Salma Hayek, Billy Joel, Angelina Jolie

Photo Credit: img2.timeinc.net

Billy Joel bade a stirring farewell to Shea Stadium in New York during a sold-out final show at the same ballpark where the Beatles famously ushered in a new era in rock 'n' roll four decades ago. "They're gonna be tearing this place down, but I wanna thank you ... for letting me do the best job in the world," Joel told the crowd at the New York Mets' home field, which is to be razed after the baseball season to make way for a new stadium across the street. Other high-wattage guests also performed. Tony Bennett sang "New York State of Mind" with Joel, and Garth Brooks appeared on stage wearing a Mets jersey. In the audience, one of Joel's famous fans - his ex-wife Christie Brinkley - sang along, word for word, to the chorus of "She's Always a Woman."


Angelina Jolie and her newborn twins left the French Riviera hospital where she gave birth, the hospital said in a statement. "The mother and her babies are doing very well," reported Lenval hospital in Nice. Jolie slipped out at 4 a.m. on Saturday with the twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt , evading most of the paparazzi who have followed the family for months in southern France. It was not immediately clear if the twins' father, the actor Brad Pitt , was with them. Television cameras outside the hospital filmed a large white van with tinted windows leaving one of the hospital's back entrances at that time. Jolie, 33, checked into the hospital on July 2 and delivered the babies by Cesarean section 10 days later.


Salma Hayek has called off her engagement to the French businessman François-Henri Pinault , her representative said. The couple announced their plans to wed in March 2007, and welcomed a daughter, Valentina Paloma Pinault , several months later. The Mexican-born Hayek, 41, has starred in films such as "Frida" and "After the Sunset." She is one of the executive producers of ABC's "Ugly Betty" and the chief executive of Ventanazul, a production company she formed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Pinault is the chief executive officer of the luxury goods company PPR, which owns high-end labels such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Puma.



Less than eight months after an epic meltdown that led to a court taking away her children, Britney Spears is reclaiming her role as a mother. Attorneys for the pop singer and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline , reached an agreement that allows Spears three visits a week from Sean Preston , 2, and Jayden James , 1, including two overnights with the potential for more. If all goes well, she could have the boys roughly 40 percent of the time, said her attorney, Laura Wasser.



Paul Simon has sued a Japanese clockmaker, Rhythm Watch Company, and its U.S. subsidiary for $5 million for copyright infringement, claiming the company used "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as a composition on 40,000 of its clocks. A license fee for using the song would have cost more than $1 million and the lawsuit estimated Rhythm had profited more than $5 million from the sale of clocks that use the song.

The rapper DMX was arrested at a Phoenix shopping mall on suspicion of giving a false name and Social Security number to a hospital to avoid paying for medical expenses, The Associated Press reported. A local sheriff said that when DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, went to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, in April, he used the name Troy Jones and failed to pay a $7,500 bill. The sheriff said his office had been investigating the case before DMX, 37, was arrested in May on drug possession and animal cruelty charges.

Paul McCartney churned out a Beatles-laden song list to a crowd gathered last weekend for a free concert as part of Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebration. McCartney opened the show with the Wings song "Jet," after which he greeted the crowd in French. The show, McCartney's only scheduled performance in North America this year, drew ire from some in the province who have questioned his participation in the celebrations of French-speaking Quebec City because of his British roots, claiming his presence evokes painful memories of Britain's conquest of New France in 1760. In a radio interview last week, McCartney told nationalists to "smoke the pipes of peace."

(AP)

Source: iht.com