China’s Ai Weiwei wins competition to design substitute for Shanghai-bound Mermaid statue

September 2nd, 2009 Man butts heads with town over bare-bottom statueSILT, Colo. — At least one critic in the western Colorado town of Silt said a new sculpture of a bare-bottom rock climber is exposing the public to a little too much art.

August 20th, 2009 Office furniture exhibit emphasizes art of designMUSKEGON, Mich. — The art of office furniture design is the focus of a new exhibition of Herman Miller Inc.

August 14th, 2009 NYC offers $10K prize for snappier sidewalk shedsNEW YORK — New York City officials want to spruce up the sidewalk barriers built to protect pedestrians when buildings are under construction or repair. The city Buildings Department and the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects launched a competition Thursday to elicit a snappier, airier design for sidewalk sheds.

July 20th, 2009 Competition aims to make Bruce Lee home a museumHONG KONG — The former home of Bruce Lee is now a love motel, renting rooms by the hour. But officials on Monday launched a design competition to turn it into a Hong Kong museum for the kung fu icon.

July 18th, 2009 King of Pop creamed in online butter statue voteDES MOINES, Iowa — Jesus Christ and his apostles made the cut. So did John Wayne, Elvis and Tiger.

July 17th, 2009 Baltimore statue of Billie Holiday rededicatedBALTIMORE — A statue of Billie Holiday has returned to the former black entertainment district in Baltimore where the lady once sang the blues. The statue, depicting a singing Holiday in a flowing, floor-length strapless gown, a gardenia flower in her hair, first graced Billie Holiday Plaza in 1985.

June 29th, 2009 Obama marks Paris milestone: statue in wax museumPARIS — Complete with new gray hairs and two bodyguards, a wax version of President Barack Obama took a trip Monday to the Eiffel Tower. After visiting France's most famous monument, the statue traveled to Paris' Musee Grevin wax museum, where it will stand alongside the likenesses of Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin.

June 22nd, 2009 Danish-Swedish drama best film at ShanghaiSHANGHAI — The Danish-Swedish drama "Original" won best picture at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival, with its male lead Sverrir Gudnason named best actor for playing the soul-searching son of a mentally ill mother. Reading from the citation, jury president "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle called the debut feature film of Antonio Tublen and Alexander Brondsted "a light, touching and subversive study of mental illness that is both compassionate and never sentimental." Accepting his trophy, Gudnason, who plays a character who tries to stop pleasing others, yelled in delight and said, "This is the best thing that anyone has ever given to me and it's going to keep me going on." The jury said "this young actor's brilliant, sensitive, and humorous performance is absolutely mesmerizing." Simone Tang was named best actress for another Danish film, "Aching Hearts," about the relationship of two high school sweethearts.

June 21st, 2009 US soprano, Ukrainian pianist win $50KLOS ANGELES — An American soprano singer and a Ukrainian pianist have won top honors at a competition that combines elements of "American Idol" and classical music. Leah Crocetto, a 29-year-old first-year fellow with the San Francisco opera, won the $50,000 first prize in the vocal portion of the third annual Jose Iturbi International Music Competition at the University of California, Los Angeles.

June 20th, 2009 Mich. mermaid sculpture targeted as illegal copyGREENVILLE, Mich. — A Little Mermaid statue that has stood in a park in a Michigan city since 1994 may be removed because of a claim it's an illegal replica of the famous original in Denmark.

June 18th, 2009 MacDowell: 40s are awkward for a leading ladySHANGHAI — "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star Andie MacDowell says her 40s were an awkward time partly because Hollywood filmmakers didn't know how to cast the veteran American actress. The 51-year-old actress hasn't had a big hit since a string of commercial successes in the early and mid-1990s, including "Groundhog Day," ''Michael," and "Four Weddings and a Funeral." She said Thursday that while she didn't have trouble finding work in her 40s, American filmmakers may have had trouble finding good roles for her.

June 18th, 2009 MacDowell: 40s awkward for a leading ladySHANGHAI — "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star Andie MacDowell says her 40s were an awkward time partly because Hollywood filmmakers didn't know how to cast the veteran American actress. The 51-year-old actress hasn't had a big hit since a string of commercial successes in the early and mid-1990s, including "Groundhog Day," ''Michael," and "Four Weddings and a Funeral." She said Thursday that while she didn't have trouble finding work in her 40s, American filmmakers may have had trouble finding good roles for her.

June 17th, 2009 Vision D'Etat wins for France at Royal AscotASCOT, England — Vision D'Etat has won the Prince of Wales's Stakes by a half length at Royal Ascot. The 4-year-old colt from France made a powerful run from last to first in the final eighth-mile and then held off 6-4 favorite Tartan Bearer for the victory.

June 1st, 2009 New Lincoln memorial in Kentucky waterfront parkFRANKFORT, Ky. — Louisville's Waterfront Park has a new memorial honoring Abe Lincoln.

May 26th, 2009 SHANGHAI - Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle will be one of the members of the jury at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival. The Oscar-winning filmmaker will judge the films along with actress Andie MacDowell and fellow director Andrew Lau, reported contactmusic.com.