"Mad Men" may be named for the guys, but the women rule the roost.

Take Christina Hendricks' savvy office manager Joan Harris (nee Holloway), a glamour girl who choreographs her every move with the precision of a five-star general drawing up battle plans. Or how about January Jones' frustrated housewife Betty Draper, whose icy veneer masks a woman constantly on the verge of coming undone? And of course, there's up-and-comer Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), a gifted copywriter finding her voice during the upheaval of the series' 1960s-era setting.

As the critically acclaimed AMC series begins its fourth season, the Emmy-nominated trio chatted about auditioning, typecasting, and being women in a world of "Men."

What was your 'Mad Men' audition process like?

Christina Hendricks: It was pilot season. It's that crazy time of year when we all go nuts. I had already auditioned for a bunch of stuff, and I was feeling depleted. I had gotten the script, and I was super excited and went to work on the audition with my best friend. I remember breaking down and crying because I was so tired. I was like, "I'm not doing anything with this role; I don't know what I'm doing." She helped me so much, so I had every word down and went in and enjoyed myself and had a really good audition. They brought me back to read the Midge role: the bohemian lover of Don Draper. At the time, they hadn't decided which characters were going to be regulars on the show and which were going to be guest stars. I said, "I'll take whatever one stays!" The women's roles were so beautiful.

January Jones: I went in for the role of Peggy twice. Ultimately, I wasn't right for it. ("Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner) said, "There is this other role." He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, and there weren't any real lines for Betty at the time. He wrote a couple scenes overnight — really amazing scenes, actually — and I came in and read for him, and that was it. I just wanted to be involved in the show in any way; I think we all felt that. It was such a unique project, and it was the best thing I'd read in a long time.

Elisabeth Moss: I auditioned twice. I did two scenes both times, and it felt like a really good fit for the part. I loved playing Peggy; I just really felt at home playing that character. I knew who she was, and I knew why she was doing what she was doing. And the person that I thought she was the person Matt wrote.
"Mad Men" may be named for the guys, but the women rule the roost.

Take Christina Hendricks' savvy office manager Joan Harris (nee Holloway), a glamour girl who choreographs her every move with the precision of a five-star general drawing up battle plans. Or how about January Jones' frustrated housewife Betty Draper, whose icy veneer masks a woman constantly on the verge of coming undone? And of course, there's up-and-comer Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), a gifted copywriter finding her voice during the upheaval of the series' 1960s-era setting.

As the critically acclaimed AMC series begins its fourth season, the Emmy-nominated trio chatted about auditioning, typecasting, and being women in a world of "Men."

What was your 'Mad Men' audition process like?

Christina Hendricks: It was pilot season. It's that crazy time of year when we all go nuts. I had already auditioned for a bunch of stuff, and I was feeling depleted. I had gotten the script, and I was super excited and went to work on the audition with my best friend. I remember breaking down and crying because I was so tired. I was like, "I'm not doing anything with this role; I don't know what I'm doing." She helped me so much, so I had every word down and went in and enjoyed myself and had a really good audition. They brought me back to read the Midge role: the bohemian lover of Don Draper. At the time, they hadn't decided which characters were going to be regulars on the show and which were going to be guest stars. I said, "I'll take whatever one stays!" The women's roles were so beautiful.

January Jones: I went in for the role of Peggy twice. Ultimately, I wasn't right for it. ("Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner) said, "There is this other role." He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, and there weren't any real lines for Betty at the time. He wrote a couple scenes overnight — really amazing scenes, actually — and I came in and read for him, and that was it. I just wanted to be involved in the show in any way; I think we all felt that. It was such a unique project, and it was the best thing I'd read in a long time.

Elisabeth Moss: I auditioned twice. I did two scenes both times, and it felt like a really good fit for the part. I loved playing Peggy; I just really felt at home playing that character. I knew who she was, and I knew why she was doing what she was doing. And the person that I thought she was the person Matt wrote.

Seven doctors who treated Michael Jackson in the years before his death will not face criminal charges, US investigators have said.

However, one has been referred to California's state medical board for prescribing drugs under an alias.

Jackson's personal doctor Conrad Murray, who denies involuntary manslaughter, was not one of those questioned by state investigators.

He is accused of giving Jackson a lethal overdose of anaesthetic.
'Ignoring reality'
Related stories

* Wrongful death suit over Jackson

Los Angeles police had asked Californian state investigators to look into the way the doctors had prescribed drugs.

They searched a drug database, which monitors the prescription of controlled substances, as part of their investigation.

Lawyer Brian Oxman, who is representing Jackson's father in a wrongful death civil case, said he was "very disappointed".

"The misuse of medications by Michael Jackson in the last years of his life was excessive and to fail to bring that to the public eye is ignoring reality," he said.

In his civil case, Joe Jackson accuses Dr Murray of professional negligence in administering a fatal mix of sedatives to the singer.

The Drug Enforcement Agency has also stopped investigating any other doctors who treated Jackson, a spokeswoman said

Flake, cow, loser, slut, idiot, airhead, trash, penguin, creep, moron, midget, freak, Oompa-Loompa, nobody.

It’s another day in the kitchen of Andy Polizzi — volunteer firefighter, auto salvage manager and father of Nicole Polizzi, the 4-foot-9-inch Snooki, yowling star of “Jersey Shore” — and words cannot hurt him. Sticks and stones! After a season of the hit reality show about a bunch of Italian-Americans sharing a beach house, Andy is used to the terrible stuff that people say about his little girl, and if he had to, he looks built enough under his “Papa Snooks” T-shirt to take them down.

He has welcomed a reporter into his home, a ranch in the middle of the ranchlands and big riding-tractor front lawns of Marlboro, N.Y., across the river from Poughkeepsie, amid the orchards and dairy bars off Route 9W. There’s a swimming pool in the backyard stuffed with water toys and surrounded by a chain-link fence. Inside, the house has the snug plenitude of a man who likes his comforts close at hand. He has been divorced 10 years.

But he has to be honest, he said, folding his arms on the kitchen table: He doesn’t understand the public’s fascination with his daughter.

“When we go to venues, I like to stand out in the crowd,” he said. “She’ll be up there hooting and hollering, and I’ll say to someone, ‘What is it that draws you to my daughter? Be honest.’ Because it’s very hard for me to see what it is. She don’t sing. She don’t dance. I don’t want to say she don’t have talent ...” He seemed to have his doubts. Then he shrugged. “Everyone basically says they can relate to her. I think Nicole’s just a likeable person.”

He went along in this worn rut of relatedness and just-folks-like-us celebrity bunkum — for, alas, fame has come to him, too — and then, hearing his daughter coming noisily down the hall from the garage, he said quickly, “Let me ask you: What do you think of the show and what do you think of Nicole?”

Ah.

Opinions abound
Everybody seems to have an opinion about “Jersey Shore,” which begins its second season on MTV on Thursday night. Italian-American groups hate it because the cast members — Snooki, Mike (The Situation), Jenni (JWoww), Pauly D and the rest — are into “Guidos” and “Guidettes,” and how much gel they can pump into their hair before they make the chicken parm. In the first episode, Snooki got drunk, threw up and passed out.

The obsession about tanning and the gym has led to parodies on YouTube. Even President Obama has weighed in on Snooki’s scarily dark tan, referring to it because of a proposed tanning-bed tax. Senator John McCain Twittered her. (“I do rec wearing sunscreen!”)

The action takes place in Seaside Heights and, at least for part of the new season, in South Beach. Since the show’s personalities are painted with broad strokes (the better for the rest of us to mock them), you accept that the housemates have no other aim than partying and avoiding a “grenade” in the hot tub (the guys’ term for an ugly chick). Clearly the series relies on the chem-lab formula used by other reality shows, in which volatile and juvenile temperaments are thrown together for fun explosions.

Yet while such behavioral snippets compelled some 4.8 million people to watch “Jersey Shore” at the end of the first season — almost triple the number of viewers for the premiere last December — the main point of outrage on blogs is that the show has absolutely no redeeming value.

“The adventures of the most irrelevant people on earth,” as someone wrote recently on a gossip blog. And even viewers who claim to love “Jersey Shore” usually find it hard to say why.

“Everything about this show is super-sized — from the over-the-top hair to the over-the-top nature of the comments,” said Robert J. Thompson, a professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University. If you can’t tell, he’s an avid fan. “ ‘Jersey Shore’ is brilliantly cast and, of course, Snooki is the star,” he said. “The name doesn’t hurt for a start.”

And she’s short, drawing our attention like a berserk windup toy. “And she’s so loud,” Professor Thompson exclaimed. “Her dialect is ratcheted up 1,000 volts.”

'A spray-painted Chihuahua'
That Snooki is not conventionally attractive — “A spray-painted Chihuahua,” Mike (The Situation) said when he first saw her — has a lot to do with why she is the breakout member of the cast. She is busty and short-waisted with small legs; sort of like a turnip turned on its tip. There is the weird tan, but the pièce de résistance of Snookiness is the half-doughnut-shaped pouf on top of her head.

The pouf has been her signature, along with her frisky nickname, since she was in high school in Marlboro, where she was a cheerleader. “The pouf is like a Guidette thing, and usually on teen night all the girls did it,” she explained when I first met her, in May, in South Beach. “Eventually all my friends grew out of it and went to straight hair.”

With a blank look, she shrugged. “Me, I like the pouf. I’m still going to rock it.”

Snooki has a way of putting herself together that while in some ways is atrocious, is completely identifiable to her and consistent with her attention-seeking personality. She wears short, clingy dresses in a pattern or with some metallic trim, huge enameled or bejeweled hoop earrings and glittery high heels.

Lots of 22-year-old women wear revealing clothes, but they may not have her body shape, and it’s a safe bet they’re not rocking a pouf. Though that may change when a line of Snooki hair products comes out. Anyway, the effect has been interesting. “If you were to draw a cartoon of her, you would know immediately who she is,” said Chris Linn, the executive vice president for pilots at MTV. “She’s an icon.”

Singer Robbie Williams and Take That have recorded a new album, the group has confirmed.

It is the first time all five members have worked together since Williams quit 15 years ago.

The singer said he was "embarrassingly excited" and reuniting with his former group felt like "coming home" while bandmate Mark Owen added that it "feels like a dream".

All five singers have written the songs for the record, due out in November.

Owen said: "Getting the five of us to be in a room together, although always a dream, never actually seemed like becoming a reality.

Related stories
In pictures: Take That
Williams and Barlow record duet
"Now the reality of the five of us making a record together feels like a dream. It's been an absolute delight spending time with Rob again. But I'm still a better footballer."

Jason Orange said it was "absolutely brilliant," adding, "I'm over the moon that Robbie's back with us, however long it lasts. I just want to enjoy our time with him. Life is beautifully strange sometimes."

Outstanding contribution

The reunion took place in New York last September, following Take That's The Circus Live tour.

Speculation began that they might reform when it emerged that Williams had met up with the rest of the group during Owen's stag do.

When Williams walked out of the band in 1995, he went on to launch a successful career. The remaining members disbanded a year later but reformed in 2005.

Since then, they have had three number one singles and two sell-out tours.

As a solo artist, Williams, who was presented with the outstanding contribution award at the Brits earlier this year, has had eight number one albums in the UK.


Williams and Barlow recently put the past behind them Last month, he announced on his website that he was releasing a single with former bandmate Gary Barlow.

Shame, co-written by the pair, is due out on 4 October and will also appear on Williams' greatest hits album, In And Out Of Consciousness.

In a statement on his website, Williams said the album was "not only a celebration of my past but also a bridge to the future".

"The fact that part of the future includes a name from my past makes it all the more poignant for me."

The last album that the band worked on together was their number one record, Nobody Else in 1995.

Exclusive footage of the band back together will be shown on the BBC News at Six later.

Rock band U2 have rescheduled tour dates in the US and Canada postponed because singer Bono needed emergency surgery on his back.

The North American leg of their 360 tour had been due to start on 3 June in Salt Lake City but Bono had to undergo surgery in May.

New dates begin in May 2011 in Denver and end on 23 July in Minneapolis.

In a video message on U2's website, Bono apologised and said: "Thank you for standing by us."

Their 2010 European tour will begin as scheduled next month in Turin.

Bono said he was "feeling strong, feeling confident".

'Serious injury'

He added: "I'm going to be fighting fit next summer in the US. Looking forward to this summer in Europe. I actually wanted to apologise for the trouble that this injury has put you all through.

Continue reading the main story “
Start Quote
The injury was quite serious. It happened the day after my birthday and I was staring at the ceiling, which has some advantages - we got some great songs”
End Quote
Bono
"Those of you who bought tickets, organised hotels, travel plans, it's a very big deal. People go to a lot of trouble to get U2 tickets and we don't take that for granted."

He thanked fans for "standing by us in our hour of need" and said the injury "was not a lot of fun for me",

"The injury was quite serious," he said.

"It happened the day after my birthday and I was staring at the ceiling, which has some advantages - we got some great songs."

The new dates have been published on the band's website.

Manager Paul McGuinness said the band were delighted the dates had been rescheduled in the same venues as originally planned and thanked fans.

"They're the best and the band wants to get back to where they belong - surrounded by their audience," he added.

U2 also pulled out of Glastonbury Festival because of Bono's injury.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has been knocked off the top of the North American box office after one week by animated 3D film Despicable Me.

The new number one took $60.1m (£40.2m) while vampire sequel Eclipse took $33.4m (£22.3m), according to early studio estimates.

Despicable Me tells the story of a villain, voiced by Steve Carell, who plans to steal the moon.

Predators, an update of the 1987 sci-fi classic, opened in third place.

The original film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and topped the US box office in its first week of release while the reboot, which stars Laurence Fishburne and Adrien Brody as commandos being stalked in the jungle by alien predators, took $25.3m (£16.9m).

'Studio win'

The makers of Despicable Me, which also features the voices of Russell Brand and Dame Julie Andrews, said the estimated $60.1m take had surpassed expectations.

"$30m would have been a win for the studio," Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, said.

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE
Continue reading the main story
1. Despicable Me - $60.1m
2. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - $33.4m
3. Predators - $25.3m
4. Toy Story 3 - $22m
5. The Last Airbender - $17.2m
Source: Hollywood.com
He added: "I would never have said $50m-plus."

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has now made $237m (£158.2m) in its first 12 days and is expected to surpass the second film in the franchise, New Moon, which grossed $296.6m (£198m) last year.

"Twilight dropped less than 50% - that's impressive to me," said Paul Dergarabedian, of box office tracker Hollywood.com.

"That's a really strong hold for a movie that, in its first day, made $68m (£45.4m)."

If the summer box office trend continues with animated films being better than almost everything Hollywood studios have thought of, Steve Carell’s “Despicable Me” (with a score crafted by N.E.R.D.’s Pharrell, no less) is going to be a top choice for moviegoers.

If you’re planning on seeing it – with your kids, someone else’s kids, or even solo – submit an iReport and let us know what you think. Critics are pretty much satisfied with the flick so far, calling it heartwarming and lovable, and we want to know if you agree. Is it really as good as the critics have said? And is it one of those movies that kids and adults alike can enjoy?

Check back here on Monday for a round-up of your reviews!

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has confirmed she will give evidence at the war crimes trial of the former Liberia President Charles Taylor.

Mr Taylor is on trial at the UN-backed tribunal in The Hague accused of using diamonds to fuel a conflict in Sierra Leone that killed tens of thousands.

Prosecutors had summoned Ms Campbell to testify over reports that she received diamonds from Mr Taylor in 1997.

Ms Campbell is scheduled to appear on 29 July.

Mandela reception

Ms Campbell's public relations company, Outside Organisation, announced late on Friday that she would attend.

A spokeswoman said: "She is a witness who has been asked to help clarify events in 1997. Miss Campbell has made it clear that she is willing to help the due process of law.

CHARLES TAYLOR
Continue reading the main story
1997: Elected Liberian president
2003: Arrest warrant issued, steps down, goes into exile in Nigeria
2006: Arrested, sent to Sierra Leone
2007: Trial opens in The Hague
Profile: Charles Taylor

Q&A: Trying Charles Taylor
"For avoidance of doubt, she is not being accused of any wrongdoing and is not on trial."

Prosecutors want to know whether Ms Campbell received diamonds from Mr Taylor at a reception hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1997.

A spokesman for the special court for Sierra Leone previously said Ms Campbell had denied receiving the gems and refused to talk to prosecutors.

In an interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Ms Campbell neither confirmed nor denied that she received gems, instead saying: "I don't want to be involved in this man's case. He has done some terrible things, and I don't want to put my family in danger."

US actress Mia Farrow, who Ms Campbell allegedly told about the gift, may also testify.

Mr Taylor has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges at the UN-backed tribunal.

It has spent more than two years hearing the case.

Mr Taylor, 62, is suspected of selling diamonds and buying weapons for Sierra Leone's RUF rebels, who were notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians during the 1991-2001 civil war.

Tens of thousands of people died in the interlinked conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Actor Mel Gibson is being investigated over claims of domestic violence, Los Angeles police have confirmed.

They said an allegation was being looked into following an interview with the star's Russian ex-girlfriend Oksanka Grigorieva.

But spokesman Steve Whitmore declined to disclose any further details, saying the probe was in its early stages.

The Oscar-winner and Grigorieva have been involved in a custody case over their eight-month-old daughter Lucia.

Irreconcilable differences

Court proceedings concerning the child, Gibson's eighth, have been conducted behind closed doors.

The couple have both obtained restraining orders against each other.

Gibson, 54, who won an Oscar for directing Braveheart in 1995, has not spoken in public about the breakdown of his relationship with 40-year-old Grigorieva.

Gibson pleaded no contest to a drink-driving charge The actor announced they were together shortly after his wife Robyn filed for divorce in April 2009 after 28 years of marriage.

The proceedings, which were initiated on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, are still ongoing.

The investigation into domestic violence relates to an incident which allegedly took place earlier this year.

It could take a month to complete and the results will be handed over to the district attorney's office who will determine whether to pursue charges.

The Malibu police unit looking into the claims also arrested Gibson in 2006 on suspicion of drink-driving.

The actor later apologised for making anti-semitic comments during his arrest and was given three years' probation.

The charge was expunged from his records last year.

Turner's Rome view painting sells for record £29.7m
Page last updated at 09:22 GMT, Thursday, 8 July 2010 10:22 UK
E-mail this to a friendPrintable version The painting was bought by the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles An 1839 Turner masterpiece of a view of Rome has sold for £29.7m in London, breaking the artist's auction record.

Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino sold in five minutes with six bidders battling for the work which has only come up for sale once before, Sotheby's said.

The previous record was the £20.5m paid in 2006 for Venice painting Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio.

Modern Rome, which had an estimate of £12m-£18m, was the top seller at the Old Master and British Paintings sale.

Other highlights included Dutch artist Jan Lievens' study of the head and shoulders of an old bearded man wearing a cap (circa 1629), which brought £2.5m against an estimate of £2-3m.

TURNER AUCTIONS
Continue reading the main story
Flint Castle (watercolour) - £0.54m, July 2010
The Temple of Jupiter Panellenius (oil) - £9.1m, January 2009
Bamborough Castle (watercolour) - £2.93m, December 2007
The Blue Rigi (watercolour) - £5.83m, June 2006
Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio (oil) - £20.56m, April 2006
Painted in 1839, Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino shows Turner at his "absolute best" and was bought by a London dealer on behalf of The J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Prior to Wednesday's sale, the painting had only appeared on the open market once in the 171 years since it was painted.

It was offered for sale at Sotheby's by a descendant of the 5th Earl of Rosebery, who bought the painting in 1878 while on honeymoon with his wife Hannah Rothschild, and it had remained in his family collection ever since.

The painting has been on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland for the last 30 years.

David Moore-Gwyn, deputy chairman, UK and senior specialist in British Paintings at Sotheby's, said: "Turner's Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino has achieved a tremendous and much-deserved result this evening.

"This breathtaking image shows the artist at his absolute best and, for collectors, it ticked all the boxes - quality, superb condition, provenance and freshness-to-the-market.

"Over the last few months it has been wonderful to observe the response that the painting has received from collectors who come from all over the world."

It's summertime, and for rockin' mom Sheryl Crow, the living is busy!

In addition to her growing family -- Crow recently announced the adoption of 9-week-old Levi James, a new brother for her elder son, 3-year-old Wyatt Steven -- the Grammy-winning singer and breast cancer survivor is on tour with her latest album, "100 Miles From Memphis."

Despite her busy schedule, Crow, who appears on the August cover of Redbook, says motherhood is a top priority in her life. It's a clarity she gained after treatment for breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in early 2006.

Crow, 48, says she felt "an acute sense of urgency about how I wanted my life to feel," so she started preparing to be an adoptive mother -- taking part in a home study, filling out paperwork and learning infant CPR. "The idea was, if the opportunity came, I would be ready," she explains.

After welcoming Wyatt in April 2007, Crow had planned to adopt another child when he was around age two. But it was a longer process than expected: "A lot of the adoptions fell through," she reveals.

Still, Crow couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. "Things always work out perfectly," she says. "They just do. Generally, when you let go of your vision of how something is supposed to be, the universe hands you exactly what you need."

With her hands as full as they are these days, Crow turns to her circle of celebrity mommy pals, including Nicole Kidman and Kim Williams-Paisley. Crow says her friends have "been a wonderful resource for me. We get together at each other's homes, make dinner, and have girls' nights in. Or we'll go out for dinner and a drink -- though we're mommies, so we don't let it all hang out."

Nourishing friendships is one way Crow is taking better care of her emotional needs, a realization she credits to her experience with breast cancer.

"It's great to be a strong woman, but when you're never allowing your needs to be met, or even heard, it catches up to you."

It's been a rough year for Cheryl Cole. Not only did the Brit file for divorce in May from her husband of four years, but now she's been stricken with malaria.

So just who is this woman whose name's been floating around the Web recently? And how did she get a disease that hasn't afflicted Westerners since they dug the Panama Canal?

Cole rose to U.K. fame in 2002 after becoming a member of pop group Girls Aloud. In 2008, she joined Simon Cowell as one of the judges of "X Factor," a British singing competition. She's also been noted for her style, gracing the covers of British Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar. Last year, she became the new face of L'Oreal.

But the British beauty, 27, who will be the opening act for select European dates of the Black Eyed Peas' E.N.D. World Tour, collapsed Saturday during a photo shoot for her album.

A spokesperson says she's being treated in a London hospital for malaria, a mosquito-borne disease typically spread in tropical areas. Cole reportedly just returned from a trip to Tanzania, had to cancel all work this week.

Malaria, which is preventable to those who are immunized and curable, has been all but eradicated in the developed countries, but still plagues other parts of the world. The World Health Organization says nearly 1 million people died of malaria in 2008, mostly African children.