New Chatter

70s Motown signer Martha Reeves was reportedly robbed. The singer says that thieves kicked in the back door of her childhood home, a house owned by her father, in Detroit this past weekend and were able to get away with around $1 million worth of uninsured recording equipment. I bet those premiums look petty compared to her loss now. She claims that speakers, microphones and karaoke machines were among the items taken. Either there were a lot of thieves there or they had a great amount of time inside the house and a huge getaway vehicle to have taken that much. Has she not heard of security measures?

Police in London arrested model Naomi Campbell after a dispute over luggage at Heathrow airport. A spokesperson says, “Police were called to remove a passenger from a British Airways flight this afternoon.”

Sources say Naomi was upset after losing three pieces of luggage and said the staff had to find it. She became increasingly ill, and the staff told her she had to leave because she was unfit to fly. She refused and police eventually dragged her “ranting and screaming”. She then attacked a police officer as she was being escorted to the station.

The stars on Dancing will be short one member. Derek Hough, partner of Shannon Elizabeth, was taken from the set in an ambulance with an apparent neck injury. The injury was sustained during rehearsals.

An ABC spokesperson said that he was taken to an L.A. hospital to be examined. He went on, “The injury does not appear to be serious.”

On February 26, Naomi Campbell had emergency abdominal surgery to remove a cyst. Just a week later, she was out on the town in Brazil.

Naomi and her boyfriend Marcus Elias, a Brazilian businessman, stepped out to eat in Sao Paolo. Nice to see that she recovered quickly.

Scarlett Johansson is going full steam ahead with her album of little known, but critically beloved, songs by Tom Watts plus one original song. The record is set to drop in stores in May and none other than music legend David Bowie provides background vocals on two tracks. And if it’s anything to go by, Bowies swears that Scarlett is really good. He says on his official website that “The songs are great, really good Tom Waits stuff, and Scarlett’s performances are mystical and twice cool.” Is he talking about Scarlett’s singing or her boobs? I’m a little confused. There’s a double standard there if you read it carefully.

Troubled singer Britney Spears, who was recently admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for psychological evaluation, has contacted a new lawyer because she is tired of being told what to do.

Britney, whose father Jamie is co-conservator of her estate and all her legal decisions, told prospective lawyer Jon Eardley: “I want my life back. I want to be able to drive my car. I want to be able to live in my house by myself. I want to say who is going to be my security guard. I want to see who I want to see at any time and make it happen.”

Britney is said to be considering hiring Eardley for her custody case with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their two sons - Sean Preston, two, and 17-month-old Jayden James. Kevin currently has full custody due to Britney’s erratic behaviour, which has resulted in her losing all visitation rights to the boys.

Meanwhile, Britney spent most of the weekend with her father and her assistant Brett inside her Beverly Hills home. However they did venture out to Hollywood restaurant Social Hollywood on Saturday night. A fellow diner said: “She seemed totally normal and level-headed, and everyone with her seemed calm. She was with a table of five people.”

Britney - who is currently dating British photographer Adnan Ghalib - was also seen shopping at a Los Angeles wedding dress store, sparking yet more speculation she is to wed for a third time.

It seems Britney’s doctor has deemed her ok to leave. She was placed on a 14 day hold that only he could release her from. But today, she left the hospital quietly this afternoon. She was later seen leaving her home in Summit Circle.

No one has made any official comment as of yet. There is still a restraining order keeping Sam Lufti far away from her, so maybe that will help. It isn’t known yet if she will be doing outpatient treatment or not.

Kylie Minogue and Olivier Martinez may be back together. We have had reports that the pair recently enjoyed a two-day reunion in Paris, where the lurve was said to be blossoming as beautifully as springtime blooms.

An onlooker was quoted: “They were pouring their hearts out to each other and were very intimate.”

Also a member of Olivier’s family said: “She has always described him as the love of her life.”

While neither Kylie nor Olivier has confirmed a reunion of the hearts, we are waiting with baited breath for a whisper of any sort to say yay or nay.

Well we saw it coming really – it was the only outcome of recent events in the world of Britney Spears. The singer was taken to hospital and sectioned under the mental health act.

Flanked by a police convoy, Britney was willingly taken to hospital in an ambulance after her psychiatrist felt her mental condition had deteriorated. She will be placed on a 5150 hold at the UCLA medical centre for 72 hours – meaning she is a danger to herself and others.

Mum Lynne and boyfriend Adnan Ghalib followed Spears to hospital. Dad Jamie arrived later looking very red eyed. Manager Sam Lufti was also present; although it seems that Lufti and Britney’s parents clashed over who was to make the medical decisions.

A judge will ultimately decide who will officially be responsible. This will be Britney’s second spell under 5150 in a month.

After really showing herself at the Directors Guild of America awards, Sean Young has entered rehab. She made obscure comments all night and then was eventually escorted out after making comments to Julian Schnabel. He was slow to start his acceptance speech, and Sean loudly proclaimed that he should get on with it.

Her rep announced today that she has long struggled with alcoholism. Sean has voluntarily entered a program to deal with that illness.

You have to give the poor, washed up actress credit for making an effort to get better.

And she wants everyone to be convinved that she’s such a good mother. Oh wait, maybe she can teach them what kind of girl to stay away from when they grow up.

Britney Spears headed out for some fun Friday night and was wrapped in a long coat. As the night went by, she slowly peeled away layer after layer of clothing. By the end of the night, she was down to a little red shirt that was practically falling off.

At least she kept her pants on and her legs closed!

We all know that celebrities can be just like regular people and love some karaoke. A couple of stars proved just that for Ellen DeGeneres’ 50th birthday celebration on Friday. The talk show host’s birthday was actually on Saturday, so, Happy Birthday Ellen!.

Stars on the video sang to the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’. Jake Gyllenhaal did a little lip synching and booty-shaking to it. Other celebrities who joined in on the fun were Victoria Beckham, Queen Latifah, Kate Walsh, Jamie Foxx, Paris Hilton, Sharon Osbourne, David Spade, Heidi Klum, Masi Oka and Celine Dion. It’s quite a funny clip.

The drama was a little closer to home for Kate Beckinsale before she headed to the Screen Actor’s Guild Award.

Kate laughed at the mishap on the red carpet, “Our cat caught fire on a candle. As I was getting ready, there was like ‘whoosh’ a fireball and he went up like a rocket.”

No worries now, though. Kate says, “The cat is fine. He had no idea.”

Amy Winehouse’s bleach treatment seems to have affected her taste in music. Sporting her new chopped blonde locks, she was spotted in a London record store this week; purchasing a Luton Grils Choir album, and some sea shanties albums – ditties once sung by sailors.

General consensus is that Amy’s hairstyle is not the best move of the year, and maybe she ought to bring the beehive back. It may have been a bit of a rat’s nest but anything’s an improvement. Even no locks – which beauty experts say would happen if she tried to dye her hair dark straight away anyway.

It hasn’t affected her usual habits though. Despite the warning that she will not be given a visa to attend the Grammies this year; where she has nominations and is the headlining act, unless she passes a drug test; Amy was snapped on her way home from Soho with that telltale whiteness around her nostrils.

Oh dear….

Forget Superman, we can go one better - Super-Mama. Post-baby Katie Holmes looks like she has been spending some serious time in the gym lately.

Appearing at a Hollywood awards show, the stunning actress looks a million miles away from the gangly, baby-faced Joey character of Dawson’s Creek. Dressed in an asymmetric toga-style gown covered in sequins, Katie, who famously ran the New York marathon in November last year without a bra, looked amazing as she showed of her new muscular physique.

One onlooker said, “Katie’s arms looked like they were made of steel. There was no fat whatsoever. She’s certainly giving Madonna a run for her money in the muscles department.”

Billie Piper enters the New Year as a married woman after tieing the knot this afternoon with fiancé Laurence Fox.

The classy 50-minute affair was a million miles apart from the actress’ first wedding to radio star Chris Evans in Las Vegas, 2001. Billie - who rejected big money offers in favour of a private day with family and close friends - looked stunning in a low-cut ivory formal wedding dress with a black coat draped over her shoulders.

The 25-year-old was accompanied by four bridesmaids in short purple dresses. The bridegroom, 29, arrived 45 minutes before the ceremony was due to start.

Perhaps he was threatened with certain death if he was late? Or maybe he is just an attentive husband-to-be. Either way it seemed to have gone without a hitch. Congratulations to the happy couple.

Hurray some more happy news! Not a wedding; even better. We can expect the arrival of another celebrity rugrat – this time courtesy of Lily Allen and boyfriend Ed Simons.

This will be the couple’s first child and they are all smiles. A source close to the singer said: “Lily is thrilled to be pregnant and can’t wait to become a mum. She’s a real family person. Ed’s very happy. He is really looking after her.”

Though the couple haven’t been together very long. 22-year-old Lily and Chemical Brother’s singer Ed, who is 15 years her senior, have only been dating since September. But they plan to set up home together and seem to be very pleased.

Good luck to them and congratulations.

All five original members of the Spice Girls took to a London stage on Saturday night for the first time since 1998. That marked their official homecoming. There were some concerns regarding Saturday night’s concert due to Emma Bunton’s foot injury. But as they say, the show must go on.

Baby Spice managed to get through the show despite her injured ankle which shows just how much of a pro she is. People reports that a few of the dance routines were altered and Baby got her way through it. A rep said that she wasn’t about to miss performing in her hometown. Big props mama!

She’s had no problem expressing her affection and stating her desire to become Mrs. MacArthur. Now, she’s gonna get her wish.

Ali Landry of Heroes fame and her longtime boyfriend Hayes MacArthur were engaged over the weekend. No dates have been set for a wedding.

Ali says, “I told my boyfriend after three weeks that I wanted to marry him and that we could do it tomorrow. I look forward to that time when I’m home with babies.

After the news that Ike Turner had passed away I doubt the first thing his former wife did was collapse in floods of tears. Despite being married for 16 years, the abuse that Tina Turner suffered at his hands is sure to have taken all the love away.

So it is no shock to hear that the attendance list of Ike’s funeral will not include Tina.

One friend said: “Tina hasn’t seen Ike for 35 years and last time she did see him he treated her appallingly, so there’s no way she will be going to the service to pay tribute to him.”

Anyone who thinks this is wrong obviously hasn’t seen the Tina and Ike movie. I applaud the woman. Why should she attend? Ike is in her past and Tina has become a legend in her own right; not only in the music industry but in women’s hearts everywhere.

We’ve seen Angelina Jolie head into third world countries in hopes of helping them recoup losses. Now we see the other half of Hollywood’s most beautiful couple heading out at home.

Brad Pitt spent Monday in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans for his “Make It Right Project”. The project will push for the building of 150 environmentally homes that will be affordable to residents who were uprooted after Hurricane Katrina. This area is one of the poorest regions in the city and was the site of some of the worst flooding caused by Katrina in 2005.

Pitt is seeking pledges to help with the work. He has agreed to match up to $5 billion in contributions with billionaire Steve Bing agreeing to do the same.

The area surrounding Pitt and the onlookers was lined wit hot pink tents marking where the homes would stand. Brad said they chose pink because “it screams the loudest. It says people are coming back.”

Kudos to you, Brad, for using your celebrity status to push for something good!

We heard just a few days ago about Nicole Kidman fearing for her life in a chase from the paparazzi. Britney Spears has been forced to run a red light to avoid pursuit of photographers; causing reason for courts to ban her from driving her children around. Finally a star has spoken out against them.

George Clooney took a break from his bike ride with girlfriend Sarah Larson on Friday to give the snappers hot on his heel a piece of his mind. Just two months ago the star suffered a broken rib after a car collided with his Harley Davidson; and Clooney vents his frustration at the lengths some of the paparazzi will go to, to “do their jobs”.

“You can drive all you want, you can take my picture all you want, but what you cannot do is put people in danger,” The Oscar winner was caught on videotape climbing off his motorcycle and taking down the license plate details of his followers.

Well girls, we thought he was gorge anyway right? Now he’s the knight in shining armor against those horrible annoying snappers. You go George. All together now…and swoon.

Actress Julia Roberts knew she was destined to marry Danny Moder from the moment they met - because her body told her so. The 40-year-old began dating the then-married Moder in 2000 on the set of her movie The Mexican and insists she “just knew” the cameraman would eventually become her husband. How does that work when your body tells you this man is for your when he already had a wife whose body may have said the same thing? Ok, I guess he went with the million dollar woman over commitment to his ex-wife. I wonder if someone richer comes along will he leave Julia. I would like to feel happy for her but somehow this is wrong. You should fell ashamed Julia not happy anyways if he’ll do it to one woman the day may come for you to watch his back walk out the door for someone younger and richer than you.

Being pregnant is not something that would stop any expecting mommy from having fun on Halloween. Christina Aguilera is prime example of that when she came out to party as a Spider Queen with her husband dressing up as Count Dracula.
Christina and her record label exec hubby Jordan Bratman dressed their spookiest for a Halloween Party at Hyde Night Club in Hollywood on Wednesday. Christina wore a spider hat, a cape and even had a sparkly spider web design which emphasized her baby bump.

The singer is reportedly due with her first child this January which would mean that she’s already in her last trimester of pregnancy.

Pianist Anthony Spiri has well distinguished himself with his sensitive and probing interpretations of the keyboard music of the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, having recorded C.P.E. Bach for Camerata and Orfeo and a particularly outstanding outing with W.F. Bach on the Oehms Classics label, previously noted here. This Arte Nova recording of Johann Christian Bach’s Op. 17 sonatas was actually made before all of the others in 2000; however, it has not been previously seen in the United States as it appeared shortly after Arte Nova lost its American distribution owing to the shuttering of BMG’s classical division in North America. In this case, later is certainly better than never, as this is as excellent an extrapolation of the virtues of Johann Christian’s keyboard music, highly valued in its day but neglected in ours, as has ever appeared.

Spiri does this music no harm by projecting it in the idiom commonly associated with Mozart’s piano sonatas as played on the modern piano; the point of reference is well-taken for modern ears. It is very helpful in getting the gist of why Johann Sebastian Bach’s last-born son attracted such fame and fortune during his brief, but brilliant career as the standard bearer of Italian style galant in Greater Europe.

It looks like Sporty Spice is making herself right at home in Los Angeles. The Spice Girl was spotted on Sunday when she went shopping for healthy food at ‘Wild Oats’ organic supermarket. I guess Mel C is staying true to her moniker. She has to be in tip top shape for the upcoming Spice Girls reunion tour of course.

The tour will kick off in Vancouver on December and is going to last until at least February.

Emma and Geri, Baby and Ginger Spice respectively, are the only two Spices left that aren’t in LA yet. Expect them to be in sometime soon.

Kirstie Alley and Valerie Bertinelli lost the extra pounds thanks to weight loss giant Jenny Craig. Now, the diet queen wants to help another queen. Queen Latifah. But all you lovers of the Queen’s size need not worry because Jenny Craig is helping her bring down the house and not her size.

Queen Latifah’s Trav’lin Light Tour is being co-sponsored by Jenny Craig to help bring awareness to the health risks associated with obesity. Jenny Craig’s CEO released a statement which explains their involvement with the tour saying “Queen Latifah is a tremendous performer with broad appeal that spans genders and races.”

Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg has announced she is retiring from acting to concentrate on her broadcasting career. Let’s just face it; Whoopi Goldberg has attributes that are hard to place in today’s and yesterday’s movies. She’s no Beyonce Knowles, or Angela Bassett. She’s, love her or leave her “Whoopi”. I believe that since she has notified the world that she’s still interested and available, someone will find a place for her again. After all she’s Mrs. Celie, and Mrs. Celie, always gets what she wants in the end. She could become a producer or director did she not learn or take away anything of value after appearing in forty movies. Or just grab the money and run may have been her outlook. I think she has understood the fact that there is no room for actors of high caliber like her, Hollywood likes slick chicks who look 18 something and bare their skin with ease and are attractive to the audience attributes that Whoopi does not posses.

A dream almost cost Sean Penn his new movie when the real-life subject of Into The Wild visited his mother in her sleep to tell her not to let the Oscar winner tell his story. The movie has been in all the papers in Fairbanks. We are all looking forward to watching the movie and it won’t be released here in Alaska. WHY. There is not a lot to do in the winter time. We need entertainment. I work at a military base as a civilian. I have heard so many times when is this movie coming to Alaska. I think Sean could have made a lot of money releasing this film here. Either way, I have heard so many people in Alaska that want to see this movie. Fairbanks only has one theater, and we are Isolated. Please release the movie or tell us why Alaska does not get to see this so interesting and well written movie.

Lifestyle queen Martha Stewart is set to give her name to a new range of wines. The star has finalized a deal with California wine company, Ernest and Julio Gallo, which will make 15,000 cases of wine under the ‘Stewart’ brand. Just look at her and all the other celebrities, they will make full utilization of their fame and will not leave an inch to exploit people under their famous names. Courtney Love is too thinking to have a perfume fragrance under her name and doesn’t bother who much she stinks herself but has the idea to give fragrance to others. Wait until a few more years and we will have a time when there would be a few more idiot celebs who would have gone insane and announce that there are dogs and cats under their brand name at a store near you. She has so much money and has already such varied interest in various fields that I think she is trying to become some sort of mogul in her own right.