Sarah Jessica's Still Sexy in the City

Her HBO show may be history, but Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are still sexy in the city. When Broderick joined his wife at a late-night dinner party at New York's Plaza Athenee to celebrate the premiere of her movie The Family Stone, they said hello with a long, passionate kiss. And this was after a long day for both of them: The pair appeared separately on the Today show that morning (he for Broadway's The Odd Couple; she for her Golden Globe-nominated role in Stone. Even so, they stayed until well after midnight, chattering away with Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld.

Ben Affleck and Wife Jennifer Give It Up

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are in the giving spirit: The new parents each made $500 donations to Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick's campaign recently.
Affleck is an ardent Democratic supporter, and his political passion runs in the family: mom Chris was one of several cohosts of a Cambridge, Mass., fundraiser in late October for Patrick – a lawyer and former Clinton administration official – and the event raised over $10,000. Garner is apparently following in the Affleck clan's footsteps.
"Jennifer Garner's donation was listed under Jennifer Affleck," Patrick's press secretary Libby DeVecchi tells us. "And no money yet from baby Violet, but we have three out of four Afflecks – and the baby is too young to legally give!"

Brittany's Sexy Killer Pussy

Brittany Murphy is putting the finishing touches on the "super-sexy" dance track "Faster Kill Pussycat" for top deejay Paul Oakenfold's upcoming album Never Was. "She sounds like a sex kitten," says our insider. And this isn't Murphy's first time behind the mic. Besides voicing the character Luanne on FOX's King of the Hill, she fronted the '90s band Blessed Soul with Six Feet Under actor Eric Balfour and sang a Carly Simon tune for her 2004 movie Little Black Book.

Bono Kicked to the Curb?

U2 singer Bono has revealed that he thought he was going to be thrown out of the band over his campaigning against global poverty.
The star has said that at one stage he was concerned that his commitment to the cause may force him to quit the group.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he explained that his campaigning activities had "raised eyebrows" amongst fellow band mates The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.
"There was one point when I thought 'I'm going to be thrown out of the band for this stuff'," Bono said.
However, he said that the rest of U2 were "hugely supportive spiritually and financially of the work I do, but they are in a rock 'n' roll band and the first job of a rock 'n' roll band is not to be dull."
He added: "So we have to be very careful about just letting me go too far. People just openly jeered and I felt like I was a weight around my band's neck for doing this kind of work."
Bono was heavily involved in the summer's Live 8 concerts as well as the Make Poverty History campaign, and makes speeches about global poverty during U2 gigs.
According to BBC News, the singer said that he was worried that his stance would "wear out the audience" but that he did not think this had happened.
"People are smart out there. They know what you are doing, they know the compromises you are making, they get it," he explained. "Our audience feels like they have a stronger voice through me, and the band can see that."

Catholics Need to Get a Sense of Humor

Following the Dec. 7 season finale of South Park, titled "Bloody Mary," the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights slammed the network for its irreverent portrayal of church icons and sought to block the episode from being rebroadcast.
It appears the uptight group may have met with success. A repeat of the finale was scheduled to air Wednesday night, but was pulled from the Comedy Central lineup without explanation.
In the episode, a statue of the Virgin Mary is believed to be bleeding from its rear end, inspiring faithful parishioners to flock from miles around to be healed by the miraculous blood.
Eventually, Pope Benedict XVI is called in to investigate, whereupon he determines that the statue is actually menstruating and thus is nothing special.
"A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle," the pope declares in the episode. "Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time."
Somewhat predictably, the Catholic League was incensed by the satirical portrayal of the Virgin Mary and the pope and by the fact that the episode aired on the day before the Catholic Church celebrated its Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
The conservative group demanded an apology from Viacom, Comedy Central's parent company, to Roman Catholics everywhere and "a pledge that this episode be permanently retired and not be made available on DVD."
Comedy Central did not respond to a request for comment on why "Bloody Mary" was yanked from the schedule.

Farris Hassan's Big Adventure

A 16-year-old from Florida who travelled to Iraq on his own without telling his parents was put on a flight home yesterday.
Farris Hassan, of Fort Lauderdale, had been under the care of the US Embassy after being on his own in Iraq for several days.
"I'm going to hug him. He's my little angel," his mother, Shatha Atiya, said.
Farris, a junior at Pine Crest School, is studying "immersion journalism" – those writers who live the lives of their subjects in order to better understand it.
The teenager, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the US for about 35 years, said he wanted to travel to Baghdad to better understand what Iraqis are living through.
"I thought I'd go the extra mile for that, or rather, a few thousand miles," he said before leaving for home.
Farris flew to Kuwait, where a taxi dropped him in the desert at the Iraq border, but he could not cross because of tightened security ahead of the Iraqi parliamentary elections.
So he flew to Beirut, Lebanon, to stay with family friends and then flew from there to Baghdad.
After two days, he ran into reporters and told them he was doing research for a school project. Alarmed he was on his own, they alerted US Embassy officials, who sent a detachment of soldiers to pick him up.
"I wanted to experience during my Christmas the same hardships ordinary Iraqis experience every day, so that I may better empathise with their distress," Farris said.

Paparazzo Gets Away

A paparazzo who contributed to some of the considerable damage sustained by Lindsay Lohan's car over the past year won't face charges for his role in a May crash.
Shutterbug Galo Cesar Ramirez slammed his minivan into the actress' Mercedes-Benz while pursuing Lohan after she left a Los Angeles restaurant with a friend.
Lohan suffered cuts and bruises in the crash and her car was badly dented. Photographers surrounded the scene of the accident, snapping pictures of the visibly shaken Mean Girls star.
Ramirez was initially booked for assault with a deadly weapon, but officials ultimately determined that there was not enough evidence to prove that he rammed Lohan intentionally, despite the fact he was likely "driving carelessly" at the time of the accident.

Gay Utahns See Themselves in 'Brokeback Mountain'

Like many gay Utahns, Ritchie Olsen has been bursting with anticipation over "Brokeback Mountain," the acclaimed new film about a secret love affair between two Wyoming cowboys. After all, the movie could almost be the story of his life.
Olsen grew up in Neola, a conservative town of about 500 people on the southern edge of the Uintas. His family ran a small cattle ranch, where Olsen spent much of his youth on a horse. Although Olsen struggled with his attraction to men, like the characters in the film he kept quiet and married a local girl, his true nature stifled by community pressure and his own fear.
"I didn't feel like I had any other choice," said the 32-year-old, who didn't come out of the closet until he divorced his wife 18 months later and moved away. "I was expected to fit a certain image, and I did. It created a lot of anxiety."
That's why for Olsen and countless other Westerners, "Brokeback Mountain" is an event film and a hot-button topic. Besides being a rare Hollywood drama about gay romance, it may be the first high-profile movie to address homosexuality within a group rarely associated with it: the iconic cowboys of the American West. These onscreen lovers aren't San Francisco hairdressers, they're stoic Marlboro men.
Full article

Jessica Alba a Serial Killer

Showbiz beauty, Jessica Alba - who sends pulses racing with nearly every role she accepts - wants to emulate screen beauty Charlize Theron and become a murderous killer, according to Monsters & Critics.
Theron won the Best Actress Oscar, in 2004, for her portrayal of the notorious female serial killer Aileen Wuornos and Jessica hopes to land a similar role that could gain her some of the critical acclaim and more serious roles she desperately desires.
M&C cites a source close to the actress with saying: "Jessica doesn't want to look like the sexy young thing in every movie she stars in."

Hilary Duff to Play Creepy 'Poltergeist' Girl

Hilary Duff will reportedly be playing the part of Carol Anne Freeling, a role first played by late child star, Heather O'Rouke, according to a report in Femalefirst.
Heather O'Rourke's famous line in the movie , "they're here" was an instant hit with cinema-goers and sent chills up people's spines.
Actor Craig T Nelson, who plays the role of Stephen Freeling, Carol Anne's father in the movie, is said to have already signed up for the remake.
The movie will be the fourth in the series.

Johnny Depp Tops Angelina Jolie

For the second year in a row, Johnny Depp has topped the searches on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com).
The list is based on IMDb's search index Starmeter which tabulates the searches made by the site's 30m visitors a month.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were in second and third place respectively.
The other stars that featured in the Top 10 were: Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Jessica Alba, Tom Cruise, Keira Knightley, Natalie Portman and Hilary Duff.

'Lost' Actress Found Drunk Driving

The Los Angeles City Attorney's office says ABC 'Lost' star could wind up in the county jail if she violated her probation.
'We believe Ms. Rodriguez violated the terms of her probation,' spokesman Frank Mateljan was quoted as saying Thursday by People magazine. 'She now potentially faces up to 18 months in county jail.'
Rodriguez was arraigned in Honolulu Thursday on a charge of drunken driving, her second DUI arrest in two years. Her trial was set for March 30.
Rodriguez, 27, was sentenced in Los Angeles to 36 months of probation stemming from a DUI in November 2003 and a hit-and-run the previous July.
Mateljan said his office will charge Rodriguez with parole violation Jan. 24, but a hearing on the charge will not happen until after her Honolulu trial.
The actress' attorney Steve Barta, told People he had no comment.

Christina Applegate's New Boytoy

Christina Applegate may be in the middle of a divorce from actor Johnathan Schaech, but she seems to be learning that there are other fish in the sea.
Her latest catch is Alaskan fisherman and aspiring photographer Lee Grivas, whom she met in the fall through a dancer in her Broadway show Sweet Charity.
“We're very happy with each other," Grivas, 24, tells PEOPLE in its upcoming issue. "I like making her smile and she likes making me smile. It's really innocent and fun."
Schaech, who filed divorce papers Dec. 5, seems to be moving on too: He was partying Dec. 17 at the Las Vegas club Seamless. The couple officially separated six months ago.
Applegate, 34, plans to head back to Los Angeles after Charity closes Dec. 31, and Grivas has a fishing boat to hop on in Alaska this month. But "we're really good friends," says Grivas, "so we'll keep in touch."

Patrick Swayze Rap Star Wannabe?

Dirty Dancing icon Patrick Swayze is now experimenting with ''rap rhythms as an emotional undercurrent for ballads,'' reports AllHipHop.com.
The 53-year-old Swayze had a massive hit with the song She's Like the Wind from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack in 1987. The song is one of the most-played songs in the history of radio and helped the soundtrack sell more than 11 million records.
Hip-hop fans are familiar with Swayze for a different reason than his starring roles in such classic movies as Red Dawn, Roadhouse, The Outsiders and Ghost -- his last name has been used as rap slang since the early 1990s, when EPMD popularized the term on various albums. In U.S. hip-hop vernacular, ''Swayze'' means to ''leave'' or ''disappear,'' a term derived from his role in the 1990 film Ghost.
Swayze resurfaced in the rap world again in 2002, when he starred as an aggressive FBI agent in Ja Rule's video Reign.
Swayze, who has a role in the new flick Keeping Mum, did not peg a release date on his new material.

Tom Cruise Most Irritating Actor

Hollywood superstar TOM CRUISE is considered the most irritating actor in movies, according to a poll by British film bible, Empire magazine.
The 'War of the Worlds' star fought off competition from JENNIFER LOPEZ and JULIA ROBERTS to win the questionable accolade, but conversely triumphed in the same poll, to be named the biggest movie star of all time - beating veterans ROBERT DE NIRO and AL PACINO.
Cruise, who is set to marry pregnant fiancee KATIE HOLMES next year ('06) lost credibility with fans after seemingly dedicating 2005 to making outrageous declarations of love for Holmes and criticizing the medical field.
KATE WINSLET was named favourite actress, while STEVEN SPIELBERG was named best director.
A spokesman for Empire Magazine says, "Voting Tom Cruise as the most irritating film star may be a knee jerk reaction to his year in the spotlight."

Murderer Arrested with J Lo Video

A CONVICTED murderer was arrested yesterday for attempting to extort $US1 million from star couple Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez in exchange for their 2004 wedding video.
Ex-con Tito Moses, 31, and Steven Wortman, 40, were arrested in New York City on Tuesday, following weeks of negotiation with the Latin star's lawyers.
Major Case Squad Inspector Michael Hines told the New York Post, "They were shocked because they thought they were coming for their payday - and instead, they got the surprise of their lives."
The tape of the couple's June 2004 marriage ceremony was on Anthony's laptop computer, which was stolen along with the singer's Cadillac, in New Jersey on October 30.
Earlier this month, US TV show Access Hollywood received a phone call from Moses, offering the video in exchange for a high price.

Mariah Carey Ties Up Elvis

Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" rose to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart, putting her in a tie with Elvis Presley for second place among artists with the most No. 1 singles in the rock era.
Carey and Presley have 17 No. 1 hits, second only to the Beatles, who had 20. (Some music sources report Presley had 18 No. 1 hits by counting the double-sided single "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" as two hits instead of one.)
"Don't Forget About Us" was Carey's second No. 1 song this year, following her ballad "We Belong Together." Both tunes are from her Grammy-nominated album, "The Emancipation of Mimi."
It has taken Carey just over 15 years to accumulate the 17 hit singles. Her first was "Vision of Love" in 1990.
"Don't Forget About Us," which ranked second last week, overtook Chris Brown's "Run It!" which fell to No. 2 after five weeks at the top, Billboard said Thursday.

Sir Elton's Honeymoon in Venice

Sir Elton John and David Furnish are honeymooning in Venice after tying the knot in a civil union ceremony in Britain last week, Italian news reports said.
The couple took a water taxi to St. Mark's Square, lunched at Harry's Bar and shopped in the romantic canal city, the ANSA news agency and the Venice daily "The New Venice and Mestre" reported Saturday.
John and Furnish arrived Thursday and were staying at John's home on Giudecca, one of the islands of Venice's lagoon, according to ANSA.
The English pop star and Canadian filmmaker, together for 12 years, exchanged vows and diamond wedding bands Wednesday during the first week of legalized civil unions in the United Kingdom.

Bree Bags a Bottle

Pour another glass of wine for Bree on "Desperate Housewives." Better yet, just hand over the bottle.
The ABC show's creator, Marc Cherry, says Marcia Cross' character who became a widow following her husband's poisoning and then watched her flipped-out fiance die of an overdose isn't reacting well to changes.
"We're starting her descent into alcoholism," Cherry tells TV Guide in its Jan. 2 issue, on newsstands Thursday. He says there are some alcohol-fueled moments with her fellow housewives where "it gets pretty ugly."
It shouldn't entirely be a surprise for fans of the show, since Cherry says he's been hinting about Bree's future ever since "Desperate Housewives" began a year ago.
"When Bree has tension, she grabs a glass," he says. "Chart it back and you'll see so many moments where she just goes for the wine."
"Desperate Housewives" airs on Sunday nights (9 p.m. EST).

Superdumb Never a Supermodel Gets Own Show

Cast off by "America's Next Top Model," Janice Dickinson will get her own reality modeling show on the Oxygen network.
Dickinson, who unbelievably claims she was the first supermodel, was ousted from the UPN show in May.
During her four seasons on the show, she was the harshest critic of the model hunt's judging panel and often quarreled with fellow judges.
She'll winnow 500 aspiring models down to five as she starts her own Hollywood modeling agency on what is tentatively titled, "The Janice Dickinson Project." Oxygen has ordered 10 episodes, which are expected to begin airing in the spring.
"She's starting a new business with all its challenges, while trying to be a good mom and guide new models through a tough business," Debby Beece, president of programming at Oxygen, said in a statement Tuesday.
Dickinson, 52, is the author of "No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel" and "Everything About Me Is Fake ... and I'm Perfect."
She also was a cast member of VH1's "The Surreal Life."
Editorial note: Wouldn't the general public have had to know who she was in order for her to be a supermodel? No one ever heard of her before she was on the "Top Model" show and started claiming to be the world's first supermodel. Someone like Iman was more likely the first supermodel.

MicroShaft loses $300 on each XBOX 360

Earlier numbers by Business Week may have reported that Microsoft is losing $126 on every Xbox 360 sold. That figure is now believed to be a bit higher by some. According to Insider Scoop, the world's largest software maker is losing upwards of $300 per console sold. From the article: "A high ranking friend at IBM, one that worked on the Xbox 360 chip design, tipped us regarding the real expenses involved in manufacturing the Xbox 360... 'It costs Microsoft approximately $715 to make, the manufacturing costs are still too high, another reason why they’re producing relatively small quantities.'”

Would You Like Fries with That?

A Missouri woman rang in the holidays Friday by swallowing a cell phone. The woman who was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs with a cell phone lodged in her throat may not have voluntarily swallowed the device.
“Subsequent investigation found that she didn’t swallow the cell phone voluntarily,” Police Sgt. Allen Kintz told the Associated Press. “Our initial press release was that she had swallowed a cell phone.”
The 24-year-old woman’s boyfriend has been charged with felony assault after he allegedly shoved the phone down his girlfriend’s throat in an argument.
The cell phone was removed from her throat by doctors at the hospital.
Police in Blue Springs said they received a call Friday from a man who said his girlfriend was having trouble breathing after she swallowed a cell phone. The two had been arguing about the phone, which ended up being lodged in her throat.
Police said the woman, who wasn’t identified, was taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s Medical Center.
Later, police indicated the woman may not have swallowed the phone but may have been the victim of an assault in which the phone ended up lodged in her throat. The Associated Press reported that the police declined to reveal the details of the incident.

Gay Marriage Foes Fall Apart

A constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage will not be placed on the June 2006 California ballot after the group working to put that issue on the ballot failed to meet Tuesday's signature-gathering deadline.
ProtectMarriage.com needed 598,104 signatures to qualify the measure. But organizers fell about 200,000 signatures short of that, said Andrew Pugno, legal adviser to the organization. Pugno blamed the missed deadline on the distraction of November's special election, a lack of donations because of hurricanes and confusion created by a competing measure.
The group will not attempt to meet a mid-April deadline to place the measure on the November 2006 ballot either, Pugno said, and expects the issue to come back in 2008. The competing measure, sponsored by a group called VoteYesMarriage.com, has yet to be circulated for signatures.

Katie: No Wedding While Waddling

Katie Holmes has trashed rumors she is desperate to wed Tom Cruise before she gives birth to their child next year.
The 26-year-old, who accepted the Mission: Impossible star's marriage proposal on 17. June, insists she has no intention of walking down the aisle while pregnant—because she wants to look her best on her wedding day.
She says, "All these rumors that we're getting married this week or next, they're just not true. I won't be waddling into my wedding with a big bump."

Jessica Simpson No Prenup, Will the New Boy Get One?

Jessica Simpson and soon-to-be-ex-husband Nick Lachey didn't have a prenup - he actually had more earning power than she did when they got married three years ago - so Simpson could have to part with half of the $30 million she earned last year. That's a lot of Chicken of the Sea.

With celebrity marriages often quite a bit shorter than Jessica Simpson's Daisy Dukes, the power of the prenup cannot and should not be denied.

"Everything is legal unless you're dealing with custody of children or child support," said Los Angeles divorce attorney Robert Nachshin, who has represented Barry Bonds, according to the AP.

So if Jessica had planned ahead, she could have limited Lachey's take of her estate.

Recently, at the Whiskey Bar at L.A.'s Sunset Marquis Hotel and Villas, a tipsy Simpson was downing vodka tonics as she cozied up to a hunky, dark-haired crooner. The manly singer that Jessica, 25, cozied up to was not her husband Nick but Maroon 5's Adam Levine!

"It was obvious that Jessica and Adam were very attracted to each other," an eyewitness who partied with the pair said. "They were cuddled right up against each other, side by side, giggling and whispering romantically into each other's ears. Jessica was putting her hand on Adam's leg from time to time."

Brokeback Mountain Herds in the Cash

The award-winning film about romance between two cowboys has seven Golden Globe nominations and has been named best picture of the year by film critics' associations in New York City and Los Angeles. It's currently on screens in a few big U.S. cities, but it won't open in many medium-sized or smaller markets until Jan. 13. Why?
Each December, as challenging films angle for Oscars and box office receipts, Hollywood releases a handful of movies in "platform'' patterns. Here's how it works:
New York and Los Angeles get the movie early. Gradually, as buzz is generated, the film is released in other markets. That way, excitement is generated for smaller films that lack superstar casts or mainstream, popcorn themes. Such films need to build momentum through national morning show appearances, magazine covers and other media buzz after they open in the big markets.
It's only because of such buzz that so many people are so curious now about "Brokeback Mountain.''
Certainly, the film's gay theme and Western setting could be considered a hard sell, but the film isn't alone. Tommy Lee Jones' "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,'' Terrence Malick's "The New World,'' and Lasse Hallstrom's "Casanova'' are among films also getting early 2006 releases after limited showings in big cities this month.
Meanwhile, Brokeback Mountain is herding in LOTS of cash, approximately $50,000 per screen, whereas the giant ape King Kong can only muster around $8,700 per screen it's showing on.

The iPod Revolution

No technology since the VCR is as revolutionary to personal entertainment as the iPod. And the revolution is just beginning. More than a third of homes that have computers will also have iPods within two years, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. What's more, sales of all devices that can store and play a library of digital music, such as smart phones, will overtake sales of PCs by the end of the decade, says Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research.
To start, your best bet is an iPod. Apple's MP3 players are the easiest to use because Apple software seamlessly links them to a computer library and the iTunes online store (where you can buy music), both of which recognize your device instantly. None of Apple's rivals has created anything as seamless, and each has fallen short in other areas. Dell's recently released DJ Ditty, for example, fails to improve on the light weight and simple menu control of iPod's most basic model, the shuffle. Sony's players cost more than Apple's per gigabyte of memory, without offering better features. Plus, iPods look the coolest.
The new iPod combines all of the ground breaking features that have made the iPod the best music player in the world with revolutionary new features such as the ability to view video content on a larger stunning color display. The new iPod features Apple’s innovative Click Wheel for precise, one-handed navigation and the portable design is ideal for putting music, Podcasts, photos, audiobooks, home movies, music videos and popular television shows in a pocket for on-the-go viewing. iPod users can also watch their video content and slideshows of their photos on a television via optional Apple accessories.

Anna Nicole Smith Gets Help with Bush

When the Supreme Court gets back to work next month, one issue it will decide involves Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith's bid for her late husband's fortune.
Smith has an unlikely ally in the Bush administration, whose top Supreme Court lawyer has filed arguments in her behalf.
The administration's filings are technical, having mainly to do with urging justices to protect federal court jurisdiction in such disputes.
Smith married oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall in 1994. He was 89 years old and she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Houston. Marshall died in 1995.
Texas state courts awarded the estate to Marshall's son. Smith has had mixed results in federal court.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Expecting?

Just weeks after news broke that Brad Pitt filed adoption papers to become daddy to Angelina Jolie's kids Maddox and Zahara, rumors are now circulating that Jolie is pregnant with Pitt's baby.
Life & Style magazine is reporting that Jolie's belly has a definite bump and that she had a near fainting spell on the set of her new movie.
Costumers on the Long Island, N.Y. set of Angelina's new flick, The Good Shepherd, noticed that the star's costumes no longer fit around Jolie's stomach.
"Angelina almost fainted," said an insider. "It was a big deal. [Director] Robert De Niro took her aside to make sure she was OK, and they were talking quietly for a few minutes."
Maybe that's why Brad was in a rush to become Maddox and Zahara's daddy?

Janet Jackson tops Google's most-searched-for list

The past year's news may have been dominated by floods, hurricanes and the global battle against terrorism, but internet users were more interested in the private life of a 39-year-old pop star.
Janet Jackson was the most-searched term on internet search engine Google News - beating Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami, among others.
She was even way out ahead of her brother Michael Jackson, who was cleared of child sex-abuse charges in June after one of the most high-profile trials in history.
As a massively successful artist, Janet Jackson has her own large fan base, but her position at the top of the Google list raised some eyebrows.
Her overwhelming popularity in cyberspace this year would appear to be connected to a series of events which began with her infamous "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Superbowl, during which her right breast was exposed to the entire world on live television.
This year a 40-second paparazzi video began circulating on the internet which showed the star sunbathing naked.
Her lawyers quickly sprang into action to get the footage taken off the web.
But there was more controversy when her former brother-in-law, Young DeBarge, claimed the singer had an 18-year-old "secret" daughter with her first husband, James DeBarge.
The star said the claim was false but it led to millions of hits on news websites.
Only two other pop stars - Michael Jackson and Britney Spears - made it into the top 10 searches.

The top 10 searches on Google News in 2005 were:
1. Janet Jackson
2. Hurricane Katrina
3. Tsunami
4. xbox 360
5. Brad Pitt
6. Michael Jackson
7. American Idol
8. Britney Spears
9. Angelina Jolie
10. Harry Potter

'Idol' Runner-Up Bice Releasing Debut Disc

"American Idol" has made Bo Bice a hot property this year, both for his music talent and for his long-haired sex appeal. Now he hopes to cash in.
Bice, 30, finished the TV show's fourth season as the runner-up, but the Alabama native hopes to follow Clay Aiken as the also-ran who actually runs away with it. He's releasing his debut disc "The Real Thing."
"I'm obviously very excited about the album, to see what people think of it," he told The Birmingham News. "I had quite a bit of creative control, and I was extremely pleased with that. I had a lot of input."
Two of 11 tracks on "The Real Thing" were co-written by Bice, and one, "Valley of Angels," is a ballad he wrote several years ago that was given a new instrumental bridge by producer Cliff Magness.
"`Valley of Angels' is about the idea that things aren't perfect," Bice said. "Everyone fumbles and falls and makes mistakes. When you're down, you might not feel there's any place of serenity you can find. It's about finding peace."

Bird crash clips Oprah's wings

There are only a few things that can ground the high-flying Oprah Winfrey (such as a few extra pounds at various chub times). Now add a dead bird to the few forces that can induce a little gravity time for the stratospheric media mogul.
Said dead avian, of unspecified species, was struck by Oprah's Gulfstream jet Monday afternoon soon after its takeoff from the Santa Barbara airport, causing a crack in the windshield that forced an immediate return to the tarmac, reports The Associated Press.
Neither Oprah nor her longtime beauman, Stedman Graham, was hurt in the aircraft-bird collision, which a fire department spokesman described as "not a totally unusual thing."

Felicity Huffman had nothing to risk in becoming a man

Risk? There was nothing to risk for Felicity Huffman in playing a man becoming a woman.

"I'm not a beauty. That's not my thing. So it wasn't like I was risking anything," Huffman told the San Francisco Chronicle in Sunday's editions. "What I was risking is whether I could do it. There are many places to fall."

Huffman, 43, was nominated for two best-actress Golden Globes on Dec. 14 — as Stanley/Bree in the film Transamerica and as the beleaguered mom Lynette in TV's Desperate Housewives.

As for rumors of dissension with co-stars Nicollette Sheridan, Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria and Marcia Cross, Huffman denied them.

"They were waiting for us to fight before we even started airing," she said. "I mean, it was last year before we even got on the air, and we were reading rags, and I'd say, 'Look, Nicollette. I'm in a fight with you.'"

Rowling Preparing for Final Harry Potter Book

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling has updated her official website with a note saying that she's getting ready to write the seventh and final book in the popular series.

"For 2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series," she says. "I contemplate the task with mingled feelings of excitement and dread, because I can't wait to get started, to tell the final part of the story and, at last, to answer all the questions (will I ever answer all of the questions? Let's aim for most of the questions); and yet it will all be over at last and I can't quite imagine life without Harry."

Rowling adds that she's been working hard on preparing for the big project.

"I have been fine-tuning the fine-tuned plan of seven during the past few weeks so that I can really set to work in January. Reading through the plan is like contemplating the map of an unknown country in which I will soon find myself. Sometimes, even at this stage, you can see trouble looming; nearly all of the six published books have had Chapters of Doom. The quintessential, never, I hope, to be beaten Chapter That Nearly Broke My Will To Go On was chapter nine, 'Goblet of Fire' (appropriately enough, 'The Dark Mark'.)"

'Desperate' Eva gives Texas cop a bit of lip

"Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria morphed into an obnoxious girlfriend when a Texas traffic cop ticketed her boyfriend on Christmas Eve, police said.

The officer who confronted sexy Longoria and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker said the naughty lady of Wisteria Lane called him "a Mexican bike cop" and hurled an expletive at him as well.

The pint-size hottie denies saying anything wrong.

The fireworks started when the officer, who was on a bike, spotted Parker blocking traffic on a San Antonio street and rapped the hood of his car with his hand.

The ticked-off Parker gave the cop lip about touching his wheels and then he and Longoria, 30, "began screaming in a verbally abusive and demeaning manner," a police official said.

Cops say Parker, 23, then started to drive away, almost hitting a man standing nearby.

After being ordered to stop and get out, Parker showed a French driver's license, police said. He got two tickets.

The star guard for the defending NBA champions was born in Belgium and raised in France.

The officer who wrote the citations said Parker complained: 'This is all the cops do, just mess with people,' " and that Longoria shouted from the car: " 'He's just a Mexican bike cop. He only wants your autograph.' "

Through her publicist, Longoria said, "The police report is highly inaccurate, defamatory, false and fraudulent."

"I never made any sort of racial slurs, let alone made any comments about the officer being Mexican, as I am a Mexican myself," she fumed.

Suspected Bush Attacker in Georgia Sews up Mouth

A man charged with the attempted murder of the U.S. President George Bush in Georgia has sewed up his mouth in what he says is a protest at a violation of his rights.

Vladimir Arutunyan is accused of throwing a hand grenade at Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili while they were addressing a public audience on Freedom Square in central Tbilisi on May 10. The grenade did not explode.

Arutuynan was arrested in Tbilisi on July 20 after a shootout with Georgian police that resulted in the death of Col. Zurab Kvlividze, the head of the Georgian Interior Ministry’s counterintelligence department.

The defendant came to the court hearing on Tuesday with his mouth sewed up. He claimed earlier his rights were violated. At the beginning of December, Arutunyan refused to testify in his case unless the representatives of Human Rights Watch attended the proceedings. He said the sentence had been “handed down even before the trial began.”

Paris Hilton buys two new puppies

Paris Hilton has bought herself two new puppies after being awarded the title of world's worst dog owner.

As well as being criticised by the New York Dog and Hollywood Dog magazines last week, the hotel heiress was named the worst dressed celebrity by People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals for her love of fur.

Following a trip to Japan, Paris has now bought Chihuahua puppies Tokyo Blue and Harajuku Bitch.

Hilton told Star magazine, "That's it, no more pets for now."

Kevin Federline, Aspiring Rapper and Husband of Britney Spears, Launches Web Site

Kevin Federline, aspiring rapper and husband of Britney Spears, has unveiled his own Web site.

Federline, whose new hip-hop album, "The Truth," is due out in 2006, appears to expect big things in the coming year.

The Web site begins with an introduction of Federline rapping, "Keep messin' with my family and you're through," played over various tabloid articles about the couple. (Spears has sued Us Weekly for $20 million, charging the celebrity magazine published a false story reporting that she and Federline had made a sex tape and were worried about its release.)

Eventually, the screen dissipates to announce: "Now that I have your full attention, never judge a book by its cover." This is followed by, "I'm coming … 2006."

In a note on the Web site, Federline says he hopes "this will provide you with the opportunity to get to know who I really am."

The 27-year-old former backup dancer and Spears, who were married last year, have an infant son, Sean Preston, who was born in September.

Although there have been tabloid reports of strife, the 24-year-old pop singer plugs Federline's Web site in a posting on her Web site.