Jersey Shore's The Situation Goes To Rehab

Sources say ... cast and crew members on "Jersey Shore" are happy he's getting help ... and hope that he will be healthy enough to join them for the recently announced Season 6. more on this story

Madonna Holding Live Web Event This Weekend

Madonna will be promoting the release of her album MDNA with a live web event this Saturday where she will sit down for an exclusive interview with late night host Jimmy Fallon.

The live stream chat will take place on Madonna's Facebook page this Saturday, March 24th at 6pm EDT. Fans can submit their questions on Madonna's page here.

News of the interview was officially confirmed last night by Jimmy Fallon on his show. The interview will take place before a live audience. Madonna has also been sharing sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes snippets of rehearsals for her upcoming tour on her Facebook page. more on this story

One Direction Make Chart History

X Factor UK contestants One Direction have made history, after becoming the first British group in history to debut at no. 1 in the United States with their debut album.

The album, Up All Night, entered the US Billboard 200 chart at #1 having sold over 176,000 copies during its first week of release.

Columbia Records sent over this background: One Direction gained notoriety in 2010 after appearing on the X Factor UK. Their global smash debut album, Up All Night, entered the charts at #1 in 11 countries and has been certified triple platinum in Ireland, double platinum in the UK & Australia, and platinum in New Zealand. more on this story

Katy Perry Delivers A Part of Me On TV

(popmusiclife) The latest video to surface of Katy Perry shows the pop singer performing on UK television.

Perry sang her latest single, "Part Of Me," on BBC1's "Let's Dance For Sport Relief" series.

The event raises money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries. Check it out here.

Norah Jones Plans Summer Tour

Norah Jones will be hitting the road for a North American summer tour which will kick off on June 20th.

Norah Jones is hitting the road to promote her forthcoming album, Little Broken Hearts, which hits stores on May 1st.

The tour will hit a mixture of festivals, amphitheatres and theatres including the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (June 24), a hometown show at Central Park SummerStage in New York City (July 3), and a return to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (August 10).
more on this story

Luther Vandross Hidden Gems Coming Next Month

Legacy Recordings have set an April 17, 2012 release date for a new collection from Luther Vandross entitled Hidden Gems.

This new collection of 15 seldom-heard deep album tracks and movie soundtrack songs will arrive in stores just three day's prior to Luther's birthday on April 20.

In the liner notes written by Luther's life-long collaborator Fonzi Thornton, HIDDEN GEMS is described as "a deeper dig into the musical treasure trove of Luther Vandross, uncovering lesser known songs and performances that he endowed with the same passion and love as his well known repertoire." The album was compiled and produced in association with Luther's family, his niece Seveda Williams and cousin Brenda Shields, in order to present "an album compilation with a different theme his fans might enjoy, a collection which highlights Luther's ideas of song selection and how they complement THAT VOICE." HIDDEN GEMS will allow casual listeners to discover songs they never heard, and devoted fans the opportunity to re-live what they loved about Luther Vandross. more on this story

Perez Hilton Helps Save The Music

Last Saturday, Perez Hilton did his part to "Save The Music" with his "One Night In Austin" event at the SXSW music festival.

Vh1 sent over these details: For the first time, this year's fifth "One Night" showcase, the 5th in a row, benefitted a charity - the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and its mission to restore instrumental music education programs in our nation's public schools. 100% of ticket sales were donated to the cause, raising over $46,800, more than enough to completely restore a music program in an elementary or middle school.

"My SXSW party this year was especially great. Good music AND doing good! I couldn't be happier! I've been doing these events in Austin for 5 years now, and I wish I would have turned them into benefits a lot earlier. Thankfully, that light bulb did go off and we were able to raise $46,800 for the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, an organization that combines two things I'm very passionate about - music and helping and inspiring young people. Once again, I could not be happier! And I want to thank all of the performers and everyone involved that helped make this Night such a resounding success!"
 more on this story

Vince Gill, Mark Knopfler, Herbie Hancock Guest of Chris Botti's New CD

Columbia Records have set an April 17, 2012 release date for Chris Botti's star-studded new album, Impressions. The label sent out these details:

A collection of songs and compositions expressing his love for rich, evocative melodies, the album showcases Botti among a high profile group of featured guests, including pianist/composer Herbie Hancock, tenor Andrea Bocelli, country singer Vince Gill, rock star Mark Knopfler, composer/pianist David Foster and violinist Caroline Campbell.

The colorful array of music Botti has selected for Impressions reaches across stylistic areas and national boundaries with works by classical composer Frederic Chopin, American songwriters George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, R. Kelly, Randy Newman, Bob Thiele and David Weiss, Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins, Argentine composer Astor Piazolla, Cuban composer Cesar Portillo de la Luz, as well as a pair of songs co-written by Botti. Many of the tracks are deeply enhanced by the superb orchestrations of William Ross, Vince Mendoza, Gil Goldstein and Jaques Morelenbaum. more on this story

American Idol Finalists To Become Disney Attractions?

(TMZ) The final 5 contestants on "American idol" better LOVE Disney World -- because once the show is over, they'll be working at the Happiest Place on Earth ... at least temporarily.

According to one of the contestant's contracts, obtained by TMZ, each of the final 5 contestants is required to put in a day's work post-"Idol" at the new American Idol Experience at Disney World -- taping a performance for later use on the attraction.

Lucky for them, they're not working for free -- according to the deal, the 2nd through 5th place contestants will earn $50,000 for the day's work ... much more than most Disney employees can say.

But the deal gets a little trickier for whoever wins "Idol" this season -- that person is required not only to tape a performance for the attraction ... he or she is also required to participate in a commercial and make an in-person appearance at Disney world to help promote the attraction.

The good news -- the winner gets paid handsomely for the job ... $200,000.

FOX, Fremantle Media, and 19 Entertainment had no comment. more on this story

Hugh Hefner's Son Sentence For Playmate Abuse Charge

(TMZ) Hugh Hefner's son Marston has been sentenced to a 52-week domestic violence program after allegedly beating his Playmate girlfriend Claire Sinclair last month.

Marston was charged with corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant after the February 12th incident -- when he allegedly attacked Claire at the couple's Pasadena apartment, bruising her up and damaging her laptop. He pled "no contest" today.

Marston was charged with vandalism over the laptop -- but that count was dismissed.

The judge also ordered Marston to stay away from Claire. more on this story

Larry David Trapped in Parking Garage

(TMZ) There's a reason Larry David plays himself on TV -- and he proved it Sunday in L.A. with a hilarious real-life "Curb Your Enthusiasm" moment ... getting himself trapped inside a parking garage ... and TMZ has obtained the footage.

The clip was shot inside a mall parking garage in Santa Monica -- Larry couldn't figure out how to make the parking gate thing open up ... so he hopped out of his Prius for help.

Thankfully, the girl in the car behind Larry showed him how to insert his parking ticket -- and the 64-year-old actor was home free.

You GOTTA check out the clip -- while playing the song in the background -- it's pret-ty pret-ty pret-ty good... watch it here.

Oprah Winfrey Held Town Hall Meeting Before OWN Bloodbath

(TMZ) Oprah Winfrey ordered a bloodbath at OWN Monday, but she took a highly unusual and humanistic step of calling a town hall meeting after firing 30 people ... to explain why she lowered the boom.

Sources who were at the meeting tell TMZ ... Oprah explained that OWN had a duty to the board of directors to justify how much the network was spending, in light of anemic ratings and problems with advertisers.

Oprah said the fiscal year for OWN ends on March 31, and she had to get OWN's financial house in order before April 1 -- or else the entire network would be in jeopardy.

Oprah said cutting staff was essential in harnessing the cost of running the network.

But here's the good news for the 30 people who lost their jobs ... Oprah is paying some serious severance ... one person tells us the packages were "extremely generous." We're told everyone got at least several weeks of pay and some people are getting paid for the duration of their contracts.

And Oprah even brought a recruiter to the building, to help people find new jobs. more on this story

Penelope Ann Miller Separating From Husband

(TMZ) Actress Penelope Ann Miller -- who played Doris in "The Artist" -- has filed for legal separation from her husband, TMZ has learned.

48-year-old Miller -- who was also naked in "Carlito's Way" -- filed the docs in L.A. County Superior Court last week. Miller also starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Kindergarten Cop."

Miller and her husband James Huggins got married in 2000. They have two children together.

Fun fact: Miller was married to "Arrested Development" actor Will Arnett for one year from 1994-1995. more on this story

Michael Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Alienation

(TMZ) Michaelangelo needs to back the hell off of Michael Bay and let the guy turn the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into aliens ... this according to the guy who voiced Leonardo.

TMZ broke the story ... Bay has been getting some serious flack ever since he announced he'll be changing the classic TMNT sewer-based origin story for his upcoming live-action flick.

But not every member of TMNT-nation is hating on Bay's idea to go intergalactic with the Turtles ... in fact, TWO former actors who starred in the original live-action movie are coming to Bay's defense.

TMZ spoke with Brian Tochi -- the original voice of Leo AND the Asian geek Takashi in "Revenge of the Nerds" -- who tells us, "If Michael Bay wants to do a different take on the turtles origin story ... Mazel Tov!"

We also spoke with Judith Hoag -- aka April O'Neal in the classic Turtles flick -- who says she's excited about Bay's new vision ... but her opinion might be slightly slanted.

"I was in "Armageddon" ... which Michael directed ... as well as "Nightmare On Elm Street" and "I Am Number Four" which he produced."

No word if Hoag will be in the new movie ... but she probably just upped her chances. more on this story

Comedy Apparently Pays For Katt Williams

(TMZ) In between custody battles, tractor stand offs, and being arrested ... comedian Katt Williams somehow rakes in $28,000 a MONTH -- this according to new legal docs.

You may recall ... Katt won back custody of his 8-year-old adopted daughter from his former nanny in December -- after a protracted legal battle -- and just filed new documents in the case, updating L.A. County Superior Court on his financial status.

In the docs, Katt lists his average monthly income as $27,778 -- money he claims to make as a freelance comedian.

Katt's got some serious disposable income too -- according to the docs, his monthly expenses are only $7,000 ... leaving him roughly $20K a month to blow on whatever he wants, like bail. more on this story

Singled Out: Liz Primo's Wind Me Up

Today rising dance music star Liz Primo tells us about her hot new single "Wind Me Up" which comes from her debut EP "Exposed." Here is the story:

"Wind Me Up" came from the recording sessions for my new EP Exposed in Los Angeles. It was during these sessions that it finally felt I was creating the music that truly lived inside me and had been wanting to get out for years. I was in the studio working with one of my favorite producers Justin Trugman and he presented this track he and Pascal Guyon had just finished called "Lockdown". I loved the beat so the idea for the lyrics came easily to me and my songwriting partner Annie Irons. I was inspired by the track's original title because it made me imagine meeting someone and wanting them to keep me around i.e. lock me down. That idea turned into "Wind Me Up" - because now I wanted him to wind me up and make me hot for him!!!! I thought about going out and having fun, meeting a guy, and just wanting to party with him. But then I have so much fun, I never want to leave him!!! It's a sexy, steamy, love story... or lust story!!! LOL! This song captures the spirit of what my music is about... it's fun, passionate, and is pure freedom of expression.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the EP right here!