Bruce and Billy Team Up for Barack
The Boss and the Piano Man are in a campaigning state of mind.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are teaming up in New York City next month for their first-ever joint concert to raise dough for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, his campaign confirmed to E! News. The news was first reported by the Huffington Post.
Tom Hanks Ripe for the Feting
As if the company that Tom Hanks keeps isn't illustrious enough, he's about to join a group that includes Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Olivier and Alfred Hitchcock.
The Film Society at Lincoln Center has chosen the two-time Oscar winner for its 36th Gala Tribute, to take place April 27 at Alice Tully Hall in Manhattan.
"There are so few actors who have been able to make the struggle and drama of being a good man compelling," Kent Jones, the Film Society's associate director of programming, said Monday. "With his talent, his presence, his versatility, his sense of humor, he has set a very high standard for his fellow actors."
Last year's gala featured a star-studded tribute to Meryl Streep, and honorees feted this decade have included Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton, Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Caine.
More Sunshine for Stevie Wonder's Life
The Library of Congress just called to say it loves Stevie Wonder.
The Washington, D.C., instutition has tapped the 26-time Grammy winner to receive the second-ever Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which was established to honor the career achievements of singers, songwriters and composers whose work has helped champion popular music as an art form while serving as a cultural touchstone that unites disparate groups around the world.
Dylan Toots His Own Horn, Er, Harmonica
For Bob Dylan fans, the answers these days are blowin' in the keys of C, G, D, F, A, B and E.
Yes, for a small price, you can buy a Dylan signature harmonica from the harpmeisters at Hohner. And for a slightly larger fee (a mere $25,000), you can have a presumably saliva-free model played by the Rock and Hall of Famer himself.
Brad Pitt Relives Assassination Glory at Venice Fest
Brad Pitt thought his luggage felt a little light when he left Italy last summer.
In town to do some good and herald the premiere of his new film, Burn After Reading, the actor was unexpectedly presented Wednesday with the Best Actor trophy he won last year for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford during the opening ceremony of the 65th Venice International Film Festival.
"You can run but you can't hide," Pitt said, accepting the engraved gold cup from the mistress of ceremonies, who also congratulated him on the twin additions to his family.
So You Think You Can Dance Has a New Champ...
One of these Highland flingers popped, leapt and emoted his/her way into the hearts of America and waltzed off with the title on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance finale. But that wasn't the only surprise...
Katee, Joshua, Twitch & Courtney Keep Hittin' It
The guys may have been running on fumes, but it was full steam ahead nonetheless.
Joshua Allen and Stephen "Twitch" Boss, neither of whom has any formal training and both of whom needed a weekend hospital visit to treat dehydration, joined fellow finalists Courtney Galiano and Katee Shean for the first night of So You Think You Can Dance's two-part finale and…
Well, if we knew exactly how to spell that sound Mary Murphy makes when she's super excited—that's how we would describe it.
The fab foursome performed five dances apiece, including a solo and a contemporary group number choreographed by Mia Michaels (and costumed by Braveheart), and kept—as they say in hip-hop speak—hittin' it all night.
A Big, Warm Howdy to the Newest Nashville Star
Melissa Lawson has something to write home about.
The 32-year-old mother of five was crowned the winner of the sixth season of Nashville Star, which was also the country-music competition's first cycle on NBC.
Barely holding back tears of joy, Lawson capped off her triumphant night by singing what will become her first single, the uplifting "What If It All Goes Right," produced by Big & Rich's John Rich.
For her clear-as-a-bell efforts, Lawson, who beat out fellow native Texan Gabe Garcia in the finale's dwindling moments Monday, gets a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records.
She has also secured herself some face time at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she'll perform live Aug. 12. Her appearance will be featured on the Today show.
Teens Give It Up for Gossip Girl, Jonas Boys
The question now is, can Justin keep up with the Jonases?
Hot on the trail of a certain hunky pop star, the Jonas Brothers took home six ceremonial surfboards Sunday at the 10th Annual Teen Choice Awards, aka TC08, giving the fraternal rockers just 15 more to go until they match Justin Timberlake's grand total of 21 collected over the last decade.
More than 30 million Internet-savvy youngsters, preferably between the ages of 13 and 19, deemed the dapper trio Choice Breakout Band, Male Hotties and Male Red Carpet Icons, as well as the purveyors of the Choice Single ("When You Look Me in the Eyes," beating out Timberlake), Summer Song ("Burnin' Up") and Love Song ("When You Look Me in the Eyes").
Joe, Nick and Kevin's tally was matched only by the CW's teen soap with claws Gossip Girl, which also notched six wins (on a bedpost, naturally): Choice TV Drama, Breakout Show, breakout acting nods for Chace Crawford and Blake Lively (who was also named best actress in a drama) and top villain for the diabolical Ed Westwick.
"I feel like I'm still a teenager, because I'm perpetually in high school," Crawford, 23, said backstage.
Mellencamp & Mates Take Farm Aid to New England
It's harvest time again.
Usual suspects John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Dave Matthews are all aboard to perform at Farm Aid 2008, which will be held Sept. 20 at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass.
Hell's Kitchen Not Too Hot for...
One chef pissed off Gordon Ramsay just a little less than the other.
Find out who has been invited to join the Brit's culinary empire after the jump.
Emmy Passes Up Britney for... Actresses
Ted and Barney weren't the only ones to give Abby the receptionist the brushoff.
Britney Spears' hyped two-episode appearance on How I Met Your Mother didn't catch the eye of Emmy voters, who left her off their list of semifinalists for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, per the latest round of Emmy scoopage from the L.A. Times' Gold Derby blog.
Spears shouldn't feel too snubbed, though—fellow twentysomething Mary-Kate Olsen, who played a pot-dealing proselytizer on Weeds, didn't make the cut, either. And she's been acting all her life!
But this year, only two under-40 thesps made the first cut, the relative young'uns being Sarah Silverman, who could be a two-time Emmy nominee thanks to her turn as a psycho fan on Monk, and Oscar nominee Amy Ryan, who made quite the impression as the Michael-liking "new Toby" on The Office.















