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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Entertainment
Eminem to release EP with rapper Royce da 5’9" Associated Press Writer
DETROIT – Eminem and Royce da 5’9" are back recording together more than a decade after the Detroit rappers first joined forces. The pair, who met at a concert in their home city in 1997 and worked together under the name Bad Meets Evil, announced Monday that they’re coming out with an EP of new material in June. One of the songs they recorded in the late 1990s, called “Bad Meets
AP Photo/Gary Malerba
FILE - This May 19, 2009 shows Eminem performing at the Sound Board theater located inside the MotorCity Casino, Hotel in Detroit. Eminem plans to release an EP of new material he recorded with fellow Detroit rapper Royce da 5’9'.
Evil,” appeared on Eminem’s major label debut, “The Slim Shady LP.” According to a news release distributed Monday by Interscope Records, the rappers pursued solo careers after their initial work together and became embroiled in a feud. In the years since, Eminem’s career has reached superstar levels with tens of millions of records sold and Grammy and Academy Award wins. Royce da 5’9" also has seen success, but on a much smaller scale, with three of his albums charting in the R&B/hip-hop category. The two mended fences, however, following the shooting death of their mutual friend and fellow rapper Proof in 2006. “Royce and I started hanging out again and inevitably that led us back into the studio,” Eminem said in a statement. “At first we were just seeing where it went without any real goal in mind, but the songs started to come together crazy, so here we are.” Royce da 5’9" said he was “excited to see this project come to fruition considering the long lapse in time between when we worked before and now.” The new material will be released June 14 on Shady/Interscope Records. Mr. Porter, who is a member of Eminem’s rap group D12, was a producer on the EP. Interscope said its title will be unveiled “soon.” And, for the record, Royce da 5’9" is the Bad half of the duo, and Eminem is the Evil.
International
Pre-wedding poll shows support for royals Agence France Presse
LONDON – As preparations step up for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, an opinion poll has shown two-thirds of British people believe the country is better off because of the royal family. However, only 37 percent said they were “genuinely interested and excited” by Friday’s nuptials. In bright sunshine, thousands of tourists in London took advantage of the Easter Monday holiday to flock to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace to see the two focal points of the wedding. There was a bustling scene around the Abbey as technicians prepared equipment for the world’s media. A 10-foot (three-metre) camera platform was being erected and dozens of TV reporters were already broadcasting to a global audience. Opposite Buckingham Palace, a temporary stand has been built housing 22 glass-fronted TV studios, its facade painted green so that it blends in with the trees. The prospect of the wedding appears to have given a boost to the royal family’s popularity, with 63 percent of those questioned in the ICM survey for The Guardian saying Britain would be worse off without the mon-
archy. And three-quarters of the 1,003 adults questioned believe the royal wedding will give the country “a strong feel good factor”, although only one third of respondents said they were “genuinely interested and excited” by the marriage. With hundreds of thousands of people expected to line the wedding route, forecasters said days of unseasonably hot weather could give way to cloudier and cooler weather, meaning the wedding could be hit by showers. “At the moment, it is looking like temperatures will probably be a little bit above average and there is a risk of heavy showers,” said Helen Rossington, senior forecaster at MeteoGroup. Big screen televisions will relay all the day’s action to an anticipated 220,000 viewers in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square with champagne,
Pimm’s, wedding cake and a band all laid on to keep the party swinging. Organisers have urged those watching on the giant televisions to enter the spirit by turning up in their best wedding hats. The British media pored over the guest list, noting that while football star David Beckham — who befriended William during England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup — was invited, there is definitely no place for Sarah Ferguson. The absence of the ex-wife of Queen Elizabeth’s second son, Prince Andrew, will make the wedding a bittersweet occasion for their daughters Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, who will be attending. Also among the 1,900-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey will be “Mr Bean” actor Rowan Atkinson, a good friend of William’s father Prince Charles.
Lindsay Lohan out of jail after rollercoaster day Reuters
LOS ANGELES – Lindsay Lohan was briefly jailed again on Friday after a rollercoaster day in which a judge downgraded her jewelry theft charge, but sentenced the actress to four months behind bars for violating her probation. Looking confused and distressed, Lohan — who was locked up for two weeks last summer — was taken immediately to jail from court after a day-long preliminary hearing on charges that she stole a $2,500 gold necklace from a store in January. The “Mean Girls” actress was ordered to stand trial on June 3 but the jewelry charge was reduced to a misdemeanor from a more serious felony, and will cut to one year her maximum time behind bars if eventually convicted. Los Angeles judge Stephanie Sautner, however, felt the evidence on Friday suggested Lohan intended to steal the jewelry. She therefore ruled Lohan had violated her probation for a 2007 drunk driving and cocaine possession incident, and sentenced her to 120 days jail and 480 hours community service in a morgue and women’s prison. Lohan’s lawyer filed an immedi-
ate appeal and Lohan’s camp scrambled to post $75,000 bail and secure her release from custody pending an appeal hearing. She was released late on Friday after about five hours, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website. Lohan, 24, has strenuously denied that she deliberately walked out of a Los Angeles store wearing a necklace without paying. Her lawyer on Friday argued that she was distracted and absent-minded when she left with the item around her neck. Lohan’s assistant returned it to police after news leaked that a search warrant was to be served on Lohan’s house. “There is a lot of hoopla surrounding Ms. Lohan, but at the end of the day, relatively speaking, this is not particularly serious as grand thefts go,” Lohan’s lawyer Shawn Holley said. “This is a necklace ... that was returned 10 days later.” But judge Sautner did not buy the defense argument. “I see the intent here and I see the level of brazenness with ‘let me see what I can get away with’,” Sautner said. “She thumbs her nose at the court, she walks into court with FU on her fingernails,” Sautner said, referring to an appearance last year by Lohan in another case.
AFP PHOTO / Adrian Dennis
A guest on his way to a wedding stops and buys souvenirs from a stall selling memorabilia for the royal wedding of Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton, in London, on April 25, 2011. Britain’s Prince William is to marry his fiancee Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London on April 29, 2011.