Celine Dion puts health, family first
Dion
Celine Dion has cleared her calendar of all performances, saying she needs to focus on her health, her husband’s health and raising their three young children.
The superstar vocalist is cancelling shows that were slated through March 22, including a tour of Asia planned for the fall and regular shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Dion’s husband, Rene Angelil, had a cancerous tumor removed in December, and she said in a statement Wednesday that the struggle with the disease has taken a toll on her family.
Show organizers say the singer also hasn’t recovered from an illness that has inflamed her throat muscles and prevented performances in Las Vegas since July 29.
Burnett to receive Harvey Award
Carol Burnett is being honored by a Pennsylvania museum dedicated to actor Jimmy Stewart.
The Indiana Gazette reports the actress and comedian will receive the museum’s Harvey Award at an Oct. 3 fundraiser for the James M. Stewart Museum Foundation.
The foundation and museum are based in Stewart’s Pennsylvania hometown: Indiana, about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Past winners include Janet Leigh, Shirley Jones, Ernest Borgnine and Rich Little. The award is named for the 1950 film in which Stewart befriends an invisible rabbit. It is typically given to someone with connections to Stewart.
Burnett has called Stewart her “idol.” He appeared on the final episode of “The Carol Burnett Show” as a surprise guest, ending its 11-year run in 1978. He died in 1997.
Bieber pleads guilty in deal in Florida
Pop singer Justin Bieber pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of careless driving and resisting arrest seven months after his arrest in Miami Beach following what police initially called an illegal street drag race.
The 20-year-old pop star’s plea deal with prosecutors, detailed at a court hearing, includes a 12-hour anger management course, a $50,000 charitable contribution and a $500 fine. The deal allows Bieber to avoid a driving under the influence conviction.
Bieber was not present at the hearing before Miami-Dade County Judge William Altfield. Defense attorney Mark Shapiro said Bieber had already given the $50,000 to a local children’s charity.
Altfield said he wants the case and the worldwide negative publicity it generated for Bieber to serve as an important lesson to the singer and, perhaps more importantly, his millions of fans who have watched him get into several recent scrapes with the law.
The birthday bunch
Singer Dash Crofts ( Seals and Crofts) is 76. Singer David Crosby is 73. Actor-comedian Steve Martin is 69. Cartoonist Gary Larson (“The Far Side”) is 64. Actress Marcia Gay Harden is 55. Actress Halle Berry is 48. Actress Catherine Bell is 46. Actress Mila Kunis is 31.