BARACK OBAMA IS OUR NEW PRESIDENT-ELECT

Michael Jackson's `This Is It' tops $200 million worldwide

Sony Pictures says "Michael Jackson's This Is It" has passed the $200 million mark at the box office worldwide.The film has pulled in $61 million domestically and more than $140 million overseas. That includes $27.2 million in Japan, $14.3 million in Great Britain and $12.1 million in Germany.
Sony Pictures marketing and distribution boss Jeff Blake says the film is drawing repeat business worldwide from Jackson fans.
"This Is It" captures Jackson's final performances as he rehearsed for his aborted concert tour. The movie includes Jackson doing such hits as "Beat It," "Thriller," "Human Nature" and "Billie Jean."
Jackson died in June just weeks before his marathon of 50 concerts was to begin in London.

Warhol's Michael Jackson portrait sells for $812K

A "Thriller"-era silk-screened portrait of Michael Jackson created by Andy Warhol has sold for $812,500 to an anonymous collector.The artwork sold at Christie's in New York City Tuesday evening.
Christie's estimated that the portrait would sell for $500,000 to $700,000. The 1984 portrait depicts a smiling Jackson in a jacket with squiggles of red and yellow in his hair.The auction house says the seller is an anonymous private collector based in New York who bought the image from the Andy Warhol Foundation in the 1990s. It did not say who bought the artwork.
The image was one of 47 lots auctioned Tuesday, including two other Warhol paintings.

Records: Jackson's funeral cost nearly $1 million

Michael Jackson's private family funeral was fit for a king and had a price tag to match: roughly $1 million, according to court documents released Tuesday.Although Jackson died in June and had a large public tribute at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in July, the private family funeral held Sept. 3 appeared to have been arranged with urgency.
Legal requests for payments filed with estate administrators by attorneys for Michael Jackson's mother only three days before the scheduled burial noted that if payment was not received by the funeral home and the Glendale Police Department by Sept. 1, "the funeral will not proceed."
The lawyers warned that such a development would cause Katherine Jackson and the family "public embarrassment and added grief, along with the daunting task of having to make new arrangements."There was no indication of resistance by the administrators, who approved payment of all expenses and reimbursement of Michael Jackson's sister Janet for an advance payment to Forest Lawn-Glendale of $49,000.The final tally of costs included $855,730 to Forest Lawn for cemetery and funeral charges including the purchase of other plots within the same mausoleum that houses Jackson's body.
Also listed were: $35,000 for burial garments; $1,975 for wardrobe for the family; $2,000 for usher costumes; $3,682 for framing of a photograph of Jackson next to the casket; $959 for embroidery; $11,716 for invitations and programs; $16,000 for flowers; $30,000 for cars and security; and $15,000 for a funeral designer. There was also a charge of $21,455 for the "funeral repast" at a restaurant after the ceremony.
During the period that the family waited to bury Jackson, they were charged $5,000 a month for holding the remains in a temporary vault.
The documents showed that his mother, brother Randy and sister Janet were involved in the planning and were mindful that the media would be covering the funeral, although media were not allowed inside the ceremony.
"Mrs. Jackson and her family wish to honor her son by a funeral that seeks to offer solace to his multitude of fans and by which the family also may be comforted," the attorneys said. The costs were substantial but "entirely commensurate with the decedent's worldwide status as an entertainer and the world's grief over his death."
Mrs. Jackson's attorneys were granted the request for $1 million. The administrators noted this was in addition to the costs of the Staples Center tribute, which was approved by the court as part of the agreement with entertainment group AEG.
Outside court on Tuesday, lawyer Howard Weitzman, who represents the administrators, said: "I would have done it less expensively. But it was Michael Jackson, who was larger than life. There's no reason he should not have a funeral that's larger

Judge: Joe Jackson can't challenge will executors

Michael Jackson's father does not stand to inherit any of his son's assets and cannot challenge the appointment of the executors chosen by the singer to handle his will, a judge said Tuesday.Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff said Joe Jackson was not named in the will but could pursue a motion to receive a family allowance from the estate because he claimed his son had been supporting him.
Joe Jackson and his son had an often-strained relationship, and Michael Jackson said at one point that he would get physically sick — as a child and as an adult — at the sight of his father.
Beckloff ended a contentious all-day hearing by telling Joe Jackson's lawyer, Brian Oxman, that his client had no standing to prolong the legal fray over Jackson's estate and would gain nothing from doing so.
"I don't think he gets to step into this and create further litigation," the judge declared. "Joe Jackson takes none of this estate. This is a decision his son made."
In another development, the court released an accounting that the estate had paid nearly $1 million in expenses for the private family funeral held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Some of the expenses were $11,716 for invitations and programs; $35,000 for burial garments; $30,000 for cars and security; and $15,000 to a designer.
"I would have done it less expensively. But it was Michael Jackson, who was larger than life," Howard Weitzman, an attorney for the estate administrators, said outside court. "There's no reason he should not have a funeral that's larger than life."
Earlier in Tuesday's hearing, Michael Jackson's mother withdrew her objections to the appointment of two longtime Jackson associates as executors of his will.The surprise announcement came from Katherine Jackson's new probate attorney Adam Streisand, who said his client felt it was time for the legal battle to end over the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain.Katherine Jackson now believes their appointment, as spelled out in her son's will, can "enhance the legacy of Michael Jackson in the best interest of his children," Streisand said.
It was Streisand's first major move in the case since he was chosen last month by Katherine Jackson to replace the team that had represented her since her son's death in June.
Beckloff later made the formal appointment of the executors after deciding Jackson's father could not challenge the move. Oxman threatened to appeal, which could interfere further with the appointments.
Streisand said Katherine Jackson decided she wanted to let the executors go about earning money for the estate rather than incurring more legal fees.
Oxman, however, accused her of reneging on an agreement with her family to challenge the executors and called the announcement in court "one of the most despicable things I have ever seen."
He accused Katherine Jackson of making a secret deal with the executors, a statement vehemently denied by Streisand and Weitzman.
Streisand said no one but he and Mrs. Jackson knew of her decision until he stood in court and announced it.
"All the credit goes to Mrs. Jackson," the lawyer said. "She is really the wise sage of this family."
The judge scheduled a hearing for Dec. 10 on Joe Jackson's request for a family allowance. Streisand suggested Katherine Jackson would support that request.
The will left Michael Jackson's assets to his mother, his children and children's charities.
Branca is an attorney who represented Jackson for more than 20 years and is regarded as the architect of his financial empire. McClain is a music executive and childhood friend of the singer.
Katherine Jackson's original legal team complained that she was not being given enough of a role in making decisions after her son's death. While they considered a challenge, the judge allowed the administrators to go forward with projects including the movie, "This Is It," which brought $60 million into the estate and became a box office hit.
Branca and McClain were credited as executive producers on the movie.
A 60-page motion filed by Oxman detailed Joe Jackson's bid to get money from his son's estate. The father is seeking an allowance to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to the court documents.
The documents said Joe Jackson receives a $1,700 monthly Social Security payment and had relied on his son for support for many years.
Joe Jackson suffers from diabetes and had a stroke in 1998, the filing stated.
A former steelworker, he managed and trained his children and organized the Jackson 5. He has been married to Katherine Jackson for 50 years, but he lists his home in Las Vegas. She lives at a family home in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles.
The filings list Joe Jackson's age as 80 in one place and 81 in another.
His list of monthly expenses includes $1,200 for rent for his Las Vegas home; $2,500 to eat out; $1,000 for entertainment, gifts and vacations; $2,000 on air travel and $3,000 on hotels.

Aerosmith's Joe Perry: 'Steven Tyler has quit'

Courtesy of NME.com - Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has said that singer Steven Tyler has quit the band "as far as I can tell." Perry's comments follow those of rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford, who last week (November 6) said that Aerosmith are to hold crisis talks about their future after relations with Tyler became strained.
Now Perry has confirmed that Tyler is unlikely to perform with the band again.
Steven quit as far as I can tell," he told the Las Vegas Sun, adding that the singer "has had no contact with me or the other band members."
The past few months have blighted with problems for Aerosmith. In August Tyler was airlifted to hospital after falling offstage at a gig in Dakota. As a result, the band were forced to cancel a U.S. tour.
Reacting to Tyler's supposed departure, Perry vowed to carry on with Aerosmith. He echoed Whitford's recent comments by saying he is considering replacing Tyler with a new vocalist.
"Right now I'm adjusting to how we're going to go on," Perry explained. "Aerosmith is such a powerful band, I mean it's like a steam locomotive. You just can't disregard 40 years of four guys who play together as well as they do.
"As far as replacing Steve, it's not just about that, it's also four guys that play extremely well together, and I'm not going to see that go to waste. I really don't know what path it's going to take at this point, but we'll probably find somebody else that will sing in those spots where we need a singer."
In a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, Tyler said he

Beyonce, Paul McCartney in Thanksgiving specials

TV network ABC says Paul McCartney and Beyonce will star in back-to-back one-hour specials Thanksgiving night.The evening starts at 9 p.m. EST with a Beyonce concert that was taped over the summer in Las Vegas.
That will be followed by a McCartney special that includes highlights from his July concert at Citi Field in New York City. The stadium in Queens is next to the former site of Shea Stadium, where he and his fellow Beatles rocked at the height of Beatlemania. Footage from that 1965 concert also will air during the special. Both specials will offer interviews and personal glimpses of the stars.

Jennifer Lopez granted temporary restraining order

A California judge granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday barring Jennifer Lopez's first husband and his manager from distributing 11 hours of home video footage the singer-actress claims includes sexual situations.Lopez claims ex-husband Ojani Noa is exploiting her private life with the footage and the proposed film, "The J.Lo and Ojani Noa Story."
The order by Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant also applies to Ed Meyer, who is Noa's manager.Lopez and Noa wed in 1997, but the marriage lasted just 11 months.In 2007, she won $545,000 in damages and attorney fees in another lawsuit that blocked Noa from publishing a ghostwritten tell-all book. Lopez claimed Noa demanded $5 million to keep from publishing the book.
Lopez believes the video footage and proposed film are exploitive and offensive and would damage her career and reputation.
Noa disputed the claim.
"It's a movie about my life," he said outside court. "They're trying to ruin my life again ... She don't want me to succeed and that's the problem."
Noa, who represented himself, claimed the footage included nothing sexual and is used to develop characters.
Meyer's attorney, Frank Sanes Jr., said the criticism is undeserved.
"Noa has an interesting story that should be told. He has nothing but respect for Jennifer," Sanes said. "The talk about sex tapes is a smoke screen."

Rapper violates order, faces more prison time

A Baton Rouge rapper who failed to follow a judge's instructions in a drug case will now have to serve about two years in prison instead of one.Torrence "Lil Boosie" Hatch pleaded guilty in September to a third-offense marijuana possession charge, and state District Judge Chip Moore ordered the 26-year-old to be electronically monitored and to clear his concert dates with the court while awaiting sentencing.
Under a plea deal, Moore had been expected to sentence Hatch to 10 years in prison with all but the first two years suspended, meaning the rapper would likely serve about a year. But because Hatch violated portions of Moore's post-plea instructions, the judge sentenced him Monday to 10 years with all but the first four years suspended.
"The max he would do is two years," East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said after court.
James Manasseh, one of Hatch's attorneys, agreed with the district attorney's calculation.
Manasseh said his client left home without court permission and his electronic monitoring device died several times because he didn't charge it properly."They were not terribly severe violations," he said. "He just made some bad decisions on his part and the judge felt he had to send him a little bit of a message."
Moore told Hatch, "I really hope that you get it straight."
"You have the ability to change people's lives for the better, including your own," the judge said.
Lil Boosie's latest album, "Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz," was released in September and includes a the lead single "Better Believe It," featuring Young Jeezy and Webbie. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200.
East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies seized a bag of marijuana, a cigar containing the drug, and a gun from a car driven by Hatch on Oct. 22, 2008. Besides the marijuana charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, Hatch was charged with possession of a firearm with a controlled dangerous substance, which carries a mandatory minimum five-year term.
Moore said Hatch will be on probation for five years after he is released from prison.
The firearm charge is being held in abeyance. If Hatch successfully completes his probation, the charge will be dropped, prosecutors have said.
Manasseh said his client felt he had to leave his home so he could earn money for his family: "He felt he had to earn funds since he wouldn't be able to do so while he was in jail. He wasn't trying to thumb his nose at the judge, he just thought he was doing the right thing for his children. In the long run, though, he probably made it worse."

Britney Spears: Behind the Pop Star's New Tour, Success

She went to Target. Twice. She bought a CD. That was it. Sounds pretty boring for an international pop icon, but it's a great relief to those working to keep Britney Inc. in business.
For much of 2007 and 2008, Spears was an unhinged superstar unraveling daily in front of a captivated global audience and voracious media scrum. There were hours of aimless driving, underwear-free outings with Paris Hilton, a bizarre romance with a paparazzo, an involuntary psychiatric hold. But after more than a year of belching putrid black smoke, the Britney machine is humming along quite nicely, thank you, and these days it's about the music, not the antics. Did she really shave her head or was that just a bad dream? For me, the silence is golden," a Spears insider tells TIME. The pop star's latest single, "3," hit airwaves on Sept. 29 to tremendous buzz (Rolling Stone called it a "surefire dance-floor stomper"), and will be part of her upcoming box set The Singles Collection, due out Nov. 24, which commemorates her 10 years in the record industry. Other milestones have passed quietly. Spears just completed the European and U.S. legs of a grueling concert tour with a performance in Las Vegas, the same spot where two years ago she crashed and burned at the MTV Video Music Awards. After a brief rest, she will tour Australia in November.
So the only Spears circus that folks are seeing these days is onstage at sold-out auditoriums. "The good news is, she's been able to re-create herself and finish the U.S. tour," says the insider. "While people in Hollywood love seeing a downfall, they are all about seeing people pull themselves together. And it seems, for now, Britney's doing it." (See Britney Spears in the top 10 celebrity-paparazzi showdowns.)
Her rebirth is no surprise to Joseph Kahn, who directed Spears in her greatest video triumphs over the years (including "Toxic" and "Stronger"). He knew there had been projects that just plain fell through during what he calls "the blackout period," but still, Kahn jumped at the chance to direct the singer in her comeback video "Womanizer" in late 2008.
"It was a big question for me to find out if she could actually accomplish this," Kahn tells TIME. "I didn't know which Britney was going to show up because of how crazy the previous year had been." His worries were quickly erased. "There she was on set, watching the choreographer, bobbing her head to the music. Baby steps. She was getting her head back into it." He says Spears was noticeably "quieter" on set and worked on a tightly structured schedule. "This wasn't your typical 30-hour video workday," says Kahn. "They gave me eight hours a day for two days. She was getting her legs back."
The force behind the structure: Britney's controversial father Jamie Spears, who has served as her court-appointed conservator since her emotional breakdown in early 2008, assuming near total control over her business and personal life. His continuation of that role has been key for insuring her tour and maintaining her custody agreement with ex-husband Kevin Federline. Proponents of this arrangement believe it has helped Britney stay on track. "The reason for the miracle comeback, the reason she has not been in the news, is so due to Jamie," says the source. "He had a bad rap in the past. I don't know how much of the show he's running, but he's making sure she stays out of trouble. He was the only one capable of doing that in her life." (See the top 10 albums of 2008.)
The strong arm of the conservatorship is felt in everything from Spears' curtailed spending to the weeding out of people who are considered bad influences. Even her downtime on the tour was carefully choreographed. When Spears' tour bus pulled into Pittsburgh, Pa., in March, the manager of the local Mad Mex restaurant didn't think twice about Spears' advance team's request: no flash photography, and her tables were not to be offered Red Bull or alcohol. Hard to argue with the results: a low-key meal devoid of drama. The most exciting thing the manager had to say was that Spears really liked the guac.
The conservatorship has its critics. Onetime Spears confidant Sam Lutfi, who is appealing a long-standing restraining order brought by Jamie to keep him away from Britney, insists that he knows the pop star "is desperate to end the conservatorship." His take on the current scenario: "She's not entitled to her freedom yet able to make hundreds of millions of dollars for them by performing a world tour." And former Britney BFF Alli Sims believes the Britney machine doesn't stop the drama from happening but is simply more effective in squelching the tabloid stories. "She has so many people controlling her every move, so who knows what's real and what's not?" Sims tells TIME in an e-mail. "The people around her are keeping the stories out. I hope and pray she is at a good place."
The Spears insider says the pop star can "resent" the controls and that it gets worse when she's not touring, like now. "If you are on summer vacation, you are going to resent your parents," says the source, who hopes that we've seen "the end of the bad parts of this amazing story." (See Britney Spears in the top 10 T-shirt-worthy slogans.)
But if another bad part does unfold, it's a safe bet the pent-up media will not leave Spears alone. "There are countless journalists bemoaning the fact that Britney is so well behaved these days," says Steve Dennis, author of the new biography Britney Spears: Inside the Dream. That said, he adds, if she can hold it together, Spears will have achieved her greatest success. "If this redemption has some longevity to it, then it will be one of show business's all- time comebacks," Dennis says. "She was staring into the abyss. But right now she's showing the world" - to paraphrase her hit song "Gimme More" - "Britney's back, bitch."