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MADONNA’s guitar technician is selling off one of the two guitars made especially for the Material Girl’s Drowning World tour in a bid to help him recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Madonna gave JOHN GRISWOLD the instrument after the tour as a thanks for all his services, and now the autographed Les Paul will hit eBay next month (06OCT06) to help him get back on his feet.
According to website TMZ.com, Griswold was one of the many displaced when Hurricane Katrina ravaged America’s Gulf Coast last summer (05).
The first floor of his house was completely flooded and most of his possessions were destroyed.
Griswold admits he’s reluctant to part with his precious guitar, but financial loss and the hardship he and his family have endured have made the auction a necessity.
The instrument was the first guitar Madonna played on tour and will be sold off with the original strings that the pop superstar strummed and plucked on tour.

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PARIS HILTON’s one-time boyfriend, American football hunk MATT LEINART, has beaten out DAVID BECKHAM and baseball hunk DEREK JETER in a new US sexy sports stars poll.
The Arizona Cardinals quarterback, who is set to become a first-time dad with ex-girlfriend BRYNN CAMERON, has topped the new In Touch poll.

The top five on The Sexiest Guys in Sports list is:
1. MATT LEINART
2. DAVID BECKHAM
3. DEREK JETER
4. JEFF GORDON (NASCAR driver)
5. CAREY HART (motocross rider married to PINK)

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BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY star COLIN FIRTH and his wife LIVIA GIUGGIOLI-FIRTH are teaming up to produce a hard-hitting new documentary about jailed former Black Panther MUMIA ABU-JAMAL.
Abu-Jamal has spent the last 25 years incarcerated for the murder of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, policeman.
The project, IN PRISON MY WHOLE LIFE, will be the British actor’s debut as a producer, and will feature interviews with hip-hop stars like MOS DEF, whose constant campaigning have turned the murderer into a street icon.
Firth says, "It’s a prism to look at how much society and grassroots politics have changed over 25 years."

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GEORGE CLOONEY has signed up to direct and star in a new American football film set in the 1920s.
RENEE ZELLWEGER is slated to join the movie mogul in LEATHERHEADS, which is being billed as a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the halcyon days of professional American football.

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Hollywood bad boys RUSSELL CROWE and CHRISTIAN SLATER are to team up in a remake of 1957 western 3:10 TO YUMA.
TOM CRUISE was initially on board to star in the project, which will be director JAMES MANGOLD’s first film since JOHNNY CASH biopic WALK THE LINE.
The original film starred GLENN FORD.

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Movie star JASON SCHWARTZMAN gave tourists visiting the Palace of Versailles a scare when he bumped into them dressed as his MARIE ANTOINETTE character KING LOUIS XVI.
The cast and crew of the historical epic were forced to film at the French palace while tourists roamed the estate but they managed to keep the shoot a closely guarded secret for the most part.
Unfortunately, the past met the present one afternoon while Schwartzman was rehearsing lines in one of Versailles’ landscaped gardens.
Marie Antoinette director SOFIA COPPOLA explains, "He said he never broke character so I wonder if there were any reported Louis ghost sightings that day." Schwartzman himself admits he was stunned by the beauty of the 17th century chateau - and thrilled by the access he and his castmates were given by the French authorities.
He explains, "We were taken around and shown secret apartments and secret staircases and all these little rooms and buildings no one else is allowed to go into and it was truly amazing to have so much access to the past.
"One thing that I found so incredible was just the scale of it. Now when I go to London and see Buckingham Palace I think, ‘It’s so tiny.’"

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Talk show host JERRY SPRINGER has been left without a partner as he shows off his dancing skills on TV in America.
THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW host’s DANCING WITH THE STARS sidekick, KYM JOHNSON, has a knee injury and has been forced to pull out of the competition.
Springer is currently tango-ing with a new partner, while a new dancing professional is found for him for this week’s second round of the TV talent contest.
Meanwhile, another competitor, US TV star MARIO LOPEZ, has been caught up in a dance scandal - a woman claiming to be his former dancing partner insists Lopez is much more than an amateur.
She alleges that Lopez, the Dancing With The Stars favourite, won a series of dancing prizes when he was younger.
Lopez’s aides deny the claims, insisting that their client took part in hip-hop dance-offs but has had no formal ballroom training.

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Former FRIENDS star MATTHEW PERRY still can’t believe he gets regular acting work after once playing a futuristic baggage handler at Los Angeles’ LAX airport in doomed show LAX 2194.
The actor cringes whenever he thinks back to what he hoped would be his big break and now he’s just grateful the show didn’t take off and more people saw him.
He says, "It starred me and I was wearing a kind of futuristic shirt and I was surrounded by aliens… and all the aliens were played by midgets, wearing wigs and stuff and my job was to sort out the aliens’ luggage.
"It was a sitcom… and in it I had a relative that was frozen for 200 years and thawed out and I had to teach him the ways of the future." The awful role almost cost Perry the chance to play CHANDLER BING on FRIENDS because he was contracted to play a futuristic baggage handler while the new show was being cast.
He adds, "I was off the market for Friends… and then somebody finally saw the baggage handler show and they said, ‘Y’know he’s not gonna be off the market for too long.’"

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Movie-maker SOFIA COPPOLA was thrilled to be given the keys to the Palace of Versailles in France for the filming of MARIE ANTOINETTE, because it meant she could shoot eerie scenes in the very rooms where they took place 220 years ago.
Certain restrictions were placed on the director and her crew, but she was allowed to film wherever she wanted, allowing her to shoot Marie Antoinette’s wedding scenes in the chapel where the French queen wed LOUIS XVI.
Coppola says, "It was thrilling to shoot in the place where many of these events actually took place and they (authorities) gave us remarkable freedom.
"They actually let us park our trucks right in front of the palace and keep our camera equipment in Marie Antoinette’s bedroom.
"We were able to shoot Marie Antoinette’s wedding in the real cathedral where she was married and, at the end of the film, we were able to shoot the scene where she goes onto a balcony with the mob below where it actually happened.
"To be able to recreate these remarkable moments in the real places where they happened was a very spooky and unique experience." But the restrictions imposed on the crew at Versailles did pose some problems.
Production designer KK BARRETT explains, "In some rooms, we couldn’t open the blinds because just exposure to sun could destroy the colour in the fabric and/or cause it to start to disintegrate.
"We also couldn’t use any of the furniture in Versailles, which we immediately respected, but it meant we had the task of finding and bringing in our own furniture that would be competitive with the scale of what was already on the walls, which was pretty daunting."

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JOAN COLLINS has called in a drug coach to help her play a stoned character in an upcoming US theatre production.
The actress will play opposite her former DYNASTY co-star LINDA EVANS in new touring play LEGENDS and one scene requires the two old friends to get high together.
And Collins, who also plays a diabetic in the production, has demanded a coach - because she has never been stoned.
The British actress says, "We get very stoned in it and I’ve never been stoned. I’ve been drunk but I’ve never been stoned.
"I’ve been working with somebody on that. We eat hash brownies and we fall about the stage getting completely plastered, so that should be interesting." Collins has also asked for a choreographer to make sure she and Evans aren’t injured during catfight scenes, that will remind fans of their famous scraps as ALEXIS and CRYSTAL in Dynasty.
She adds, "We haven’t worked it out, we’re getting a fight director because it’s one thing to do a fight in a movie, where you do it once, it’s another to do it eight times a week for 30 weeks.
"You have to be very careful. I’m delicate."

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Former child star PABLO SANTOS has been killed in a plane crash in central Mexico.
The teenager was on his way to Acapulco with friends when their private aircraft crashed during an emergency landing in Toluca, near Mexico City on Friday (15SEP06).
Another passenger was also killed while everyone else on board was hospitalised.
Survivor DIEGO MARCOS has told local newspaper El Norte that he fears the plane crashed because it was overloaded. He explains the Piper Malibu craft was only supposed to carry six people, but he and his friends persuaded the pilot to take on an extra passenger.
Santos, 19, appeared on TV shows LAW & ORDER and AMERICAN FAMILY and he played the son of a Mexican family in GREETINGS FROM TUCSON.

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LATEST: CONNIE FISHER was chosen by British TV viewers on Saturday (16SEP06) to star as MARIA in SIR ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’s new THE SOUND OF MUSIC stageshow in London.
The 23-year-old beat off competition from thousands of hopefuls to triumph on the TV talent contest HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA?, and will appear alongside British actor SIMON SHEPHERD and opera star LESLEY GARRETT in the revival of the RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN musical.
Fisher was both Lord Lloyd-Webber and the British public’s choice on Saturday as she easily triumphed over losing finalists SIOBHAN DILLON and HELENA BLACKMAN with the majority of the two million votes cast by viewers.
She says, "I cannot believe it. It’s like I’ve woken up on a different planet. Helena put up such a fight, didn’t she? She’s come from strength to strength and I thought there was no way in a million years I was going to win it.
"I always hoped that people would see Maria in me, because I’ve always been told, ‘You’re such a Maria.’ Some people have told me, ‘If there is one role for you it is Maria Von Trapp,’ so here I am.
"I’ve grown up with it. My favourite musical films when I was younger were The Sound of Music and MARY POPPINS. I was a big JULIE ANDREWS fan and there’s always been a bit of Julie in me." Understudy EMMA WILLIAMS will perform two out of the musical’s eight planned weekly performances, with Fisher onstage for the other six when the production opens in November (06). Despite criticism, producer DAVID IAN has defended this policy as normal musical practice.

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NAOMI CAMPBELL’s former assistant has no plans to confront her ex-boss over her abuse allegations, because she’s still scared of the supermodel.
AMANDA BRACK, who is suing Campbell for abuse, appeared on model-turned-TV presenter TYRA BANKS’ talk show this morning (18SEP06) to talk about the hell the angry Brit put her through last year (05).
Brack, who was 19 when she landed a job as Campbell’s assistant, revealed she quit after four alleged abuse incidents, where she claims she was hit by mobile phones and her passport was stolen.
And she has no wish to meet Campbell face-to-face to discuss the case because she’s still terrified of the temperamental catwalk star.
She said, "I wouldn’t want to meet her again." Brack told Banks she stayed with her ferocious boss through much of 2005 because Campbell always apologised after her tirades, and her assistant felt sure the model would change.
She added, "When you’re 19 and you’re living in France and you’re a waitress and you get this job for a supermodel and go to New York and you’re travelling in private jets in a celebrity world and people tell you how good a job you’re doing and you’re important and you’re a good assistant, I was so proud.
"She always apologised and hugged me and told me she was sorry and she was just stressed out and I felt like I was important, but (in the end) I was lost.
I didn’t want to leave… because I thought she would change and I realised that she would never ever change."

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Birthday boy MARC ANTHONY and his wife JENNIFER LOPEZ are celebrating after their HECTOR LAVOE biopic became the subject of the biggest deal at this year’s Toronto Film Festival in Canada late on Friday (15SEP06).
Anthony, who turned 38 on Saturday (16SEP06), plays the late salsa superstar in the acclaimed new movie EL CANTANTE, which premiered in Toronto last week (13SEP06).
Lopez plays Lavoe’s wife PUCHI in the film, which was bought for almost $5 million (£2.8 million) by executives at Picturehouse, who now plan to release the film in July 2007.
Picturehouse spokesman BOB BERNEY says, "The Latino community is really an under served market, but because of the music and the cast, we really think it can cross over."

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Action man JET LI chose to quit making wushu martial arts movies because he’s tired of hurting himself and others.
The ROMEO MUST DIE star, 43, admits age is catching up with him and he’s beginning to feel the aches and pains of a lifetime of martial arts training.
Li, who started training at the world famous wushu academy in Beijing, China, when he was eight, admits he’s tired of fighting.
He says, "My older injuries bother me all the time. I just feel when I was eight years old and I was learning martial arts it was fine, and now it has taken up 90 per cent of my life’s learning.
"I never graduated. Physically and mentally, sometimes I feel tired. The biggest enemy is yourself." And Li admits he doesn’t like the thought of injuring co-stars and stuntmen who are too manly to admit they’re hurt.
He adds, "They never say I hurt them. They always say, `I’m OK, I’m fine.’ They want to make another movie again.
"Martial artists get hurt all the time but they don’t say, `I got to go home, don’t call me.’ They all put on these oils to fix it behind the scenes.
Everybody hurts each other."

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PATRICIA KENNEDY LAWFORD, the former wife of Rat Pack playboy PETER LAWFORD, died at her home in New York yesterday (17SEP06). She was 82.
The sister of assassinated US President JOHN F KENNEDY died from complications from pneumonia.
Kennedy Lawford was a Hollywood it girl in the 1940s and 1950s and wed British actor Lawford in 1954.
In a statement, her brother, Massachusetts Democratic Senator EDWARD KENNEDY, writes, "My sister Pat is irreplaceable. Everyone who knew Pat adored her. She was admired for her great style, for her love and support of the arts, her wit and generosity."

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LATEST: ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s son DANIEL was taking prescription anti-depression medication when he died at his mother’s hospital bedside last week (10SEP06), according to the latest autopsy reports.
Celebrated forensic pathologist CYRIL WECHT, who was hired to conduct a second autopsy by Smith, has ruled that Daniel was being treated for depression that began about four to six weeks earlier.
He did not know whether the medication played any role in his death, which came three days after his mother gave birth to a new baby girl.
Wecht has said he spoke to the psychiatrist who treated Smith and was told the dosage of the anti-depressant medication was "quite low" and that the depression "had to do with a girlfriend".
Wecht has revealed the autopsies have ruled out several natural causes and that the results of drug and chemical tests could take weeks. At present the investigation remains inconclusive.

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GET HERE singer OLETA ADAMS has joined the Christmas rush of stars releasing festive compilations - she’ll release her first album of holiday classics on CHRISTMAS TIME WITH OLETA next month (OCT06).
The gospel star made the project, her first release in five years, a family affair - she arranged the tracks on the album with husband JOHN CUSHON.
The collection features holiday tunes like SILENT NIGHT and WINTER WONDERLAND, as well as little-known spirituals and a new track, BREATH OF HEAVEN, which she co-wrote with Christian singer AMY GRANT.

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