Michael Jackson has managed to save his Neverland ranch from being auctioned.

The ‘Thriller’ singer - whose 2,800 acre Californian estate was due to go under the hammer on March 19th unless he could raise a staggering $24.5 million - worked out a deal with Fortress Investment Group LLC to refinance the property.

Jackson’s lawyer said: “They’ve sorted out a confidential agreement. Neverland and Michael Jackson are fine.”
Fortress Investments originally loaned Jackson $300 million to pay off his debts and threatened to sell the property through a Santa Barbara real estate broker if it wasn’t sold at auction.

Jackson hasn’t lived at the Neverland ranch since June 2005, when he moved to Bahrain. In 2006, authorities ordered the property to be boarded up after it was revealed Michael had not paid his employees or kept up with insurance payments.

The eccentric pop star bought the property in 1987, intending to turn it into a “paradise for children”. After installing a parade of fairground rides and a zoo, which included elephants, snakes, giraffes and llamas, Michael opened up his fairytale home to children.

Jackson was acquitted of sexual molestation in a harrowing court drama in 2005.

“Dancing in the Street” is a 1964 song first recorded by Martha and the Vandellas. It is oneof Motown’s signature songs and is the group’s premier signature song.

Martha and the Vandellas original

Produced by William “Mickey” Stevenson and written by Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, the song

highlighted the concept of having a good time no matter in which city the listener lived.

The song was conceived by Stevenson who was showing a rough draft of the lyrics to Gaye

disguised as a ballad. When Gaye read the original lyrics, however, the singer said that the

song sounded more danceable. With Gaye collaborating with him in lyrics, the duo composed

the single with Kim Weston in mind to record the song. Weston passed on the song and when

Martha Reeves came to Motown’s Hitsville USA studios, the duo presented the song to Reeves.

Hearing Gaye’s demo of it, Reeves asked if she could arrange her own vocals to fit the

song’s message.

Gaye and Stevenson agreed and including new Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter adding in

musical composition, the song was recorded in two takes. The interesting loud beat of the

drums in its instrumentation can be attributed to Hunter, who banged on a crowbar to add to

the drum beat led by Benny Benjamin.

While produced as an innocent dance single (it became the precursor to the disco movement of

the 1970s), the song took on a different meaning when riots in inner-city America led to

many young black demonstrators citing the song as a civil rights anthem to social change

which also led to some radio stations taking the song off its play list because certain

black advocates such as H. Rap Brown began playing the song while organizing demonstrations.

“Dancing in the Street” peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles chart when it

was originally released as the group’s third album Dance Party’s first single in 1964 (see

1964 in music), with “There He Is (at My Door)” included as a B-side. The song also reached

the top 5 on the UK pop charts peaking at #4 in a 1969 release after initially peaking at

#28 on the chart and helped to revive the Vandellas’ success in England.

On April 12, 2006, it was announced that Martha and the Vandellas’ version of “Dancing in

the Street” would be one of 50 sound recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the

National Recording Registry. Lead singer Martha Reeves said she was thrilled about the

song’s perseverance, saying “It’s a song that just makes you want to get up and dance”.

This version was #40 on the list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.
Jagger-Bowie version

A second hit version was done by Mick Jagger and David Bowie as a duo in 1985, as part of

the Live Aid charity movement. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with

Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, until it was realised

that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible.

Instead, the pair decided to cover “Dancing in the Street” (having rejected an earlier

possibility, “One Love” by Bob Marley). In June 1985, Bowie was recording his contributions

to the Absolute Beginners soundtrack at Abbey Road Studios, and so Jagger arranged to fly in

to record the track there. A rough mix of the track was completed in just four hours, at

which point the pair went straight out to London Docklands to film a video with director

David Mallet. Thirteen hours after the start of recording, this also was completed. Jagger

arranged for some minor musical overdubs in New York.

The video (featuring both stars hugging furiously, and sending each other up) was shown

twice at the Live Aid event. Soon afterwards the track was issued as a single, with all

profits going to the charity. “Dancing in the Street” topped the UK charts for four weeks,

and reached number seven in the United States. Bowie and Jagger would perform the song once

more, at the Princes’ Trust Concert on June 20, 1986. It is the last UK number-one single to

date for Bowie, and the only number-one success for Jagger in his native country as a solo

artist. The song has since featured on several Bowie compilations.

Although a hit at the time of its release, the record (as well as the rushed video) is not

particularly popular today among either Bowie or Jagger fans. Many Bowie, Jagger and rock

fans in general often refer to this pairing as Ja-Bo (or JaBo) a derisive allusion to the

saccharine media nick names for celebrity couples. The term Ja-Bo was first coined by the

popular rock music discussion blog, Rock Town Hall who in 2007 named this video “Rock Crime

of the Century”.
Nikki Webster version

Chong Lim produced Nikki Webster’s version of the song for her third album, Let’s Dance. It

was released as the album’s first single in 2003 (see 2003 in music) and peaked at number

nineteen on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in October 2003. Its video was filmed at Movie

World. The CD single included two remixes of the song: the “Movin’ Drivin’ Shakin’” remix

and the Karaoke mix.
Van Halen version

A seemingly unlikely cover of “Dancing in the Street” is the version recorded by the hard

rock band Van Halen for the group’s Diver Down album. The group also released the song as a

single, which reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #3 on Billboard’s

Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Other cover versions and allusions

From the beginning the song took on a life of its own, with cover versions from Dusty

Springfield, The Mamas & The Papas, The Who, The Grateful Dead, The Kinks, Cilla Black,

Myra, Atomic Kitten, Girl Authority, Human Nature, Tim Curry and so on.

It is also alluded to directly or indirectly in other songs, most notably by The Rolling

Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Racing in the Street”.

In literature, it is also mentioned in the graphic novel V for Vendetta.

On 14th October 2006 on the ITV programme The X Factor, Louis Walsh’s group The

Unconventionals sang a cover version of “Dancing in the Street”; they were eliminated that

night.

Rockapella also performs an a cappella cover of the song.

Teen singer Myra covered the song for the 2001 movie Recess: School’s Out.

This song is playable in the North American release of Donkey Konga.

In 2005, to celebrate the Nationwide launch of Macy’s, they launched a commercial featuring

a pop-version of the song
Appearances on TV

The original version was the title music for the 1995 BBC documentary series of the same

name about the history or rock and roll. This song was used on ITV’s Police, Camera, Action!

on the episode Nicked! in 2002. It was also performed by The Unconventionals on the third

series of The X Factor in 2006.
Chart performance

Martha and the Vandellas
Country Peak
position
UK 4
US 2

David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Country Peak
position
Australia 1
The Netherlands 1[1]
South Africa 10
UK 1
US 7
Credits

Martha and the Vandellas

Lead vocals by Martha Reeves
Background vocals by Betty Kelley, Rosalind Ashford, Marvin Gaye and William “Mickey”

Stevenson
Produced by William “Mickey” Stevenson
Written by Marvin Gaye, William “Mickey” Stevenson, and Ivy Joe Hunter
Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
Benny Benjamin: drums
Steve Reid: drums
James Jamerson: bass guitar
Jack Ashford: percussion
Ivy Jo Hunter: percussion (crowbar)
Henry Cosby: saxophone
Thomas “Beans” Bowles: saxophone
Robert White: guitar
Eddie “Chank” Willis: guitar
Joe Messina: guitar

Live Aid

Produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer
Lead vocals by David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Guitar by Kevin Armstrong, G.E. Smith and Earl Slick
Bass by Matthew Seligman and John Regan
Drums by Neil Conti
Percussion by Pedro Ortiz and Jimmy Maclean
Trumpet by Mac Gollehon
Saxophone by Stan Harrison and Lenny Pickett
Keyboards by Steve Nieve
Backing vocals by Helena Springs and Tessa Niles

Track listings

Live Aid version

7″: EMI / EA 204 (UK)

“Dancing in the Street” (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) — 3:14
“Dancing in the Street” (instrumental) (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) — 3:14

12″: EMI / EA 204 (UK)

“Dancing in the Street” (Steve Thompson mix) — 4:40
“Dancing in the Street” (dub version) — 4:41
“Dancing in the Street” — 3:14
also released on download in 2007

Nikki Webster version

“Dancing in the Street” (radio edit) — 3:52
“Dancing in the Street” (Movin’ Drivin’ Shakin’ remix) — 3:57
“Dancing in the Street” (karaoke mix) — 3:51

Imagine “Pretty Woman” starring Molly Ringwald. Or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with Tom Selleck as leading man. How about “The Graduate” with Robert Redford playing Benjamin Braddock — instead of Dustin Hoffmann?

Those were studios’ early choices to fill now-legendary film roles. Hard to believe? Little wonder. “The essence of a good casting decision is that you simply take it for granted,” says Janet Hirshenson, a casting agent behind some of Hollywood’s biggest films, including “A Beautiful Mind,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “A Few Good Men.”

The way she sees it, it’s only on the rare occasion that viewers try to imagine a different cast that they realize the impact of such decisions.

“I think that when it all comes together and it works, how could you imagine anybody else?” adds Jane Jenkins, Hirshenson’s casting partner and co-author of “A Star is Found: Our Adventures of Casting Some of Hollywood’s Biggest Movies.” “It only sticks out like a sore thumb when it doesn’t work, but usually those movies don’t do well enough for anybody to even notice.”

Try to consider the 1980s sitcom “Family Ties” without Michael J. Fox playing uber-Republican Alex P. Keaton. It seems almost impossible now, but the television studio only offered the now-iconic part to Fox after first-choice Matthew Broderick passed on the role.

At the time, the show’s producers felt Fox was simply too short for the gig. To make the point, NBC Entertainment Chief Brandon Tartikoff asked the show’s creator Gary David Goldberg if he could imagine Fox’s face on a lunchbox. Some years later, after “Back to the Future,” Fox’s face did find its way to lunchboxes — and he was sure to send one to Tartikoff, with a note attached that reportedly read: “Dear Brandon, this is for you to put your crow on. Lots of Love, Michael J. Fox.” Rumor has it Tartikoff kept the lunchbox in his office for the rest of his NBC career.

Making the right casting call is crucial to financial success in entertainment, which is why a casting director (either employed by the studio or working on a freelance basis) as well as a director, producer, and studio executives weigh in on the decisions.

In an increasingly crowded entertainment universe, a film’s opening-weekend box office figures (or a TV show’s premiere ratings) have become a vital measure of a project’s success; that’s why casting directors often come up with the same lists of stars at the beginning of the process. After all, there’s only a select cadre that can not only secure funding, but also turn a profit. Of late, that group consists of a handful of names — all of them male — including Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Mel Gibson, and Matt Damon.

According to Hirshenson and Jenkins, actors typically pass on starring roles for two reasons: money and time. More specifically, they can’t get enough of the former or they don’t have enough of the latter. But other times, stars are simply uninterested — or uncomfortable — with the roles. And when you’re on the industry’s A-list, you’re allowed to be picky.

Take Mark Wahlberg, who has admitted to passing on “Brokeback Mountain.” “The Departed” actor told the press he turned down the opportunity because he was “a little creeped out” by the homosexual cowboy storyline and its subsequent sex scene.

Wise move? Probably not. The landmark film scored Heath Ledger an Oscar nod and generated $80 million — as well as accolades — at the box office.

Same goes for Anne Hathaway — she was all set to play Alison Scott, an entertainment reporter whose one-night stand with a slacker leads to a surprise pregnancy in last summer’s comedy “Knocked Up,” but dropped out for creative reasons. Hathaway later told the press: “I turned down another movie because it was going to show a vagina — not mine, but somebody else’s. And I didn’t believe that it was actually necessary to the story.”

The move worked out well for her replacement, “Grey’s Anatomy” star Katherine Heigl. The raunchy flick proved a smash hit at the box office, and the role catapulted the small-screen actress to big-screen stardom.
 

The hottest accessory on this year’s Oscar red carpet was carried beneath the designer gowns.Nicole Kidman, Jessica Alba and most noticeably Cate Blanchett brought baby bumps to the Academy Awards. And though Angelina Jolie was nowhere to be found, hers got a big shout-out from host Jon Stewart, who noted the number of actresses who are expecting.

“This is so exciting. The baby goes to … Angelina Jolie,” Stewart said, opening a fake envelope as photos of Blanchett, Alba and Kidman flashed on the screen. “Angelina couldn’t be with us tonight. It’s tough to get 17 baby sitters on Oscar night.”

Blanchett is closest to term for what will be a third child with playwright husband Andrew Upton. Kidman is expecting her first child with country singer husband Keith Urban; she has two adopted children with first husband Tom Cruise.

Alba, with fiancee Cash Warren at her side, was serene in a deep purple strapless gown with purple feathers decorating her bodice.

“I’m not really terribly nervous,” she said before the show. “Being pregnant is like taking a sedative.”

Jolie and partner Brad Pitt are expecting their second child together. They are the parents of 1-year-old Shiloh, and three children adopted from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Their adopted children are Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; and Zahara, 3. ___

TAKE THIS BLING AND SHOVE IT: The shoes fit and cost $1 million but Diablo Cody didn’t wear ‘em.

Fancy-footwear designer Stuart Weitzman had selected the Oscar-nominated “Juno” screenwriter to wear his specially designed $1 million diamond-encrusted Retro Rose shoes on the red carpet, but Cody opted to wear a pair of simple gold flats under her flowing Dior leopard print dress instead.

“It was a cheesy publicity stunt,” she told the AP on the red carpet.

On Friday, Cody lashed out at Weitzman on her MySpace blog following the expensive shoe selection.

“They’re using me to publicize their stupid shoes and NOBODY ASKED ME,” she wrote. “I would never consent to a lame publicity stunt at a time when I already want to hide.”

Weitzman later said he made the cost of the metallic beige T-strap high heels more than $2.5 million, including parts that were not used in the final pair clear to Cody when he met with her. He blames the stripper-turned-screenwriter’s behind-the-scenes team for not fully communicating the value of the shoes to Cody.

“I’m just embarrassed that she wrote what she wrote,” he told the AP during a telephone interview Saturday night.

Even so, the designer says he wouldn’t change his decision to give the ultra-expensive heels to Cody.

___

RAIN CHECK: Mother Nature should have known better than to try to dampen Hollywood’s biggest event of the year.

Although the heavens opened up and rain poured down on Los Angeles almost all day Sunday, anyone watching the Academy Awards at home would have had no idea.

Yards and yards of tenting kept all of the red carpet outside the Kodak Theatre high and dry except for one brief edge near a tricky turn. Powerful lights gave the illusion that the sun was shining even though most of the time it wasn’t.

“It’s great to be here and not get rained on,” said Oscar nominee George Clooney, who spent nearly an hour on the red carpet schmoozing with fans and talking with reporters before the show.

Oscar producer Gil Cates said the tenting kept the humidity down, helping actresses who had spent hours on their hair look the same as they did when they walked out of the salon. He might have gotten an argument on that point, however, from Steve Carell.

“It’s really sort of like a greenhouse in here,” Carell said upon arriving on the red carpet. “It’s like hydroponics.”

After hours of heavy rain, the sun finally did break through, just a few minutes before the Oscar pre-show began.

It was the perfect Hollywood ending to a thoroughly Hollywood day.

___

BUSEY BODY: Gary Busey lived up to his reputation by strangely crashing Ryan Seacrest’s interviews on the Academy Awards red carpet.

While Seacrest was interviewing Jennifer Garner and Laura Linney on the live E! pre-show broadcast, Busey repeatedly interrupted.

After Busey warmly greeted Linney, Seacrest introduced him to Garner, whom he promptly gave a bear hug. Garner was clearly annoyed, and was left wondering why “this man” had just grabbed her. Linney tried to usher them both out of the interview as Garner curtly replied to Seacrest’s final questions.

As Busey continued to linger, Seacrest politely suggested they catch up later in the evening.

“I’ll see you later at the party. You know the one,” said Seacrest.

When an E! co-host asked Seacrest what had happened, Seacrest was dumbfounded and acknowledged he had never met Busey before.

The 63-year-old actor has parodied his out-there reputation on HBO’s Hollywood insider comedy “Entourage.”

Associated Press writers Sandy Cohen, Derrik J. Lang, Ryan Pearson and Jacob Adelman contributed to this report, and Raquel Maria Dillon contributed for The Associated Press.

___

SPEECH! SP … : Just 12 seconds and 34 words, including the “um.”

Alexandra Byrne set the gold standard in short award show acceptance speeches when she picked up the costume design Oscar for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.”

And she still got in four “thank yous.”

SOURCE:OSCARS.MOVIES

Born: January 31, 1937

 Biography:

Glamorous, down-to-earth leading lady Suzanne Pleshette was the daughter of the managing director of Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater. She attended Performing Arts High School, Finch College, and Syracuse University. After some TV experience, she made her film debut in Jerry Lewis’ The Geisha Boy (1958), then went on to replace Anne Bancroft as star of Broadway’s The Miracle Worker. During her years at Warner Bros., Pleshette successfully avoided simpering ingénue roles, holding out for parts requiring beyond-her-years emotional depth. Her flair for comedy was delightfully tapped during her subsequent tenure with Disney in such films as The Ugly Dachsund (1967) and The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1968). Pleshette’s film work, however, has never struck so responsive a chord with the fans as her television work, notably her portrayal of Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978) — a role that she briefly and hilariously reprised on the very last episode of Newhart’s subsequent series, Newhart. She then starred in several short-lived TV series, including Maggie Briggs (1984), Bridges to Cross (1986), and The Boys Are Back (1994), and was also a ubiquitous presence in such made-for-TV movies as Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean. And yes: Incredible as it may seem, Suzanne Pleshette was once married to Troy Donahue. Pleshette died of respiratory failure in January 2008

These are new pictures that surfaced on the internet recently of Heath Ledger. These are from the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight, where he plays the Joker.

From the few pictures that they’ve revealed of him so far, he looks creepy as hell. Hopefully the visuals match his performance in the movie. In an interview I’ve read recently, Ledger reportedly locked himself into his hotel room in England for a month to perfect the entire persona of Joker for this role; trying out different voicing and character movements.

Batman The Dark Knight comes to theaters July 18th, 2008.

source:myobd

NEW YORK - Paul McCartney says recent media reports that he had a heart procedure last year are “entirely untrue.”
“People are ringing and texting me saying, `Are you OK?’” he writes in a posting on his newly redesigned Web site. “I hadn’t seen the report so I was puzzled by so many enquiries about my health. So I think it’s a good time to put this rumour to rest.”

The 65-year-old ex-Beatle says that during a routine medical examination over a year ago, “there was a minor irregularity which I needed to have tests for and which I have now been assured is completely fine.”

Recent media reports “completely distorted the story, calling it an angioplasty, which is entirely untrue, and this is why so many friends have been concerned about my health,” he writes.

Angioplasty is a procedure to check and clear clogged arteries in the heart.

“I am happy to say that I feel great and I have passed my most recent medical with flying colours.”

McCartney, who is nominated for a Grammy Award for his latest album, “Memory Almost Full,” says he wants to assure friends and family that he’s in good health.

He adds: “I have secretly been enjoying all the sympathy I’ve been getting!”