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| AT&T ends 'American Idol' sponsorship Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:20 PM PST  (Reuters) - AT&T Inc is no longer an official sponsor of Fox's "American Idol," as the pioneer singing competition's declining viewership appears to be making it less attractive to advertisers. The Fox broadcast TV network confirmed the end of AT&T's sponsorship on Wednesday prior to the premiere episode of the show's 13th season. AT&T could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular U.S. business hours. "Idol" erupted in 2001 as a broadcast TV powerhouse with the biting commentary of one of its original judges, Simon Cowell. Full Story | Top |
| Music takes on different guises at Sundance Film Festival Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 06:24 PM PST  By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Since the early days of film, music has gone hand in hand with movies, but a new crop of filmmakers is using music to explore existential themes of humanity that will be showcased at the annual Sundance Film Festival. The film, directed by Damien Chazelle, stars rising star Miles Teller as a drummer who enters music school and comes face to face with a teacher who challenges him to pursue perfection, pushing him to the limit. Full Story | Top |
| Michael Jackson's estate, Lloyd's of London settle insurance dispute Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 05:13 PM PST  The insurers of Michael Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" London comeback concerts on Wednesday have settled out of court with the late King of Pop's estate over a $17.5 million policy, the attorney for Jackson's estate said. The settlement caps three years of litigation between underwriter Lloyd's of London Ltd and Jackson's estate over the insurance policy. "The estate and Lloyd's of London are glad this matter got resolved," Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said in a statement. The insurer had previously asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey to nullify the policy, saying they were never told that Jackson was taking powerful drugs. Full Story | Top |
| Fund manager says doesn't recall why Ergen bought LightSquared debt Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:45 PM PST  By Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - A hedge fund manager who handled debt purchases at the center of a trial over the bankruptcy of LightSquared said on Wednesday he did not recall whether Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen was buying the debt to influence the bankruptcy. Stephen Ketchum, the head of Sound Point Capital, also testified that he could not recall how badly Ergen wanted the debt of the wireless communications company, apparently contradicting an earlier deposition and drawing a reminder from the judge that he was under oath. Ergen's motivation for buying LightSquared's debt is central to the trial, which is taking place in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan. LightSquared and its owner, Harbinger Capital Partners, accuse Ergen of improperly buying the debt as a way for Dish to take control of LightSquared's wireless broadband rights. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Charter, Comcast in renewed talks on Time Warner Cable bid Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:37 PM PST  By Soyoung Kim and Liana B. Baker NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc reached out to Comcast Corp this week about teaming up to buy Time Warner Cable Inc, after the larger rival rejected its $37.3 billion takeover bid, according to people familiar with the matter. Charter approached Comcast on Wednesday to discuss carving up the second-largest U.S. cable company's systems and subscribers, the people said, asking not to be named because they were not authorized to speak with the media. Charter, the No. 4 U.S. cable provider, and Comcast, the top U.S. cable provider, are in preliminary discussions about how to structure a potential alliance, the people said. One possibility is that Charter buys all of Time Warner Cable and sells off some of its markets and subscribers to Comcast, one of the people said. Full Story | Top |
| Bollywood's top film awards to be presented in Florida Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 04:21 PM PST The 15th International Indian Film Academy Awards, the Oscars of Bollywood's yearly $7.8 billion industry, will be presented in the United States for the first time this year, organizers of the event said on Wednesday. Indian actor Shahrukh Khan will headline the show. Andre Timmins, director of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) and Wizcraft International Entertainment, said producing the show in the United States was a natural fit. "For Indian cinema and Bollywood today, while we produce 1,300 films a year and sell 3.6 billion tickets, the important thing for us is that after India, America is the biggest second market for our Indian films," he said in an interview. Full Story | Top |
| Time Warner Cable investors would back higher Charter deal: sources Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 03:25 PM PST  By Soyoung Kim, Nicola Leske and Liana B. Baker NEW YORK (Reuters) - A number of Time Warner Cable shareholders would support a merger with Charter Communications Inc if Charter raises its current bid for the larger rival to $41 billion or more, according to people close to the matter. Charter on Monday formally offered to buy Time Warner Cable for $132.50 a share, or $37.3 billion, based on shares outstanding. Time Warner Cable's board swiftly rejected that bid as "grossly inadequate" and said it was open to a sale at $160 per share. Several large shareholders, including at least two of the company's top 10 investors, would back a sale to Charter in the $145 to $150 per share range - or roughly $41 billion to $42 billion - the people said on Wednesday. Full Story | Top |
| 'Frozen' soundtrack ices Beyonce again on Billboard album chart Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 03:13 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The soundtrack to the Walt Disney Co. animated film "Frozen" topped the weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday for the second consecutive week, again holding off Beyonce. "Frozen" sold 86,000 copies last week, down from 165,000 the previous week, edging R&B singer Beyonce's self-titled album, which sold 79,000 copies last week, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard said "Frozen" is the first soundtrack to claim the top spot for consecutive weeks since "Dreamgirls" in 2007. ... Full Story | Top |
| Fund manager says does not recall why Ergen bought LightSquared debt Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:28 PM PST By Nick Brown NEW YORK (Reuters) - A hedge fund manager who handled debt purchases at the center of a trial over LightSquared's bankruptcy said on Wednesday he did not recall whether Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen was buying the debt to influence the bankruptcy. Stephen Ketchum, the head of Sound Point Capital, also testified that he could not recall how badly Ergen wanted the debt, apparently contradicting an earlier deposition and drawing a reminder from the judge that he was under oath. Ergen's motivation for buying LightSquared's debt is central to the trial, which is taking place in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan. LightSquared and its owner, Harbinger Capital Partners, accuse Ergen of improperly buying the debt as a way for Dish to take control of LightSquared's broadband wireless rights. Full Story | Top |
| Spielberg tops Oprah Winfrey as most influential celeb: Forbes Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:25 PM PST  (Reuters) - Director Steven Spielberg on Wednesday dethroned media mogul Oprah Winfrey as the most influential celebrity in the United States, according to an annual study by Forbes magazine that was dominated by film directors. Spielberg's influence was boosted by his most recent film, "Lincoln," which earned 12 Oscar nominations last year including best picture and best direction, and grossed $275 million at the global box office. "A celebrity's 'Influential' score represents how that person is perceived as influencing the public, their peers, or both," Gerry Philpott, president of E-Poll Market Research, which conducted the study for Forbes, told the magazine. Film director and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas placed third despite working little in the public eye in recent years. Full Story | Top |
| Filipina caregiver wins Israel's X-Factor song contest Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 09:59 AM PST  A Filipina caregiver, once part of a faceless crowd of foreign workers who tend to Israel's infirm and elderly, has surprised the country by winning one of its most popular TV singing contests. Competing in Israel's X-Factor, Rose Fostanes, 47, swept the judges off their feet with a tear-jerking rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" on Tuesday night's live final. Her victory came as a surprise in Israel, where about 20,000 Filipinos work mostly as caregivers and cleaners. In the run-up to the final, Fostanes said she hoped her popularity on the show would shine a spotlight on Israel's low-paid foreign workers. Full Story | Top |
| Pioneering female pro wrestler Johnnie Mae Young dies at 90 Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 09:55 AM PST  Johnnie Mae Young, a pioneering female wrestler and World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame member whose career spanned eight decades, died on Tuesday, the organization said. "There will never be another Mae Young," said Vince McMahon, the chairman and chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment. Young died at her home in Columbia, South Carolina, where she had been under hospice care, a WWE spokesman said. Known as "The Great Mae Young," she got her start in the sport at age 15 as a member of her Tulsa, Oklahoma, high school boys' wrestling team, according to a WWE biography. Full Story | Top |
| 'Grown Ups 2' leads Razzie nominations for worst movies Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 09:39 AM PST  The Adam Sandler comedy "Grown Ups 2" dominated the Razzie Awards on Wednesday with eight nominations, including worst picture and actor in the annual mock awards handed out for cinematic ignobility. Will Smith's "After Earth," a futuristic post-apocalyptic tale of a father and his son, was not far behind with six nods for the anti-Oscars that were created as an antidote to Hollywood's annual awards season. Tyler Perry's comedy "A Madea Christmas" also earned six nominations for the Golden Raspberry statuette, along with "Movie 43," a series of interconnected short films about a washed-up producer. The four films will be vying for the worst picture award along with big-budget underperformer "The Lone Ranger," which garnered five nods, including worst actor for Johnny Depp. Full Story | Top |
| Bacon portrait of lover seen selling for $49 million at auction Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 07:51 AM PST  By Julia Fioretti LONDON (Reuters) - A celebrated portrait by Francis Bacon of his lover and muse George Dyer could raise up to 30 million pounds ($49 million) on auction in London next month, Christie's said on Wednesday. The "Portrait of George Dyer Talking" from 1966 is one of the most famous images of Bacon's lover and was exhibited at his Retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1971, a Christie's statement said. The Irish-born Bacon met Dyer in London's Soho district in 1963, drawn to him by his fragility and need for protection. "Francis Bacon's position at the forefront of 20th century painting was highlighted at Christie's in November when his triptych of Lucian Freud sold for $142 million and became the most valuable work of art sold at auction," said Francis Outred, head of post-war and contemporary art at Christie's. "It is exciting to be able to follow this success by offering this tour-de-force portrait of George Dyer which presents a powerful portrait of arguably one of Bacon's greatest loves." Dyer is shown sitting at the center of a revolving room against a backdrop of "ruby red and luxuriant swathes of lilac", while his body "appears to unravel like cotton from a spinning bob", the Christie's statement said. Full Story | Top |
| French companies, unions question Hollande's new vision Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 05:36 AM PST  By Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - French business raised doubts on Wednesday over Socialist President Francois Hollande's plan for public spending cuts and structural reform to revive the euro zone's second largest economy. His allies hailed a new "social democrat" vision for France but unions said they were worried about job cuts to the army of state sector workers and far-left politicians accused him of a sell-out as he moved towards the political center. Hollande, who has not denied magazine allegations last week of an affair with actress, deflected questions on his personal life at a marathon news conference on Tuesday unveiling plans to find at least 50 billion euros of spending cuts between 2015-2017 and cut corporate charges by 30 billion euros. The European Commission said the moves should make French business more competitive. Full Story | Top |
| A Minute With: Sharon Jones on soul music, cancer and R-E-S-P-E-C-T Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 05:23 AM PST  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Cancer became the inescapable loss lurking in the background of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' latest album, "Give the People What They Want," the sixth release from the indie soul group credited with reviving the genre a dozen years ago. Jones, the 57-year-old singer who rose to prominence after a career as a backup singer and a stint working as a guard at New York City's Rikers Island jail, lost her mother to cancer while writing material for the album, and the brother of saxophonist Neal Sugarman succumbed to the disease too. Jones herself was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, which pushed the album's release from last August back to this week, and underwent her final chemotherapy treatment on December 31. The singer, who has been praised along with her band by Rolling Stone magazine as "extending and preserving tradition," spoke with Reuters about soul music, cancer, getting her due. Full Story | Top |
| Dave Lee Travis first in court in trials over showbiz sex abuse Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014 02:53 AM PST  By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - The first in a list of ageing celebrities accused of sexually abusing young fans over many years went on trial on Tuesday in an investigation that has rocked confidence in the BBC, Britain's publicly funded broadcaster. One of Britain's best-known radio DJs in the 1970s and 1980s, Dave Lee Travis, who counted Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi among his fans, is facing 14 charges involving 11 women aged from 15 upwards that date from between 1976 and 2008. British-based Australian entertainer Rolf Harris also appeared in court on Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault, one allegedly involving a girl aged seven or eight. The charges stem from a police investigation launched after the 2011 death of one of the BBC's top TV presenters, Jimmy Savile, who turned out to have been a prolific sex predator over six decades. Full Story | Top |
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