Murdoch's UK arm denies phone hacking allegations

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp denied on Friday allegations its journalists had hacked into the phones of thousands of public figures, following days of damning headlines.

The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this week News International had already paid 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) to settle court cases with three people -- including soccer executive Gordon Taylor -- whose phones were accessed.

But the report also suggested journalists at the mass-selling Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, had conspired to hack into the phones of thousands of public figures from politicians to celebrities and sporting bosses.

News International finally released a statement on Friday, saying that after a full examination and apart from two already acknowledged cases, the allegations were not true.

"It is untrue that officers found evidence of News Group staff, either themselves or using private investigators, hacking into "thousands" of mobile phones," the statement said.

Hollywood sends 3D home - in videogames

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Coming to a living room near you -- 3D videogames.

A spate of summer blockbuster movies like Disney/Pixar's "Up," 20th Century Fox's"Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs" and the upcoming Disney "G-Force" movie have introduced moviegoers to the latest stereoscopic 3D technology.

Now videogames are following suit, with moves to bring the third dimension home as some of the biggest names in Hollywood work on 3D videogames expanding on the stories of their 3D films.

Disney Interactive Studios' "G-Force" game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, based on Jerry Bruckheimer's live action 3D film featuring secret agent guinea pigs, will use Anaglyph 3D, the traditional red and blue glasses from the 1950s 3D craze.

Disney is using this same technology on a Wii game due out in fall, "Disney/Pixar's Toy Story Midway Mania," which is based on the Walt Disney World and Disneyland 4D theme park ride and comes out alongside the movie "Toy Story 3D" in October.

Pushing 3D technology even further, Ubisoft has developed proprietary stereoscopic 3D technology -- the clear polarized glasses movie theater patrons receive these days -- for "James Cameron's Avatar" game.

Apps a nail in coffin of broadcast mobile TV

HELSINKI (Reuters) – For years it was the talk of the wireless industry: beaming television to the world's four billion cellphones would be the icon of the digital age. Now, just three letters are hastening the demise of that vision.

App. Short for "application," the programs people download from online stores to run on their portable phones have enabled consumers to choose for themselves which moving pictures to take in when they are on the go.

As Facebook and Twitter disrupt business models for mainstream media -- and on the platform that's a lifestyle statement for young adults -- the one-size-fits-all approach of broadcast mobile TV got stuck before it even properly took off.

"It is a financial disaster," said John Strand, a consultant who has followed the mobile industry closely for more than 12 years. "It's a nice product, but the customers won't pay for it."

One way to see why not is to watch young Brazilian footballers knocking a soccer ball around in the Helsinki Cup. A youth tournament currently playing in the Finnish capital, it's hardly a world event in the conventional sense.

Hatcher's daughter returning to "Housewives"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – After she was mostly out of the picture last season off to college, Susan Mayer's daughter Julie will be back in full force in the upcoming sixth season of ABC's "Desperate Housewives."

Andrea Bowen is returning to the hit ABC series as a regular in the fall, sources said.

An ABC spokeswoman would only confirm that Bowen will appear in the sixth season opener, slated for September 27.

It is also understood that Julie's father, Karl (Richard Burgi), may be featured prominently on the series this coming season.

On the show, Bowen was last seen in the November 16 episode, in which Julie visited her mom (Teri Hatcher), bringing along her much older boyfriend Lloyd (Steven Weber).

In addition to resuming her duties on "Desperate Housewives," Bowen is in the midst of recording her first solo album, which will feature original pop-rock songs she has written.

'Three's Company' star cited for drunken driving

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – An actress who starred on the hit television series "Three's Company" has been arrested in Southern California and cited for drunken driving. Police say Joyce DeWitt, who played the character Janet Wood on the popular show, was pulled over Saturday afternoon after she drove past a barricade near a park in El Segundo.

Sgt. Danny Kim says an officer arrested the 60-year-old DeWitt after he observed signs she had been drinking and gave her field sobriety tests.

Kim says DeWitt was booked at the Police Department, cited and released on her own recognizance.

A telephone listing for DeWitt was not immediately available.

"Ice Age" sequel heats up worldwide box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In a rare tie, reigning champ "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and the new cartoon "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" shared the top spot at the holiday weekend box office in North America.

According to studio estimates issued Sunday, the movies each sold about $42.5 million worth of tickets during the three-day U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend.

But "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the third movie in 20th Century Fox's family franchise, was clearly the top pick on a worldwide basis. It earned $148 million from 101 foreign markets, which the News Corp-owned studio said was the sixth-biggest opening overall.

Including its North American tally of $67.5 million since opening Wednesday, the global total stands at $215.5 million.

Paramount's "Transformers" sequel earned $55 million from 62 markets during its second weekend, taking the foreign haul to $298 million. The global total stands at $591 million, taking the robot sequel past Columbia Pictures' "Angels & Demons" ($474 million) to become the biggest film of the year.

Slumdog child actor moves into new home from slum

Slumdog child actor moves into new home from slum

Stone Temple Pilots accentuate old faves

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. There's a not-so-fine line between reunion and comeback.

But the sardine-packed crowd at the inaugural St. Jude's Rock 'n' Roll Hope Show got what it wanted -- mostly. One hitch: Scott Weiland, firmly re-ensconced as STP frontman after his Velvet Revolver sideshow, simply seemed off.

Unscripted TV fare balances real with "reality"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – When the Oxygen network green-lighted the reality series "Addicted to Beauty," the idea was to chronicle the day-to-day workings of a trendy California medical spa via the lives of its married co-owners, a socialite and a doctor.

That was the plan, anyway.

"Before we even got into production, they got divorced," Oxygen general manager Jason Klarman says. So when "Beauty" premieres next month, it will focus on socialite Dianne York-Goldman's attempt to start a med-spa at a different location, as well as her re-entry into single life.

"You've got to roll with the punches when you're doing these shows," Klarman says. "These aren't characters; these are real people, and you always run the risk of them having lives."

Indeed, as TLC has learned with its breakout hit "Jon & Kate Plus 8," the unanticipated real-life travails of reality personalities can prove both a boon and a bust to the network that's following their every move.

Kevin Jonas, of Jonas Brothers, engaged

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kevin Jonas, the eldest member of the teen heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers, may soon be able to shed his purity ring as Wednesday People magazine reported the 21-year-old pop star is now engaged.

Danielle Deleasa, a 22-year-old former hairdresser who Jonas met two years ago in the Bahamas, quickly said yes to his proposal, but the two have not set a wedding date yet.

He popped the question after taking an overnight flight from a concert in Vancouver, and showing up at her doorstep in New Jersey, on his knee with ring in hand.

"It was tough performing last night, knowing that I was going to ask the biggest question in my life to the most amazing girl in the world," People quoted Jonas as saying.

His younger brothers, 19-year-old Joe and 16-year-old Nick, are still on the market. All prominently wear purity rings, symbolizing their promise to refrain from sex until marriage.

U2 open world tour with a bang in Barcelona

BARCELONA (Reuters) – U2 kicked off their first tour in three years on Tuesday, rocking a raucous Barcelona crowd of around 90,000 and reaching for the stars with a live link-up to the International Space Station.

Featuring one of the biggest concert stages ever built, the U2 360 Tour will visit 31 cities across Europe and North America and entertain an estimated three million people. More dates are expected to be announced in 2010.

Fans surrounded the circular platform inside Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium, allowing for a bigger audience and lower average ticket prices during the global recession.

"All around Spain, all around the world, things are difficult. Thank you for coming back to us again and again," Bono said during the high octane show.

The quartet, one of the world's most successful acts, opened with "Breathe" from their acclaimed new album "No Line on the Horizon," and the crowd came to life with the anthem-style "Magnificent" on a hot summer's night.

Bon Jovi makes "Stand" with Iranian protest video

DETROIT (Billboard) – A new version of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" featuring Jon Bon Jovi dueting in Farsi with exiled Iranian singer Andy Madadian, is making the rounds as an online video.

The track's co-producer, Don Was, says the video is meant to send "a musical message of worldwide solidarity" to the Iranian people in the aftermath of the country's recent disputed election.

Was tells Billboard.com that the session, which took place last Wednesday in Los Angeles, was spurred by a conversation he had with Madadian about "whether there was something we could do just to send out a little message of solidarity, remembering the '60s, believing music can change things."

When they arrived to record the song, they found Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora and John Shanks, who's producing their next album, sitting outside and having lunch.

"They asked what we were doing, I told them, and Jon said, 'Look, man, if you do it right now we'll do it with you,'" Was recalls. "So we did."

BET Awards pay tribute to Michael Jackson

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The BET Awards kicked off on Sunday night with a musical tribute to Michael Jackson in which host Jamie Foxx did Jackson's famous moonwalk and sung his hit song "Beat It" in a classic King of Pop costume -- red leather jacket and one white glove.

Oscar-winning actor and singer Foxx told the packed house in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium the awards program would honor Jackson, the music star who died suddenly last Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home.

"We're going to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us, and we shared him with everybody else," Foxx told the crowd.

"I'm going to moonwalk tonight -- going to moonwalk from here, all the way to there, for Michael Jackson," Foxx said, pointing across the stage.

He then performed the backwards shuffle dance step that Jackson made famous, but Foxx didn't even come close to mastering the move. In fact, he tripped.

Michael Jackson set to make chart history, again

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) – Michael Jackson will once again make music history next week as many of his albums are poised to shake up the Billboard charts with incredible sales increases.

The impact of Jackson's shock death on Thursday was felt immediately in the marketplace. Industry sources report that the demand for Jackson's albums were so high, many stores simply ran out of his CDs.

The albums with the greatest sales increases -- at least on the physical side of things -- look to be his greatest hits packages "Number Ones" and "The Essential Michael Jackson" along with the expanded reissue of "Thriller." The sets, released between 2003 and 2008, were the three Jackson albums that perhaps had the most stock available in stores.

In the digital realm, where the supply problem doesn't exist, Jackson's songs and albums swarmed the top of the constantly-updating best sellers lists in both the iTunes' and Amazon's online music stores. At one point on Friday in the iTunes Store, nine out of the top 10-selling albums and 40 of the top 100-selling songs were by Jackson.

Jackson was energetic, upbeat ahead of London tour

LOS ANGELES – The King of Pop seemed driven and upbeat in the weeks, even hours, before his death as he rehearsed rigorously for a series of 50 concerts in London that were to begin a late-career comeback.

Friends and colleagues said Friday that Jackson appeared in recent months to be rejuvenated by the prospect of performing again.

After years of seclusion following a child sex scandal, the pop icon was heavily involved in all aspects of the concert rehearsals. He had hired a personal trainer and was practicing with backup dancers and choreographers several hours a day, they said.

"He was working hard, setting the example, overseeing the choreography, kicking butt and taking names," said Johnny Caswell, president of CenterStaging Musical Productions Inc., a Burbank sound stage where Jackson rehearsed until late May. "He was ready to blow everybody out of the water. This was going to be the biggest extravaganza, entertainment spectacle ever."