Paul McCartney tops Bonnaroo music festival lineup

NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) – Paul McCartney will perform at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee in June along with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mumford & Sons, Bjork and Wilco, festival organizers said on Tuesday.“Top to bottom, this is one of the strongest lineups we have ever had,” Bonnaroo spokesman Jeff Cuellar said in an interview. “Looking at the festival landscape out...

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At 80, Yoko Ono sees a world full of new activism

BERLIN (Reuters) – Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long “bed-in” for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism.Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.“When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with...

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Irish composer Raymond Deane talks Achill, Alma and ABBA too

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Irish composer Raymond Deane chafes at what he sees as a lack of recognition in his homeland for classical composers in a country better known for traditional fiddling and rock supergroup U2 than for notes on staves.“Classical music means Mozart and Beethoven and when you say Irish classical music their eyes just widen,” Deane, who recently turned 60, told Reuters over lunch at...

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Famous film couple back 9 years on in “Before Midnight”

BERLIN (Reuters) – Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise the roles of Jesse and Celine in “Before Midnight”, the third but not necessarily the last movie in their long-running series based on the same characters as they age over time.In this film, set 18 years after “Before Sunrise”, the couple is on holiday in Greece and we learn that they live with their twin daughters in Paris while Jesse’s son has...

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Boy band The Wanted sign on for E! reality series

NEW YORK (AP) — The Wanted is trying to keep it real: The boy band has signed on to do a reality series on E!The British fivesome announced Wednesday that their show will debut in June. A press release said the behind-the-scene series will be “unvarnished” and “nonglossy.”The Wanted broke onto the U.S. music scene with the Top 5 hit “Glad You Came.” They dropped their self-titled U.S. debut EP last...

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Following Super Bowl, Beyonce announces world tour

NEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce was just warming up at the Super Bowl: The singer has announced a world tour.“The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” will kick off April 15 in Belgrade, Serbia. The European leg of the tour will wrap up May 29 in Stockholm, Sweden.The tour’s North American stint starts June 28 in Los Angeles and ends Aug. 3 in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the Barclays Center.It was also announced Monday that...

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Stevie Wonder headlines pre-Super Bowl concert

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Applause and approval greeted Stevie Wonder as thousands stood for hours to hear his pre-Super Bowl concert that also featured guitarist Gary Clark Jr.Escorted on stage late Saturday by his daughter and backup singer Aisha Morris, Wonder performed several of his hits, including his opening song, “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).”That was followed by “Master Blaster,” Michael...

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Amazon unveils exclusive ‘Downton Abbey’ deal with PBS

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc said on Friday that it struck an exclusive deal to distribute seasons of the hit TV show “Downton Abbey” to members of its subscription-based video streaming service.Beginning June 18, Amazon‘s Prime Instant Video service will be the exclusive subscription service for streaming Season 3 of “Downton Abbey,” as part of a new content licensing agreement with PBS...

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Geraldo Rivera ”Truly Contemplating” New Jersey Senate Run

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Geraldo Rivera said Thursday he is “truly contemplating” running for one of New Jersey‘s U.S. senate seats as a Republican.The Fox News host said on his radio show that he would run against incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg or Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a likely candidate for the seat if the 89-year-old Lautenberg steps down.“I mention this only briefly, fasten your seatbelt,”...

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ABC orders drama pilots from Martin Campbell, Maria Maggenti

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Casino Royale” director Martin Campbell is taking on another intrigue-filled project, this time with ABC.The network has ordered a pilot for the drama “Reckless,” which Campbell, left, will executive produce.The pilot involves David, a resourceful problem-solver whose wife is unjustly imprisoned during a political uprising overseas. Desperately to rescue her, he tries...

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Barbra Streisand to sing at Oscars for first time in decades

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Actress, singer and director Barbra Streisand may be a familiar figure at Hollywood‘s Oscars, but she has only sung on the annual awards show once.Streisand will perform again at the Academy Awards on February 24, producers said on Wednesday, without providing details about how her appearance would fit into the show or what she might sing.Streisand, 70, has won two Oscars, one...

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Dior: Jennifer Lawrence dress had no malfunction

LOS ANGELES (AP) — That was no wardrobe malfunction — that was couture.When Jennifer Lawrence ascended the stairs to accept her SAG Award Sunday night, a bit of skin showed through the skirt of her gown, leading to some speculation that it had ripped.Dior Couture told The Associated Press that wasn’t so.The design house said Lawrence’s gown was designed by Raf Simons “with different levels of tulle...

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Barbara Walters hospitalized with chickenpox

NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Walters would probably like to hit the reset button on 2013.She’s got the chickenpox and remains hospitalized more than a week after going in after falling and hitting her head at a pre-inaugural party in Washington on Jan. 19. A fellow host on the “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg, said Monday that Walters has been transferred to a New York hospital and hopes to go home soon.“She’s...

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Lorne Michaels comedy pilot lands at NBC

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Saturday Night Live” boss Lorne Michaels is broadening his relationship with NBC via a new comedy pilot.The untitled project will star stand-up comic (and “SNL” writer) John Mulaney, and is loosely based on his life.Mulaney will also write and executive-produce the project, with Michaels, Andrew Singer, Dave Becky and David Miner also executive-producing.The project will...

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Booker winner Mantel says play next “logical step”

LONDON (Reuters) – Double Booker prize-winning author Hilary Mantel said the characters in her historical novels about the rise of Thomas Cromwell will take the next “logical step” to a stage adaptation at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) this year.Mantel said in a video interview on the RSC website this week that she has always longed to give “solid form” to her depictions of Cromwell, Henry VIII...

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Aretha Franklin Approves of Beyonce’s ‘Beautiful’ Inaugural Lip-Syncing

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Aretha Franklin r-e-s-p-e-c-t’s Beyoncé’s decision to use a “beautiful” pre-recorded rendition of the national anthem during President Barack Obama‘s inaugural ceremony on Monday.The Queen of Soul, who sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” during Obama‘s inauguration in 2009, told ABC News that the cold weather warranted Beyoncé lip-syncing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”“The weather...

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Live Nation to rock London Olympic park in 2013

LONDON (Reuters) – Live Nation Entertainment said on Tuesday it had secured exclusive rights to host major music concerts in London’s Olympic Park and Stadium complex in 2013.Live Nation, which hosted more than 400 concerts and performances across Europe in the past year, said it has already planned to hold its Wireless Festival and Hard Rock Calling events at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the...

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Rolling Stones nominated for four NME music awards

LONDON (Reuters) – Veteran British rockers The Rolling Stones, who celebrated their 50th anniversary last year, were nominated for four NME music awards on Monday.The Stones, back in the limelight after a photo book, greatest hits album, documentary film and mini tour to mark their 2012 golden jubilee, were shortlisted for best live band, best book, music moment of the year and best music film.They...

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“Les Miserables” soundtrack tops UK albums chart

LONDON (Reuters) – The soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated movie “Les Miserables” climbed to the top spot in the UK albums chart, the first film cast recording to do so since Madonna’s “Evita” in 1997, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday.A film version of a hugely successful stage musical based on a novel by 19th century French writer Victor Hugo, “Les Miserables” has already picked up a Golden...

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Chastain bests Arnold, Wahlberg at box office

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Chastain easily outmuscled Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mark Wahlberg over the weekend, topping the box office with her supernatural horror film “Mama.”According to studio estimates Sunday, “Mama” earned $ 28.1 million. Chastain held the top two spots with both “Mama” and the Osama bin Laden manhunt drama “Zero Dark Thirty,” for which she’s nominated by the best actress Oscar....

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