Bolshoi ballet chief heads to Germany after attack

MOSCOW (AP) — The artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet said he knows who ordered an acid attack that left him with severe burns to his eyes and face but won’t say, voicing hope that investigators will soon name the perpetrator.Sergei Filin checked out of a Moscow hospital Monday and headed to Germany for further rehabilitation.Filin, 42, wore shades and a bandage on his head, and skin on his face...

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NBC News President Capus to leave network

(Reuters) – NBC News President Steve Capus will be leaving the network in the coming weeks after struggles at the unit, including lower ratings for its flagship morning TV show, “Today.”No replacement has been named for Capus, president of NBC News since 2005, according to a company memo obtained by Reuters. In a statement, Capus said it was “now time to head in a new direction.”Three sources close...

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Washington wins 3 trophies at NAACP Image Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kerry Washington was a triple threat at the NAACP Image Awards.The star of ABC’s “Scandal” picked up a trio of trophies at the 44th annual ceremony: outstanding actress in a drama series for “Scandal,” supporting actress in a motion picture for “Django Unchained” and the President’s Award, which is given in recognition of special achievement and exceptional public service.“This...

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Beyonce admits Inauguration Day pre-recording

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Beyonce answered critics of her Inauguration Day performance the best way she could — with another sterling performance of the national anthem.The difference?On Thursday, it was live: She admitted during her Super Bowl news conference that when she performed for President Barack Obama and the nation, she decided to sing to a prerecorded track because she didn’t have time to practice....

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Justin Timberlake launches music comeback with Grammy performance

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Justin Timberlake, making his pop music comeback with a new single and album, will perform at next month’s Grammy Awards for the first time in four years, Grammy organizers said on Wednesday.Timberlake, 31, will take the stage at the music industry‘s biggest night in Los Angeles on February 10, ahead of the scheduled March release of his first album since 2006.“The 20/20 Experience”...

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Ke$ha bringing her “crazy beautiful life” to MTV series

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Singer Ke$ ha is coming to cable television with a new reality series that promises to document the “drama, madness and euphoria” of her professional and personal life, MTV said on Tuesday.“Ke$ ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life,” will premiere on MTV in April, the network said.“You might have heard my voice on the radio, seen me onstage or in a music video, but that’s only a part of...

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Oscar nod for protest film cheers Palestinians

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Oscar-nominated documentary “5 Broken Cameras” screened for Palestinians for the first time on Monday, leaving locals hopeful that their struggle with Israel for land and statehood will gain a global audience.The low-cost film is based on five years of amateur camera work by journalist Emad Burnat as he documented weekly protests against land seizures by Israeli forces...

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Fox News, Palin cutting ties

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel is parting ways with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, ending her three-year tenure as a contributor on the network.While Palin’s time at Fox was occasionally rocky, the network’s news executive, Bill Shine, said Friday that “we have thoroughly enjoyed our association” with her.“We wish her the best in her future endeavors,” said Shine, Fox’s...

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Voice of Te’o prankster? Couric plays voicemails

NEW YORK (AP) — The person Manti Te’o says was pretending to be his online girlfriend told the Notre Dame linebacker “I love you” in voicemails that were played during his interview with Katie Couric.Taped earlier this week and broadcast Thursday, the hour-long talk show featured three voicemails that Te‘o claims were left for him last year. Te’o said they were from the person he believed to be Lennay...

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Country singer Gary Allan’s new album gets label’s early push

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – The release of country music singer Gary Allan’s new album “Set You Free,” this week, his first since undergoing vocal surgery in 2010, was not meant to happen so soon.But when his record label, MCA Nashville, saw his new song “Every Storm (Runs out of Rain),” race up the charts in September, the label pushed the album’s release up two months from March.“I’ve been...

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“Cyborg Foundation” wins $100K Focus Forward prize

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Spanish director Rafel Duran Torrent has won the $ 100,000 cash prize in the Focus Forward Filmmaker Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The awards, the most lucrative ever given to short documentaries, went to five different shorts, with the top one being Duran Torrent’s “Cyborg Foundation.”The director will also be invited to a Sundance Institute ShortsLab program...

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Michelle Obama wears Wu to the balls again

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama made it a fashion tradition Monday night, wearing a custom-made Jason Wu gown to the inauguration balls. The ruby-colored dress was a follow-up to the white gown Wu made for her four years ago when she was new to Washington, the pomp and circumstance, and the fashion press.She now emerged in velvet and chiffon as a bona fide trendsetter.“I can’t believe it. It’s crazy,”...

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Legend, 2 Chainz, MC Lyte honored at Hip-Hop Ball

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Legend believes hip-hop played its part in helping Barack Obama become president, and he’s proud at how the genre has matured over the years.“I think hip-hop had a role in making sure we elected a black president in America because we made it so that black people were in people’s homes … through our music and through our culture,” the R&B crooner said Sunday night at the...

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Dan Lin, Roy Lee Counter Sue Legendary over ‘Godzilla’

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Doug Davison have hit back at Legendary Pictures over “Godzilla,” filing a cross complaint Thursday in L.A. Superior Court seeking millions in damages and credit for their contributions to the upcoming movie.Lin, Lee and Davison allege breach of contract and mistreatment, rehashing the history of how they came to work with Legendary. They...

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Joshua Tree spider species named for U2′s Bono

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — It appeared Bono and arachnids didn’t mix when his “Spider-Man” musical had a rough Broadway run, but that didn’t keep a biologist from naming an actual spider species after the U2 singer.Jason Bond of Alabama’s Auburn University has identified 33 new species of trapdoor spider, including three of them in the California desert at Joshua Tree National Park....

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Armstrong admits doping: ‘I’m a flawed character’

CHICAGO (AP) — He did it. He finally admitted it. Lance Armstrong doped.He was light on the details and didn’t name names. He mused that he might not have been caught if not for his comeback in 2009. And he was certain his “fate was sealed” when longtime friend, training partner and trusted lieutenant George Hincapie, who was along for the ride on all seven of Armstrong’s Tour de France wins from...

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“Gangnam Style” takes top song prize at “K-pop Grammys”

(Reuters) – South Korean rapper Psy‘s quirky viral hit “Gangnam Style” took the prize for top song on Wednesday at the 27th annual Golden Disk Awards, a Korean pop event dubbed the “Korean Grammys.”The two-day celebration of all things K-pop, including performances by superstars such as the boy band Super Junior, was held in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur before hordes of screaming fans, a...

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Steve Harvey signs long-term, expanded deal with Clear Channel

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Steve Harvey has re-upped with Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, entering a five-year contract that will continue his nationally syndicated radio program “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” and add new facets to his relationship with the media giant, Clear Channel said Tuesday.Under the new agreement, Harvey and Clear Channel will work on a number of joint ventures, including...

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CBS orders untitled Jim Gaffigan project to pilot

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – CBS has ordered an untitled Jim Gaffigan project to pilot, the network announced on Friday.Much like FX’s “Louie,” the proposed single-camera series sounds as if it will be largely autobiographical on the stand-up comic’s life.Executive produced and written by both Gaffigan and Peter Tolan (“Rescue Me”), Gaffigan will star as the happily married and harried father of five...

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PHOTOS: Miss America winners, yesterday and today

Miss America is in a New York state of mind.Mallory Hagan of New York City won the beauty pageant Saturday night after tap dancing to James Brown’s “Get Up Off of That Thing” and answering a question about whether armed guards belong in grade schools by saying we should not fight violence with violence.By capturing the crown, Hagan receives a $ 50,000 scholarship and a yearlong run as an advocate...

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