MUSIC/ EMINEM & BIEBER TOP BILLBOARD AWARDS: Veteran rapper Eminem and teen star Justin Bieber dominated the 2011's Billboard Music Awards, each taking home a total of 6 official awards Sunday night. There was a 6 way tie for 2nd place between Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Usher, Taylor Swift, Mumford & Sons and Taio Cruz, who each won 3 trophies. Winning 2 Billboard Music Awards each were Katy Perry, Shakira, Chris Tomlin and Train. The show also featured 3 special awards: Beyonce Knowles and Neil Diamond were honored with a Millennium and an Icon Award, respectively, for their career achievements, and U2 won the Touring trophy. Eminem won awards in the following categories: Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Song and Top Rap Album. He previously won two Billboard Music Awards in 2002 for Best Album of the Year and Best R&B/Hip Hop Album of the Year, giving him a total of 8 career Billboard Music Awards. His awards were not given out during the ceremony. Bieber, the Billboard.com Fan Favorite Award Winner, was also named Top New Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Streaming Artist, Top Digital Media Artist, Top Pop Album and Top Streaming Song (video) at his 1st ever Billboard Music Awards. The 16 Award winners were determined by a combination of chart performances and social and streaming activity as chronicled in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com during the eligibility period of February 28, 2010 through March 1, 2011. Full details can be found on the Billboard web site
Showtime has renewed "Nurse Jackie" for a 4th season while also canceling "United States of Tara". "Jackie" stars Emmy winner Edie Falco and has averaged 2.8 million viewers a week during its 3rd season. The Monday night show draws 762,000 viewers on Mondays, with 71% of Showtime subscribers watching via On Demand, DVR and replays throughout the week. "Jackie" also stars Peter Facinelli, Paul Schulze, Merritt Wever, Eve Best, Anna Deveare Smith, Stephen Wallem and Dominic Fumusa. Its Season 3 finale airs next month. Meanwhile, Showtime also announced that they had decided not to move forward with
"United States of Tara". The
Toni Collette comedy, which centers on a mom who suffers from multiple personalities, will be ending after its 3rd season ends this summer. "Tara," created by Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, premiered in 2009 to solid ratings, but began to diminish in viewership as seasons progressed. It premiered its current season to 411,000 total viewers and a 0.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, down significantly from its Season 2 launch, when it averaged 816,000 and a 0.4. Collette won an Emmy in 2009 and a Golden Globe in 2010 for her performance.
THEATRE/ "BALLROOM" TO PREMIERE IN SYDNEY IN 2013: The new stage musical of Baz Luhrmann's 1992 film "Strictly Ballroom" will receive its world premiere at Sydney's Lyric Theatre in September 2013. Lurhmann, pictured, co-wrote and directed the film about the world of competitive ballroom dancing, which was originally conceived and presented as a stage play. The Academy Award-winning director is also attached to direct the stage debut of "Strictly Ballroom," which received a December 2010 workshop in Australia. A songwriting team has not been announced for the project. It's not clear if the score will use existing popular music. "Strictly Ballroom" became a hit of the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Prix de le Jeunesse. Produced for less than $5 million, the film spent many weeks in the #1 spot in the UK and Australia and earned more than $80 million. It was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Picture, Comedy or Musical category and won 3 BAFTA awards. Lurhmann is well known for his films "Moulin Rouge," "Romeo + Juliet," "Australia" and the Broadway production of the Puccini opera "La Boheme". The Lyric is also where the musical adaptation of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" received its world premiere prior to its London, Toronto and Broadway engagements.
Joseph Brooks, the Hollywood composer of "You Light Up My Life" and the Broadway musical "In My Life," committed suicide in his Upper East Side apartment in New York City. He had been awaiting trial on multiple charges of rape. According to media reports, Brooks, 73, was found dead with a plastic dry cleaning bag over his head and a towel wrapped around his head and neck near a hose attached to a tank of helium gas. The body was discovered at 12:30pm, local time, yesterday, in his home by a friend expecting to have lunch with him. Brooks had been facing multiple problems. In 2009, he was arrested on charges of raping 11 young actresses, luring them to his apartment with the promise of movie roles. Last year, his son was charged with strangling his girlfriend. Brooks wrote the song "You Light Up My Life," which was made a #1 hit by Debby Boone and won the Oscar for Best Song for 1977. He was also a successful writer of commercial jingles. He also wrote, directed and produced the 2005 Broadway msuical "In My Life," which is generally regarded by critics as one of the strangest shows ever to have graced a Broadway stage.
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