MANILA, Philippines ? In true Imeldific fashion, she glided down a red carpet, surrounded by little girls in white dresses carrying bouquets of roses and trailed by tuxedo-wearing violin and flute players who rendered her favorite love song. In a frantic, fuchsia terno designed by Oliver Tolentino, former First Lady Imelda Marcos celebrated her 80th birthday on Thursday amid glittering confetti and fireworks at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza's Grand Ballroom. In the midst of the extravagant celebration, Imelda asked family and some 1,000 well-wishers: 'Let us all observe a minute of silence and pray for the healing and restoration of the health of former President Cory Aquino.' Every seat in...

MOSCOW - Michelle Obama brings her superstar glamor to Moscow this weekend as she accompanies her husband on his summit with the Russian president. But the American first lady, who has wowed publics in the U.S. and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands. In a country where a presidential candidate once quipped he'd sooner pack his wife off to a convent than allow her to dabble in politics, Russia still has trouble with the concept of an empowered woman behind the throne. "The institution of first lady in Russia is still quite...

NEW YORK – When Rabbi Shmuley Boteach brought his children to play with Michael Jackson's kids at Neverland Ranch some eight years ago, the rabbi's youngsters naturally made a beeline for the fabulous rides — the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the bumper cars. But when Jackson's own kids asked to go on the rides, he gently reminded them of the family rules, according to Boteach: The rides were only for birthdays or special occasions. "He was very concerned that the kids grow up with the right values," says Boteach, Jackson's former friend and spiritual adviser. They are the children of one of the most famous men to have walked the planet. But unlike other children of...

MUMBAI (AFP) – One of the child actors from the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" has moved from his Mumbai shantytown shack into a new home, the trust set up to manage his interests said Saturday. "Azharuddin...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Michael Jackson crossed swords with a lot of people when he was alive, but perhaps none more important than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The former first lady, in her capacity as an editor at Doubleday Books, secured a coveted book deal with the pop star in 1984, when he was still riding high on the success of his "Thriller" album released two years earlier. "She was only person in America who could get him on the phone," Stephen Davis, the ghostwriter of "Moon Walk," said in a recent interview with Reuters. According to a People magazine article at the time, Onassis paid Jackson a $300,000 advance for the book. Davis...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – If sushi lovers think the price of their favorite raw fish is too high already, then new documentary "The End of the Line" may shock them with its argument that the real cost may be some species' extinction. The film from director Rupert Murray, which is playing in art houses in the United States and United Kingdom, makes the case that consumer ignorance, clout of the fishing industry, and rising...

The hunt for the next Estée Lauder stars is now on as the long-awaited Estée Lauder Model Search Contest 2009 returns to give Malaysian beauties a chance to be in the spotlight! The search began May 4, 2009 when the Estée Lauder Model Dream Team hit the road in major cities nationwide to search for two women who embody the Estée Lauder philosophy ? confident, modern and elegant. All hopeful candidates had to do was to go to any of the Estée Lauder Model Search road show locations and sign up for a chance of a lifetime and win prizes totalling over RM150,000. Who is the Estée Lauder woman? This year's model search will present two winners: Grand Prize Winner for Category A and Grand Prize...

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – In early 1984, when Epic Records executives presented their slate of upcoming releases at the convention in Hawaii of parent company CBS Records, they couldn't resist playing up the success they were experiencing. So between the pitches for new albums, Epic inserted stock footage of semi trucks and a voice-over that thunderously announced, "There goes another load of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' albums!" Trucks weren't really leaving the warehouse every few minutes, but "Thriller" was still shattering expectations more than a year after its November 30, 1982, release. Epic was selling more than 1 million copies per month...

LONDON – Forget those reports that Swedish supergroup ABBA will be reuniting to cover Michael Jackson's sold-out concert dates. "No one has even asked us, and if they asked us they would have 'no' as an answer, because (Jackson's...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – For a reunited band bent on having a future, Stone Temple Pilots spent most of its House of Blues show Wednesday visiting the past -- the distant past. Fifteen of the 19 songs were from the first two albums, most played with meticulous attention to the recorded versions. It was a crowd-pleasing recital of radio hits with a couple of album cuts for the hardcore and no covers. Familiar riff after sing-along chorus. That's swell, even encouraged -- for a heritage act. But there was no mention, let alone preview, of any rumored new music....