Hilary Duff on cover of German Maxim

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Susan Boyle's 1st Recording 1999 Cry Me A River

A long lost recording of Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle singing Cry Me A River has been unearthed.

Boyle, if you missed the story, has become an international sensation after footage of the 47 year old, dowdy, unemployed virgin auditioning on talent show Britain’s Got Talent made its way on to YouTube. You can watch Susan Boyle in her audition here.

The 1999 recording of Boyle singing Cry Me A River comes from a charity CD that had a run of only 1000 copies, but was discovered by the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record.

Here’s Susan Boyle singing Cry Me A River

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Still 'Priceless' After All These Years

A lesson between a father and son, this latest MasterCard spot offers a mini-tutorial in eco-awareness that doesn't come off as the least bit phony, stagey or preachy. Au contraire, it feels fresh and surprising, with an unexpected look and a sweet, human story.

Given all this eye- and ear-pleasing newness (hard to do after 250 or so iterations of the "Priceless" campaign and countless parodies), I have to admit that I was somewhat chagrined to discover that, like the art of sophisticated scarf-knotting and the original Conehead family on the early Saturday Night Live, this spot comes from France.

Now I get why the dad was allowed to be so edgy and shaggy. And why the water glass, sitting on the lip of the tiny, old-fashioned sink, is an actual glass, not a kid-proof plastic tumbler. And why even the store selling the lightbulbs looks so good. But before I get all aesthetically pretentious, let's go to the tape.

"Lessons" opens with a man (let's call him Shaggy Dad) brushing his teeth at the bathroom sink with the water running. His son, who sports his own head of curls and an adorable face, silently shuts off the faucet after he fills up a glass. ("Water glass, $5," Mr. Announcer says.) We never see Dad spit. Instead, on we go, to purchase "Energy saving light bulbs, $4" and a "Reusable grocery bag, $2." What's "Priceless" is also unexpected: "Helping your dad become a better man." (That line was slightly rewritten by McCann New York to make it more colloquial.)

Certainly, for clients of big global agencies, that's the dream -- to have a campaign structure that's elastic enough to fit international markets so that, like Obama's latest diplomacy, we can adapt to other cultures, and not just export our own oversized solutions. This ad works with just a translation of the voiceover and touch up in the last line.

It's a nice bookend to the first "Priceless" spot (the campaign was created by McCann New York in 1997) that featured father-and-son baseball fans visiting every ballpark together. In addition to the genius format, which allows for endless flexibility, what knocked it out of the park (so to speak) for a credit-card campaign back then was the then-revolutionary understanding that what you buy is just stuff -- what's priceless is your experience. That idea resonates more in this economy than ever.

In "Lessons," we get a reversal -- with the next generation leading the way. Greenwise, that's the way it is (with Europe, by necessity, being ahead of us). But it doesn't come off as greenwashing. MasterCard is not setting itself up as a paragon of eco-consciousness. "Lessons" just offers an enjoyable human moment.

It proves the world is flat, and that families are families. Even though I've been to France many times, without seeing this ad, I would have pictured it as a total cliché and stereotype -- maybe not a mime in a striped top and beret, on a bicycle with his son and a loaf of bread sticking out the back, but maybe a tired, middle-aged functionary-type dad in a suit hitting the kid, who's in a schoolboy uniform, on the head because he doesn't want his kid to teach him anything.
So, like that sweet and knowing Coca-Cola spot from Spain -- featuring the ancient guy visiting his granddaughter and her baby, telling us he's seen tough times before and that we'll be OK -- "Lessons" proves we all have a lot to learn.
-By Barbara Lippert
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Keira Knightley hates the internet, thinks Twitter is ‘dehumanizing’

Keira Knightley doesn’t care to Twitter, thank you very much. You won’t find her on MySpace or Facebook either. Keira not only finds social-networking sites “dehumanizing”, she hates the Internet in total. Does she know there are cute pictures of puppies and kittens on the Internet? Probably not.

Keira also says that she doesn’t want or expect special treatment because she’s a “celebrity”. In fact, she doesn’t even believe that she is a celebrity. Keira says “I don’t go home or out with my friends saying I’m a celebrity, and I don’t ask to be treated like a queen…My mum and dad would not like that.” That’s nice. The Telegraph has more:

Keira Knightley has said she hates “dehumanizing” social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star said: “I hate the Internet. I find it dehumanizing to constantly check emails or social sites which have become so fashionable.” But the 24-year-old actress admits to being “obsessed” with TV soap Emmerdale and US medical show Nip/Tuck.

In an interview to promote her film The Duchess, she also insisted: “I am not a celebrity. I don´t go home or out with my friends saying I´m a celebrity, and I don´t ask to be treated like a queen.”

“My mum and dad would not like that.”

A number of other stars have also expressed their distain for the web. Hip hop star Busta Rhymes recently claimed social networking sites are “dehumanizing people.”

Those who have tried to appear in step with online trends have often found themselves caught out. Australian actor Hugh Jackman had to apologise and admit his Twitter account was updated by a member of his staff in the US after one of his postings confused the name of the Sydney Opera House.
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Madonna buys 40 million dollar NYC town house

Pop icon Madonna has purchased a $40 million townhouse on New York City’s ritzy Upper East Side.

The Material Girl just closed a deal on a four-story, Georgian-style townhouse on East 81st Street.

“The townhouse is perfect for Madonna,” a source revealed in Tuesday’s edition of The NY Post. “She’s trying to recreate London in New York City, and this is in the style of a London townhouse.”

The 26-room mansion boasts 13 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.
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Jason Statham Doesn't Like Having Sex in Public

Jason Statham doesn't like having sex in public. The "Crank: High Voltage" star said while he usually has no problem filming sex scenes, a shoot for his latest film - where he had to strip in a packed shopping mall - was his most difficult yet.

Jason, 36, said: "Trying to do an aggressive sex scene is quite difficult. Especially in a public place with a crowd of screaming extras with their little camera phones going click-click, taking pictures of your pasty white ass."

"I've had my fair share of bedroom antics in films, but they were a little more private."

The British born actor - who was last year thrown out of the Playboy mansion after he refused to pose for photographs with models - has previously told how he likes to make his female co-stars "comfortable" before he films intimate scenes.

He said: "Kissing scenes are not just another day on set. First off, you have to get ready. You don't want to go and have a big cheese and onion sandwich before you do some love scene. Then you try and make the lady feel as comfortable as you can. After that, you just get on with it."
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Guy Billout

Another Jolie-Pitt on the way

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are planning to adopt a child from the Philippines.
Jolie -- who raises six children (three adopted & three biological) with the Fight Club star -- took time off from the set of her latest film, Salt, to travel to Manila with the intention of adding to her rainbow family.
The couple -- who are said to have hit a roadblock with plans to adopt a Burmese baby -- arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport last week, before returning to New York on Monday evening.
A source tells the Daily Mail newspaper, "Brad and Ange flew out together.
"They want to add to their family and tried to adopt from Burma but the authorities are very strict, so they decided to look at the Philippines."
A spokesperson for Pitt and Jolie declined to comment.
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Amazon.com spokesperson issues a statement, sounds like an idiot while doing so

A groundswell of outrage, concern and confusion sprang up over the weekend, largely via Twitter, in response to what authors and others believed was a decision by Amazon to remove adult titles from its sales ranking. On Sunday evening, however, an Amazon spokesperson said that a glitch had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed. The spokesperson added that there was no new adult policy.

For most of the weekend on Twitter, in conversations with the hash tag "#amazonfail," users were discussing the fact that the e-tailer was removing the sales rankings for books that it deemed featured "adult content." Many readers, and writers, decried the fact that Amazon appears to be removing the sales ranking for titles that feature gay and lesbian characters and/or themes.

The director of the Erotic Authors Association, who goes by the pen name Erastes, told PW that many of her members "noticed their titles had been stripped of their sales rankings" on Amazon. One, Mark Probst, contacted a customer service representative at Amazon and wrote about the exchange on his blog. Probst wrote that the Amazon rep responded to his inquiry by saying that "'adult' material" is being excluded from appearing in "some searches and best seller lists" as a "consideration of our entire customer base."

Whether a glitch or new policy, titles like James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room and Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain are among the titles who have lost their ranking.

Right. A glitch. A glitch that targeted only GBLT-themed works. A glitch that sent Craig Seymour an email in FEBRUARY about the policy. I'm calling bullshit on this one.
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Emma Watson goes Brunonian

British actress Emma Watson could be set for a move to the U.S. - she has reportedly agreed to study at the prestigious Brown University in Rhode Island.

The Harry Potter star announced earlier this year (09) she was putting her acting career on hold to concentrate on her degree.
She applied to a number of colleges in the U.K. and America - but has now settled on the private Brown University, according to British newspaper the News of the World.

A source tells the publication, "She looked at universities over here (England) but fell in love with Brown. She has a lot of friends there."
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Zac Efron Confirmed for Jonny Quest

After months of rumors, it's finally been confirmed that "High School Musical" star Zac Efron has signed on to play the title role in Warner Bros.' planned live-action version of the popular '60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon show Jonny Quest.

L.A. Times' "Hero Complex" got the confirmation but mentions that Warner Bros. have been considering changing the name of the property to avoid the inevitably negative comparisons to Warner Bros.' flop Speed Racer, another live action movie based on a popular cartoon.

There's no word on who might be directing although previous rumors have pegged the team of Andy Fickman and Dwayne Johnson possibly reuniting for the third time after the recent Race to Witch Mountain.

You can read the entire story over at Hero Complex.
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Matthew McConaughey Gives Men’s Journal Readers Good Advice

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Anti-gay testimonials were faked. Shocking!

The National Organization for Marriage is apparently spending $1.5 million to air this anti-gay-marriage ad, but some of that money was probably used to hire actors. Yes, a testimonial from "real people" on the TV box turned out to be fake. We know, we're shocked and appalled, too! Are viewers really so gullible—do they have such faith in televised testimonials—that they really believe people who oppose gay marriage are somehow more "real" than those who support it? These same viewers are probably Slimsuiting themselves thin as we speak!
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Katy Perry in Paper Mag

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Depeche Mode to shut Hollywood Boulevard

Depeche Mode have announced plans to close down Hollywood Boulevard for a special outdoor gig.

The band will be staging a live performance on ABC's late-night talkshow Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 23, according to their official website.

Their exclusive gig will feature a multi-song set for fans along the famous Los Angeles boulevard, including material from their twelfth studio album 'Sounds Of the Universe', which is set to be released on April 21.

Two songs will be broadcast on Kimmel's television show, one of which will be new single ‘Wrong’.

The band are set to embark on a US tour in July. They will also play a one off date at London's O2 Arena on May 30.
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PETA swarms to Angelina Jolie's defense

Angelina Jolie is still an animal lover.

The actress was spotted in a chinchilla poncho and matching Russian hat on the Staten Island, New York set of Salt last week -- but movie publicists confirmed to PETA that it's fake.

"The chinchilla is actually synchilla," the animal-rights group writes on its blog.

The U.N. Goodwill Ambassador plays Evelyn A. Salt, a rogue CIA operative trying to clear her name, in the thriller. It's slated to hit theaters in 2010.

Although her pelt was phony this time, Jolie was spotted with son Maddox at the Edwards-Lowell fur boutique in Beverly Hills in November 2007.
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Hulk of Love dating show... No go

Hulk Hogan, retired world champion wrestler, has turned down the chance to find new love in a reality TV dating show. Network executives wanted the one-time WWE star to appear in a similar show to rocker Bret Michaels’ Rock of Love and rapper Flavor Flav’s Flavour of Love - both of which attract huge ratings for channel VH1.

But Hogan - who split from Linda, his wife of 24 years, in 2007 - insists he has too much dignity.

The 55-year-old tells PopEater.com, “They already have (offered a show). I passed on it. That’s not my deal.”

Elsewhere in the Hogan household, the wrestling legend’s daughter, Brooke, will release a new solo record in July. The album will be her third, and the follow-up to 2006’s Undiscovered which sold just over 120,000 copies in the USA.
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Channing Does YRB

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Why Joel Madden loves Nicole Richie

While in the studio recording Good Charlotte's upcoming album, Bio Cardiology, Joel Madden uses Twitter as an outlet, often leaving messages for his pregnant girlfriend Nicole Richie.

Thursday night, Madden posted a link to his TwitPic account that said, "This is why I love her folks."

So, what could it be? Her charitable spirit? The homemade baby food she makes for their 1-year-old daughter Harlow? Her fashionable tendencies?

Well, sort of! Unearthing a photo of Richie as a young girl, Madden quips of her long curly hair and shaggy bangs, "Is it not Ron Perlman circa Beauty and the Beast??" Madden momentarily followed up with photographic evidence of the resemblance.

So, was Richie mad that Madden heckled her in front of his 40,000 Twitter followers?

Not at all. Richie responded on Twitter Thursday, "Everyone has an awkward phase. Let me have something! Can you believe my mom let me have curly bangs?"

Friday morning they were still happily in love, Madden confirmed when he tweeted, "So Last night I ended up playing poker till 3 a.m. Thank God for my awesome girlfriend who let me sleep in today."
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Jacek Yerka

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