Portrait of Ledger Wins Art Award
‘CSI’ star Gary Dourdan charged with felony drug possession
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) – “CSI” co-star Gary Dourdan has been charged with felony possession of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy stemming from his arrest last month, prosecutors said.
The 41-year-old actor was arrested after police found him asleep in his car in Palm Springs on April 28. He was allegedly parked on the wrong side of the street with the car’s interior light on.
Prosecutors said Dourdan is scheduled to appear in court in Indio, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, on May 28. The criminal complaint was dated Tuesday.
A call to Dourdan’s attorneys wasn’t immediately returned early Thursday.
Dourdan has played crime scene investigator Warrick Brown on CBS’s “CSI” since 2000.
Several celebrities were in Palm Springs for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in nearby Indio.
Ne-Yo bringing awareness to foster care system
ATLANTA (AP) – When he was younger, Ne-Yo watched from afar as his friends hugged their fathers – and he wondered where his dad might be.
“A lot of aggravation was inside me,” the 28-year-old singer- songwriter told The Associated Press. “Dad stuck around for a minute and decided it wasn’t for him. But I credit my mom for being so positive, putting the pen in my hand.
“It’s single women like her who don’t get enough recognition.”
Now Ne-Yo, whose real name is Shaffer C. Smith, is honoring moms like his own.
On Sunday, he’ll host a brunch for 50 single and foster mothers from the metro Atlanta area to raise awareness of the need for reform of the foster care system in the United States.
“They need something special,” he said. “So with the success I’ve been given, through the blessings I have, how could I not use it for good? This is a way to help people who deserve it – for both the mothers and children.”
Carly Simon charts new course
NEW YORK (AP) – Carly Simon was worried about preserving her voice as she rehearsed for her first public performance of tunes from her new CD, but she couldn’t restrain herself as she got swept away singing the sexy title song, “This Kind of Love.”
Tall and slender, her blond hair flowing, she gently swayed her body and snapped her fingers to the beat of the samba-inspired melody, singing passionately about making love on moonlit beaches.
The CD is not only her first collection of original songs in eight years, but also finds the legendary 62-year-old singer- songwriter charting a new musical course inspired by the music of Brazil from Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa to Caetano Veloso and Jorge Ben.
“I’m setting the lyrical themes to a carnival or Brazilian or slightly samba tempo so that life is joyous even in its sadness,” said Simon during a break at the Manhattan studio. “Life is a dream even in its most painful moments; it’s a dream that we can dance to.”
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – A portrait of Hollywood star Heath Ledger painted weeks before his death has won an Australian art award.
The painting features a bare-chested Ledger staring from the canvas as two images of the actor whisper into his ears.
On Thursday, it was awarded a secondary prize by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in its annual national portrait competition. Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton won first prize with her self- portrait.
“Heath” by Vincent Fantauzzo was the popular choice among the 32,000 who saw the exhibition.
Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in January. He was 28.
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