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JENNIFER HUDSON is returning to the TV show which catapulted her into the spotlight - she is set to make a star turn on AMERICAN IDOL.
The Oscar-winning singer/actress first found fame when she was chosen as a finalist on the hit U.S. talent show’s third season in 2004.
Hudson finished seventh in the contest, losing out to eventual champion Fantasia Barrino, but went on to land a string of prizes - including an Academy Award - for her role in 2006’s Dreamgirls.
And the Spotlight hitmaker is making sure she doesn’t forget her roots - by playing an intimate set for the Idol judges and audience on Wednesday (25Mar09).
The performance, a week before her first solo tour with Robin Thicke kicks-off, will be pre-recorded and played in a later episode in the current season.

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Rapper JIM JONES has rejected a court recommendation to plead guilty to assault charges stemming from an altercation with NE-YO’s manager JAYVON SMITH last December (08).
The hip-hop star was in court on Tuesday (24Mar09) to face accusations of misdemeanour assault following a Christmas Eve (24Dec08) fight at a Louis Vuitton store in New York, where he and his entourage allegedly clashed with Smith.
Jones was offered a plea bargain from the district attorney - but maintained his innocence by refusing it, reports AllHipHop.com.
His attorney Scott E. Leemon says, "We rejected a recommendation from the D.A. that Jim plead guilty to a misdemeanour assault charge and a sentence of 10 days community service (and) 15 days (in) jail if he did not complete…
"There are no real injuries and an eyewitness has stated several times that Jim was not the person who started the physical altercation." The case has been postponed until 21 April (09).

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SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE star FREIDA PINTO has joined the cast of JULIAN SCHNABEL’s new movie about philanthropist HIND HUSSEINI.
The Indian star will join The Visitor actress Hiam Abbas, who will play the title character in Miral.
Husseini founded the Dar Al-Tifi orphanage in Jerusalem in 1948.
Artist/director Schnabel plans to shoot the film, an adaptation of a book by Rula Jebreal, in Israel and Palestine, according to Daily Variety.

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Bereaved VANESSA REDGRAVE is concentrating on work following the tragic loss of her daughter NATASHA RICHARDSON - she has signed to star in RIDLEY SCOTT’s ROBIN HOOD movie.
The acting great is set to play Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of the folklore hero’s nemesis King John, played by Oscar Isaacs.
Redgrave will join Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett, who was drafted as Maid Marion after Sienna Miller dropped out.
It is the British actress’ first major movie role since 2007’s Atonement.
The casting announcement comes just a week after the death of Redgrave’s thespian daughter.
Natasha Richardson passed away on Wednesday (18Mar09) after suffering a traumatic brain injury on the slopes Mont Tremblant in Montreal, Canada two days previously.
Redgrave and her daughter Joely Richardson, along with Natasha Richardson’s widower Liam Neeson, laid the star’s body to rest at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Millbrook, New York on Sunday (22Mar09).

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GREY’S ANATOMY actor T.R. KNIGHT was to blame for a three-car pile up in Hollywood last week (19Mar09), according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Knight was taking a left turn in an area of heavy construction on Hollywood Boulevard when he collided with another motorist.
A further vehicle was thought to be involved and one women was treated in hospital for minor injuries following the incident.
And a police representative has revealed Knight was the cause of the crash.
LAPD spokesman Richard French says, "He is at fault, but it was just a minor incident. He was late getting through the intersection." Knight, who walked away unscathed, is not expected to face charges.

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Music mogul SIMON COWELL snubbed a dinner party invite from newly appointed U.S. president BARACK OBAMA - insisting he was too busy to make time for the American leader.
The American Idol judge boasted to U.S. chatshow host Jay Leno that he was invited to meet the new president at the White House - but cancelled due to his hectic TV schedule.
He told the talkshow host, "He wanted to have dinner and our diaries didn’t quite match. We just didn’t quite connect." A shocked Leno replied, "And what were you doing - whitening your teeth? Fixing your hair?" Obama recently likened U.S. capital Washington D.C. to Cowell’s TV show, saying: "I do think in Washington it’s a little bit like American Idol. But everybody is Simon Cowell. Everybody’s got an opinion."

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REESE WITHERSPOON’s new animated movie is already a big hit in Russia - three days before it hits U.S. cinemas.
Monsters Vs. Aliens has become the fourth biggest animated film debut in Russia after Paramount and DreamWorks Animation executives opted to open the film in the former Soviet Union during a national school holiday.
Figures are yet to be confirmed, but the film has scored $6.2 million (£4.4 million) since it was launched in 644 locations last week (20Mar09).
Even before the movie, in which Witherspoon voices the character of a giant woman, is released in America, it has scored seventh place at the international box office for the weekend ending 22 March (09).
Slumdog Millionaire is the international number one movie.
Monsters Vs. Aliens is expected to debut at the top of the box office in America this weekend (29Mar09), displacing Nicolas Cage’s action movie Knowing, which claimed the top spot on Sunday (22Mar09) with an opening-weekend take of $24.8 million (£17.7 million).

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Actress JAIME PRESSLY has a childhood best friend to thank for helping her kick an eating disorder - because the pal caught the former bulimic in the act of throwing up.
The Joe Dirt star admits she was so desperate to keep her weight down as a young model, she resorted to regurgitating anything she ate after meals.
But when her friend Dawn caught her in the bathroom, she insisted that Pressly stop her desperate bid to stay thin.
The actress, who recounts her troubled days as a model in new memoir It’s Not Necessarily Not The Truth, says, "Dawn was going into my bedroom to grab something and she walked past the bathroom and heard me, and (she) went and got her boyfriend and her boyfriend busted the door down and said, ‘You will not, absolutely not, do this.’" Pressly reveals the "fear in their eyes" made her realise she had gone too far in her bid for modelling perfection.

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JENNIFER ANISTON and OWEN WILSON’s family film MARLEY & ME has kept its place at the top of the U.K. box office chart.
The dog comedy garnered $3 million (£2.1 million) to remain the most popular film in British cinemas for a second consecutive week.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop - starring Kevin James - entered at number two, with takings of $1.9 million (£1.3 million) while Julia Roberts’ spy thriller Duplicity grabbed the number three position, with $1.1 million (£796,245).
Brit comedy Lesbian Vampire Killers opened at four, earning $975,000 (£664,804), while comic book blockbuster Watchmen rounded out the top five with $870,000 (£594,510).

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SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS is to play revered author and adventurer ERNEST HEMINGWAY in a new movie, directed by ANDY GARCIA.
The Welsh actor, who has played real-life figures in Nixon, Surviving Picasso, Amistad and The World’s Fastest Indian, will play Hemingway in independent movie Hemingway & Fuentes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Garcia co-wrote the script with Hemingway’s niece, author Hilary Hemingway. He will star opposite Hopkins - as fishing-boat captain Gregorio Fuentes, who befriended the writer in the last decade of his life.
Fuentes is reportedly the inspiration behind Hemingway’s Santiago character in his beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning tale The Old Man and the Sea.
Annette Bening is in talks to play Hemingway’s wife Mary Welsh, according to the publication.

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Rapper 50 CENT has denied he was axed from the cast of SYLVESTER STALLONE’s forthcoming movie THE EXPENDABLES - insisting he pulled out to concentrate on his music career.
The In Da Club hitmaker signed up to star as Hale Caesar in the upcoming action movie, after Forest Whitaker pulled out due to conflicting schedules.
But earlier this week various internet reports claimed 50, real name Curtis Jackson, was dropped by director Stallone after film fans complained that the rapper wasn’t a credible actor.
And Jackson has now responded to the rumours - revealing it was him who turned down the role.
A representative for the star tells WENN, "50 Cent was offered the role of Hale Caesar in The Expendables, however as he is currently in the process of completing his forthcoming album Before I Self Destruct with Dr Dre and Eminem he was unfortunately not able to commit to the project." Jackson has been replaced by Everbody Hates Chris actor Terry Crews.

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MOTORHEAD star LEMMY is forever surprised by the group’s legions of celebrity fans.
The Ace of Spades singer has discovered Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was once the head of California’s Motorhead fan club - and his pal Cliff Burton, Metallica’s original bassist, was the only other member.
And he recently learned actor Jude Law is a big fan.
Lemmy tells Spin magazine, "He came to show we did in England at the Royal Festival Hall. He showed up backstage while I was still covered in sweat and told me he loved it.
"He was really nice. I was surprised - you don’t think of actors liking music."

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Singer DAVID BYRNE has ruled himself out a TALKING HEADS reunion - insisting he doesn’t need the money.
The group - who broke devotees’ hearts when they split in 1991 - could demand a fortune to team up again for a series of gigs.
But frontman Byrne is adamant that he would rebuff any offers to reform the band.
He says, "I’m not keen and it’s unlikely to happen. I don’t need the money badly enough." Talking Heads last performed together in 2002 at the ceremony of their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Legendary Motown drummer URIEL JONES has died. He was 74.
Jones passed away in a Michigan hospital on Tuesday (24Mar09) after suffering complications from a heart attack.
He was the last surviving drummer in the Motown 1960s/70s session band the Funk Brothers.
The musician was best known for his work on a string of Motown classics including Marvin Gaye’s I Heard it Through the Grapevine and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
Jones is survived by his wife June and their three children; Lynnaire Barnett, Gary Jones and Brooke Gardner.

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JOSH GROBAN has dismissed rumours he’s dating pop sensation KATY PERRY - insisting the pair are just friends.
A host of websites reported earlier this week (23Mar09) that the two musicians had become an item, with Perry’s celebrity blogger pal Perez Hilton insisting the pair were trying to keep the romance under wraps.
But Groban’s representative Luke Burland has shot down the relationship rumours.
He tells People.com, "Josh and Katy are very close friends and hang out, but they are not a couple." Perry split from Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy earlier this year (09). Groban has previously dated actress January Jones.

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Superproducer TIMBALAND has reportedly filed a lawsuit against his record label - accusing music bosses of attempting to tarnish his reputation.
The Way I Are hitmaker claims executives at record company Blackground became jealous over his success as a producer and performer - contacting other labels to tell them not to hire him.
The hip-hop star, real name Timothy Mosley, also alleges the company has stifled him out of money.
He is now seeking for his contract with the label to be terminated and unspecified damages, according to TMZ.com.
No further details were availabe as WENN went to press.

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DAME JUDI DENCH has made a triumphant return to the London stage - just days after she was hospitalised following a fall outside a theatre.
The 74-year-old was forced to temporarily pull out of her new play Madame De Sade when she tripped over upon exiting the Wyndham theatre on Thursday night (19Mar09).
The Casino Royal star suffered a badly sprained ankle in the fall and was ordered to rest by doctors - but after missing four performances Dench decided to get back to work on Tuesday (24Mar09), using a stick to aid walking.
She says, "I am thrilled to be returning to Madame de Sade, and would like to thank everyone for their support during this time. We are having enormous fun as a company, and I am looking forward to getting back to the role of Madame de Montreuil."

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Former GREY’S ANATOMY star ISAIAH WASHINGTON is reportedly facing legal action and eviction from his Los Angeles home in a row over unpaid rent.
According to TMZ.com the actor’s landlord filed papers on 24 March (09) claiming that Washington is five months behind in rental payments, amounting to a total of $100,000 (£70,000).
Washington and wife Jenisa now face being kicked out of the $3.5 million (£2.3 million) property in Venice, L.A.
No further details were available as WENN went to press.

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