People talk 051103

Madonna x-statically promoting new album

LONDON -- Film director Guy Ritchie watched from the wings as his wife, pop star Madonna, performed before 500 fans at a London record store to promote her new album, "American Life."

Madonna took to the stage 90 minutes later than scheduled on Friday and sang live in an acoustic set backed by a five-piece band, opening with the title track of her new album.

The performance wasn't without its hiccups.

Madonna played guitar on some tracks and had to restart "X-Static Process" after fluffing one of the chord changes. She joked: "You guys are making me nervous."

Goodbye, Sony: Ozzy seeking fresh blood

LOS ANGELES -- Ozzy Osbourne and Sony Records will be ending a two-decade relationship as the heavy metal rocker goes in search of what his manager-wife called "fresh ideas."

Sharon Osbourne is in the process of negotiating his exit from Sony, as well as that of their daughter, Kelly, publicist Lisa Vega said Friday.

"We've had 23 great years together," Sharon Osbourne said in a statement. "We've shared many great successes, but sometimes you have to search out fresh blood to get fresh ideas, which is a philosophy that every record company, especially Sony, understands."

Ozzy Osbourne is preparing for a Canadian tour in June and for his summer Ozzfest concerts.

Nicholson yells foul at Lakers game

LOS ANGELES -- Actor Jack Nicholson apparently got swept up in the playoff drama between the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers, stepping onto the court and screaming at a referee during a Western Conference game.

Nicholson reacted Friday night shortly after Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal was called for his third foul in the second quarter, yelling at Mark Wunderlich during a break in the action.

"I pay a lot of money for this seat," Nicholson said at halftime. "This is the NBA, you can't tell me to sit down."

Nicholson said nobody from security spoke with him, and he was back at his courtside seat as the second half began.

"Give me five, Jack," actress Dyan Cannon told Nicholson. "Thank you. He needed that."

Nicholson and Cannon are two of the Lakers' most visible fans.

'Last Samurai' filming wraps up for Tom Cruise

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Tom Cruise says he'll miss the local beach and fish and chips now that he's finished filming his scenes for "The Last Samurai."

Cruise flew on his private jet from the North Island town of New Plymouth on Friday.

The 40-year-old actor spent nearly four months in the Taranaki province filming on the set of the movie.

"I'm going to miss the fish and chips, we're going to miss our Friday night McDonald's you know, we are going to miss the beach at night," he told a local radio station shortly before his departure.

"The Last Samurai" is set for release in the United States in December.

Cheney advises self- confidence to graduates

SEARCY, Ark. -- Lynne Cheney urged Harding University graduates Saturday to search for work they love to achieve a successful life.

"May you find success," the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney told the school's 541 graduates. "May you discover the work you love and prosper in it."

In her short speech, she offered students rules for success, telling them to be confident but also to know where they stand.

"Take your self-confidence with you as you move to the next stage of your life," Cheney said. "It will help you, even though you're a beginner, to behave with assuredness, to act as if you know what you're doing."

University president David Burks said Cheney's speech drew a record crowd of nearly 7,000 to the private Christian school's graduation.-- From wire reports

Rapper Nelly to spearhead drive for bone marrow donors

LOS ANGELES -- Rap star Nelly will head up a nationwide bone marrow drive and awareness campaign to find a donor for his sister who has leukemia, his publicist said.

Nelly and his 29-year-old sister Jackie Donahue will enlist other celebrities to educate the public about the safety of donating bone marrow and to find a donor for Donahue and others, publicist Juliette Harris said Thursday.

The 28-year old rapper, born Cornell Haynes, won a Grammy Award this year for best male rap solo performance for "Hot in Herre." He also won for best rap-sung collaboration for "Dilemma," featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child.

Harris said she couldn't yet release the names of the other celebrities who will be involved in the "Jes Us 4 Jackie" campaign.

But she said the celebrities will be present at nine donor test sites in Los Angeles, New York and Nelly's hometown of St. Louis on June 21, and they will participate in a public service announcement that will be aired on television and radio ahead of the donor drive.

"It's a challenge and we have our work cut out for us, but we're confident that we're going to find Jackie a donor and also educate people about the diseases and the process" for gathering stem cells and bone marrow, Harris said.

She said the National Marrow Donor Program Registry is in dire need of donors for Donahue and other black patients, but donors of all ethnicities are encouraged to have their bone marrow tested. Of the nearly 5 million volunteers on the National Marrow Donor Program, only 388,000 are black.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Just call them "Bill" boards.

The Clinton Presidential Library Foundation has erected 10 billboards featuring an artist's rendition of the future downtown library, hoping to make Little Rock and its library complex an international tourist destination.

The Clinton Presidential Center will include a library, museum and park on the Arkansas River, just east of Interstate 30, and is expected to open in November 2004.

Eight billboards went up this week on major Arkansas highways near Harrison, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Russellville and Texarkana, and two more in regional tourism hot spots, Memphis, Tenn., and Branson, Mo. They will stay in place through November.

"The library has four major missions: One is archival, another is educational, and then there's tourism and economic development," said foundation director Skip Rutherford. "It's time for the tourist part right now."

Rutherford said the library has started talking with the National Civil Rights Museum and Graceland, both at Memphis, about cross-promotional efforts. He said they were natural partnerships because of Clinton's passion for civil-rights issues and love of Elvis Presley's music.

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LOS ANGELES -- Former "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon has agreed to a $7.2 million settlement of his lawsuit over toxic mold in his Beverly Hills mansion that allegedly sickened him and killed his dog.

In the past few months, McMahon has agreed to accept payments from American Equity Insurance Co. and other insurers and from various adjusters, consultants and cleanup contractors, according to court records cited Friday by the Los Angeles Times.

The lawsuit alleged breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

"We are very pleased the case has been settled," said lawyer Allan Browne, who represents McMahon. "The McMahons want to get on with their lives."

Browne declined to discuss details of the settlement, citing a confidentiality clause.

No one answered the phone at Travellers Property Casualty, which acquired American Equity. A company spokesman declined to comment to the Times, also citing the confidentiality clause.

McMahon, 80, claimed that his 8,000-square-foot home was left unlivable after contractors improperly cleaned up water damage from a broken plumbing pipe in 2001.

McMahon claimed that he and his wife became sickened, and that their dog, Muffin, developed respiratory illness and had to be killed.

On doctor's orders, the couple moved out of their six-bedroom home in September 2001.

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LOS ANGELES -- As Vulcan science officer T'Pol on UPN's "Enterprise," actress Jolene Blalock battles weekly with violent alien races, death rays and exotic outer-space dangers.

Her latest real-life adventure was a lot more fun.

Blalock flew with longtime boyfriend Mike Rapino to Negril, Jamaica, for a romantic getaway. Unbeknownst to Rapino, Blalock also secretly invited both of their families for what she hoped would be a surprise wedding.

"We spent five beautiful days down there," Blalock told Craig Kilborn on Friday on CBS's "The Late Late Show." "On the Monday night, we were sitting down to dinner and I got down on, actually, not one knee, but both knees, and asked my boyfriend to marry me."

Rapino said yes.

Blalock added: "At 6:15 p.m. tomorrow evening?"

Fortunately for Blalock and the couple's families, Rapino's answer was still yes. The couple was married in Negril last week.

-- From wire reports