Starring: Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner, Topher Grace, Emma Roberts, George Lopez, Hector Elizondo and Julia Roberts

Charles Darwin copes with the death of his daughter, Annie, by plunging into his work "The Origin of Species".

Starring: Craig Ferguson, Nick Lachey and Mila Kunis

LOS ANGELES – Paula Abdul has decided to quit the top-rated US television show “American Idol,” ending weeks of speculation about her future as a judge on the popular singing contest.

Making her announcement on her Twitter feed on Tuesday, Abdul said “with sadness in my heart,” she had decided not to return to “Idol” which is due to start auditions for its ninth season within days. She did not give any reason.

Abdul, 47, a singer/dancer turned TV personality, has been a mainstay of the show since it was launched in 2002 and quickly became an audience juggernaut for News Corp’s Fox network, growing into an estimated $1 billion-plus brand.

“I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon,” said Abdul, who was known for finding something positive in almost every performance. Read more »

Photo: Chris Brown and Rihanna

Chris Brown has pleaded not guilty to threatening and assaulting his girlfriend, fellow music superstar Rihanna. The 19-year-old R&B singer appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Monday alongside his attorney, Mark Geragos. He entered his plea in a soft voice while his mother sat in the first row, red-eyed.

Brown was charged in March by Los Angeles County prosecutors with felony assault likely to cause great bodily injury and making criminal threats. He was arrested nearly a month earlier after police said he was involved in an early morning altercation with a Read more »

“Slumdog” was the big winner of 2009 Oscars garnering 8 awards, earning Oscars for best picture, adapted screenplay, cinematography, director, sound mixing, film editing, original score for composer A.R. Rahman and best song, “Jai Ho” for Rahman and lyricist Gulzar. Slumdog Millionaire main actors were Dev Patel and Read more »

“High School Musical” tops box office: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In one of the more unusual duels at the North American box office, a perky Disney romantic musical trumped the fifth installment in the grisly “Saw” horror series, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

“High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” the first big-screen adaptation of Walt Disney Co’s popular TV movie franchise, sold $42 million worth of tickets during its first three days. The opening sets a new record for a musical, surpassing the $27.8 million bow of the ABBA-themed romance “Mamma Mia!” in July. Read more »

Actor and comedian Bernie Mac dies at age 50
By F.N. D’ALESSIO, Associated Press Writer
Sat Aug 9, 12:54 PM ET

CHICAGO - Bernie Mac, the actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper “Ocean’s Eleven” and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom “The Bernie Mac Show,” died Saturday at age 50.

“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Read more »

Reports says that hollywood actress Angelina Jolie gives birth to a girl and a boy. The babies are doing marvelously well according to their doctor interviewed by Associated Press. Jolie delivered the twins through Cesarian section at the seaside Lenval hospital in Nice in southern France, a boy named Knox Leon, and a girl named Read more »

Reuters LOS ANGELES - Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman gave birth on Monday to her first biological child, a daughter named Sunday, fathered by her husband and country music star, Keith Urban.

“Earlier this morning, Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban,” the New Zealand-born, Australian-bred Grammy winner announced on his Web site.

“We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share Read more »