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THE SOPRANOS actor JOHN COSTELLOE has committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
Costelloe, 47, played cook Jim "Johnny Cakes" Witowski in four episodes of the gangster drama in 2006.
His body was found at his home in New York, where he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Sopranos co-star Joseph Gannascoli says, "I was shocked when I heard, and it still hasn’t really sunk in. I never detected anything troubling about him. I enjoyed all the time I spent with him." Costelloe’s father, Michael, added: "It’s beyond me. This is too much for me to handle." The actor, who also worked as a firefighter, appeared in 2008 movie Doubt and played a cop in Die Hard 2.

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Veteran French singer CHARLES AZNAVOUR has been granted Armenian citizenship by presidential decree.
The 84-year-old singer - born Shahnur Aznavourian - was born in Paris, France to Armenian parents.
He serves as Armenia’s permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Aznavour also set up a foundation and organised a series of charity concerts to help earthquake victims in the country, ravaged by the 1988 disaster which left 25,000 people dead.
The presidency of the ex-Soviet republic said on Friday (26Dec08): "Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has signed a decree granting Armenian citizenship to the prominent singer and public figure, a hero of the Armenian people, Charles Aznavour."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Late singer EVA CASSIDY has scored a gold record in the U.K. and sold more than 3.5 million albums - 12 years after her death.
The star’s latest LP, Somewhere, has shifted 100,000 copies in Britain, rising to number four on the U.K. album charts.
Although she only released one LP in her lifetime, another 10 discs featuring Cassidy - including compilations and live shows - have hit shelves since her death.
And her overall sales figures in the U.K. have now topped 3.5 million.
Singer Katie Melua says, "Eva Cassidy is one of the greatest voices of our generation. The way she used understatement is inspiring and she had a rare ability to completely re-interpret a song, bringing new emotion to it and delivering an incredibly powerful performance." Cassidy died from cancer in 1996 at the age of 33.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Veteran French singer JOHNNY HALLYDAY and his wife have adopted a second Vietnamese baby girl - four years after adopting their first child together.
Hallyday, 65, and his wife of more than 12 years, Laetitia, revisited the country to adopt the baby girl, a government official in the south east Asian country said Friday (26Dec08).
According to a Vietnamese source, the girl came from a social welfare centre in northern Vietnam.
Head of Vietnam’s International Adoptions Agency, Vu Duc Long, confirmed the baby is less than one year old and in good health.
He tells the Associated Press: "Johnny Hallyday came to Vietnam and he has adopted a Vietnamese girl. All the formalities have been finished. She is with them now." According to a witness, the Gstaad, Switzerland-based couple visited the French embassy on 24 December (08).
In 2004, they adopted little Jade from the Thanh Ba orphanage in Phu Tho province, 40 miles (70 kilometres) northeast of Hanoi.
The new baby’s name has yet to be released.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Country singer CHARLES KELLEY is to wed after his girlfriend of two years said yes to his Christmas Day proposal.
Kelley, whose older brother Josh is married to actress Katherine Heigl, asked 25-year-old publicist Cassie McConnell to be his wife on Christmas morning, a spokesperson for the singer has confirmed.
A friend of the couple tells Usmagazine.com: "Everyone is so happy for them as they are so in love. It was only a matter of time." Kelley, 27, will tour with Keith Urban next year (09) with his group, country trio Lady Antebellum.

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Country singer TAYLOR SWIFT continues her reign over the competition after securing the top spot on the Billboard’s U.S. pop album chart for the third time in non-consecutive weeks.
The 19-year-old took the spot on Wednesday (24Dec08) with her release Fearless, which sold 330,000 copies on the week ending 21 December (08).
The song triumphed over debuts from R&B stars Keyshia Cole, whose A Different Me sold 322,000 copies, taking in the number two spot in its opening week.
Singer/actor Jamie Foxx made his debut with Intuition in third spot, selling 265,000 copies.
And Britney Spears continued her comeback with Circus at number four, selling 196,000 copies, with Beyonce Knowles rounding out the top five with her release I Am…Sasha Fierce, which sold 195,000.

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ASHLEE SIMPSON-WENTZ and her rocker husband PETE WENTZ have posted the first public photos of their newborn baby online without the help of a tabloid magazine.
Wentz blasted reports earlier this month (12Dec08) the couple were struggling to sell pictures of little Bronx Mowgli to a celebrity magazine and had failed to secure a cover deal in exchange for a heavy sum.
The new parents were offered "mounds and mounds of money by mags from here to Guam to pimp out the baby," born in November (08), but decided not to pose for the photos, Wentz said on his blog at the time.
In a posting on Wentz’s website FriendsOrEnemies.com on Thursday (25Dec08), the rocker is pictured kissing baby Bronx on the forehead as Simpson holds the tot.
The posting is headlined: "Happy Holidays to all our friends! Love, Pete, Ashlee and Bronx. We decided to share the best gift we could ever receive with you: Bronx Mowgli Wentz. We couldn’t be happier. "

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