Yet another Hollywood celebrity may be spending time in jail. This time it was Grammy Award winning singer, Brandy Norwood, who was involved in a car accident with devastating results.

Last December 30, Brandy bumped into the back of another car as traffic was slowing down on a highway in California. This caused that car to move into the middle of the intersection where it was in turn hit by another car. The driver of the car that Brandy hit, waitress Awatef Aboudihaj, died of her injuries at the hospital. Aboudihaj was 38 years old and a mother of one.

Findings show that Brandy was not driving under the influence of any drug or alcohol at the time of the accident. It does not change the fact, however, that a child has lost his mother because of carelessness on the part of the singer.

The California Highway Patrol recommends that Brandy be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. The maximum penalty of this is 1 year in a Los Angeles county jail and $1000 fine.

It has been a year since Oprah has recommended anything to her book club. Many speculate that she took a break from recommending books after she recommended the book of James Frey which turned out to be a work of fiction and not fact as he had claimed. Her choice to start of the new year and relaunch her book club: Sidney Poitier’s “Measure of a Man”.

The book was actually published in 2000. It was on the bestseller weeks for years and the audio book won Sydney Poitier a Grammy Award. It is a spiritual autobiography that largely talks of what makes the character of a man. He talks of his memories growing up, of plays, his views of racism and of great leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.

Sidney Poitier is a man much respected in Hollywood and is one of Oprah’s personal heroes. On her radio show, Oprah said,

“He writes really candidly and passionately about his childhood, his family, relationships and his extraordinary career,” Winfrey said on her show, which airs from Chicago. “It (the book) really is about what makes character, what makes you be who you are. He is the measure of one of the greatest men I think who has ever been on our planet.”

Oprah also said that she hadn’t had time the past year to really read books which was why she hadn’t been recommending any. She had been busy preparing the curriculum for her school. Now that she does have the time, she chose to recommend a book that she loves about a man she truly admires.

Tyra Banks is hurt by the way people have been reacting to her weight gain. Critics have been saying that she has gained too much weight since she gave up the runway. Some of her pictures are being circulated online with the descriptions “Tyra is fat”, “Tyra is Ugly” or “Tyra’s Porkchops” attached. They even go so far as to call her the “Next Top Waddle” which is just plain mean.

The TV personality, talk show host and former supermodel doesn’t understand what the fuss is about. She stands 5 feet ten inches tall and she weighs 155 pounds. She’s only gained ten pounds. That is a normal healthy weight. She says people seem to have forgotten that she is no longer a supermodel and doesn’t need to be as thin as a hanger anymore. She says that she is speaking out against these slurs because of the impact that it can have on kids who tell her that they look up to her and find her beautiful because she isn’t a size 2. She feels that girls who see her described as fat, disgusting and ugly at her healthy weight might feel that they too are fat, disgusting and ugly.

Tyra is dedicating a portion of her show next week to address this issue. She is going so far as to walk around in a suit that makes her look like a 350 pound person just to see how people who are overweight are discriminated against.

In a recent interview, singer Mandy Moore has revealed that she has been experiencing bouts of depression. She says that she was depressed at the time that she broke up with actor boyfriend Zach Braff of Scrubs – who has also announced that he suffers from a mild case of depression. Her heartbreak added to the depression says the singer.

In spite of this, Mandy Moore is doing well. She has been working on a new album, writing songs using her experiences to help her write music that reflects the changes that she herself has gone through. She has come a long way from the sweet, innocent teenager image she had when she started. She is still sweet but there is definitely more depth to her music now.

She is also set to star in the comedy movie “Because I Said So” with Diane Keaton. This shows that Mandy Moore truly is a well rounded artist. She crossed over to films with roles in Princess Diaries, A Walk to Remember and American Dreamz.

On romance, Mandy Moore says that she isn’t looking right now though she does date. A serious relationship with anyone isn’t on her agenda at this time.

America’s favorite singing reality TV show is back for its sixth season and this time around Simon Cowell isn’t the only mean boy around. It looks like everyone is getting in on it and the hopeful contestants as well as the viewers don’t like it. Most feel that the judges have gone too far.

Fox Broadcast Co.’s entertainment president Peter Liquori has been defending Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. He denies that the judges bash the unfortunate contestants that they feel lack talent. It is rather difficult to contradict the accusations of unnecessary cruelty when they make statements comparing a contestant’s appearance to that of a bush baby like Simon Cowell did or telling a vocal coach that they will never recommend that they teach anyone to sing.

Cowell says that anybody who auditions for the show should be prepared for the comments they will get. Randy Jackson says that they are appalled at how people who really can’t sing refuse to accept that they really don’t have the necessary talent to qualify.

The sad part is that none of this will have any effect to the show. It will keep on airing. People will still audition and someone will still be chosen as this year’s American Idol.

She is called the Queen of Talk. Oprah is one of the most popular and most influential woman of the past two decades. Now she can add being the wealthiest woman in entertainment to the list as well.

According to Forbes.com, Oprah has earned an estimated $1.5 billion during her career which got her the top spot. JK Rowling took second place at $1 billion while Martha Stewart came in third with $638 million.

It is nice to note though that Oprah’s money has not gone to her head. She may have become rich but she still has her head on straight and has kept a generous heart; which is why people love her.

Who else made the list of the Top 20 Wealthiest Women in Entertainment? Oh, there were a bunch of actresses and singers. There were a couple of models thrown in as well. Oh, and there was another talk show host as well. The celebrities in the top 20 are:

1) Oprah Winfrey $1,5bn
2) JK Rowling $1,0bn
3) Martha Stewart $638m
4) Madonna $325m
5) Celine Dion $250m
6) Mariah Carey $225m
7) Janet Jackson $150m
Julia Roberts $140m
9) Jennifer Lopez $110m
10) Jennifer Aniston $110m
11) Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen $100m
12) Britney Spears $100m
13) Judge Judy (Sheindlin) $95m
14) Sandra Bullock $85m
15) Cameron Diaz $75m
16) Gisele Bundchen $70m
17) Ellen DeGeneres $65m
18) Nicole Kidman $60m
19) Christina Aguilera $60m
20) Renee Zellweger $45m

It may have won Golden Globe Awards but singer Diana Ross has not watched the movie Dreamgirls which is supposedly based on the story of her former group, the Supremes. The character of Beyonce Knowles is said to resemble the diva at a young age. She told David Letterman on his show that she’s too busy planning her world tour. She joked that she would watch the movie with her lawyers.

The 62 year old diva said that she would be mentoring the hopefuls on American Idol. She said that she enjoys inspiring new talent. Immediately after Idol she’ll be going on tour.

The tour that the former lead of the Supremes referred to is the promotion of her new album, “I Love You”. The album is a collection of love songs. Not surprisingly, she’s timed it with all the buzz about Dreamgirls. The movie is a useful springboard to launch this new collection of melodies about love.

She may be better known as Xena, Warrior Princess but acting isn’t all Lucy Lawless was born to do. At 38 she has chosen to launch her singing career. She had her first rock concert last night at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood. Some were surprised that it was completely sold out.

Fans of Lawless aren’t the least bit surprised. They’ve known that she can sing from the episodes where she sang on Xena. She has also played Rizzo on the Broadway production of Grease in 1997. And she joined the Celebrity Duets show last year where she made it to the final three.

In fact it is because of Celebrity Duets that Lawless decided to try for a singing career. She enjoyed the live performances very much and missed them after the show ended. She decided to take a chance and have a concert. Looks like she’s off to a new career. Just goes to show you that age really is no barrier to talent – and great fans.

[tags] Lucy Lawless,Xena,Celebrity duets,concert [/tags]

Everyone loves to watch the Grammy Awards. This is when some of the best performances of the year are made. Maybe it is because are usually Grammy nominees themselves and they are performing in front of their peers, so they give performances that are 200% better than their best – if they have it in them.

This years performers include Beyonce Knowles who is nominated for Best Female R&B Performance, Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Then there’s Gnaris Barkley who is nominated for Record of the Year and Best Urban Alternative Performance.

Bands performing this year include the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Dixie Chicks. The Chili Peppers are up with 6 nominations this year including Album of the Year as well as Rock Album of the year. The Dixie Chicks are competing for Album of the Year, Best Country Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocals.

[tags] Grammy Awards,Music,Performers,Nominees [/tags]

Yo ho ho! The Pirates Of The Carribean are celebrating indeed. It is early in the year and already they have bagged some really cool awards. Specifically they’ve taken home the following awards from the People’s Choice Awards:

• Best Male Star: Johnny Depp
• Best Male Action Star: Johnny Depp
• Best On Screen Match Up: Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley
• Best Movie: Pirate’s of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
• Best Movie Drama: Pirate’s of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Johnny Depp’s speech hit the note perfectly when he said:

“I know that I’ve said this before but the fact that this award comes from the people makes it all the more special. And thanks for keeping me employed, yeah? You’re the boss.”

The winners for the People’s Choice Awards are selected purely by viewers of the films and TV shows. Since the average citizen makes up 99% of the viewers, these awards are quite significant and the people definitely love Johnny Depp. Having Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley on board as well just adds to the draw.

There’ll be a lot of people looking forward to the third film of the Pirates. The film goers definitely can’t get enough of the swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew of miscreants. This time they’re out to rescue the Captain from the Kraken. This should be an interesting adventure indeed.

[tags] awards, People’s Choice,Jhnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean,Keira Knightley [/tags]