Times Square Gossip

Mariah Carey banned fans from hugging her at the New York launch of her new perfume M.The pop diva's most devoted supporters paid $300 for "VIP access" which allowed them to pose for a personal photograph with Mariah - as long as they didn't get too close, at the fragrance launch in Macy's department store.One source said: "Mimi wouldn't let her male admirers put their arms around her waist during picture time - and absolutely no hugs."One young guy tried to get to close and was quickly shown to the exit."The crowds gathered outside the store to catch a glimpse of Mariah - who arrived in a Rolls Royce - were so huge that a heavy police presence was drafted in to hold them back. Around 200 fans were allowed into the store to pay $130 for a bottle of marshmallow scented M in the 'Hero' singer's presence, while 75 forked out the extra money for VIP access. Mariah was seen politely speaking to two female fans who were proudly showing of...

Darlene Love and Deborah Gibson The other night at BB King's in Manhattan, the ROCKERS ON BROADWAY group celebrated the music of MOTOWN. Rockers, led by JERSEY BOY's DONNIE KEHR, had as performers, MICKY DOLENZ; DEBORAH GIBSON; LARRY GATLIN; CHRISTINE EBERSOLE; DAPHNE RUBIN VEGA; LALA BROOKS; DARLENE LOVE; and, the event was hosted by TV's CAROLYN RHEA. Dolenz performed "When A Man Loves A Woman" and "Ease On Down The Road"; Gibson performed FREDA PAYNE's "Band Of Gold"; Kehr sang "For Once In my Life"; the wonderful KATE TAYLOR sang "How Sweet It Is"; VEGA performed a soul-stirring "Midnight Train To Georgian"; and, EBERSOLE stole the show with a breath-taking "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."Honored also, were the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland ... who came onstage, with the original Mr. Motown himself BERRY GORDY, Dolenz, who is on his way back to California for a performance at ne...

Cate Blanchett's husband hated kissing her when she was dressed as Bob Dylan, because of her stubbly face.The Australian actress - who portrays the music legend in new biopic 'I'm Not There' - admits her fake facial hair ruined her and spouse Andrew Upton's love life.Cate - who has been married to the writer for 10 years - told BANG Showbiz: "My husband thought it was hilarious seeing me dressed up as Dylan. He didn't particularly want to kiss me with stubble all over my face, that was a bit odd. To be photographed kissing your husband while dressed as a man was definitely a bit odd."The 38-year-old star also revealed playing an ageing Queen Elizabeth in her latest movie 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' brought its own challenges.Cate joked it was difficult to look older for her role as the elderly Virgin Queen, because she looks so fabulous for her age.Director Shekhar Kapur said: "I would say that when I watched Cate in front of the camera I...

The legend Phoebe Snow This week the legendary Phoebe Snow began her 4 night/ six show run at Birdland , 315 West 44th Street. Snow sang and played to a star studded pack house and received two well deserved standing ovations. Chuck Stefan, Ron Abel, Phoebe Snow, Lucie Arnaz & Kate Luckinbill after the show Photos By: Mark Rupp

Tom Hanks will start shooting the prequel to 'The Da Vinci Code' next February.The Oscar-winning actor - who will reprise his role as code-cracking Harvard professor Robert Langdon - will travel to Europe to film the big screen adaptation of Dan Brown's hit novel 'Angels + Demons' next year.The story follows Langdon's efforts to uncover a plot by a secret society to blow up Vatican City and threaten the future of the Catholic Church.Ron Howard, who directed 2006's 'The Da Vinci Code', will helm the Sony Pictures project.Akiva Goldsman has also been asked back to write the screenplay following his successful adaptation of 'The Da Vinci Code'.Howard, Goldsman and producers Brian Grazer and John Calley, are desperate to finalise the script by next week, as a writer's strike is due to begin on November 1.The team will be working to a strict shooting schedule next year, as a potential strike by actors and directors is being touted for June.So...

The new Lindsay Lohan ? Lindsay Lohan goes to the Chris McMillan Salon in Beverly Hills, CA. Lindsay Lohan wore a little black dress and smiled for her friends the paparazzi. I must say, Lindsay looks better than she has looked in a long time, but I think she should move back to New York City and leave Hollywood behind. As much as we dislike her at Times Square Gossip, considering the run in we had with her a while back at Scores in NYC, we do hope she is changing her ways and learning to be a better person. Mr. Nunez/Buzzfoto.com

Halle Berry is worried about her friends and neighbours in Malibu as the California fires spread.The Oscar-winning actress - who was in Leicester Square to attend premiere of her new movie 'Things We Lost In The Fire' at the London Film Festival - is concerned about the real fires burning back home.Halle told BANG Showbiz: "It's really frightening. I live in Malibu and so I'm very worried. I'm worried for my friends, my neighbours and my own property too."But it's Mother Nature and she's angry."The 41-year-old actress - who is four months pregnant with her first child - braved the cold weather in a dazzling purple Versace gown with a plunging neckline and a cut-away back.When asked if she was regretting her fashion choice in the chilly British temperatures, Halle said: "Of course I don't regret it, I'm a slave to fashion!"The movie, which also stars Benicio Del Toro, is the third film to be produced by director Sam Mendes...

Amy Winehouse has vowed to stay sober on stage for her European tour.The 'Rehab' singer - who cancelled several dates when she was hospitalised in August after a drugs overdose - pledged not to drink before going on stage after the run of shows got off to a disastrous start on the opening night.At last week's Berlin concert Amy forgot the lyrics to some of her songs and stumbled on stage. She was then arrested for possession of cannabis in Norway.A tour insider said: "This tour started pretty much as the last one ended. Berlin was a difficult time for everyone and we thought it was going to turn into another tour full of drunken and missed shows."But she has now said she will not drink before shows for the rest of the tour."She stuck to it in Amsterdam, amazingly, and gave her best show of the tour yet. Everyone just hopes she keeps it up."Jan Willem Luyken, the organiser of Amy's Amsterdam show, confirmed she was alcohol-free.He told Britain's ...

Mark Wahlberg and pretty wife Rhea Hollywood hunk MARK WAHLBERG and his wife RHEA WAHLBERG walked to Sprinkles cupcake store in Beverly Hills the other day. The actor knows how to handle the paparazzi. Just keep walking and have a nice day ! Zavar Manokian/BuzzFoto.com

Britney Spears is a mess the other day ! Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline completed their first parenting session yesterday.The 'Toxic' singer, who lost custody of her two sons, Sean Preston, two, and 13-month-old Jayden James to Kevin earlier this month, and her former spouse arrived at the Beverly Hills Hotel for their first Parenting Without Conflict meeting yesterday afternoon.A source said: "Britney wasn't nervous about the parenting session. She was actually really looking forward to it."Although Britney was initially excited about the meeting, she was seen crying hysterically in a hotel bathroom soon after arriving.The former couple - who had only previously seen each other twice since separating last year - met with a parenting coach for the two-hour session, who encouraged them to take part in 'polite requests' drills.The coach also gave the pair advice on how a divorced couple should raise their children.Craig Ogulnick, a supervisor...

David Beckham has sent wife Victoria a single yellow rose every day for the past eight years.The Spice Girl - who has three children, eight-year-old Brooklyn, five-year-old Romeo and two-year-old Cruz, with David - revealed the soccer star has kept the romantic tradition going since before they married in 1999.Victoria made the revelation while appearing on wacky Japanese TV show,'Smap Smap', to promote the upcoming Spice Girls comeback tour.The 33-year-old singer looked bemused as the hosts of the bizarre variety program - Takuya Kimura and Goro Inagaki, of the music group Smap -treated her to a unique rendition of the Spice Girls' hit song 'Wannabe'. Victoria - who looked stunning in a gold sequined mini-dress - also humored the presenters as they acted out a series of peculiar comedy sketches. David and Victoria - who started dating in 1997 - married in spectacular fashion in an elaborate ceremony in Ireland on July 4, 1999.The couple - who hired 437 staff for t...

Leona Lewis' new single 'Bleeding Love' has become the fastest selling record in the UK this year.'The X Factor' winner - who broke records with her debut single 'A Moment Like This' after she won the ITV reality show last year - is already outselling her biggest chart rivals Take That by two-to-one. More than 3,000 people snapped up 'Bleeding Love' in the first hour after it had been released on Monday. Record store HMV spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo said: "It's turning out to be a massive week for singles sales. 'Bleeding Love' is outselling Take That's 'Rule The World' by two-to-one and the rest of the top ten combined, and is on course to top 200,000 sales by the end of the week if stores can keep it in stock - it's without doubt the fastest-selling single of the year."The 'Bleeding Love' video - which shows stunning Leona in curve-hugging Dolce and Gabanna dresses - is attracting an average of 150 vi...

Seal and Heidi Klum Heidi Klum fell for Seal after seeing his impressive "package".The supermodel, who married the British singer in May 2005, was instantly attracted to Seal because he was wearing a pair of tight fitting shorts when they first met in 2004. Heidi told US TV chat show host Oprah Winfrey: "I met him in a hotel lobby in New York City and he came in just from the gym and I was sitting there and I was, like, 'wow!'"He was wearing bicycle shorts and I pretty much saw everything. The whole package."The couple - who have two sons, two-year-old Henry and 11-month-old Johan,while Heidi also has a three-year-old daughter, Leni, from a previous relationship with Formula One racing team boss Flavio Briatore - also admitted it is difficult to keep the passion alive in their marriage because they rarely get time alone together. Seal said: "The most common hiccup is when the first child comes along. And it turns into all about the kids, which is ...

Prince's 'Purple Rain' has been voted the best film soundtrack of all time.The album, which accompanied the 1984 film of the same name in which Prince starred, tops a list of the 50 Greatest Movie Soundtracks compiled by the editors of Vanity Fair magazine.The magazine's bosses said: "The 'Purple Rain' soundtrack is a flawless combination of funk, R'n'B, pop, metal and even psychedelia into a sound that defined the '80s."'Purple Rain' spawned several hit singles, including 'When Doves Cry', 'Let's Go Crazy' and 'I Would Die 4 U', and during the year of its release Prince topped the US film, singles and album charts at the same time.In second place was The Beatles' 'A Hard Day's Night', while the soundtrack to 'The Harder They Come' came in at number three.Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction', British film 'Trainspotting', '70s disco movie 'Saturday Night Fever...

Kim Cattrall says her 'Sex and the City' character is one of a kind.The actress - who is reprising her role as man eater Samantha Jones for the movie version of the hit US TV series - claims there is no one else in the world with Samantha's views and attitudes. Kim said: "Everyone asks if Samantha and I are alike and the answer is no, no, no. I don't think there's anyone in the world like Samantha - if there is I don't know them."The 50-year-old star says playing a femme fatale caused problems in her marriage to ex-husband Mark Levinson because he didn't like her filming such raunchy scenes.Kim - who is currently romancing Canadian chef Alan Wyse - said: "I'd come home at 5am after doing all these scenes involving nubile young men and he didn't believe I'd been filming. He was a fan of the show but he had problems with some of the episodes and story lines."Kim's 'Sex and the City' story lines included stripping na...