GHEORGHIU SCRAPS FIRST FEW CARMEN PERFORMANCES

October 10th, 2009 POISON frontman BRET MICHAELS has become the latest star to fall victim to the influenza outbreak - the sick rocker has scrapped a show in Georgia. Michaels was due to play a solo gig at Club H20 in Columbus, Georgia on Thursday night (08Oct09) but fans were left disappointed when the concert was cancelled just hours before the star was due to take the stage.

September 30th, 2009 90 years later, opera's back on Bourbon StreetNEW ORLEANS — Bourbon Street — where Dixieland jazz competes with karaoke bars, rock 'n' roll cover bands and strip club jukeboxes — is also one of the first places in America where opera was heard. Now, it's being heard there again, with a New Orleans-style twist.

September 3rd, 2009 CARMEN ELECTRA is planning a new pop chart charge after recording an album with producer ONE SEVEN. The model/actress, who previously recorded with Prince, met the hitmaker at a Hollywood party and he agreed to send her a handful of tracks he thought she'd like to record.

September 2nd, 2009 DAVE MATTHEWS has been forced to cancel a gig in Utah on Tuesday night (01Sep09) after straining his vocal chords. The star and his band are mid-way through an 18-date trek across the U.S.

August 28th, 2009 Chesney, Swift, Sugarland to appear on ABC specialNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Highlights of this summer's CMA Music Festival will air Monday on ABC, with performances by Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Reba McEntire, Kid Rock and many more.

August 12th, 2009 Rockers WHITESNAKE have quit their U.S. tour with JUDAS PRIEST to allow singer DAVID COVERDALE to recover from throat problems.

August 12th, 2009 Gheorghiu withdraws from start of new Met 'Carmen'NEW YORK — Soprano Angela Gheorghiu has pulled out of the first six performances of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Bizet's "Carmen," which opens New Year's Eve. The Richard Eyre staging was designed around Gheorghiu, making an unusual foray into a role written for mezzo-sopranos, and her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna.

August 9th, 2009 Playboy boss HUGH HEFNER has scrapped plans to feature 75-year-old TV star SHIRLEY JONES in his raunchy adult magazine - because the actress "wouldn't show enough" skin. The former Partridge Family star's husband/manager Marty Ingels revealed in May (09) he was pushing for his wife to disrobe in a tasteful pictorial.

August 3rd, 2009 The man behind 1969's Woodstock festival has scrapped plans to stage a 40th anniversary event later this month (Aug09) - because no one wants to sponsor the show. Promoter Michael Lang was just 24 when he masterminded Woodstock in New York state and set the standard for the modern rock festival with acts like The Who, Santana, Ten Years After and Jimi Hendrix.

July 21st, 2009 'Criminal aspects' probed in Jackson memorial costLOS ANGELES — Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich says a probe of taxpayer costs tied to Michael Jackson's memorial has "criminal aspects." Trutanich told members of the City Council Tuesday that investigators have interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence, and the probe "raises both civil and criminal aspects." He provided no further details. The financially desperate city has been facing a backlash after spending an estimated $1.4 million for police and other services during the Jackson event earlier this month.

July 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Charlize Theron is the sexiest actress who has posed nude, according to two experts. RadarOnline.com roped in renowned photographers Bradford Rogne and Helene DeLillo to rank 12 of the sexiest of female thespians who have left nothing to the imagination.

July 8th, 2009 LONDON - Former "Baywatch" star Carmen Electra has signed on to perform in a cage in a new burlesque show in Las Vegas. The 37-year-old actress has signed on to appear in 10 shows at MGM Grand's Crazy Horse Paris in Las Vegas July 8-13, reports aceshowbiz.com.

July 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - American glamour model/actress Carmen Electra has come out tops at the models vs. actresses Bikini Olympics.

June 1st, 2009 Director: 'Up' locations inspired by VenezuelaNEW YORK — When the filmmakers at Pixar watched a documentary about the Venezuelan rain forest, they wondered at first if that place even really existed on Earth. Looking for a location to develop their next animated feature, they decided to travel to that magical place.

May 7th, 2009 Moviemaker Robert Rodriguez has cancelled his plans of making the remake of Jane Fonda’s Barbarella since the father of five couldn’t think of shooting the film in Germany in the process of which he had to stay away from his family. His plans to make the movie with his girlfriend Rose MCGowan in the lead in America didn’t materialized because he was unable to raise the necessary funds to make the flick over there and was been forced to shoot the movie in Germany with the limited funds.