| The "B" Blog |
NEW YORK (AP) -- There's Madonna, Oprah and now ... "Conan."
Conan O'Brien took the simple approach Wednesday in announcing the name of his new talk show on TBS.
"Conan" will kick off Nov. 8.
He posted a YouTube video announcing the show's name to his fans. He scrawled the name on a white sheet of paper using a black marking pen.
O'Brien has finished a comedy concert tour. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his short-lived stint as NBC "Tonight" show host that ended amid much drama in January, but lost to Jon Stewart and Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."
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TBS is owned by Time Warner Inc.
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Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- George Clooney, Will Smith and Gwyneth Paltrow will join an impressive list of stars taking part in September's "Stand Up to Cancer" telethon airing on major networks.
Other celebrities announced Wednesday include Denzel Washington, Renee Zellweger, Kathy Bates and Richard Branson. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Edwards were previously announced as participants.
Performers will include Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, Neil Diamond, The Edge, Herbie Hancock, Lady Antebellum and Leona Lewis. Queen Latifah, Martina McBride and Stevie Wonder were among those already announced.
Clooney, in particular, is a fundraising heavyweight. At Sunday's Emmy Awards, he accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for efforts on behalf of victims of this year's earthquake in Haiti, the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Stand Up to Cancer" is aimed at raising money to speed up innovative cancer research, according to movie producer Laura Ziskin ("Spider-Man"), who is a cancer survivor and co-founder of the Stand Up to Cancer group.
The telethon is returning for a second time after the 2008 event helped deliver more than $100 million for research.
This year's telethon will be simulcast commercial-free (8 p.m.-9 p.m. EDT) on Sept. 10 by ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC as well as a variety of cable channels.
Cat Deeley, host of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," will host a half-hour pre-show (7:30 p.m. EDT) available widely online at major network sites as well as other sites and portals including E! Online, Hulu and YouTube.
"A donation of any size brings scientists one step closer to a cure," Ziskin said in a statement Wednesday. All public donations go to cancer research, the group said.
The American Association for Cancer Research, the scientific partner of Stand Up to Cancer, administers grants and provides scientific oversight in partnership with a Stand Up to Cancer advisory committee.
Stand Up to Cancer is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a nonprofit TV and film industry group that supports programs addressing health, education and social issues.
Telethon viewers will be asked to pledge donations by phone or on the Stand Up to Cancer website.
Besides the broadcast networks, Bio, Discovery Health, E!, G4, HBO, HBO Latino, MLB Network, mun2, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, The Style Network, TV One and VH1 also will simulcast the event.
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Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The mother of "The Brady Bunch," a former NFL quarterback, one of the self-proclaimed "guidos" from "Jersey Shore" and the daughter of Sarah Palin are among the celebrities who will cha-cha-cha on the 11th season of "Dancing with the Stars."
Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke, hosts of the ABC ballroom competition, announced the cast Monday.
"The Brady Bunch" matriarch Florence Henderson, retired Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, "Jersey Shore" co-star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Bristol Palin are among the 12 celebrities who will be paired with professional dance partners and train before their prime-time premiere Sept. 20. How does Palin's mother feel about her dancing gig?
"She's excited for me," said Bristol. "She knows that this is going to be hard work, but she's excited."
Also competing for the mirrorball trophy will be: "When a Man Loves a Woman" singer Michael Bolton, comedian-actress Margaret Cho, former Los Angeles Lakers forward Rick Fox, "Dirty Dancing" actress Jennifer Grey, "Baywatch" actor David Hasselhoff, Disney Channel star Kyle Massey, singer-actress Brandy Norwood and "The Hills" co-star Audrina Patridge.
"I'm happy to be here," said Hasselhoff. "My two daughters love this show, and they convinced me."
The names of most of the celebrity contestants, save for 19-year-old "That's So Raven" and "Cory in the House" star Kyle Massey, had been widely rumored as competitors in the weeks leading up to Monday's official announcement, which was broadcast live during "Bachelor Pad." The first celebrity and their professional partner will be eliminated Sept. 21.
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.
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http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP material nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP Television Writer
US-EMMYHIGHLIGHTS-20100830E US-EMMYOPEN-20100830E
Emmy had a split personality this year. Television's annual awards show honored hot new broadcast comedies "Modern Family" and "Glee," while sticking with more familiar favorites from cable in drama.
"Modern Family" won the Emmy for best comedy in its rookie season. The sweetly uproarious sitcom knit together a gay couple and their adopted daughter, a more traditional bumbling dad and his uptight wife, and a world-weary patriarch with his hot young Latin wife _ and became an instant favorite on ABC.
"We are so grateful, we are so thrilled that families are sitting down together to watch a television show," said Steven Levitan, the show's co-creator. "We just want you to know, we just wanted to say we are so happy that you have let us into your families."
Levitan's partner in the show, Christopher Lloyd, was oddly absent from the onstage celebrating. Levitan said later that Lloyd has an aversion to crowds.
Five of the six members of the show's comedic couples were nominated for supporting actor awards. Eric Stonestreet, who plays the rotund, flamboyant half of the gay couple, won an Emmy.
He said backstage that his parents, Vince and Jamey, will get his Emmy.
"I know exactly where they're going to put it," he said. "They eat breakfast and dinner at the same spot every day. I want them to be able to sit there and look at it and know that they made this possible."
While Fox's "Glee" was beaten out for best comedy, the musical's impact was demonstrated when Emmy Awards host Jimmy Fallon poked fun at the highly rated show with his opening routine. Fallon played the leader of a "glee club," joined by some of the series' stars and contributors like Tina Fey and Jon Hamm, performing "Born to Run."
The skit won huge applause from a jaded industry audience.
The show's creator, Ryan Murphy, earned a best directing Emmy and the tough coach, Jane Lynch, beat back two "Modern Family" stars to win best supporting actress in a comedy.
Murphy noted that "Glee" is about the impact of arts education on high school students.
"I would like to dedicate this to all of my teachers who taught me to sing and finger-paint," he said.
Edie Falco of Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" looked shocked to win the Emmy for best comedy actress. "As soon as somebody calls you funny, you're not funny anymore," she said later.
Emmy awards shouldn't be foreign to her: Falco pulled the neat trick of winning the comedy award after previously winning an Emmy for best actress in a drama series for her work on "The Sopranos."
Jim Parsons of CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" won for best comedic actor, unleashing his real-life inner nerd later.
"I'm a big reader of almanacs, or I was, and I like lists and things like that _ boy do I sound OCD," he said backstage. "So I was awfully thrilled to be part of a list, a group, like this. The winning was really beyond."
AMC's "Mad Men" won the Emmy for best dramatic series for the third consecutive season. It's a similar three-year winning streak for Bryan Cranston, who won best actor in a drama for his work as a teacher and meth dealer on AMC's "Breaking Bad." Cranston's partner on the show, Aaron Paul, won his first Emmy for best supporting actor.
"It's like having a great meal to do the show," Cranston said backstage. "And then to be awarded an Emmy is a beautiful flambe dessert. And then last year was another dessert on top of that. I feel gluttonous. It's more than I can take in."
Wins almost seem routine for "Mad Men," whose creator Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy, shared a writing award for drama series.
Weiner was listening to Levy's acceptance speech but it went long, and he was visibly upset when the music cut off his own acceptance speech.
He had another chance, though, when "Mad Men" won the best drama series award.
"So where was I?" he slyly asked.
He seemed much more relaxed after the second trophy.
`I never feel like I'm rolling," he said. "I'm in a terror and a free-fall every day."
"Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" are popular within the Hollywood audience. But broadcasters say their dramas still get a larger audience than those cable shows, and they've grumbled at the lack of attention their dramas receive. The new CBS drama "The Good Wife" and its star, Julianna Margulies, were seen as strong candidates to bring a broadcast network back into the winner's circle for drama.
Yet it was passed by, except for Archie Panjabi, who won a supporting actress Emmy for her role as a private investigator. Kyra Sedgwick of TNT's "The Closer" won best actress in a drama.
Emmy voters missed another opportunity: to make host NBC very uncomfortable.
Conan O'Brien's short-lived "Tonight" show was nominated in the variety series category. It was seen as an affront when O'Brien was nominated and Jay Leno, the man he replaced, was not.
But O'Brien didn't win. That award went to Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," which has won the category nine times since 2001.
No apologies from Rory Albanese, the show's executive producer. "The category's insane and we keep winning it. It's tough to feel bad. We work really hard," he said.
"Top Chef" won best reality series, ending the seven-year winning streak of "The Amazing Race."
HBO movies on the lives of euthansia expert Jack Kevorkian and animal sciences expert Temple Grandin won awards. Al Pacino and Claire Danes won best actor trophies, and paid tribute to the real-life characters they portrayed who were sitting in the audience.
The awards also allowed Adam Mazer, Emmy-winning writer for "You Don't Know Jack," to get off one of the best lines of the night.
"I'm grateful you're my friend," Mazer said, looking out at Kevorkian. "I'm even more grateful you're not my physician."
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Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.
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Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The television world's annual tribute to itself is set for Sunday night, going live to all U.S. time zones for the first time in recent memory. Having a totally live show means everything needs to work _ the first time _ so there's plenty of last-minute prepping going on heading into the weekend. Maybe a little anticipation and a few pre-parties, too. Here's the latest:
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ROOTING FOR A RIVAL: Even Holland Taylor is rooting for Jane Lynch to win the Emmys on Sunday.
Like Lynch, Taylor is nominated as supporting actress in a comedy series: Taylor for her portrayal of Charlie Sheen's toxic mother on "Two and a Half Men," Lynch for creating the caustic coach on "Glee."
"If Jane Lynch doesn't take this award, the world will tilt on its axis," Taylor said. "We've never seen a character like that before."
A 1999 Emmy winner for "The Practice," Taylor has been nominated four times for her work on "Men." "My mother died right when I took this job, and I was really at sea," explained the diminutive Philadelphian, who seized opportunities that came with the regular schedule of a hit sitcom, including writing a one-woman show about the late Texas governor Ann Richards. With it, she cast herself against type, as the wickedly witty Southern Democrat.
While Taylor was working on the play this summer, the fate of "Men" was uncertain, despite high ratings, as Sheen was in contract negotiations and also struggling with personal and legal issues. As a result of the negotiations, Sheen is now TV's top-paid actor, making more than $1 million per episode, according to a "TV Guide" magazine report.
Taylor doesn't make nearly as much loot, but said she is grateful for what "Men" has given her since day one. "I just thought, 'Wow! Are you prepared for what you are marching resolutely towards, without even thinking about it?' And the answer was, 'No! Hell, no!' I'm not remotely prepared for what this is going towards the big dirt nap."
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A-LIST OF PRESENTERS: The Television Academy has released its final batch of presenters for Sunday night's Primetime Emmy Awards, completing a parade of talent that is sure to keep the three-hour show glamorous, if nothing else. Included in the most recent stellar lineup are Claire Danes, Ted Danson, Tom Selleck, and Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," who is nominated this year for lead actress in a drama series.
They join a list of previously announced presenters that includes Stephen Colbert, Edie Falco, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Jon Hamm, Neil Patrick Harris, January Jones, LL Cool J, John Lithgow, Ann-Margret, newlyweds Anna Paquin and Steven Moyer of "True Blood," Eva Longoria Parker and of course Betty White.
The ceremony will be broadcast from the Nokia Theatre at LA LIVE in downtown Los Angeles beginning at 8 p.m. EDT on NBC.
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STARRY, STARRY NIGHT: After winning (or losing) Emmys, 3,600 celebrities and other invitees will end the evening at the Governors Ball inside the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, just steps away from the Nokia Theatre. The behemoth 57,600-square-foot space has been transformed into a celestial heaven for Sunday's galactic dinner party.
"This is a very large room," said designer Dwight Jackson. "It's bigger than a football field."
To turn the colossal hall into an intimate ballroom, the space has been surrounded by 50,000-square-feet of black drapery. Thousands of tiny mirror balls dangle from the ceiling around a giant disco ball encased in a glittering sun sculpture hung above the stage, while giant glowing spheres representing each sign of the zodiac circle the dance floor.
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AP Entertainment Writer Derrik Lang contributed to this report.
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Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge ordered a woman to stand trial on a charge of slashing Leonardo DiCaprio's face with glass during a 2005 party.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund Willcox Clarke ordered Aretha Wilson to face one count of assault with a deadly weapon. The charge includes an allegation that Wilson, 40, caused great bodily injury.
The details and extent of DiCaprio's injuries were not made public, although the judge, who has reviewed photos of the injuries to the actor's ear and neck, said Thursday that "this would not be an injury that would be called trivial or moderate, in my view."
Those photos also were not made public. DiCaprio did not attend the hearing.
Wilson was returned to Los Angeles in the five-year-old case after waiving extradition from Canada.
She has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Wilson's attorney Freddy Sayegh said the ruling was not unexpected and that Wilson has vehemently professed her innocence. He said he expected to trial to begin within 60 days.
She is due back in court on Sept. 9.
Authorities have said Wilson attacked DiCaprio with a broken beer bottle, but a witness called Thursday said it was a wine glass. The criminal complaint identifies the object only as glass.
If convicted, Wilson faces up to seven years in state prison.
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP material nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP Entertainment Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Lindsay Lohan's judge on Wednesday laid out a path paved with therapy sessions and 12-step program meetings that could lead to the actress's recovery and an end to a three-year-old drug case.
It also would allow the starlet to return to work after spending more than a month in jail and inpatient rehab.
For the next 67 days, Lohan will be expected to attend psychotherapy, drug and alcohol counseling and random drug and alcohol testing several times a week, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox ordered during a hearing.
If the 24-year-old star succeeds, Fox said he will allow Lohan to return to unsupervised probation and to leave Los Angeles permanently if she wishes.
If she fails to show up or doesn't pass any of the drug screenings, the judge threatened her with a 30-day jail sentence for each violation.
Lohan's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, said her client was eager to demonstrate that she could comply with the rigid outpatient rehab requirements laid by the judge.
"She is very serious about her sobriety," Holley told the judge. Lohan, who was released from rehab hours earlier, did not attend the hearing.
Despite the rigid schedule, Holley said Lohan will resume working. She returns to the big screen on Sept. 3 in Robert Rodriguez's film, "Machete." She said the actress would skip a screening of the film scheduled for Wednesday evening.
Lohan has also signed on to play porn star Linda Lovelace in a biopic that has not yet started filming.
Holley said she was confident Lohan would be able to juggle her rehab responsibilities _ which include two psychotherapy, two behavior therapy and five 12-step sessions a week _ with her personal and work life.
"She has changed," Holley said. "She's healthy. She's clear-headed. She is positive at looking forward."
The star of "Mean Girls" and several Disney films has repeatedly struggled with the terms of her probation for a drug and driving under the influence case filed after a pair of arrests in 2007. Lohan failed to complete her alcohol education classes in time and had her probation extended for a year, then missed seven weekly sessions between December and May.
The absences prompted Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel to sentence Lohan to three months in jail followed by three months in rehab. The actress ended up serving 14 days in a women's jail and 23 days of inpatient rehab at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Revel recused herself from the case after a prosecutor complained about the judge meeting with defense attorneys without notifying her and contacting rehab officials directly.
Wednesday's sentence was the first time Fox weighed in on Lohan's case. He said he agreed to release her from inpatient rehab after reviewing reports by her doctors and medical records from a three-year period.
Holley credited doctors and staff at UCLA for taking a fresh look at Lohan's issues.
Despite ordering an intense regimen of counseling and therapy, Fox gave Lohan some incentives to succeed. He dismissed two drug counts to which the actress pleaded guilty in 2007.
He also said Lohan will be taken off supervised probation in November, which would give her more freedom to travel, and reduce court and media scrutiny for her off-screen actions.
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Associated Press video journalist John Mone contributed to this report.
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP material nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WINDERMERE, Fla. (AP) -- Tiger Woods' ex-wife Elin Nordegren said she has "been through hell" since her husband's infidelity surfaced but she never hit him, according to an interview released Wednesday.
Nordegren told People magazine she and Woods tried for months to reconcile the relationship. In the end, a marriage "without trust and love" wasn't good for anyone, she said.
On Thanksgiving night outside their Florida home, Woods drove his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree, setting off shocking revelations that sports' biggest star had been cheating on his wife through multiple affairs. The couple officially divorced Monday.
Nordegren told People that she never hit Woods on the night of the car crash.
"There was never any violence inside or outside our home," she said. "The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous."
Nordegren said Woods left the house that night and when he didn't return after a while, she got worried and went to look for him. She said that's when she found him in the car.
"I did everything I could to get him out of the locked car," she said. "To think anything else is absolutely wrong."
The magazine said the interview was conducted over four visits lasting a total of 19 hours at the rented Windermere, Fla., home where she now lives with their two children.
"I've been through hell," she said. "It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden _ was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real. But I survived. It was hard, but it didn't kill me."
In an interview on NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday morning, People magazine reporter Sandra Sobieraj Westfall said Nordegren and her team approached the magazine.
Westfall said Nordegren wanted people to know three things: she's not violent and never hit Woods; she had no idea this was going on; and it was a real marriage for her.
Nordegren and Woods were married Oct. 5, 2004, in Barbados and have a 3-year-old daughter, Sam, and an 18-month-old son, Charlie.
In the interview, Nordegren would not disclose the amount of the divorce settlement but did say "money can't buy happiness or put my family back together."
"I'm so embarrassed that I never suspected _ not a one. For the past 3 1/2 years, when all this was going on, I was home a lot more with pregnancies, then the children and my school."
Woods, who is playing in golf tournament in New Jersey this week, has not yet commented on the couple's divorce.
Nordegren said she would eventually come to forgive Woods but that she is still working on it.
"Forgiveness takes time," she said. "It is the last step of the grieving process."
In the meantime, the Swedish-born Nordegren said she is excited to start the next chapter of her life and intends to stay in the U.S. with her children.
She also said she's "not watched one minute of golf."
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People: http://www.people.com/people/
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP material nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- From flags to Facebook, 22-year-old Jimena Navarrete has quickly made it clear what she plans to promote as the world's newest Miss Universe _ her home country of Mexico.
"I want the whole world to know about my country and my people," the Guadalajara native said after beating 82 competitors for global bragging rights at the pageant in Las Vegas.
"I imagine that they're all going crazy in Mexico right now," she said through an interpreter. "I'm extremely proud and I'm sure they're very proud, too."
She donned a flowing red dress, strutted confidently in a violet bikini, and said onstage that the Internet is indispensable and requires parents to impart family values.
The model-turned pageant queen then posed for pictures with a Mexican flag and Mexico's last Miss Universe as congratulations from her countrymen came pouring in.
"Her triumph is a source of pride and satisfaction for all Mexicans, who see in her the fruits of perseverance," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a statement. Immediately after her win, Calderon said on Twitter that her victory would help Mexico's image as a country.
"We won, long live Mexico!" Navarrete said on her fan page on Facebook, spurring 478 "likes" and 218 comments in about one hour.
She was cheered by Spanish-speaking reporters clamoring to talk with her after the pageant, and twice answered questions about Arizona's recent immigration law.
"Every country has the right to impose and enact their laws," she said, wearing her new sash and sparkling tiara. "But I tell you that all the Mexicans and the Latins that are living here in the United States are hardworking people _ people who want to improve on their quality of life."
The Miss Universe pageant is known for grabbing headlines _ and Navarrete appears ready to make her mark.
She's Mexico's second Miss Universe. Lupita Jones _ Navarrete's national pageant director _ won in 1991. Navarrete has been modeling since she was 15 and came to Miss Universe after winning for Jalisco, then Mexico, in the country's Nuestra Belleza pageant.
Navarrete replaces Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela. She also spoiled a bid by Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson from giving the South American country a third consecutive victory. Neither Gibson nor Miss USA Rima Fakih made the top 15 finalists.
With fans in some 190 countries watching on television and keeping tabs on social networks, Navarrete and her competitors introduced themselves while wearing over-the-top national costumes. They then danced in silver and black dresses for the show's opening number before the last 15 finalists were announced.
The final 15 walked in swimsuits while Cirque du Soleil musicians played Elvis Presley songs including "Viva Las Vegas." The last 10 impressed in their gowns while John Legend and the Roots played a soulful medley including "Save Room."
By the end of the show, seven of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter had to do with the pageant, its contestants, its judges or owner Donald Trump. The mogul co-owns the pageant with TV network NBC.
The show was without any major gaffes, except for Miss Philippines' answer when asked what her biggest mistake in life was and how she fixed it.
"In my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major," Venus Raj said.
Before the pageant, Raj was rated among the top contestants in an online poll on the pageant's website. She finished in fifth place.
Asked by Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek how she felt about unsupervised Internet use, Navarrete said the Internet is important.
"I do believe that Internet is an indispensable, necessary tool for the present time," she said through an interpreter. "We must be sure to teach them the values that we learned as a family."
Lysacek was one of this year's nine celebrity judges. The others were actresses Jane Seymour and Chynna Phillips; actors Chazz Palminteri and William Baldwin; magician Criss Angel; MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall; drummer Sheila E.; and supermodel Niki Taylor.
Navarrete won a package of prizes including an undisclosed salary, a luxury New York apartment with living expenses, a one-year scholarship to the New York Film Academy with housing after her reign, plus jewelry, clothes and shoes fit for a beauty champion.
Campbell won the Miss Congeniality Universe award. Miss Thailand Fonthip Watcharatrakul won Miss Photogenic Universe and a second award for having the best national costume.
First runner-up was Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell.
Fakih, a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Dearborn, Mich., spurred celebrations among Arab-Americans when she won Miss USA. Pageant records aren't detailed enough to show whether Fakih is the first Arab-American, Muslim or immigrant to win Miss USA.
Miss USA has not been named Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997.
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Associated Press writer Olga Ramirez in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP material nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables" fought off an onslaught of newcomers to finish on top of the weekend box office again.
Lionsgate's "The Expendables" remained No. 1 for a second straight weekend with $16.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Directed by and starring Stallone, the action romp about mercenaries aiming to overthrow a dictator raised its total to $64.9 million.
Five new wide releases debuted to crowd the market, but none managed to pack in huge audiences and knock off "The Expendables."
"Given all that competition in the marketplace, I don't think there was any guarantee we would hold this strong, but we did," said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate.
Leading the newcomers was 20th Century Fox's "Twilight" spoof "Vampires Suck" with $12.2 million, raising its total to $18.6 million since it opened Wednesday. The movie mocks the blockbuster franchise with a parody about a moody schoolgirl in a love triangle with a vampire and a werewolf.
"Vampires Suck" was in a photo finish for the No. 2 spot with another holdover, Julia Roberts' drama "Eat Pray Love." The Sony film about a divorced woman traveling the world in search of fulfillment pulled in $12 million to lift its total to $47.1 million.
The Warner Bros. comedy "Lottery Ticket," featuring rapper Bow Wow as a young man besieged by neighbors after he wins a $370 million jackpot, opened in fourth place with $11.1 million.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's cop comedy "The Other Guys" held up well in its third weekend, with the Sony release taking in $10.1 million and boosting its total to $88.2 million.
"The Other Guys" was in a tossup for No. 5 with the Weinstein Co. horror remake "Piranha 3D," which opened with $10 million. Inspired by the low-budget 1978 "Piranha," the update is set at a lake where spring-break partiers are consumed by prehistoric man-eating fish.
Universal's sequel "Nanny McPhee Returns," with Emma Thompson back as the homely title character whipping a wartime family into shape, opened at No. 7 with $8.3 million. The first film, 2006's "Nanny McPhee," debuted in fewer theaters but managed to pull in $14.5 million over opening weekend.
Bringing up the rear among new wide releases at No. 8 was Jennifer Aniston's single-mom comedy "The Switch," which debuted with $8.1 million. The Disney release features Aniston as a woman whose drunken friend (Jason Bateman) switches her sperm specimen at a party to celebrate her artificial insemination.
Surprisingly, the overall box office was down only slightly compared with the same weekend last year, when "Inglourious Basterds" fired up the normally quiet late summer with a $38.1 million opening and "District 9" held up well with an $18.2 million second weekend.
Revenues this weekend came in at $125 million, down just 1.7 percent from the same weekend a year ago, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
"It was the collective strength of these five newcomers, plus the holdovers," said Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. "Inglourious Basterds" and "District 9" were "so unusually strong for August that it should have made the comparison tough for this year. But the industry threw everything they had at the wall this weekend and tried to see what would stick."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Expendables," $16.5 million.
2. "Vampires Suck," $12.2 million.
3. "Eat Pray Love," $12 million.
4. "Lottery Ticket," $11.1 million.
5. "The Other Guys," $10.1 million.
6. "Piranha 3D," $10 million.
7. "Nanny McPhee Returns," $8.3 million.
8. "The Switch," $8.1 million.
9. "Inception," $7.7 million.
10. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," $5 million.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice
___
Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.
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