Whitney death pic published
A chilling photo of Whitney Houston Whitney Houston lying in her coffin[1] has been published by a U.S. tabloid.
National Enquirer editors obtained grainy images of the late superstar taken at the Whigham Funeral Home in Newark, New Jersey, where a private wake for close friends and family was held on Friday.
The pictures show Houston wearing a purple dress with colour co-ordinated eye shadow and lip gloss, and jewellery worth a reported $ 500,000.
A source tells the publication, “Whitney looked lovely… like a queen.”
The platinum coffin also had the singer’s nickname, “Nippy”, embroidered in the silk lining between two treble clef symbols in recognition of her longrunning music career.
Houston was found dead in the bathtub of her Los Angeles hotel suite on February 11. She was remembered by celebrity pals including Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, filmmaker Tyler Perry and her The Bodyguard co-star Kevin Costner during an emotional four-hour memorial service on Saturday and was laid to rest beside her father’s grave at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield on Sunday.
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References
- ^ Whitney Houston lying in her coffin (entertainment.blogs.foxnews.com)
Adele sizzles, VH fizzles on charts
British superstar Adele turned her Grammy glitter into double chart gold in Canada this week, while Van Halen’s much-hyped reunion disc is shaping up to be one of the biggest flops of the year so far.
To no one’s surprise, Adele’s “21″ got a huge post-Grammy boost in sales, racking up another 53,000 in sales, an increase of 156% from last week’s total of 21,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Amazingly, Adele’s debut album “19″ re-entered the top 10 at No. 4, selling over 7,000 copies. With both efforts combined, she has sold a mammoth 1,300,000 in 58 weeks.
She occupied the top spot south of the border as well (for a 21st non-consecutive week), selling a whopping 730,000 copies of “21″ in the U.S., according to Billboard.com.
Back here, and on the other end of the spectrum, rockers Van Halen seem to be getting a rather unwelcome greeting to their long-awaited return — at least in the sales department. David Lee Roth and co.’s brand new disc, “A Different Kind of Truth,” sank three spots to No. 6 after just two weeks, selling a mere 5,100 copies – a drop of 68%.
It was bad news for them in the U.S., too. “Truth” (58,000) plummeted from No. 2 to No. 6, down 69% from last week. At this rate, the rockers may not even crack gold status on either side of the border.
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Closer to the top in the Great White North, Leonard Cohen’s “Old Ideas” (14,000) held firm at No. 2 in its third week of release, while the “2012 Grammy Nominees” (13,100) compilation elevated two spots to No. 3.
Paul McCartney’s “Kisses on the Bottom” slipped one to No. 5, and Vancouver singer Carly Rae Jepson, with help from famous fans Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, made her debut at No. 7 with “Curiosity.”
The rest of the top ten comprised of “NOW! 19″ at No. 8, Bruno Mars’ “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” at No. 9, and LMFAO’s “Sorry For Party Rocking” at No. 10.
In the U.S., Whitney Houston’s “Whitney: the Greatest Hits” placed second, followed by “NOW! 41″ in third, Adele’s “19″ in fourth, and the “2012 Grammy Nominees” in fifth.
Adele and Ed Sheeran win at UK music’s Brit Awards
LONDON — Soulful songstress Adele capped a momentous year of Grammy Awards triumph and medical woes with a double win at the U.K.’s Brit music awards Tuesday, taking prizes for album of the year and best British female solo artist before making an obscene gesture after the show’s host cut her acceptance speech short.
Teen-friendly English troubadour Ed Sheeran won two trophies, including British male solo artist, at an energetic ceremony in London.
It has been a dramatic year for down-to-earth north London diva Adele, who based her chart-topping songs of heartbreak on a rocky relationship.
Her sophomore album “21″ won six Grammys last week and has sold more than 6 million copies in the United States alone. But Adele also had to undergo vocal cord surgery in November to fix a potentially career-threatening throat condition.
She delivered a powerhouse performance of her single “Rolling in the Deep” to thousands of fans and industry insiders at London’s O2 arena.
“It’s been an amazing year,” Adele said as she received the female artist statuette from petite pop star Kylie Minogue.
“I feel like a drag queen next to you,” joked the winner, who wore a sleek black Burberry gown but towered over Minogue. She thanked her record company “for letting me be the kind of artist I want to be.”
The show’s host, actor James Corden, cut off Adele’s second acceptance speech, prompting the singer to make a rude middle-finger gesture in frustration.
She stressed afterward that it was aimed at industry leaders, not her fans.
“I’m sorry if I offended anyone but it was the suits that offended me,” Adele said. “Thank you all very much and thanks to my fans. I don’t want them to think I was swearing at them.”
The show’s broadcaster, ITV, issued a statement apologizing to Adele for cutting her off.
“We regret this happened and we send deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short tonight due to the live show over-running,” ITV said.
The 23-year-old lost out on the British single prize to boy band One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful,” but took the coveted album of the year award for “21.” The statue was presented by singer George Michael, returning to the stage after suffering life-threatening pneumonia in December.
The ceremony also included tributes to two departed divas, Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse.
Tousle-haired singer-songwriter Sheeran won prizes for solo artist and British breakthrough act.
The red-headed 21-year-old has been panned as bland by some critics, but has amassed legions of young fans through online releases and a relentless calendar of shows.
Sheeran thanked his manager for transforming a “spotty, chubby ginger teenager” into a Brit-winner.
Long derided as dull, the Brits have become a lively celebration of U.K. music and style – and this year’s awards come with British music riding high around the world.
“I’m so, so proud to be British and to be flying our flag,” said Adele, who has the century’s best-selling album so far.
Tuesday’s event – which kicked off with Coldplay performing “Charlie Brown” and included live turns from Sheeran, Florence and the Machine, Noel Gallagher, Bruno Mars and Rihanna – brought out a host of stars who blended rock ‘n’ roll attitude and fashion finery.
Blur frontman Damon Albarn dressed down for the red carpet in jeans and a flat cap, and former Oasis guitarist Gallagher wore a leather jacket. But others struck a snazzier note. Actor Ray Winstone arrived in a pinstriped three-piece suit, complete with watch chain.
Style standouts included Minogue, in a strapless sky blue dress; plump-lipped Internet sensation Lana Del Rey, wearing a floor-length red gown; and Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch, in a lacy peach dress by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen.
Coldplay won their fourth best British group trophy, while Foo Fighters were voted best international group.
Bruno Mars took the prize for international male solo artist, and Rihanna won the international female prize for a second year.
The Barbadian singer, who has often been in the news for non-musical reasons since her then-boyfriend Chris Brown attacked her at a pre-Grammy Awards party in 2009, thanked her fans.
“At times when I feel misunderstood, my fans always remind me that it’s OK to be myself,” she said.
Lana Del Rey appeared moved to be named international breakthrough act.
“This award means much more to me than you know,” said the singer, who has gone from Internet-fueled buzz to backlash in record time after a disastrous performance last month on “Saturday Night Live.”
Britpop icons Blur received a special prize for their contribution to music.
The four original members – Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree – performed together for the first time since a series of concerts in 2009, offering versions of 1990s hits including “Girls & Boys” and “Parklife.”
Most of the awards are chosen by more than 1,000 musicians, critics and record industry figures, with several decided by public vote.
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Online: http://www.brits.co.uk
Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless
Categories: Celebrity Tags: Entertainment, News, singer, star
Downey Jr. was to play Lex Luther: McG
Director McG had signed up Robert Downey Jr. to play villainous Lex Luthor in his Superman movie before he lost control of the project.
The Charlie’s Angels moviemaker was set to originally reboot the franchise for the first time since Christopher Reeve played the Man of Steel in the 1970s and 1980s.
Star Trek director JJ Abrams had written the script, and Scarlett Johansson was lined up to Lois Lane, while Downey, Jr. had agreed to play the superhero’s nemesis Lex Luther.
However, McG exited the project after refusing to shoot the movie in Australia, where bosses at Warner Brothers studios wanted to locate the set, due to his phobia of flying.
He tells Playlist, “JJ wrote the script, and we got that to a really good place in the end. But I’m to blame for (the film not happening).
“We had Robert Downey, Jr. locked up to be Lex Luthor, which I think would have been extraordinary.”
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The film was eventually made by X-Men director Bryan Singer and hit screens in 2006 as Superman Returns, with Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.
Ironically, soon-to-be Superman Henry Cavill auditioned for the lead role, which eventually went to Brandon Routh.
Cavill will play the superhero in Man of Steel, which is due for release next year.
Oscars up for auction
Fifteen Oscar statuettes are to be auctioned off next week in what organizers said on Tuesday is the largest collection of Academy Awards ever to go under the hammer.
Los Angeles auctioneers Nate D. Sanders said the Oscars that will go up for grabs two days after the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony include the one given to writer Herman Mankiewicz for his “Citizen Kane” screenplay with Orson Welles.
Welles’ own best screenplay Oscar for the 1941 movie — regarded as one of the best films ever made — fetched $ 861,542 at a Nate D. Sanders auction in December.
Other Oscars up for sale on Feb. 28 include the 1933 best picture Oscar for “Cavalcade”, film editing and musical score statuettes for the 1946 classic “The Best Years of Our Lives” and cinematographer Gregg Toland’s 1939 Oscar for the black and white movie “Wuthering Heights”.
The auction house said it expected the 15 Oscars to fetch a total of about $ 2 million.
“This is the most significant collection of Oscars to ever be auctioned. It contains Academy Awards from epic films such as ’Citizen Kane’ and ’The Best Years of Our Lives’” Sanders said.
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“Furthermore, ’Cavalcade’ is the earliest best picture Oscar to ever be offered in an auction.”
Oscars are increasingly rare finds at auction. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1950 introduced an agreement that banned winners from selling their Oscars to anyone but the Academy for the nominal sum of $ 1.
The best picture Oscar for the 1939 film “Gone With the Wind” was sold to singer Michael Jackson in 1999 for a record $ 1.54 million.
The 2012 Academy Awards will be handed out at a ceremony in Hollywood on Feb. 26.