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SHERYL CROW has become the latest artist to record a Christmas album.
The rocker has recorded her favourite holiday tunes for an upcoming album, which will be sold exclusively through greetings card chain Hallmark.
She tells Billboard.com, "I had been wanting to do this for a while, so when the opportunity came up I just kind of jumped at it.
"I love Christmas music; every year we have this ritual after the Christmas Eve service, 40 or 50 people come over the house and we play Christmas music.
We pretty much rely on the same Christmas music every year, and every year I’ve said, `I’m gonna make some Christmas music of my own.’ "The album is just gorgeous. It’s kind of a humble record; it’s very sweet and innocent and a little bit of a throwback to maybe the ’60s or ’70s in production. It’s definitely a departure from any Christmas record I’ve ever heard." Tracks include standards like Oh Holy Night, All Through the Night and White Christmas, as well as new track Hello, Friend.
Crow adds, "(That’s) about people coming back together at Christmas, which I think is really poignant." The untitled festive album will hit Hallmark Gold Crown stores in September (08).
Crow isn’t the only star getting ready for Christmas early this year - Faith Hill, Al Jarreau and reunited band Sixpence None The Richer are also recording 2008 holiday albums.

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

COLDPLAY star CHRIS MARTIN is convinced "handsome" bandmate GUY BERRYMAN is solely responsible for the band’s success - because girls and gay fans love him.
Martin admits that while he and his other bandmates desperately try to "stay thin" and look good, the bass player oozes charm and cool.
He tells Blender magazine, "My entire life is spent trying to push him forward at photo shoots. He’s our packaging… He’s a handsome bastard.
"None of us pretend that if he wasn’t in the band we’d be as popular. He’s responsible for all our calendar sales."

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DON CHEADLE, SIDNEY POITIER, LENNY KRAVITZ and DENZEL WASHINGTON have joined U.S. presidential hopeful BARACK OBAMA on a new list of the coolest African-Americans.
Music producer Quincy Jones, Richard Roundtree, Sammy Davis Jr., Jay-Z, Prince, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson also make Ebony magazine’s new 25 Coolest Brothers of All Time list.
Late icons Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac Shakur and Malcolm X are also included.

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Fatherhood has robbed British movie star GARY OLDMAN of his tough guy status nowadays he’d prefer to be home in time for dinner.
The Hannibal star admits he has lost the ambition he once had and now signs up for films that allow him to spend quality time with his kids.
He tells WENN that’s why he enjoys making Batman movies with director Chris Nolan: "He finishes so I can get home for dinner and put my kids to bed, and he’s not a lunatic who wants to work 17 hours a day.
"I don’t want to work with anyone like that. I want my weekends off and I want to put my kids to bed. Those are good reasons to want to be in Batman 2."

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MADONNA’s spiritual ties to mystical Kabbalah teachings have been partly blamed for baseball star ALEX RODRIGUEZ’s marriage crisis.
The pop superstar was recently romantically linked to the New York Yankees star, but now it appears they are just two close friends who share the same manager.
However, as Rodriguez’s wife Cynthia takes off to France to spend time with pal Lenny Kravitz, family and friends insist the baseball player’s interest in Kabbalah, which Madonna reportedly introduced him to, has driven a wedge between the couple.
Speaking to America’s Us Weekly magazine, Rodriguez’s father-in-law has confirmed the baseball star is dabbling with Kabbalah.
John Scurtis says, "He’s gotten involved in Kabbalah, which isn’t something we understand. We don’t really get that. My family is Greek Orthodox." But Scurtis refuses to pass judgment beyond that, stating, "He’s (Rodriguez) been very good to my daughter, and he’s been very good to us. I hope they work it out." A source close to the baseball star and his wife claims Rodriguez’s Kabbalah interest has changed the sports star.
The insider tells the New York Daily News, "I don’t recognise the man he’s become. He was a sweet, beautiful, loving husband and father. Today, he’s very cold and calculating."

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CHRISTIAN BALE won’t be letting his young daughter follow in his footsteps and become a child star, because he insists kids don’t understand the pressures of Hollywood.
The Batman Begins star was just eight when he started shooting TV commercials and he was 12 when he landed his first major movie role in Empire of The Sun.
But he admits stardom at an early age isn’t as amazing as it seems.
He tells WENN, "I have very strong opinions about why kids should not be working at such a young age.
"I think introducing children to a professional industry where they may not recognise the pressure is wrong. Very quickly they’re going to be under pressure.
"This is an adult industry. I would be very sceptical putting anybody I cared about, who was close to me, in this profession at a young age.
"I absolutely support it as a hobby and as an amateur pursuit but, to enter into it in a professional world, is a whole different ball game." Bale and his wife Sandra Blazic are parents to three-year-old Emmeline.

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ANGELINA JOLIE and BRAD PITT have officially been welcomed to Nice, France where they’ll become parents again - by the city’s Mayor.
Heavily pregnant Jolie checked herself into Lenval hospital on Sunday (29Jun08) and Mayor Christian Estrosi could not be happier that she and partner Pitt have chosen his city as the birthplace of their twins.
Insisting the new arrivals will always be considered honorary "Nicois", Mayor Estrosi says, "(This is) a very great honour and a great satisfaction. We are very happy for this choice of Ms. Angelina Jolie and Mr. Brad Pitt and I want to say to them that I wish a lot of joy to them and the babies, and great success for all of their lives (sic).
"All their lives they will be Nicois and all their life they will be able to come to Nice and we will receive them with great honour."

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LATEST: An embarrassing sex experience that almost cost Playboy boss HUGH HEFNER his life is to be exposed in a new book.
Hefner sat for a series of lengthy interviews with author Steven Watts for what will become Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream.
The tome details the Playboy boss’ history of shocking sexual escapades.
And Watts reveals not all the aging publishing mogul’s romps were as steamy as admirers might imagine - Hefner once almost choked on a sex toy.
A source tells the National Enquirer, "Hefner divulges he almost died doing what he loves best while he was dating Playboy Playmate Sondra Theodore." The incident is said to have occurred in 1977 when the pair were using a small sex toy that fell into Hefner’s mouth.
The insider adds, "Hef began choking and was about to pass out. Sondra quickly started pumping his chest until the toy was dislodged." The book is scheduled for release in October (08).

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Rocker TOMMY LEE has been left so inspired by his stint as a TV eco-warrior he’s `planting’ a fake lawn around his California home.
The Motley Crue star recently teamed up with rapper Ludacris to host new environmental show Battleground Earth and now he’s keen to follow the green actions of others.
He tells Blender magazine, "I’ve learned so much. I’m about to go solar and get totally off the grid.
"All the grass on my property is going to be replaced - this s**t, I’m telling you, it doesn’t smell, but it looks and feels exactly like real grass.
"No watering, no pesticides or fertilisers. It’s insane."

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Opera great DAME JOAN SUTHERLAND is recovering after breaking both her legs in a fall at her home in Switzerland.
The Australian-born soprano, who Luciano Pavarotti once dubbed "the voice of the century", has been living in Switzerland since her retirement almost 20 years ago.
The 81 year old is expected to spend up to eight weeks in hospital.

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RUSH stars ALEX LIFESON and GEDDY LEE felt sure the band was over for good when drummer NEIL PEART quit after losing his daughter and wife in the same year.
The double tragedies not only led to Peart leaving the group, they devastated his bandmates too.
Lifeson says, "I had no interest in it (music) anymore. I couldn’t play guitar. I couldn’t even listen to music for a year." Peart told his bandmates of his will to retire and took off on a soul-searching motorbike journey across America, which he has since chronicled in the book Ghost Rider: Travels on The Healing Road.
During his adventure, Peart met his current wife Carrie Nuttall, who guitarist Lifeson credits with helping get the Canadian supergroup back together in 2000.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I think that she was key in making him realise that he was a very unique talent and that it would be a pity to lose that." Lee adds, "Some conversation started coming around that he wouldn’t mind getting together with us to have a talk, so we got together and we talked and thought, `Well, it’s not the worst thing in the world to see if we can make some music again.’" Rush have since regained their crown as one of the biggest rock bands in North America.

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Rapper NAS first sampled marijuana when he was just nine years old.
The I Can hitmaker reveals his jazzman father Olu Dara would return from tours with tall tales and pot he’d share with his young son.
Nas says, "He’d be in the house smoking weed. He gave me weed when I was, like, nine years old. That was cool.
"(We’d) listen to music, talk, watch TV. I’d bug him for a hit, and on a few occasions he let me hit it." And, despite what some may think about his early introduction to illegal drugs, Nas insists his dad was the perfect role model: "Other kids didn’t have fathers like that. Either their father wasn’t around or they were in jail they weren’t musicians who travelled the world and came back with stories."

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Singer EMMA BUNTON is shocked by the constant paparazzi storm which follows fellow SPICE GIRL VICTORIA BECKHAM everywhere she goes - because she only sees her pal as a normal mum.
Bunton and Beckham were bandmates in the girl power group, with Victoria becoming fodder for the media after her lavish wedding to soccer superstar David Beckham in 1999.
And Bunton still can’t believe the attention fashion icon Victoria attracts.
She tells Britain’s Red magazine, "(I was in a restaurant with Victoria) and people were looking at her, trying to get her attention. "But, to me, she’s just Victoria, my friend. She’s an amazing mother and she’s very funny. She was texting me this morning and I was in hysterics that’s the part I see of her."

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JENNIFER ANISTON is laughing off tabloid reports suggesting she had banned ROD STEWART’s daughter KIMBERLY from attending JOHN MAYER’s recent London concert.
The former Friends star joined her rocker boyfriend for part of his European tour at the end of last month (Jun08).
But, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Aniston was enraged when she spotted socialite Kimberly Stewart backstage at his Hard Rock Calling gig in Hyde Park on Saturday (28Jun08) - and demanded she be removed from the site.
The publication went on to claim that "Jennifer doesn’t want anyone around that reminds her that (Mayer) used to be a player".
However, Aniston’s representative has dismissed the claims, telling Usmagazine.com the story is "absolutely false".

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Comedian JACK BLACK has vowed not to take legal action against the bosses of a Texas-based company using his name to sell a line of men’s grooming products.
The Shallow Hal star admits he was stunned to discover the existence of Jack Black Products for Men - because he never agreed to lend his name to the brand.
But, even though the products are misleading for his fans, Black is adamant any association with him can only do damage to their business.
He says, "I’m not happy! They even put a signature on the bottle. I haven’t pursued legal action, but it’s bulls**t.
"Here’s the thing - I’m hurting their business. Who would actually want to buy my body cream? Who says, ‘How do I get skin as smooth and silky as Jack Black’s?’"

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Kindhearted actor DAVID ARQUETTE showed his charitable side on Wednesday (02Jul08), when he helped to serve food to the needy at a youth club.
The Scream star joined other volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club in Venice, California as part of the Summer Food Service Program sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and America’s Second Harvest.

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Socialite KIM KARDASHIAN has become the latest celebrity to launch her own perfume.
The former girlfriend of R&B singer Ray J is busy sniff-testing different scents and flavours for the fragrance, which is due to hit stores in the U.S., Australia, England, Germany, and Japan next May (09).
Kardashian says, "It has always been a dream of mine to start my own perfume business, since I love to mix fragrances together and come up with new and different scents! I hope you understand my total excitement.
"It all started when my mom introduced me to famous perfumer Caroline Sabas from Gras, France. She and I have been working together to create a scent that is uniquely me that I can share with everyone!"

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Hip-hop mogul DAMON DASH is convinced the sale of Death Row Records won’t bring an end to rap heavyweight MARION `SUGE’ KNIGHT’s empire.
Knight was ordered to sell the label after he filed for bankruptcy; it was snapped up last month (Jun08) at auction for $25 million (£12.5 million) by independent label Global Music Group.
Many feared for the future of the label’s back catalogue, which includes the recordings of stars including the late Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.
But Dash insists the Death Row name will live on.
He tells WENN, "(They will) make some money with it! It’s the very beginning.
It’s gonna get even bigger and better."

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