Another 'Idol' Gets the Boot, Leaving Two
NEW YORK - Tears streamed from "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul's eyes when the result was announced. The audience stood and clapped, paying their respects.
In a close vote, Abdul's favorite finalist, Elliott Yamin — an "Idol" underdog and blue-eyed soul singer — was bounced off the Fox talent contest during Wednesday's elimination show.
The exit of the 27-year-old Richmond, Va., resident cleared the path for a final showdown between gray-haired Taylor Hicks and sultry Katharine McPhee. The winner will be crowned May 24.
During Wednesday's program, Yamin told host Ryan Seacrest he felt "truly blessed."
"I hope it doesn't stop here," he said of his music career.
Yamin, who is 90 percent deaf in his right ear, was considered the show's best — and most sensitive — male singer. When "Idol" featured a segment on Wednesday documenting his return home to greet fans in Virginia, he broke down in tears. Abdul also wept.
Judge Simon Cowell seemed to sense Yamin's impending departure on Tuesday's program.
"Your songs are not going to carry you through to next week — that's the problem," Cowell told Yamin, who had performed a cover of Ray Charles' "I Believe To My Soul."
"However, you are a great guy. You are a great singer. And whatever happens, you will make your mom very proud for what you've achieved for this competition."
Abdul, who recently said she wanted Yamin to win "Idol," called him a "funky white boy."
"You pierce through the heart," she told him on Tuesday's program.
Nearly four years since its debut, "Idol" continues to rule the ratings. It has attracted 25 million to 33 million viewers each telecast this season.
Seacrest said on Wednesday's program that viewers called in 50 million votes.
Stradivari Violin Auctioned in New York
NEW YORK - The bids for a nearly 300-year-old Stradivarius violin opened at $700,000 and quickly soared to $1 million. Gasps, whispers and titters occasionally punctuated the room as the price tag climbed even higher. Soon it was at $2 million, then $3 million.
The violin sold Tuesday for more than $3.5 million in what was a record for the most paid for a musical instrument at auction, Christie's said. The violin is one of the world's most prized musical instruments.
The instrument, made in 1707 by Italian violinmaker Antonio Stradivari, sold for $3,544,000. The winning bid, which included the house's commission, broke a record of $2,032,000 paid for another Stradivarius at Christie's in April 2005, the auction house said.
The new owner bought the violin anonymously via telephone.
Kerry K. Keane, who heads Christie's department of musical instruments and was the bidder's proxy, described him as "a gentleman who is international" and a "benefactor and patron of the arts" who loves classical music.
The violin, which had been expected to sell for $1.5 million to $2.5 million, will probably be heard soon on stages worldwide, Keane said, declining to elaborate.
The violin's former owner, who also wanted to remain anonymous, bought it privately in 1992 from an estate, Keane said, and loaned it to violinists including Kyoko Takezawa, an orchestral soloist, recitalist and recording artist who has performed with many of the world's top orchestras.
The violin, made in Cremona, Italy, is considered a product of Stradivari's golden period. Musicians and collectors covet the violins he made from 1700 to 1720 because of their beauty and superior sound, Christie's said.
A violinist and teacher brought the violin to the United States in 1911. Since then it has had various owners.
It is named The Hammer for Christian Hammer, a 19th-century Swedish collector.
Bidding on Tuesday for the full-size violin, which has a 14-inch-long back and was propped in front of the auctioneer's podium, started at $700,000, quickly rose to $1 million before ending its final tally in bidding of less than five minutes.
"It's always been fashionable to own a Stradivari," Keane said.
The Da Vinci Code secret is out: critics hate it
CANNES, France (Reuters) - Critics panned "The Da Vinci Code" on Wednesday ahead of the world premiere of the year's most eagerly awaited movie.
Opening the annual Cannes film festival, Ron Howard's adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller was described variously as "grim," "unwieldy" and "plodding."
Even before its general release on May 18 and 19, the movie starring Tom Hanks generated much controversy as Christians around the world called for it to be banned.
The novel has enraged religious groups because one of its characters argues that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had a child by her, and that elements within the Catholic Church resorted to murder to hide the truth.
In Thailand on Wednesday, a police-run censorship board overturned an earlier decision to cut the last 10 minutes of the film, but insisted the distributor added disclaimers stating it was fiction.
And in addition to Vatican calls to boycott the picture, the Indian government said it would show the movie to Christian groups before clearing it for release. In the mainly Catholic Philippines the censors have given it an "adult only" rating.
At a news conference, Howard and Hanks defended the film, calling it a piece of fiction. British actor Alfred Molina, who plays a Machiavellian bishop in the movie, blamed the media for creating controversy where there was little or none.
At a screening late on Tuesday in Cannes, members of the audience laughed at the thriller's pivotal moment, and the end of the $125 million picture was greeted with stony silence.
Trade publication Variety had barely a nice word to say.
"A pulpy page-turner in its original incarnation as a huge international bestseller has become a stodgy, grim thing in the exceedingly literal-minded film version of The Da Vinci Code," wrote Todd McCarthy.
Lee Marshall of Screen International agreed.
"I haven't read the book, but I just thought there was a ridiculous amount of exposition," he told Reuters.
"I thought it was plodding and there was a complete lack of chemistry between Audrey Tautou and Tom Hanks."
BOX OFFICE BLOW?
While critics argue the controversy surrounding the film, and the fact that more than 40 million people have bought the book, will ensure a strong box office performance, word-of-mouth is likely to hit sales later on.
The movie industry will be watching The Da Vinci Code particularly closely after the first two summer blockbusters -- "Mission: Impossible III" and "Poseidon" -- failed to find the Hollywood Grail of box office success.
Hanks defended the film against its critics.
"This is not a documentary. This is not something that is pulled up and says 'These are the facts and this is exactly what happened.' ... People who think things are true might be more dangerous than people who ponder the possibilities that maybe they are and maybe they aren't."
Howard had some advice for those who objected to the story.
"There's no question that the film is likely to be upsetting to some people. My advice is ... to not go and see the movie if you think you're going to be upset."
Ian McKellen, an openly gay actor who plays Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code, sought to make light of the controversy.
"I'm very happy to believe that Jesus was married," he said. "I know the Catholic Church has problems with gay people and I thought this would be absolute proof that Jesus was not gay."
The Da Vinci Code premiere late on Wednesday kicks off 12 hectic days of screenings, interviews, photocalls and partying in Cannes, the world's biggest film festival.
Paul McCartney, Wife Blame Media for Split
LONDON - Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, said Wednesday that they are separating after nearly four years of marriage, blaming intrusion from the media and insisting their split is amicable.
Rumors of a rift between Mills McCartney and the singer's children — especially Stella McCartney — have circulated for years. Talk centered around the idea that Mills McCartney — who is nearly half his age — wanted to devote more time to campaigning against land mines and fur.
"Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways," a statement from the couple said. "Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much."
McCartney, 63, and Mills, 38, married in June 2002, four years after his former wife, Linda McCartney, died of breast cancer. McCartney and Mills had a daughter, Beatrice, in October 2003.
"Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful," it added. "We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period."
McCartney's wealth was estimated at $1.5 billion by the Sunday Times in their annual list of Britain's richest people. The couple are believed not to have a prenuptial agreement.
In 2002, Heather Mills told Vanity Fair that McCartney didn't force her to sign a prenuptial agreement before their huge wedding — despite tabloid reports to the contrary.
Mills said she offered to sign an agreement, but that McCartney — who was worth more than $1 billion at the time — wouldn't allow it.
"I wanted to prove that I love him for him," she was quoted by the magazine as saying. "He said, 'I wouldn't let you.'"
McCartney told the magazine that he knew some people would think he was being suckered by a gold digger.
"I"m not stupid," he told Vanity Fair. "Heather's a really nice person, or else I wouldn't be attracted in the least. She's great. But you're going to find people who are going to knock her, because the better story is the negative one."
Mills McCartney has been accused of meddling in her husband's career — such as the dismissal of his longtime publicist Geoff Baker — and even of influencing him on issues as diverse as dying his hair and plastic surgery.
In a statement on her personal Web site, Mills McCartney posted a note from McCartney blasting the press and denying the rumors.
"Although some of these articles can be funny, there are others that are plain malicious and you need to be strong not to be hurt by some of the cruel suggestions that flow from these peoples pens," the statement said.
"The media sometimes suggests a rift between my kids and Heather, but in fact we get on great and anyone who knows our family can see this for themselves," McCartney wrote.
Mills is a former model and a vociferous animal rights campaigner who recently traveled with McCartney to eastern Canada to fight that country's seal hunt. The couple met in 1999 through Mills' charity, the Heather Mills Health Trust. She launched the trust after losing a leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993.
News of the split was first reported in Wednesday's edition of the Daily Mirror.
McCartney already has three children from his marriage to Linda, who died in 1998 — musician James, photographer Mary, and fashion designer Stella. He also has a stepdaughter, Heather, from Linda McCartney's first marriage.