfinal match between Brazil and Netherlands.

Hilton pleaded no contest in 2007 to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. After spending about 23 days in jail, Hilton told Larry King that the experience caused her to re-evaluate the role partying played in her life. She said she wanted "to help raise money for kids and for breast cancer and multiple sclerosis."

Investors for Hilton's 2006 box-office bomb "Pledge This!" have been battling the heiress in federal court, claiming that she didn't plug the film enough. Hilton, who testified last summer at a trial over the dispute, previously said that she was dissatisfied with the finished film, but she worked hard to make sure the college sorority romp succeed. - AP

BRITNEY SPEARS FASHION FAUX PAS

Looking like she just rolled out of bed -- or was on her way to play soccer -- Britney Spears made a trip to her place of worship, Starbucks, sporting a bizarre getup consisting of a tank top, boxer shorts, and tube socks.
YAHOO!

ANDREW GARFIELD IS THE NEW SPIDER-MAN!

Sony Pictures has officially announced that Andrew Garfield has landed the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in director Marc Webb's Untitled Spider-Man Film! The film focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises. The action adventure will open in 3D and 2D theaters on July 3, 2012.

Here's the official press release followed by the announcement photos and highlight video!

After a comprehensive worldwide casting search, Andrew Garfield has been chosen to portray Peter Parker when Spider-Man swings back onto the screen in 3D on July 3, 2012. The new film will begin production in early December directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce the film from Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios.

Today's confirmation culminates what has been one of the most eagerly anticipated casting announcements in recent memory. Bloggers, pop culture speculators, and everyday fans have pored over and analyzed every conceivable online rumor in an attempt to discover the identity of the next actor to play Peter Parker. Garfield will immediately begin preparing for the coveted role.

The Spider-Man franchise is one of the most successful in film history and the three previous motion pictures have collectively grossed more than $2.5 billion in worldwide box office.

On selecting Garfield, director Marc Webb said, "Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor's work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker."

Commenting on the announcement, Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, President of Columbia Pictures said, "Spider-Man is a classic superhero -- a young man who balances his responsibility to serve humanity and crush evil with the shyness and normalcy of someone struggling to find himself. The role demands an extraordinary actor. You need someone who can magically transform himself from Peter Parker into Spider-Man. An actor who will depict the vulnerability of youth and the strength and confidence of a legendary figure at the same moment. We have found that actor in Andrew Garfield. From the first time we saw him in the upcoming film The Social Network, to his glorious screen test, which floored all of us, we knew that we had found our new Peter Parker."

Producer Avi Arad added, "I'm incredibly excited about Andrew Garfield. In the Spider-Man tradition, we were looking for a smart, sensitive, and cool new Peter Parker who can inspire us and make us laugh, cry, and cheer. We believe we have found the perfect choice to take on this role and lead us into the future."

Producer Laura Ziskin said, "We are thrilled to have Andrew Garfield for this new incarnation of Spider-Man under Marc Webb’s direction. We were fortunate enough to meet with a group of fantastically talented young men. In the end, we all agreed that in addition to being an extraordinary actor, Andrew had the right mix of humor, youth, and pathos, along with an underlying sense of strength and power necessary to bring Peter Parker and Spider-Man to life on screen."

The selection of Garfield was revealed at a press event in Cancun, Mexico for international journalists attending a media tour promoting upcoming films from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Garfield is fast becoming one of the most respected and sought-after young actors working in the industry today. In a short career, spanning only five years, he has already been directed by, and starred alongside, some of the greatest names and received a BAFTA for a role that won him international praise.

Garfield most recently worked with director David Fincher on the upcoming film The Social Network. He previously starred for Spike Jonze on his robot love story I'm Here, which premiered at Sundance this year. He plays the lead male opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, due for release later this year.

Other notable screen credits include Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus playing opposite Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law and the late Heath Ledger, Robert Redford’s Lions For Lambs, where he starred alongside Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; Revolution Films' "Red Riding Trilogy – 1974" directed by Julian Jarrold, where he lead a stellar cast including Rebecca Hall and David Morrissey, and his unforgettable portrayal of a young ex-con in John Crowley's "Boy A," for which he earned the best actor BAFTA in 2008.

Garfield’s career began in theatre and in 2006 his performances in "Beautiful Thing" (Sound Space/Kit Productions), "The Overwhelming," and "Burn / Chatroom / Citizenship" (Royal National Theatre) won him the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard awards and the Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards. Other notable theatre credits include "Romeo and Juliet" (Manchester Royal Exchange) and "Kes" (Manchester Royal Exchange), for which he received the Most Promising Newcomer Award at the Manchester Evening News Awards 2004.

SUPERHEROHYPE

MICHAEL JACKSON EARNS BILLIONS EVEN FROM THE GRAVE!

Michael Jackson's estate has made more than US$1 billion since his death a year ago, according to estimates by Billboard. The magazine says Jackson's album sales have generated about $383 million, while revenue from the film This Is It has hit nearly $400 million. Profits from publishing rights, licensing, and touring are also included in the total. A new recording contract is estimated to have made $31 million so far. Despite the This Is It tour never getting off the ground, revenue from tickets retained by fans as souvenirs and not refunded brought in about $6.5 million, with merchandise raking in $5 million, although concert promoter AEG has a cut of these profits.
hollywoodnews.

Megan Fox marries boyfriend in Hawaii: report

LOS ANGELES – Her career may have hit a rocky patch, but Megan Fox's personal life seems happier than ever.

The "Transformers" actress married her long-time boyfriend, former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Brian Austin Green, in Hawaii late last week, TMZ.com reported on Monday.

The pair tied the knot during a small ceremony at the Four Seasons Resort on the state's Big Island. Staff at the hotel were not able to confirm the report, and Fox's publicist did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Fox, 24, and Green, 36, reportedly got engaged for a second time at the same hotel earlier this month. They met in 2004, first got engaged in 2006, but called it off in early 2009.

It was the first marriage for both, although Green has an 8-year-old son with actress Vanessa Marcil.

Fox is currently in theaters with the comic-book adaptation "Jonah Hex," which is shaping up to be one of the biggest bombs of the year. Last month, she was suddenly dropped from the cast of "Transformers 3" just as production was about to begin. She last year likened franchise director Michael Bay to Hitler and Napoleon, and said he was "a nightmare to work for."

Her high-profile headlining role in the 2009 horror comedy "Jennifer's Body" also fizzled.

Green, meanwhile, has worked steadily in a series of low-profile film and TV projects since the popular teen soap "Beverly Hills, 90210" ended its decade long run in 2000.

Reuters

John Mayer ft. Taylor Swift - Half Of My Heart (Official Video)

'Toy Story' totals $100 million overseas 'Knight' is No. 2 with $12.6 mil; 'Grown Ups' gets $2.3 mil

"Toy Story 3"

Grossing a total of $100 million in overseas boxoffice since it opened offshore a week ago, Pixar/Disney's "Toy Story 3" retained the weekend's No. 1 spot on the foreign theatrical circuit for a second consecutive round with $36.1 million drawn from 6,278 screens in 32 markets.

Worldwide total for the latest in the Pixar franchise amounts to $326.6 million. Distributor Disney is projecting that, "based on its current performance trajectory, 'Toy Story 3' looks to easily surpass" the $361.9 million total rolled up by the 1995 original in less than three weekends of worldwide release.

Propelled by what Disney terms "record setting" runs in Latin America -- contributing $62.2 million to "Toy Story 3's" overseas total so far -- the 3D three-quel is already the biggest Pixar title ever to play the area. Mexico alone has generated $34 million over just 10 days.

The weekend's Australia opening provided $6.2 million from 365 screens while its South Africa bow contributed $1.1 million (including previews) from just 72 sites for a $15,278 per-screen average, the market's biggest opening weekend ever. New markets accounted for $9.1 million of the $36.1 million weekend tally.

In all, "Toy Story 3" has amassed its $100 million overseas total from just 35% of the overall international marketplace. Disney's gradual rollout of the film takes it to New Zealand and Turkey this week. Key European market openings (Italy, France, U.K., Spain and Germany) plus Japan and Hong Kong won't occur until next month.

Second on the weekend was 20th Century Fox's "Knight and Day," the big-budget action comedy directed by James Mangold and costarring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, which opened No. 3 domestic. In its offshore debut at 2,238 screens in 12 territories, mostly in Asia and the Caribbean, "Knight" grossed $12.6 million, for a $5,630 per-screen average.

"Knight and Day" premiered No. 1 in South Korea ($3.8 million from 501 locations) and in Russia ($3.38 million from 950 sites). The film also notched first-place rankings in Taiwan ($1 million from 135 screens), Hong Kong ($778,495 from 60 sites for a per-screen average of $12,975), Thailand, Malaysia, Trinidad and Jamaica.

Dipping its toes in foreign theatrical waters was Sony's "Grown Ups." The comedy costarring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider about a get-together of old friends over a July 4 weekend opened No. 2 in Australia, drawing $2.3 million from 224 locations for a per-screen average of $10,290.

No. 3 on the weekend was Sony's "The Karate Kid," ducking major European markets during the World Cup, opened No. 1 in Thailand, and collected $8.4 million overall from 925 screens in 26 territories including China. The remake of the 1984 original, costarring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, has grossed a total of $25.3 million overseas thus far, with $21.1 million coming from markets handled by Sony.

No. 4, Fox's "The A-Team," generated $7.7 million from 4,344 screens in 53 territories, and is for the second straight weekend No. 1 in France -- although not in the Paris area, where the Lionsgate action-comedy "Killers" took the top spot. Overseas cume for director Joe Carnahan's update of the popular NBC-TV series of the 1980s stands at $47.2 million.

Fifth was Warner Bros./New Line's "Sex and the City 2," which tallied $7.2 million at about 5,500 screens in 58 territories. Overseas gross total stands at $172 million, $91.4 million shy of the foreign gross total compiled by 2009's "Sex and the City: The Movie."

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," producer Jerry Bruckheimer's sword-and-sandals title handled by Disney, pulled $6.9 million from 6,495 situations in 54 markets in its sixth round on the foreign circuit, hoisting its offshore cume to $226 million. "Prince" has grossed $312.2 million worldwide, the sixth biggest release of 2010.

Previewing strongly in the U.K., DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "Shrek Forever After" in 3D drew $3.7 million from 1,281 spots in 21 markets (with the official U.K. opening due this week). Foreign cume stands at $91.5 million.

Universal's comedy "Get Him to the Greek" opened strongly in the U.K., generating $2.4 million from 390 spots. Weekend overall generated $3.9 million from 770 spots in eight markets, for an early cume of $9.8 million. Same distributor's "Robin Hood" raised its overseas cume to nearly $200 million ($198.7 million) thanks to a $2.4 million weekend at 4,800 locations in 56 markets.

Other international cumes: Marvel Entertainment's "Iron Man 2," $303 million; Universal's "Green Zone," $62.7 million; Fox's "Marmaduke," $13 million; Sony's "The Back-Up Plan," $36.6 million; Universal's "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang," $60.5 million; DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's "How to Train Your Dragon," $262 million; Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," $687.6 million; and Universal's "Hanni Und Nanni," $2 million in Germany and Austria.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

GWYNETH PALTROW IN EARLY SIGNS OF OSTEOPOROSIS

Gwyneth Paltrow, 37, is in the early phases of osteopenia, which could potentially lead to the brittle bone disease osteoporosis.

U.K.’s The Sun uncovered the news. Osteoporosis is a disease which typically effects older women.

Paltrow was diagnosed with the disease after she broke her leg.

The actress writes on her website, “Doctors tested my vitamin D levels, which turned out to be the lowest thing they had ever seen (not a good thing).”

Paltrow follows a strict exercise regiment and steers clear of dairy products. Osteoporosis can be triggered by a lack of calcium and excessive exercise. The “Iron Man 2” thespian consumes a Macrobiotic diet consisting of vegetables, grains, soup and fish.

HOLLYWOOD NEWS

Taylor Lautner & Robert Pattinson Interview: Eclipse Movie Premiere

Michael Fassbender officially joins 'X-Men: First Class'

Michael Fassbender is officially on board to play bad guy Magneto in "X-Men: First Class".

Fassbender was being courted for villain roles in Fox's relaunch of the "X-Men" franchise, directed by Matthew Vaughn, and Columbia's relaunch of "Spider-Man." He entered talks with Fox two weeks ago.

Fassbender will join James McAvoy, who is playing Professor Xavier in the pic, which focuses on Marvel's superpowered team X-Men in a younger incarnation than the previous trilogy.

While deals for Fassbender and McAvoy are done, the fate of other mutants may be up in the air. Fox had been in full-blown casting mode as it geared up for an August start in London, but earlier this week casting director Mindy Marin -- whose credits run from "L.A. Story" to "The Book of Eli" -- left the project. She has been replaced by Joseph Middleton ("Donnie Darko").

Fassbender's big Hollywood break came with a key turn in "Inglourious Basterds," in which he played Canadian spy Archie Hicox. The actor, repped by CAA and Troika in the U.K., stars in Neil Marshall's Roman action movie "Centurion," which opens in August.THR

FICTION IS DEAD. AGAIN?

Put down that dragon tattoo girl. Stop catching up with Bree Tanner. You don’t need any help from Kathryn Stockett, or to chew your fingernails through a hunger game. Forget about the latest from Scott Turow or David Mitchell or Charlaine Harris or Paul Auster or Rick Riordan or Stephen King. Novels are over. Fiction is dead.

Here we go again.

Every few years someone finds a platform to declare fiction dead, despite all evidence to the contrary. This time around, it’s Lee Siegel, writing in The Observer. Siegel’s piece flogs a tired horse, that fiction is less central to our culture than it was in the 1950s and 1960s, and not as good. It’s hard to figure out which is more problematic: how poorly Siegel’s argument is made, or how many things he gets wrong in the process.

So for fun, let’s see if I can resuscitate poor old fiction by addressing Siegel’s points, one at a time, as he lays them out.

1. Siegel: “Fiction has become culturally irrelevant.” People buy books, read books, are right now camping on sidewalks to see The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, a movie based on a book, and they camp out in bookstores, too, when a novel they’re eager for is sold at midnight. Maybe these people are not part of our culture?

2. Siegel: “With the exception of a few ambitious—and obsessively competitive—fiction writers and their agents and editors, no one goes to a current novel or story for the ineffable private and public clarity fiction once provided.” So on the one hand we have obsessive, competitive authors and agents. On the other, “ineffable private and public clarity.” This doesn’t make sense—the ambitious literary establishment may go to books for many reasons, but how does clarity connect to their obsessiveness? And while there are no doubt legions of readers who turn to fiction for “private clarity,” they certainly aren’t limited to agents and writers. And what exactly is the connection between “private and public” clarity—are these two the same thing? Are they even related?

3. Siegel: “Exhibit A in the argument that fiction is now a marginal enterprise: Everybody complains that The New Yorker list is inbred, house-approved, a mere PR ploy for the magazine, but no one does anything about it. If fiction were really alive, if it were still the vibrant experience it used to be, then an artistic affront like the ‘20 Under 40’ junior pantheon would be something against which literary people would deploy all their creative energies....Where are the counterlists to The New Yorker’s 20? Where is the mischief in the little literary magazines, the fiction-publishing monthlies like Harper’s and The Atlantic, the countless online sites devoted to contemporary fiction? Isn’t such sharp dissent what the Web was supposed to empower?” Since Mr. Siegel’s Internet seems to be broken, here we go: HTML Giant’s “400 Under the Age of 1,” Ward 6’s “10 Over 80,” the Millions’ “20 Under 40 from 40 Years Ago” and “20 More Under 40,” the Telegraph’s “20 Under 40 in Britain,” Steve Almond’s “One Over 40 in The Rumpus,” The Big Other’s “40 Over 40” and a lively conversation on Twitter.

4. Siegel: “The practice of fiction is no longer a vocation. It has become a profession.” These are synonyms. From the Random House Unabridged Dictionary (my 1967 edition was my parents’): “vocation: a particular occupation, business or profession; calling” and “profession: a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science.” Do writers want to find the vocation-profession sweet spot and both follow their calling and make a living? Probably. Has this prevented them from responding to The New Yorker’s list, as Siegel claims? No.

5. Siegel: “It is only when an artistic genre becomes small and static enough to scrutinize that a compensating abundance of commentary on that genre springs into existence.” If writing critically about an art form indicates that it is in its decline, that means there hasn’t been a rock song worth listening to since critic Lester Bangs died in 1982, and that filmmaking ended with the 1965 publication of Pauline Kael’s I Lost It at the Movies.

6. Siegel doesn’t like critic James B. Woods’s book How Fiction Works. I don’t much, either, but one critic’s poorly conceived manifesto is hardly enough to prove that fiction is dead.

7. Siegel: “The most interesting, perceptive and provocative writers of our moment write narrative nonfiction.” This may be true. I think we agree.

8. Siegel goes on to say that today’s nonfiction generates “existential urgency and intensity [with] the feelings with which people used to respond to novels….” Just because nonfiction may generate intense feelings doesn’t mean that those feelings have been taken away from fiction. It’s like a parent saying, “Sorry, son, now that your little sister is born, all our love is going to her”—love for reading is love for reading, and if Siegel and I are both feeling fondly toward nonfiction, there is still plenty of fiction love (at least from me).

9. That quote about fiction continues “...feelings with which people used to respond to novels by Bellow, Updike, Mailer, Roth, Cheever, Malamud....” Fiction and nonfiction are both so lovable that Siegel has confused Mailer with a novelist on a par with John Updike and Saul Bellow. But Norman Mailer’s best work was always his nonfiction, not his fiction; Harlot’s Ghost and Ancient Evenings are a far cry from Armies of the Night and The Executioner’s Song.

10. In the postwar decades, Siegel writes, “So-called commercial fiction was just as relevant to people’s lives as so-called literary fiction.” He lists some marvelous books of the period that he says were categorized as commercial fiction, which were “as primal as the bard singing around the pre-Homeric fire” (I think that’s good). But now “everything literary is also furtively commercial” (I think that’s bad) and “nothing is popular” (also bad), “except for the explicitly commercial fiction that the literary crowd refuses (or is unable) to write.” From what I can tell, he started out saying postwar commercial fiction was good because it was relevant to people’s lives, and he ends by saying contemporary literary writers both are “furtively commercial” yet not writing commercial fiction. Issues of popularity, commercialism and literariness are all jumbled up. And he conflates the idea of relevance to an individual’s life—the intensity of response to a piece of writing—to relevance with the culture as a whole.

11. Siegel writes that the work of the magazine’s own nonfiction staff is the “best argument against The New Yorker’s self-promoting, vulgar list” of 20 novelists under 40. That makes sense only if you believe good nonfiction equals bad fiction. Um, no.

12. Fiction is, Siegel writes, “a museum-piece genre most of whose practitioners are more like cripplingly self-conscious curators or theoreticians than writers.” While this might be argued, Siegel hasn’t argued it. He touched on relevance, on popularity, on an obsessive literary establishment, on the quality nonfiction of decades past—but he didn’t address the content of today’s novels at all. At this point, he’s just tossing insults.

13. Siegel concludes that fiction is dead because nonfiction is alive. I would argue that readers energized by one form will not abandon another; it would take a small heart not to love them both.

Fiction lives! It lives!

CAROLYN KELLOGG Los Angeles Times

June 1969: How the Stonewall riots changed history

A bar raid in Manhattan in 1969 sparked a rights movement with international impact, a new documentary shows

The summer of 1969, which saw the first moonwalk, Woodstock and the Manson murders, was marked by another watershed moment: a police raid on a Mafia-run Greenwich Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn that would spark a three-day riot and, in many eyes, launch the gay-rights movement. This rebellion—it’s been called the “Rosa Parks moment for gays”—and the decades of oppression that led up to it are vividly chronicled in the documentary Stonewall Uprising.

What began as a one-hour PBS special evolved into a feature-length film for married codirectors David Heilbroner and Kate Davis, whose previous documentary collaborations include Pucker Up and the recent Waiting for Armageddon (codirected with Franco Sacchi). Stonewall “grew beyond the story of the riots,” Heilbroner said by phone from Manhattan. “Very quickly we realized if you’re going to understand the Stonewall riots, you have to understand American homophobia in the 1950s and ’60s.”

To that end, the couple created a structure for the movie that was roughly chronological, but also followed the emotional buildup to Stonewall.

“The film really tries to recreate that sense of immense frustration,” Heilbroner said. “We looked at the systematic oppression of gay people from all these different angles.” These “angles” include some fasten-your-seatbelts footage from several of the era’s devastatingly antigay PSAs and TV news reports.

Davis, who won an Emmy in 2004 for her solo direction of the HBO documentary Jockey, added, “With this structure, the audience would feel more viscerally why bars like the Stonewall were so critical to the gay community. They were a refuge.”

But telling this story visually had its limitations. “There is almost no photographic coverage of the riots, largely because the press didn’t cover gay issues,” Heilbroner said. “There are seven still photographs of the riot, and that’s it.”

The filmmakers chose to fill in the blanks using a number of creative recreations of the revolt and its various participants, which often meant shooting their own stills and treating them to appear 40 years old. They also staged a bar raid with actors that, according to Davis, they “filmed intentionally badly, if you will.”

The majority of the footage seen in the film, however, is not recreated but repurposed from vintage 1960s material, some of it from nighttime riots in New York and other cities. “We interweaved the recreation and archival footage and tried to make it seamless,” Heilbroner said. “The goal was that you would, hopefully, watch the film and you wouldn’t feel the transitions.” (Although Stonewall was undoubtedly a landmark, other histories and documentaries have pointed to earlier gay-rights drives, including key protests in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.)

Fortunately, a number of original participants and observers were still around to discuss those June nights on Manhattan’s Christopher Street. The film’s eclectic array of interviewees includes members of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community, as well as ex-New York City Mayor Ed Koch, former Village Voice writers Lucian Truscott IV and Howard Smith, and Seymour Pine, the once-NYPD deputy inspector who led the Stonewall raid.

“He was the biggest surprise of all in a way,” said Heilbroner of the now 90-year-old Pine. “He’s supposed to be the ‘villain’ of the piece, yet, when we interviewed him, he had such heart and such perspective on what went on that, I think, he transcends that role tremendously.”

Also interviewed is John O’Brien, a long-time political activist and one of the founders of the pioneering Gay Liberation Front, who was a block away from the Stonewall Inn when the melée broke out. Recalled O’Brien, “Most people were, of course, running away from the event and I, of course, started running toward it. I had no idea that I was making history.”

O’Brien, a Manhattan native who has lived in Los Angeles since 1976, feels it’s most important to consider the context of the Stonewall rebellion, which came on the heels of the closing of another popular gay Village club, the Checkerboard, as well as the waterfront slaying of two gay men by an off-duty New York Transit cop. “In those days, you could get away with doing anything to gay people,” O’Brien said. “Nobody cared about filing charges or bringing up people for any kind of violence [against gays]. It was perfectly OK.” He added, “I was proud to see gay people in 1969 finally standing up and physically fighting against the police.”

For O’Brien, the legacy of Stonewall is that “it created a much more militant movement of people demanding their rights, not begging for rights and not accepting less than full human equality. And it was international in its impact.”

As for Stonewall Uprising, O’Brien offered, “I’m really happy they did something that’s much more accurate of that time than previous reports about Stonewall. It removed some of the myths and brought some of the reality into focus.”

Codirector Davis hopes the documentary will “help elevate the story of Stonewall, integrating the gay revolution and placing it firmly alongside other social movements.”

Added Heilbroner, “The film reminds us how the possibility for making change is really at people’s fingertips—more than they might know.”

GARY GOLDSTEIN Los Angeles Times

Lady Gaga gets teapot TKU from Elton John for her generosity

Hollywoodnews.com: Why does bff Elton John give Lady Gaga as a ‘thank you’ present?

An antique tea set! Gaga,24, recently performed at John’s White Tie and Tiara Ball at his Windsor mansion in the U.K.

Gaga has a major fetish for all things British – in this case tea — so a piece of John’s vintage bone china was just dandy.

A source for The Sun said: “GaGa had a tour of his home and was awestruck by his collection. She kept complimenting him on it.

“He was tickled by her fascination so presented her with a set.

“She was over the moon with the present. It was a vintage set and probably worth a fair few bob.”

John’s event raised $8.4 million for his AIDS Foundation which is using football to educate African youngsters at risk from HIV.

Talking about the cause, Elton exclaimed: “Football stars are the most powerful role models. Through them we can protect the next generation.”

HOLLYWOOD NEWS.COM

GAY PRIDE PARADE

SAN FRANCISCO – Organizers kicked off San Francisco's 40th annual gay pride weekend with a celebration Saturday in front of City Hall.

Thousands of people crowded into Civic Center Plaza, where vendors sold barbecue and burritos, and DJs spun tunes on a large stage. Advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community shared booths alongside corporate sponsors.

"It's part political, it's part a party," said Darryl Groom, 55, explaining the elements that brought him and his partner, Tobey Tam, 41, to San Francisco from Cape Coral, Fla.

The event continues Sunday with a parade and concerts by groups including The Backstreet Boys.

San Francisco's gay pride festivities have come a long way since the first parade in 1970, as has the LGBT movement, organizers and historians say.

The first pride parade had about 150 to 200 people, said Gerard Koskovich of the GLBT Historical Society.

"Barely anybody noticed," he said. "I've seen pictures of it."

The following year there wasn't even a march, he said, just a gathering in Golden Gate Park.

Today, the march attracts tens of thousands of people, and a growing number of those are not lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, Koskovich said.

"That homophobia that says, 'Eek, I'm not going to hang out with these people,' has turned into, 'Boy, these people throw a great party.'"

San Francisco Pride Executive Director Amy Andre said the fight for equal rights has also come a long way since the first pride celebration. At the time, gay sex was a crime in California.

This year, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to deliver a prerecorded address after the parade Andre said Pelosi will be the highest ranking federal official ever to address a pride event.

This year's theme, "40 and Fabulous," is partly intended to celebrate the movement's progress, Andre said.

"But we're also reflecting on the fact that we still have a long way to come for equal rights," she added.

SUDHIN THANAWALA -AP

KATIE PERRY & RUSSELL BRAND : MARRIED? ALREADY?

Did Russell Brand and Katy Perry secretly get married already???? It doesn’t sound like them to do anything in a discreet and private way but who knows…maybe this is one area of their very public lives they wanted to keep to themselves.

Katy was on the Graham Norton show last night and had what you might call a Freudian slip of the tongue. Katy was talking about her sweetie when she said, “Life’s never dull with him – that’s why I married him.”

After Graham and the audience gasped, and she quickly covered with a, “That’s why I’m marrying him!” Then she refused to clarify whether she and Russell – who plan to tie the knot this fall – have already secretly gotten hitched.

SPARKLE-C

Michael Jackson's ghost... spotted again?

Spooky photo proves life on Mars?

VIVEKA BABAJEE FOUND DEAD

Mumbai supermodel Viveka Babajee was mysteriously found dead in her residence in suburban Bandra on Friday evening (June 26). She was 37. According to the Police sources, former Miss Mauritius has committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her residence.
Neighbours rang the door bell, when they smelt of gas leakage from Viveka’s house. But they didn’t get any response, which made them to alert police. Police have suspected that it could be a case of suicide and still awaiting for the post mortem report. Her family sources say that she was depressed after breaking up with her boyfriend, but the police have not recovered any suicide note from the house.

Viveka has been featured in numerous ads including Kamasutra condoms and Live In Jeans. She has also acted in a couple of Bollywood films including Yeh Kaisi Mohabbat. She shifted her base to Mumbai in mid nineties from Mauritius for modeling career and she was staying alone after her bitter breakup with her boyfriend, says reports.

ENTERTAINMENT ONEINDIA

CHARICE PEMPENGCO PAYS TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON

June 25, 2010. As millions of fans worldwide light a candle in memory of Michael Jackson even as a small but rather vocal group continues to pan the late pop superstar—including, sadly, media practitioners themselves—there are those that have chosen to forget all the nastiness and focus, instead, on his enduring gift of music and magic.

Among 25 pop stars that participated in the little over six-minute long video tribute posted as early as June 22 on Billboard.com, our very own Asian breakthrough star, Charice Pempengco shared, "When I was 6 years old, like 5 or 6, that was the first time I saw Michael Jackson. To be serious, I mean, when I was, like, that age I thought about just being a dancer because of him.”

Charice is appears in the video tribute alongside American pop artists such as Christina Aguilera, Jason Derulo, Hanson, Jewel, Nelly, Lil Jon, the Jonas Brothers and many others.

But perhaps one of Charice’s most cherished memories of Michael Jackson, which the young star shared on “TV Patrol” in June last year, was not just dancing to his songs as a youngster but, fast forward to sometime recently (before Jackson had died, of course), being approached by Jackson’s lawyer at a Warner Bros. party to ask her to be one of his guests in his concerts.

According to the report, Charice shared that she learned Jackson saw her on “Oprah” but it was her YouTube performance of the moonwalk that had Jackson exclaiming, “I want this kid.” Charice then revealed what would have been a coup for any performer ever—a duet/dance off with the King of Pop on “Billie Jean.”

Jackson famously only performs “Billie Jean” in his concerts and even in TV appearances alone, so this revelation is stunning in itself. And while the truth to this remains a mystery now that the music icon is gone, Charice nevertheless continues to pay homage to one of her idols by giving him a great tribute on stage.

During her first major concert back in the country on June 27 at the SMX Convention Hall, Charice reportedly broke out her own rendition of “Billie Jean” complete the moonwalk, the spin and the jacket spread, and almost doing a crotch grab!

In an Associated Press article published in May this year, David Foster —Charice’s mentor and also her godfather— likened the young star to Jackson in terms of her dedication to her career.

Foster told AP: "Being a great singer is not enough, and she has the entire package.” And talking about Charice, he continued, "She's a little bit like Michael Jackson in the head...Michael Jackson was very soft-spoken and quiet and all that, but he was genius inside his head. He knew exactly where he was going, and she truly is the master of her own destiny."

Charice has launched her self-titled international debut album at on "Oprah," and it has spawned for her the hit single “Pyramid.” While her management is still deciding on her second single, it has been announced last June 22 that Charice is indeed joining the cast of the massive hit show, “Glee.”

ANNIE S. ALEJO

ROBERT PATTINSON : "DRACULA IS A DISTANT UNCLE"

LOS ANGELES – Robert Pattinson isn't the only famous vampire in his family.

Genealogists say the 24-year-old "Twilight" star is related to Vlad the Impaler, widely cited as the inspiration for the main character in Bram Stoker's "Dracula."

Researchers at Ancestry.com discovered that Pattinson and the Transylvanian leader (real name: Vlad III Dracula) are connected through their relationship to the British royal family. Prince William and Prince Harry are Pattinson's distant cousins; Vlad the Impaler was their distant uncle.

"Tracing Pattinson's family back to Vlad was difficult research, but the pieces that unraveled created the perfect accompaniment to the Twilight Saga," said Anastasia Tyler, a genealogist at Ancestry.com. "Without any myth or magic, we find royalty and vampires lurking in Pattinson's life — making his story just as supernatural as the one he's playing on screen."

Also connected to the prince's lineage and therefore to Dracula? Stephenie Meyer, the author of the "Twilight" series.

The latest big-screen installment in the popular vampire saga, "Eclipse," opens June 30. — AP

NATURALLY , KC CONCEPCION

FROM childhood onward, Maria Kristina Cassandra Concepcion, or simply KC, has been subjected to not only intense media scrutiny but also endless public fascination—and, along with it, speculation and bias and even instant antipathy for reasons unknown. Which, of course, is par for the course in celebrity life, she having sprung from what amounts to showbiz royalty around these parts—but which did not necessarily inure her to the often unpleasant realities of life in the limelight that she had not sought.

Still, then as now, she never tired of flashing that infectious smile, her every pore overflowing with enthusiasm, a picture of positivity—although she doesn’t want to be labeled easily as “nice.”

What the gathered media thought would be the typical question-and-answer hosted recently by hair-care brand Palmolive for its new “Go Natural” campaign, turned out to be KC’s intimate confession as she let down her guard and for a moment allowed her emotions to take over. Indeed, everyone in the room was convinced that it was her most “natural” talk so far.

KC, who has been a Palmolive endorser for years now, offered her own insights on what to her is “natural beauty”, even sharing some beauty tips.

She admits to being obsessed with fashion accessories, which she has openly talked about on her show Simply KC. “When I saw the TVC, right away I called Palmolive Naturals for a bunch of charm bracelets to wear all together on my show. I’ve been wearing them for a week now,” said KC.

On natural beauty

ASKED to choose five women who represent natural beauty to her, KC had a hard time completing the short list. On top was Julia Roberts, who has been vocal about aging gracefully. “She hardly wears makeup and even when she goes to a public event, she wears only the tiniest bit of makeup.”

Tyra Banks was next on her list, the former supermodel-turned-media mogul who does not conceal her imperfections. “She’ll remove her pushup bra then her makeup on-air. That’s something I appreciate about her.” KC on the other hand, sees beauty in Ellen DeGeneres in her being proud of who she is and being a nonconformist. Locally, it was a given that her mom, Sharon Cuneta, would be on her list. “Naturally, I would choose my mom. She’s somebody who has never taught me anything about being vain. Honestly, she has no regimen whatsoever,” KC shared. It’s just the basics that are to be found in her mom’s bathroom.

Last, she picked Laurence Ligier, founder of the Chameleon Foundation for abused and exploited girls. “She’s French-Filipina but she’s a friend of mine whom I have worked with and who always reminds me, ‘Are you happy with this life?’” Ligier, who has survived life-threatening situations because of what she does, remains unfazed by the glitz and glamour, said KC.

KC gives much props to the natural morena color of Filipino women. She fondly shared that during tapings people would remark about her not being that fair-skinned. “Hindi ko lang masabi na hindi niyo lang alam ang effort ko para lang hindi magmukhang maputi.”

In fact, every two weeks she uses a self-tanner that a friend sends from Paris every couple of months. She says she likes to use it, because it is subtle and gives her just the right hint of tint.

Thanks to her love for adventurous activities like motor biking, Jet Skiing and ice skating, KC has a long scar on her knee from a motorbike accident. “We are keloidal [in the family]. It [the scar] has been there for 11 years, and it has not gone away. Nagke-keloid. It doesn’t heal properly.”

One may be perfect physically—some through costly makeovers, others because of good genes—but that does not necessarily make them beautiful, according to KC. Meanwhile, a woman can have eye bags or blotchy skin but still be beautiful. “You can see a lot of these imperfect women who just radiate beauty and you can’t really explain it. Whether it’s the vibe they give out or the way they talk or what they say, it’s something that can’t be readily explained.”

She reasons out that one can be happy and lonely and still be beautiful. As she puts it: “I think some lonely people are beautiful. I think sadness is beautiful. It’s also something about how a woman feels. I think emotion is beautiful, like somebody who is really in touch with her feelings. I think that is beautiful.”

On the natural lifestyle

MANAGING to sleep only four to five hours, which would be the longest for her, KC discloses that she was never an “avid fan” of sleep. “I don’t even know how I can run four days straight with only an hour of sleep each day. I think it’s because in between things to do, when I’m not working or when I’m not talking to somebody or when I’m not needed for a scene, I just sleep. Catnaps really give you so much energy throughout the day,” she said.

When it comes to what she eats, KC says that she eats food that are easy to prepare. She has an Eastern medicine doctor who coaches her on health food and healthy eating. Whenever she gets sick or needs to boost her metabolism, her doctor gives her natural capsules such as cayenne pills, instead of energy pills.

She also can give you the benefits of eating dried seaweed. “Protein-wise, it gives you as much protein as beef. Basta you have to wash it three times kasi ’pag once lang, lasang tubig-dagat eh. It becomes like seaweed salad. I eat it with tuna siomai that I get from the store.”

For 11 years now, KC has been a pesco-vegetarian and for six months of the year, she doesn’t eat fish, making her a total vegetarian. “It’s for health reasons also. It started out as a matter of preference. I really don’t like the taste of certain foods. So I’d be lying to the public if all of a sudden you see me endorsing like a pork product or a beef product. That would suggest that I’ve converted back to being a carnivore, which is not me.”

On being real and authentic

FOR KC, being an authentic person in showbiz has grounded her in many ways. She has realized the showbiz machinery is such that it can replicate personalities with carefully calibrated imaging and packaging.

“The one thing that broke my heart last year was the realization that it’s so easy for companies to replicate people for business. It’s like we’re products and not human beings. That’s why I wanted to name the show Simply KC, because we go through real-life situations and all that really grounds me. The show is about going back to the basics, to what’s simple and real,” said KC.

She fiercely protects what is real about her because that is something that she will carry with her for the rest of her life, whether in showbiz or not. “Everything is a reflection of what’s real about me, my personality, and that’s hard to replicate,” she maintained.

On natural relationships

IT was expected that the topic of KC and her mom and her dad (Gabby Concepcion) would be brought up at the Palmolive event, and the media also expected the lovely actress to go from being open and loquacious to being guarded and careful with her words. Instead, what we got was a KC who freely discussed her “pained heart.”

She begins by saying that the hardest part about growing up against that high-profile backdrop was seeing the respective postmarriage relationships and dalliances of her parents.

“You become close [to whoever they were currently in a relationship with] and all of a sudden, that person disappears and they go on to the next relationship. You get scared about bringing people close to you again because they can leave any time. I went through a lot of that on both sides.”

There came a time when she did not believe in marriage and feared people who wanted to get close, bearing in mind that they, too, could leave her. While growing up, her mom would tell her, “Your papa and I are living separate lives. You have no right to think ill of anybody that comes into his life. You know, it’s not the woman’s fault that she’s in your life. And he doesn’t love you any less because he’s with somebody else.”

Because of this, KC is grateful for her mom’s efforts to make sense of the situation for her. “Had she not really sat me down several times to really explain that to me, I would have just come out a monster, honestly,” she intimated.

KC, who used to be an avid fan of heartbreak because it made her feel alive, shared that the experience she went through as a kid taught her to be more experimental and open. What about marriage? KC opens up and declares that she is excited about getting married one day. No, not too soon, she clarified, “maybe like in my late 20, like 29, or maybe 30.”

“I’ve had different [concepts of family] through the years. First were my parents and when that didn’t work out, it became my grandma and her relatives. And then when my stepfather [Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan] came in, we totally discarded that. It became the Pangilinans. And now Papa is back in the picture and so the Concepcions are around. I’m just really excited to come up with my own traditions and my own sets of family,” KC concluded.

ANJO C. ALIMARIO

MARIAH CAREY HAS GONE TO THE DOGS!

NEW YORK – Mariah Carey is in the doghouse with a veterinarian who says the pop superstar hasn't paid nearly $30,000 in bills for three of her prized pooches.

Veterinarian Cindy Bressler sued Carey on Wednesday in a Manhattan state court.

Bressler provided "extraordinary services" for the Jack Russell terriers — Cha-Cha, Dolomite and JJ — but the Grammy Award-winning singer paid only about $8,200 of the roughly $37,800 in charges, the lawsuit says. The bills cover a little more than a month of care.

Bressler's lawyer, Michael C. Posner, declined to elaborate on the dogs' treatment. Bressler, whose website notes that she makes house calls in New York City and the Hamptons and caters to "prominent New Yorkers and celebrity clients," didn't immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment.

Carey's spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to telephone and e-mail messages.

The pop diva has made her dogs something of characters in her multiplatinum-selling career, including in some comic video sketches made as part of an MTV.com promotion and posted on YouTube. In one, she and JJ compare the fit of their jeans: "I told you those `fat-free' dog treats weren't fat-free," she scolds.

She also regularly chronicles her dogs' doings on her Twitter feed, from Cha-Cha urinating on her dressing room floor and jumping on her last September to Dolomite stealing her underwear out of a suitcase while she was vacationing in March.

Known for R&B-inflected singles such as "Vision of Love" and "Hero," Carey, 40, has sold more than 50 million albums during her 20-year career. Her 18 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart put her ahead of every other artist except the Beatles.

Her "The Emancipation of Mimi" was the best-selling album of 2005, selling 5 million copies. Her most recent album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," was released last year.

She also has appeared in movies, earning praise for her role in last year's "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire."

She is married to actor and producer Nick Cannon, and they recently welcomed a new addition to their household: a puppy named Jackie Lambchops, born to Cha-Cha this month, according to Carey's Twitter feed. - AP