July 11, 2012 12:12 am
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From Web and wire reports
For Britney Spears, listening to an "X Factor" hopeful perform a cover of one of her songs may have been a total drag -- literally, People reports.
During Monday's auditions in Greensboro, N.C., Spears stormed off the set as a man, dressed partially as a woman, rocked through one of her hits, "(You Drive Me) Crazy."
Spears, 30, looked stunned throughout the performance, as fellow judge L.A. Reid patted her on the back. Judges Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell also couldn't contain their reactions, as they covered their faces with their hands.
While Reid and Lovato followed the pop star off the set, Cowell stayed behind. "I don't think she quite understood your tribute," he told the singer, who wore cat glasses, a bedazzled jean jacket, boots and his hair tucked in a bun.
"I had to fight real hard to get here," the tearful singer told the judges, adding that he was recently on welfare and nearly missed his "X Factor" call because he couldn't afford his phone bill.
"I really respect the tribute," Spears said when she returned to the judges' table. "It was really nice."
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Lionsgate has announced dates for the final two "Hunger Games" movies. As with "Twilight," the third book is being split into two movies.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" will be released Nov. 21, 2014. "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2" will be released on Nov. 20, 2015.
Plan your Thanksgiving celebrations accordingly.
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"American Idol" producers are sending feelers out every which way as a "very preliminary" step in deciding what the makeup of the show will be for Season 12 ... sources tell TMZ ... but Nigel Lythgoe has laid it on the line -- he wants Charlie Sheen and Jerry Lewis on the judges panel.
Sources say producers believe they still have a chance of re-signing Jennifer Lopez -- whom they want badly. If Lopez goes away, then certain replacements would make sense. If Steven Tyler or Randy Jackson say bye bye, then a different set of replacements would make sense.
Even producers Lythgoe and Ken Warwick haven't been picked up for Season 12. But Lythgoe tells TMZ ... if he does come back he'll push for Sheen and Lewis.
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It's back to "Oblivion" for Tom Cruise.
After reaching a divorce settlement with Katie Holmes on Monday morning, the superstar headed for California's High Sierras to resume shooting his sci-fi flick, People reports.
Cruise flew from the Los Angeles area to a small airport near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., in the afternoon to work on the movie, which was previously filming in Iceland.
Lawyers for Cruise, 50, and Holmes, 33, spent the past few days working to negotiate an agreement between the two stars.
The couple agreed that daughter Suri should live primarily with her mother in New York with generous visitation by her father. The terms of physical custody of the 6-year-old was a key element of the settlement announced just days after Holmes filed for divorce, according to sources.
Holmes has long loved New York and will enroll her daughter, who had been home-schooled by tutors, into a private school in Manhattan in the fall, according to sources.
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Now that she's taken her spot next to Matt Lauer on the "Today" show, Savannah Guthrie has plenty of reasons to be happy -- and possibly a little embarrassed, too, People reports.
On her official welcome to her morning gig Monday, Guthrie, 40, endured a friendly hazing-like induction, in which viewers caught a glimpse of a favorite childhood book about an aspiring cheerleader, as well as a clip of her singing and playing the guitar to Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go."
"It was just such a warm welcome, and how could you not feel really good after that?" she tells People of her on-air introduction, which also included heartfelt comments from friends, her mother and former colleagues.
Her promotion from 9 a.m. anchor to co-host came after Ann Curry's departure from the show June 28, a decision linked to a slip in ratings since Meredith Vieira's resignation last summer.
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Lawrence of Arabia is folding his tent.
Peter O'Toole, the eight-time Oscar nominee and honorary Oscar winner who first blazed across the screen in David Lean's desert epic 50 years ago, announced Tuesday that he is retiring from acting, People reports. He is 79.
"Dear All," began his message, released by his reps. "It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: It won't come back.
"My professional acting life, stage and screen, has brought me public support, emotional fulfillment and material comfort. It has brought me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.
"However, it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay. So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."
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Al Gore is about to take an oath but probably not the one he dreamed of as a little boy.
E! News has learned that the former vice president of the United States will be deposed in Keith Olbermann's ongoing breach-of-contract legal battle with his former Gore-helmed cable network, Current TV.
"Al Gore's deposition has been noticed," Olbermann's attorney, Jill Basinger, told E! News.
Gore will have plenty of time to prep for his grilling, as the $50 million case is in the discovery and mediation stage. He is just one of the many high-level CEOs from the network that Olbermann's attorneys plan to depose this fall.
Gore not only founded the cable news network, but was also one of the main courters of the newsman, responsible for wooing the ex-MSNBC anchor to the fledgling cable net.
In any case, the trial (Current has countersued its onetime poster boy) is expected to last between five and seven days starting May 28, 2013. A final status conference in the case is set for May 16, and both sides' depositions must be completed by Dec. 7.
First Published July 11, 2012 12:00 am
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