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JAMIE FOXX gave political partygoers a treat when he stepped on stage for an impromptu performance celebrating the Presidential Inauguration of BARACK OBAMA.
Foxx took the mic to introduce R&B singer John Legend at the Declare Yourself party on Sunday (18Jan09).
But before Legend could start the show, Foxx began to rap and beatbox, to the surprise of party guests including Jessica Alba, Hayden Panettiere and Adam Levine who later performed with his band, Maroon 5.
An onlooker tells WENN, "He came out and started doing this rap and everyone started chanting Barack’s name." But Legend was quick to ground the crowd’s high hopes for the 44th President, adding: "Just because we love Barack doesn’t mean we don’t have to hold him accountable too."

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The original KARATE KID has lashed out at plans for a big budget remake of the hit franchise - urging Hollywood producers to leave classic films alone.
Ralph Macchio shot to international fame as a teenager when he landed the part of Daniel LaRusso in the first Karate Kid movie.
He went on to star in two sequels before the mantle was passed to a young Hilary Swank in 1994’s The Next Karate Kid.
Now the role is to be taken on by Will Smith’s 10-year-old son, Jayden, in a new version of the original movie, which will be co-produced by the youngster’s famous father.
And Macchio is adamant that the new film won’t be a hit with the public because too many movies are ruined by remakes.
He tells MTV.com, "It feels pretty good that some people are pretty angry that they’re trying to remake The Karate Kid. It feels good that the public feels you don’t touch certain things. Some times you go back to that, and probably shouldn’t.
“From my personal view, the filling the void of what Mr. Miyagi was - and the magic of that character - is going to be the toughest task. I (also) don’t know where the romantic story-arc goes (with Smith’s Daniel) at that age.”

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MARCIA CROSS’ husband TOM MAHONEY has been diagnosed with cancer.
The Desperate Housewives star and her stockbroker partner confirmed the news but refused to disclose any more details about the 50-year-old’s condition.
The actress’ representative, Heidi Slan, tells People.com, "He is currently under treatment and is responding very well." The couple, who wed in 2006, are parents to 23-month-old fraternal twin daughters, Eden and Savannah.

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Rockers IRON MAIDEN are planning to bring their recent world tour to the big screen with a major movie documentary.
Iron Maiden: Flight 666 - The Movie will feature footage from the group’s 2008 Somewhere Back In Time Tour which saw them play 23 shows across the world in 45 days.
The picture will show frontman Bruce Dickinson fly the band between dates on their customised Boeing 747 jet, christened Ed Force One after the band’s graphic mascot, Eddie.
The film will be released in cinemas worldwide on 21 April (09).

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

Music legend ARETHA FRANKLIN is pitching for a new job, as one of U.S.
President-elect BARACK OBAMA’s top advisors.
The singer is a huge supporter of the new leader, and has performed in Washington, D.C. as part of his inauguration ceremony.
But Franklin is eyeing a more prestigious post.
In an open letter to Obama, she says, "You should put me on your advisory team. But I am serious if you are interested." And her first piece of advice concerns the presidential diet: "Eat plenty of good soul food, Indian, Hawaiian, Chinese, gourmet etc. "Because as Dr. (Martin Luther) King used to say, ‘After a good soul meal, I could go around the world on a meal like that.’"

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R&B star LIL’ MO is celebrating after giving birth to a baby boy.
The Put It On Me singer, born Cynthia Loving, and her second husband Phillip Bryant, welcomed little Justin McKenzie Phillip Bryant into the world on Friday (16Jan09).
The tot weighed in at eight pounds, 15.4 ounces (four kilograms).
Lil’ Mo tells AOL’s BlackVoices, "He’s here and we’re so happy." The tot is the star’s first child with Bryant; she also has two daughters, Heaven, six, and three-year-old God’iss from her previous marriage to entrepreneur Al ‘Gus’ Stone.

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Late guitarist JEFF HEALEY was the big winner at Canada’s Maple Blues Awards landing seven posthumous prizes.
Healey, who lost his battle with cancer last year (Mar08) at the age of 41, was named Entertainer, Electric Artist and Guitarist of the Year and earned Recording of the Year for the album Mess of Blues.
The late musician’s group - the Jeff Healey Band - also picked up a string of awards, with Dave Murphy named Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year, Alec Fraser as Bassist of the Year and Al Webster Drummer of the Year.
Other winners included Suzie Vinnick, who was lauded with the Female Vocalist of the Year gong, John Mays who was named Male Vocalist of the Year, and Paul Reddick who landed the coveted SOCAN Songwriter of the Year prize.
Taj Majal was named International Artist of the Year and longtime guitarist Amos Garrett was awarded the lifetime Blues With A Feeling Award.

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DIONNE WARWICK’s unofficial concert to celebrate BARACK OBAMA’s inauguration has reportedly been cancelled due to low ticket sales.
The legendary singer was due to headline the American Music Inaugural Ball at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (20Jan09) night to commemorate the Democrat’s official assent to the White House.
The event - which also featured an Urban Ball, headlined by rap stars Ludacris and T-Pain - has been called off after the $450 (£310) tickets failed to sell out, according to TMZ.com.

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ALTER BRIDGE frontman MYLES KENNEDY has opened up about his unsuccessful audition with LED ZEPPELIN - insisting he was just grateful to have been given the chance to play alongside his heroes.
The singer was rumoured to be the front runner to take over vocals in the legendary group after the rockers revealed they were auditioning to find a replacement for Robert Plant, who opted out of a possible comeback.
But plans for the band to hit the road with a new singer were eventually scrapped, when none of the auditionees "worked out", according to guitarist Jimmy Page’s manager, Peter Mensch.
And Kennedy has revealed that he did indeed try out for a place in the group - and although he is disappointed not to be included in any future plans, he was delighted to have been able to join them for a jam session.
He says, "I am not singing in Led Zeppelin or any offshoot of Led Zeppelin, but I did have a great opportunity and it was something that I’m very grateful for. But Alter Bridge will go on, and that’s that.
"(It was) surreal. It was great. I’ll tell that story some day. But for now, it was a good experience, and I’m still pinching myself, let’s put it that way."

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SCARLETT JOHANSSON has channeled screen siren MARILYN MONROE in a sexy new advertisement for DOLCE & GABBANA.
The actress, the new face of the brand’s cosmetics line, has posed as the late blonde bombshell in a glamorous photo shoot for the Italian fashion house.
The Lost In Translation star is pictured sprawled across silk bedsheets wearing just a white corset and underwear, with a ruby red pout completing her Monroe transformation.
Designer Stefano Gabbana says, "Scarlett is sure of herself. She’s a beautiful girl, but she’s really easygoing. She is very Dolce & Gabbana."

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Troubled singer AMY WINEHOUSE has been criticised by her father MITCH for cavorting with a man while her husband BLAKE FIELDER-CIVIL is still in jail.
The Back to Black hitmaker is on an extended holiday on the paradise island of St Lucia in a bid to ditch her wild ways back home in London.
The star was pictured earlier this month (Jan09) exercising and cuddling up to clean-cut former rugby player Joshua Bowman, who has since denied romancing Winehouse.
But the pictures were the final straw for Fielder-Civil, who has instructed lawyers to start divorce proceedings against Winehouse on the grounds of adultery.
And the singer’s father, Mitch, was equally angered to see the shots of his daughter with another man while she was still formally married - and he made his feelings clear in an emotional phone call.
Mitch Winehouse says in new documentary Saving Amy, "I had to call Amy before she heard about it from someone else. She asked me, ‘Daddy, why does he want to divorce me?’ "I said, ‘You know I don’t like him, but I have to admit that your behaviour with another man is not what marriage is all about.’" Neither of the singer’s parents approved of her union with Fielder-Civil and the star’s mother Janis was horrified to receive a call from her daughter in May 2007 announcing the pair had wed.
She says, "Amy called and put Blake on the phone. He said, ‘Hi mum…’ and I felt as if I had a knife in my stomach. Who is this nothing, calling me mum?"

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Rapper 50 CENT is expanding his multimedia empire to include a film production company.
50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - has launched moviemaking firm Cheetah Vision and is busily promoting the new venture at top U.S. independent film festival Sundance.
Cheetah Vision has already secured the movie rights to eight scripts including The Dance, which will co-starring himself and actor Nicolas Cage.
Jackson, who also owns a record label and a clothing line, is convinced his film corporation will be a hit in spite of the current economic downturn because he will finance the firm himself to ensure its success.
He says, "I don’t think it will affect me (the recession) as much as it will the other people that are out there because I’m not afraid to finance some of these things myself if I have to." And the star is keen to repay fans hit hard by the economic crisis - by giving away his directing debut Before I Self Destruct with his forthcoming album of the same name, due in March (09).
The movie, which he also wrote and produced, tells the story of an inner city youth who takes up crime to support his younger brother after their mother is shot.

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USHER has recalled his frosty first meeting with U.S. President-elect BARACK OBAMA - when the pair battled over a candy bar.
The R&B star built up an appetite after spending a day campaigning with the future president and had his eyes firmly fixed on a snack left in Obama’s car.
But Obama was also determined to nab the sweet, sparking a friendly battle between the pair.
Usher tells MTV, "The first time we met, we actually were in transit in his car… kind of rolling. And, I’m starving, ’cause I hadn’t really ate.
"We had been campaigning all day, all over the place, and I kind of look around and I’m like, ‘Oooh, let me eat this candy bar or whatever.
"And we both look at it, and I’m like, ‘You’re not gonna eat that, are you?’ and he’s like, ‘You’re not gonna eat it, are you?’ I’m like, ‘Well, I’m gonna eat it if you don’t.’ So I grab and I tear it open - I took the man’s meal."

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HARRY POTTER star EMMA WATSON had never heard of screen legends DAME MAGGIE SMITH and GARY OLDMAN before working with them on the blockbuster movie franchise.
The actress, who plays Hermione Granger in the wizard films, grew up in an academic family and barely watched movies.
And she admits she failed to recognise most of her distinguished co-stars when she first stepped on set.
Watson says, "I didn’t go to acting school so I didn’t know that’s what I wanted to be. I came from a background of lawyers and academics and we just didn’t watch films in our household. I had no idea who Maggie Smith or Gary Oldman was."

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JIM CARREY battled doubts before taking on a role as a homosexual convict in I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS in case he discovered he enjoyed kissing men.
In the film, inspired by true events, Carrey stars as jailed con artist Steven Jay Russell who falls in love with his cellmate, Phillip Morris, played by Ewan McGregor.
The two actors locked lips for the comedy drama, prompting the funnyman to wonder what effect it would have on him and his relationship with Jenny McCarthy if he found himself enjoying it.
Carrey jokes, "I did find myself wondering what will people think? And what if I like it? And how will that affect me? And Jenny?" But his co-star McGregor didn’t hesitate to go all the way, adding: "It wasn’t awkward. You’re not playing a gay or a straight character. You’re playing someone who’s in love… As an actor you’re always looking for interesting stories. I’ve played gay characters so I’ve kissed men before.
"It’s about getting on with it. And it all felt strangely usual."

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PARIS HILTON plans to stay single following her split from GOOD CHARLOTTE rocker BENJI MADDEN in a bid to "find" herself.
The Simple Life star and the guitarist broke up in November (08) after nine months together, but the pair has remained good friends since parting.
And the socialite still isn’t ready for a new boyfriend, despite being single for two months.
She tells Heat magazine, "I’m not ready to move into another relationship. I think it’ll be good for me to be alone and find out who I am. One day I’ll find someone, but for now I don’t want to be with anyone." But Hilton plans to make it as hard as possible for any potential suitors to prove they really want to be with her.
She adds, ‘I’m always really hard to get with guys. There’s a process they have to go through. I’m very old-fashioned and I’ll make them have, like, a million dates before they get a kiss.
"People are surprised because they think I’ve been through so many men, but it’s not true. I don’t really talk to guys - apart from Benji, who I was with in the past year." However, reports this week (beg19Jan09) indicate that Hilton could have already found herself a new man - MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe.
The couple was spotted together at the Sundance Festival and a source tells the New York Daily News, "They were grinding each other on the dance floor forever, before lying together on a banquette. Then the couple began sucking face (kissing) hard. They left out the back door, with her hand in his pants pocket."

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Actors WESLEY SNIPES and DON CHEADLE tested filmmaker ANTOINE FUQUA’s patience on the set of BROOKLYN’S FINEST - by playing practical jokes on him every day.
The duo was determined to keep the director alert at all times - so they devised a series of pranks to trick Fuqua into paying attention.
Fuqua tells the New York Daily News, "They were always giving me a hard time on the set, giving me crap. They’d have earrings and jewellery that they weren’t supposed to have on when they showed up on set.
"For example, they’d show up in cheap watches when they were supposed to have blinged-out (expensive) watches on. Just silly little stuff to keep me on my toes and see if I was paying attention. They’re jokesters."

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Supermodel CINDY CRAWFORD makes a point of eating ice cream in front of her daughter - to ensure the youngster learns to enjoy food.
Crawford worries seven-year-old Kaia will develop obsessive dieting habits unless she learns that even her svelte mother indulges in treats.
The mum-of-two insists she has to exercise restraint while snacking - but tucks into the occasional sweet for her children’s sake.
She says, "I do want my kids to see their mom eating normally. If we go for ice cream I might get the tiny size but I’ll eat it. I don’t want my daughter to think she can’t eat ice cream."

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