Entertainment News: 2008-06-01

Friday, June 6, 2008

R. Kelly defense expert: Mark in video not a mole

By KAREN HAWKINS, Associated Press Writer

R. Kelly's child pornographysex tape

Video analysis expert Charles Palm testified for the defense that the black mark appears — and disappears — because the video has been duplicated so many times.

Jurors last week watched a 4-by-4-foot monitor where freeze frames of the man's back were shown. Just above his waistline was a mark that the prosecution's forensics expert, Grant Fredericks, said appeared to be a mole. He compared the frames with 2002 police photos of Kelly's back, concluding the spots were in the exact same position.

Palm disagreed Thursday.

"I see a black mark but it doesn't appear to be a mole," Palm said.

Kelly, 41, who won a Grammy Award in 1997 for the song "I Believe I Can Fly" and whose biggest hits are raunchy ballads like "Ignition," is charged with child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself having sex with a female who prosecutors say was as young as 13. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Both Kelly and the alleged victim, who is now 23, deny it's them in the video.

Palm disagreed with Fredericks and another prosecution witness who testified that digitally altering the nearly half-hour video — 100,000 frames on the entire footage — would be practically impossible, requiring that someone go through each frame to calibrate everything from shadows to blinks of an eye so that they all move in perfect sync.

Palm testified that a video like the one at the heart of the case could be mocked up in mere months. By way of example, he showed jurors footage of the sex tape that he manipulated. In it, images of the male and female fade in and out against the tape's distinctive log-cabin background.

"I created most of that over a couple of spare hours," he said.

On cross-examination Palm acknowledged that the tape shown by prosecutors during opening statements did not appear to be manipulated, but he said the picture quality was too degraded for him to be sure.

Earlier Thursday, a private investigator for Kelly testified that he believes the prosecution's star witness and her fiance were trying to get money out of the singer when they claimed a publisher had offered them a $300,000 deal for a book about Kelly.

Defense witness Jack Palladino said he took the claim by Lisa Van Allen and her fiance, Yul Brown, as an attempt to extort money in exchange for their silence. Van Allen testified earlier this week that she had multiple three-way sexual encounters with Kelly and the alleged victim in the case.

"I assume they were trying to solicit a bribe," Palladino said of a meeting with Allen and Brown in the Atlanta area earlier this year.

Under cross-examination, Palladino conceded that neither Van Allen nor Brown directly asked for a bribe, but he said their language "was a coded way to get money from my client (Kelly)."

Palladino added he was sure no book deal existed.

Prosecutor Robert Heilingoetter countered that a book deal was a plausible claim and that Palladino had no grounds to conclude the couple were trying to extort money.

Associated Press writer Michael Tarm contributed to this report.

De la Fuente recovering from `Dancing' injury

Dancing With the Stars

The 33-year-old actor, who tore a tendon in his biceps while performing on the ABC dance competition, is recovering well from surgery, his publicist said Thursday.

"The doctor said it was a perfect repair," publicist Cynthia Snyder told The Associated Press. "He had his stitches out on Tuesday. Everything is going well."

Friday marks two weeks since the procedure, she said, adding that de la Fuente is wearing a brace until his recovery is complete.

The actor went to Disneyland Wednesday with his "Dancing" partner, Cheryl Burke. De la Fuente has also been making appearances to promote his new USA Network show, "In Plain Sight," in which he plays the boyfriend of the main character, Mary McCormack.

Former child soldier raps message of peace

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
1 hour, 24 minutes ago

But there were times when he didn't want it.

"When I was in Kenya I hated myself, I even cursed the day I was born. I hated it. I wanted to commit suicide. I went to England, when there was a car coming I would want to stop and the car to hit me," says Jal, a slight, soft-spoken man whose gentle demeanor belies his past. "I was trying to look for death."

Inspiration for a better life would come in an unusual form — the violent, crime-plagued rhymes of rappers in the United States.

"What made me brave is American hip-hop," says Jal in his heavily accented English. "Someone come and say to me, 'They have to rob for them to eat. So I would try and picture, how does America look like because I've never been there. So for me when I look at it and look at my situation — I was a child soldier, we never had food, we raid villages and we take the food and we eat ... So I said, 'OK, let me testify.'"

Jal's testimony came in the form of his own raps — and now, through his music, his is hoping to heal not only the wounds of his own people, but to promote peace while inspiring others.

"I lost my childhood, yes. My country is a war. People are dying now. What could I do with what I have?" asks Jal, who last month released his third international CD, "WARchild," and is the subject of a new documentary of the same name.

"It cause me nothing if I just go and talk about my story, but the impact that will do will be amazing, so let me sacrifice my pride. Because before I used to hide, I didn't even want to be called a Sudanese because of what I see on TV. ... But I say this country, this is me, this is my responsibility, I have survived, I'm here, let me use it."

Karim Chrobog, the director of the award-winning "War Child" film, says Jal's story shows that "you can really survive horrible horrible things and come out of them and really make a difference ... he has put all the bitter things in life aside, his sense of revenge, his sense of the war and how it's affected him personally."

The dreadlocked Jal, who doesn't know his age but believes he is in his twenties, was about seven when the Sudanese civil war, which pitted Muslims against non-Muslims, tore apart his family and led to his life as a child warrior for the Sudanese People's Liberation Army. His pregnant mother was killed, and his father, a member of the SPLA, allowed his son to be trained as a solider for the anti-Muslim faction. Bands of children were taught how to use machine guns and put on the front lines as the militia carried out attacks against government loyalists.

One of the more somber parts of the "War Child" film shows video of Jal as a young boy carrying a weapon, while another features the now-adult Jal talking to school children and solemnly acknowledging that he took part in killings as a child.

Jal and hundreds of other children were forced to fend for themselves. At one point, they were so hungry Jal admits he considered eating the flesh of a dying child comrade. After an attempted escape, he and 150 others were rescued by aid worker Emma McCune and taken to Kenya. McCune adopted Jal, but she died in a car accident a year later. Her friends helped bring Jal to London to start anew.

He managed to finish high school in England, but when he tried to extend his visa to stay for college he was rejected, and sent to Kenya.

"My life crushed, I had no hope. So that's when I started doing music. I was just doing it to encourage myself and have fun," he says.

Jal, who says he is still growing as a rapper, recalls participating in verbal battles in the Sudan before the violence, much like playing the dozens in the United States, though he says he was never any good: "(It's like) maybe telling somebody like, your sister is so skinny that she can shoot through a straw," he says, laughing.

But as he grew older and started writing lyrics, his music struck a chord not only in Kenya, where his song "Gua" (which means peace) became a hit, but internationally. He performed at 2005's Live 8 concert in Britain, was supported by Peter Gabriel, collaborated with Moby, and realized that his rhymes were not only therapeutic for himself but others as well.

The lyrics on "WARchild" are not only inspirational and spiritual, but also political. One song talks about Africa being financially raped by the outside world, while "Forced to Sin" talks about his life as a soldier.

50 CentSudanhttp://www.emmanueljal

(This version CORRECTS Corrects to Live 8 sted Live Aid; corrects to show Gabriel a supporter sted collaborator; AP Video.)

Fashion bids adieu to Yves Saint Laurent

By RACHID AOULI and GAELLE FAURE, Associated Press Writer

Yves Saint Laurent

Stars and couturiers filed into the Saint-Roch church in central Paris on Thursday for a final homage to the renowned fashion designer four days after he died of brain cancer at the age of 71.

First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former model who strutted the catwalks to show off Saint Laurent's collections, accompanied her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy. Like the sea of mourners, both wore black, the funereal color that also was the designer's preferred shade.

Actress Catherine Deneuve, her face drawn, bore a stalk of green wheat, which Saint Laurent loved, as she entered. She read a poem by Walt Whitman during the service.

Designers Vivienne Westwood, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Sonia Rykiel and John Galliano were among luminaries in the crowd, as was Farah Diba Pahlavi, the exiled widow of the Shah of Iran.

Applause rose among the guests as Saint Laurent's casket was taken into the flower bedecked church near the Louvre Museum and Tuileries Gardens and placed before the altar, draped in a yellow silk cloth decorated with bunches of wheat.

"This style, we find it everywhere, maybe not on the podiums but in the streets," said Pierre Berge, his companion and business partner of some 40 years.

Berge delivered a moving homage that recalled Saint Laurent's fashion debut and his extraordinary rise to fame by capturing his era and, notably, dressing women in trousers. Hundreds watched the ceremony from a giant screen outside.

Saint Laurent was among the most influential designers during the most important era of Parisian fashion. He changed the way women dressed, most enduringly by making it glamorous and feminine to wear pants.

He was widely considered the last of a generation that included Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, and he made Paris the fashion capital of the world with the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank, as its elegant headquarters.

He got his first break at the tender age of 21, named to head the House of Dior when the master died suddenly in 1957. He opened his own haute couture fashion house with Berge in 1962. The pair later started a chain of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutiques.

Part of the designer's genius was empowering women without forsaking femininity and in the process changing the way women dress.

"It was truly a love story with fashion and, I would say ... a true love story with women," Jean-Paul Gaultier said in an interview with Associated Press Television News. His clothes "were the incarnation of the modern woman. ... His death won't change his work."

Saint Laurent's navy blue pea coat over white pants, which the designer first showed in 1962, was another one of his hallmarks. His "smoking," or tuxedo jacket, of 1966 remade the tux as a high fashion statement for both sexes. It remained the designer's trademark item and was updated yearly until he retired.

"He changed couture through his art," said the Rev. Roland Letteron, considered a priest of artists, during the service. Saint Laurent used the art of fashion, Letteron said, "to expose the grandeur of life. ... It is more than brocade he prints on silk. It is light."

Saint Laurent was born in the Algerian coastal city of Oran. His ashes will rest in neighboring Morocco, at the Majorelle botanical garden beside a villa in Marrakech that he and Berge bought years ago.

Ed McMahon talks about possible home foreclosure

Ed McMahon

"If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens," McMahon said Thursday night on CNN's "Larry King Live." "You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. And, you know, things happen."

McMahon, 85, appeared with his wife, Pamela. The couple said they are $644,000 behind on their mortgage payments and are in negotiations with lender Countrywide Home Loans Inc. to set a foreclosure date.

McMahon, in a neck brace, said he had stopped working since he broke his neck in a fall 18 months ago. He didn't elaborate.

McMahon, who was Johnny Carson's sidekick on the "Tonight" show, said the house had been on the market for two years and that although 50 organizations or individuals had looked at it, no one had made an offer. Documents show McMahon has a $4.8 million mortgage on the home.

"It's like a perfect storm," he said. "Economy problems. Selling the house right now is a tremendous operation."

McMahon bought the six-bedroom, five-bathroom, 7,000-square-foot house in January 1990. The mansion, which is listed at $6.25 million, is in a gated hilltop section off Mulholland Drive called The Summit. Britney Spears is among his neighbors.

Asked why a millionaire couldn't make house payments, Pamela McMahon said the couple had less money than people may think and suggested they could have done a better job managing their finances.

"We didn't keep our eye on the ball. We made mistakes," she said. "It's embarrassing to say the least, and it's sad, because you know, Ed's worked his whole entire life."

McMahon, a former pitchman for the American Family Publishers' sweepstakes and former "Star Search" host, received a $7.2 million settlement after a toxic mold spread through his house and led to the death of their dog in 2001.

With legal fees and construction costs of fixing the mold problem, the money did not go far, McMahon said.

"We had nine lawyers, they had nine lawyers," McMahon said. "By the time that's all over, and you rebuild the house from the outside in. ... A lot of things went wrong."

Still, McMahon said he was hopeful. He said there has been renewed interest in the house this week.

"I'm optimistic," he said.

___

CNN is owned by Time Warner Inc.

___

http://www.cnn/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/

(This version CORRECTS that fall was 18 months ago, sted two years. )

Sunday, June 1, 2008

David Sedaris offers `realish'

By MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press Writer

David Sedaris

That question came to the fore last year, when an article in the New Republic said his nonfiction sometimes goes beyond exaggeration to outright fabrication. (The reaction from media commentators was mixed, with some saying humorists are granted latitude with accuracy. Sedaris has said he exaggerates "wildly.")

So before you plunge into this new book's 22 essays — most republished from elsewhere — you might check out the author's note.

"The events described in these stories," it says, "are realish."

Huh?

"That's a good word," Sedaris told the Christian Science Monitor recently. "I guess I've always thought that if 97 percent of the story is true, then that's an acceptable formula."

So be forewarned. And then prepare to laugh. Whether these stories really meet the 97-percent benchmark or not, they're a pleasure to read and funny. Or at least, funnyish.

We read Sedaris' innermost thoughts as he deals with airplane seat mates who are hostile, or crying uncontrollably, or surprisingly foul-mouthed ("It was as if they'd kidnapped the grandparents from a Ralph Lauren ad and forced them into a David Mamet play").

He muses on grisly details of his visit to a medical examiner's office, where he encounters a body transporter who'd been ticketed for using a car pool lane despite insisting that the corpse in back should count as a passenger. We read of a hellish neighbor in Greenwich Village ("Helen would shout so loud that the overhead lights would dim"), the human skeleton Sedaris brought home to his house in France, and his awkward friendship with a man shunned as a child molester.

Some of these essays meander through time and topics like the streets of Venice, Italy, which Sedaris says were seemingly designed by ants. And some work better than others. His 2006 baccalaureate address at Princeton University, relating over-the-top stories about his life on campus, is just a little too silly ("Back then we were on a pass-fail system. ... If you failed, you were burned alive on a pyre that's now the Transgender Studies Building").

And the 80-plus-page piece on smoking and trying to quit while visiting Japan is just too long and flat.

But Sedaris fans will forgive him the occasional disappointment in this, his sixth book. And first-timers will easily see what has made him a best-selling humorist, if not a strict historian.

"People aren't buying my books or showing up (at personal appearances) because they think every word is true," Sedaris told Newsday last year. "They're showing up because they want to laugh."

This book will meet that goal. Honest.

Winslow's surfer story unfolds at breakneck speed

BY BRUCE DeSILVA, Associated Press Writer

The friends always gather at dawn to ride the waves near San Diego's Crystal Pier: Boon Daniels, Hang Twelve, Dave the Love God, High Tide, Johnny Banzai and Sunny Day.

Work? That's something you have to do to make a few bucks for grub and board wax. So Dave's a lifeguard, Sunny's a waitress, Johnny's a cop, and Boone does a little private investigating.

But they don't take their jobs as seriously as, say, their daily debate over The List of Things That Are Good.

"I propose moving fish tacos over all-female outrigger canoe teams," Boone says one morning, precipitating a vigorous debate.

So Boone is only mildly interested when Petra Hall, a lawyer for a fire insurance company, shows up seeking his help.

It seems that Dan Silver, the owner of a strip club called Silver Dan's, has torched one of his buildings and is trying to collect on the policy. A stripper named Tammy Roddick witnessed the arson, which would make this a slam dunk case except for one thing. Nobody's been able to find her since someone hired to keep her from testifying threw her best friend off a balcony in a case of mistaken identity.

Reluctantly, Boone agrees to take the case as long as it doesn't interfere with priority 1: surfing the once-in-a-lifetime tidal surge that is expected to hit the coast in a couple of days.

These are good times for Winslow, a New York-born, Rhode Island-raised, California transplant who has written 10 previous crime novels including the excellent "California Fire and Life." Laurence Fishburne starred in a 2007 movie based on one of them, "The Death and Life of Bobby Z." And now, Michael Mann is directing and Robert De Niro is starring in an adaptation of Winslow's "The Winter of Frankie Machine," which is scheduled for release next year.

In "Dawn Patrol," Winslow keeps the mood light at first. The interplay between the quirky surfer buddies is laugh-out-loud funny. The bad guys seem buffoonish. And the relaxed pace allows plenty of time for quirky digressions about surfing culture and the history of the Southern California coast.

But gradually, the pace quickens, the stakes grow higher, and the bad guys reveal themselves as truly evil. Boone and his surfer buddies have to grow up in a hurry as the last third of this well-crafted book unfolds at breakneck speed.

Booksellers talk big, act quietly at convention

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

But the biggest noise happened miles away from the Los Angeles Convention Center, at the Beverly Hills mansion of Prince.

"It was quiet, very quiet," Simon & Schuster CEO and president Carolyn Reidy said of the industry's annual national gathering, which lacked a "buzz" book or spectacular speech, but did offer a rare private concert from the enigmatic rock star.

"I think when this is over, we're going to do some soul searching," said CEO David Shanks of Penguin Group (USA). "There are people in this hall who have spent way more than a million dollars at a time when we all should be pinching pennies."

The numbers were harsh at BookExpo. New annual releases keep increasing (more than 276,000, according to researchers R.R. Bowker), while the number of books purchased is expected to drop, according to a report by the Book Industry Study Group, an industry-supported organization.

But the visions were big. In simultaneous presentations over the weekend, held in nearby conference rooms, Amazon head Jeff Bezos and the American Booksellers Association, representatives of the country's independent stores, each talked of revolutionizing the business.

Bezos continued his advocacy of the Kindle e-book reader, billed as "revolutionary" by the retailer, although at this point more as a concept than as a way of life. His talk disappointed many attendees, who had hoped that he would announce some major news, but it did continue the ongoing discussion of the e-future. Reidy said Simon & Schuster would make thousands of additional titles available on the Kindle, even as one famous futurist, "Fahrenheit 451" novelist Ray Bradbury, envisioned only paper.

"There is no future for e-books because they are not books," said Bradbury, speaking to The Associated Press before a convention lunch Friday. "E-books smell like burned fuel."

While Bezos pushed the Kindle, officials at the ABA's annual "town hall" meeting rallied for their new marketing/branding campaign, IndieBound. Association president Russ Lawrence described it as, ideally, "a movement, a revolution, a force of nature" that would inspire the public not just to shop at independent bookstores, but at other kinds of locally-owned retailers. Booksellers, Lawrence announced, would soon be receiving "Literary Liberation" boxes that include cards, stickers and other materials meant to build communities nationwide.

The response was positive from a bookselling community that continues to shrink, nationwide, thanks in part to Amazon. Core membership dropped to 1,524 as of this spring, 56 fewer than the year before, and booksellers filled less than half of the roughly 500 chairs set up for their meeting. Still, said ABA vice president Gayle Shanks, noting that more new stores have opened in recent years, "We're on the way up, not on the way down."

Publishers wished success for IndieBound, but Reidy and Shanks questioned whether the public distinguishes between shopping at local stores and shopping at an independent, saying that a neighborhood bookshop could be a Barnes & Noble.

"I don't think people see it in terms of independents or chains. A bookstore is a bookstore," said Shanks, who doubted, with sadness, whether independents can regain their old power. "Real estate is major. It's not lost on people that the most successful independents often are in out of the way places. They have been ceded those areas."

The idea of "revolution" differed among attendees, like Deborah Shnookel of the Ocean Press, which publishes "radical books" about Latin America and will issue the tie-in to Steven Soderbergh's epic film about Che Guevara. "A lot of smaller stores and publishers have been wiped out by the so-called revolution in publishing," she said, referring to the industry's dramatic consolidation over the past two decades.

"When it comes to revolution in the business, I'm kind of a reactionary. I'm one of those people who'd like to see things go back to the good old days."

Guevara likely would have sympathized with the roughly 300 food workers at the convention center who staged a brief walkout Saturday, in protest over wages and benefits, according to union leaders. BookExpo staffers helped serve lunch in the main ballroom, where the news was taken far more lightly than if one scheduled speaker, filmmaker/activist Michael Moore, had not been forced to cancel because his plane was stuck in Chicago.

Few releases at BookExpo inspired widespread interest, although attendees spoke hopefully about such novels as Marilynne Robinson's "Home," Andrew Davidson's "The Gargoyle" and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society," co-authored by Mary Ann Shaffer, who died recently, and her niece, Annie Barrows. The real buzz boomed from the amps of Prince, who kept his guests — and perhaps some neighbors — up late with a poolside, after-after hours concert, in promotion for a planned book in the fall.

Publishers are better at indulging rock stars than behaving like them, as noticed by guitarist Don Felder, the former Eagle whose memoir, "Heaven and Hell," was just released. "Publishing people seem very upfront, very decent and very honest," he told the AP, adding with a laugh, "I don't think they'd last long in the music business."

"I didn't even know the Navy published novels, but I thought this had potential. We bought it for $49,000," he says, smiling at the memory of how he acquired Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October."

Marketers treading carefully amid China quake

By Jonathan Landreth

China

Protesters from London to Paris to San Francisco dogged the
Coca-Cola-sponsored Olympic torch relay to shout down China's
rule of Tibet. Mia Farrow lambasted China's trade with Sudan,
and Steven Spielberg quit his advisory role to the Olympic
Games' opening ceremony in Beijing on August 8.

Shortly after that, African marathoners griped about
pollution in Beijing and a train on the route to the Olympic
sailing venue in Tianjin flew off the tracks, killing 71
people.

But they all paled against the calamity that was to come
May 12, when an earthquake struck China's Sichuan province,
killing more than 68,500 people to date.

The tragedy has presented a unique challenge to advertisers
in the region. Marketing messages are requiring adjustments in
tone at a time when brands should be plotting a very different
strategy.

Chinese Web sites such as TuDou and YouKu dropped most
non-quake footage. Karaoke parlors and online gaming halls went
quiet; cinemas went dark.

All corporate brands faded from the airwaves in unison with
Chinese companies. Procter & Gamble pulled its "Keep China
Smiling" campaign for Crest toothpaste, and Coke scaled back
all its marketing activities.

"It was not appropriate to run celebratory advertisements,"
says Petro Kacur, a senior manager for communications at
Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.

The company quickly donated $2.9 million and 5.7 million
bottles of product, including water. Further donations flooded
in from around the world; state media reported $2.2 billion was
amassed in 10 days.

Companies began outdoing one another: P&G gave $145,000 in
the first 24 hours, followed by $2.2 million in products
donated to the millions left homeless. Disney pledged $1
million, and Hong Kong media mogul Run Run Shaw gave $15
million.

Emotions ran high, reviving a nationalist fervor that in
April pushed some Chinese to boycott a French film festival and
retail giant Carrefour in retaliation for the assault on a
wheelchair-bound Chinese athlete bearing the Olympic torch
through Paris.

Bao Shuming, research director of the China Data Center at
the University of Michigan, says that on the Internet in China,
a small number of people can make a lot of noise.

"Companies must now be very low key," Bao says, adding
that, if handled right, the quake presents "an excellent
advertising opportunity."

The Shanghai office of U.S. ad giant JWT might be among the
first to see its creative handiwork strike the right post-quake
chord.

OlympicsSichuanBeijing

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Time Warner Cable to offer web to TV link

Time Warner Cable Inc

"Right now it's pretty hard to get Internet stuff on your
TV," Britt said at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions
Conference in New York.

"We're actually going to have equipment we make available
to subscribers," he said. "It's actually going to be a new
wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything
in your house."

Britt gave few specific details on how the service would
work or when it would be available.

"Within a relatively short time ... it's going to be very
easy to get Internet TV on your big screen TV," he said,
estimating it would take between one to two years to popularize
such technology already sold by the likes of Apple Inc.

Apple TV lets users take a movie downloaded to their
personal computer and watch it on their television screen.

TiVo Inc lets many of its subscribers select Web video from
providers such as The Onion, the New York Times and CNET
Networks. The video is downloaded from the Internet to a TiVo
set-top box for viewing later.

But web-to-TV technology is still in its early days, due in
part to the complexity of making web video look good on higher
resolution TVs.

Consumers may also be hesitant to navigate the thousands of
web sites that offer unique video, and to buy more equipment in
addition to paying monthly cable or satellite fees.

Major cable operators have had success spreading such
technologies among their large pool of subscribers, including
the digital video recording technology that originally made
TiVo famous.

Shares in Time Warner Cable, which recently announced plans
to separate fully from Time Warner Inc by the end of the year,
rose 2 percent to $30.57.

(Reporting by Michele Gershberg; Editing by Derek Caney)

Satellite companies DISH, EchoStar sue TiVo

DISH Network CorpTiVo IncTiVo

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals said DISH, a
satellite television provider, had infringed a TiVo patent in
building digital video recorders, and upheld a lower court's
damage award against DISH of $74 million plus interest.

The appeals court in April denied DISH's request for judges
to rehear arguments related to the patent dispute.

DISH was formerly known as EchoStar Communications Corp. It
recently spun off its technology assets, including its set-top
box division, to create EchoStar Corp.

TiVo said it could not comment as it had not seen the
filing, but added it was confident in the outcome.

TiVo shares closed up 1.1 percent at $8.41, while EchoStar
shares fell 1.2 percent and DISH shares fell 0.9 percent.

Reuters/Nielsen

Booksellers talk big, act quietly at convention

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer

But the biggest noise happened miles away from the Los Angeles Convention Center, at the Beverly Hills mansion of Prince.

"There is no future for e-books because they are not books," said Bradbury, speaking to The Associated Press before a convention lunch Friday. "E-books smell like burned fuel."

"When it comes to revolution in the business, I'm kind of a reactionary. I'm one of those people who'd like to see things go back to the good old days."

memoryTom ClancyThe Hunt for Red October

(This version CORRECTS title of Tom Clancy book to 'The Hunt for Red October.')

Planet Green network not what you might expect

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer

Instead, they'll see celebrities such as Tommy Lee, Ludacris, Tom Bergeron and Adrian Grenier — and absolutely no lectures, promises Eileen O'Neill, the network's president.

Planet Green switches on Wednesday at 6 p.m. EDT and runs counter to type. The environmentally conscious network will soft-sell its mission, making entertainment a bigger priority than education. O'Neill calls it "eco-tainment."

The network will immediately be available in 50 million homes, nearly half the nation's cable or satellite customers, because it replaces Discovery Home. Parent Discovery Communications is the latest corporation to realize that a "green" message sells, and guesses that a network devoted to the idea might do better than one lost in the glut of home renovation programming.

The immediate assumption is that Planet Green's programming would be largely educational, or similar to the sister Discovery Network's highly regarded "Planet Earth" series. But Planet Green executives saw that as a dead end.

"The network is not only not finger-wagging, it's sexy, it's interesting, it's irreverent," O'Neill said.

Planet Green doesn't want to be a network that appeals only to tree huggers and will always resist a heavy-handed approach, she said. Instead of scolding people not to waste paper by using juice boxes, the network will profile a person who built a business upon recycling them.

Most fledgling networks are built largely upon reruns of old network shows because money is tight. Since there was little existing material that fit its idea, Planet Green is starting with an unusual amount of fresh, original programming.

Fortunately for Planet Green, no place is greener than Hollywood.

Lee and Ludacris will star, beginning in August, in "Battleground Earth," a series of competitions between the rocker and rapper to determine who's the greenest. HBO "Entourage" star Grenier is host of "Alter Eco," where he and a team of experts show celebrities and ordinary people "the way to a hip green lifestyle."

"Supper Club with Tom Bergeron" brings a chef who cooks a "green meal" — whatever that is — while special guests talk about what's new in the environmental movement.

Although he's not on camera, Leonardo DiCaprio is behind the series "Greensburg," which profiles the Kansas town devastated last year by a tornado. Greensburg is being rebuilt in an eco-friendly fashion.

In "Wa$ted!," Annabelle Gurwitch illustrates ways homeowners can simultaneously save money and be friendly to the environment. "Hollywood Green With Maria Menounos," made with "Access Hollywood" as partner, showcases celebrities helping the environment. Bill Nye shows what happens to everyday items before and after they're consumed, on "Stuff Happens." Traditionally souped-up vehicles are pitted against eco-friendly counterparts on "Mean Green Machines." Steve Thomas of "This Old House" is host of "Renovation Nation," about changes made by green homeowners.

"I totally understand somebody starting a television network wanting to keep it entertaining and not too serious because anything too serious doesn't attract a wide audience," said cable industry analyst Paul Kagan. "If you make a television network for intellectuals, it's not going to attract a wide audience and it's not going to pay for itself. That's why most television is the way it is."

One need only check newsstands or track investments to see the popularity of the subject Planet Green is tackling, Kagan said.

"Because they're in the right place at the right time with the subject matter, I think they have a good shot," he said.

O'Neill said she recognizes that the approach may initially seem jarring to committed environmentalists, or the "dark green" community. But she believes most will see this as the best way to get their message across to the most people.

Ludacrishttp://planetgreen.discovery/

EDITOR'S NOTE — David Bauder can be reached at dbauder"at"ap.org

Mr. Rogers' memory lives on in scholarships

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
1 hour, 2 minutes ago

Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship winners

The three college students, whose names were announced Sunday, are part of a series of "wonderful young people" who've been recognized by the 4-year-old scholarship program named for her husband, the children's TV host, said Joanne Rogers.

Michael Robb of the University of California, Riverside; Sabrina Connell of the University of Connecticut and Ronald McCants of UC San Diego each receive a $10,000 scholarship. Their media projects and studies focus on such issues as children's literacy and health.

"The committee that selects them was well-acquainted with Fred. They know his philosophy and they know what he was about," Joanne Rogers, 80, said this week from her Pittsburgh home as she prepared to fly to Los Angeles for Sunday's ceremony.

"Fred would have been just ecstatic. He loved little children, but he also loved his big children, too," she said, with a laugh. "Kids in high school and college would stop him on the street to say, `I grew up with you,'" she said.

"I find it such a blessing that someone's life work would be recognized like this," Joanne Rogers said of her husband, who died in 2002 at age 74.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation and the academy's children's programming peer group also honored Scott Schultz and Christian Jacobs, creators of the preschool music series "Yo Gabba Gabba!," with the inaugural Innovation Award.

The award recognizes programs or contributions that keep children's TV fresh. "Yo Gabba Gabba!", which encourages young viewers to sing and dance, is shown on the Nick Jr. and Noggin channels.

Fred Rogers' venerated public TV series "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" still airs, although Joanne Rogers would like to see them on more often and at more convenient times.

She said her husband's gift for being able to see through a very young child's eye remains relevant.

"We all have only one life to live on Earth," Fred Rogers once said. "And through television we have the choice of encouraging others to demean this life or to cherish it in creative, imaginative ways."

Joanne Rogers, mother of two sons and grandmother of three boys, including a 5-year-old, said her husband believed that when it came to being a parent, "the best gift you can give is your honest self."

___

On the Net:

TV academy: http://www.emmys.org

Winehouse Late, Again

Jovie Baclayon

British trainwreck Amy Winehouse was an hour late to her first post-rehab concert Friday night. The Grammy-winning soul chanteuse performed a 55-minute set at the sold-out Rock in Rio music festival in Lisbon, Portugal. Lenny Kravitz was the headliner.

Winehouse's voice cracked throughout her performance and, at one point, she ran offstage. She had visible cuts on her left arm, a bandage on her right hand and apologized to the crowd for her sore throat.

The trouble-prone diva is famous for her tardiness, show cancellations, offstage antics and rehab stints. Just last week, her father accepted a prestigious British award on her behalf because the 24-year-old was late to the ceremony.

In Amy's defense, they don't teach punctuality in rehab.

Neurologist, choir explore music's healing power

By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer

neurologist Oliver Sackscommon groundHarlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church

Sacks, the best-selling author of "Awakenings" and "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," shared the church stage Saturday with the famed gospel choir as part of the inaugural World Science Festival, a five-day celebration of science taking place in New York this week.

"It should be an exciting and unusual event," Sacks said in an interview this week. "I will talk about the therapeutic and beneficent power of music as a physician, and then their wonderful choir will perform. ... And the audience will make what they can of it."

Sacks' most recent book is "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain," which examines the relationship between music and the brain, including its healing effect on people suffering from such diseases as Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's, autism and Alzheimer's.

"Even with advanced dementia, when powers of memory and language are lost, people will respond to music," he said.

A Baptist church is an unusual venue for Sacks, a professor of clinical neurology and clinical psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center who was brought up Jewish but is not a religious believer.

But the central role of music in church makes Abyssinian a good place to discuss the myriad ways that music affects the human brain, said Sacks, who was played by Robin Williams in the movie version of "Awakenings."

Abyssinian's pastor, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, said the choir is looking forward to performing with Sacks. He noted that music plays a central role in the healing power of prayer.

"What we have been studying ... is that when you pray, there's actually a physiological change in the body," he said. "Music is very much a part of this. There are certain notes that generate in the human body a kind of peacefulness."

Abyssinian was founded by Ethiopian sea traders in 1808 and is celebrating its bicentennial. It is a popular destination for European tourists, who line up around the block in Harlem for Sunday services.

The event there is one of two Sacks is participating in during the World Science Festival. The other focuses on vision and the brain.

The festival was conceived by Columbia University physicist Brian Greene and his wife, Tracy Day, a broadcast journalist.

"Our intent is to help shift the public perception of science, so that people realize that science is as important as art, literature, film, theater," Greene said.

Panelists include Nobel laureates, as well as actors, dancers, philosophers and science journalists.

Greene said he hopes the festival will spread to other cities.

___

On the Net:

http://www.worldsciencefestival/

http://www.abyssinian.org

Idol's Other Simon Gets Hitched

Jovie Baclayon

American IdolSimon Cowell

Idol creator and producer Simon Fuller married longtime love Natalie Swanston Friday evening in California.

The lavish, star-studded, three-day event was attended by Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown and the rest of the Spice Girls, whose careers Fuller helped launch. Model Claudia Schiffer and singers Leona Lewis and Annie Lennox were also wedding guests while Lindsay Lohan sidekick Samantha Ronson deejayed the reception.

The sunset nuptials took place at the Staglin Family Vineyards in Napa Valley, the same location Christina Aguilera and hubby Jordan Bratman were married in 2005.

Fuller, 48, was recently named the most successful British music manager of all time by Billboard Magazine. His 30-year-old bride is an interior decorator.

Moore, Kutcher raise funds for homeless initiative

By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer

Demi MooreAshton KutcherCharlie Sheen

"We love it, and we really believe in it," Moore said before the event.

Sheen and Mueller created a stir among photographers and reporters when they arrived on the ball's purple carpet. It was the first public appearance by the recently married couple, who wed Friday night. The "Two and a Half Men" star and real estate developer were engaged last summer after meeting at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in 2006. The newlyweds didn't stay for this year's ceremony.

Inside, the evening almost served as a "That '70s Show" reunion. Before dinner, Topher Grace stopped by Kutcher's table, just a few seats away from fellow former "'70s Show" co-star Mila Kunis. Kutcher and Grace were interrupted by 15-year-old singer Spensha Baker, who performed after Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair was honored. Baker was eager to meet the "What Happens in Vegas" star.

The casts of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" were also out en masse to laud executive producer Mark Gordon during the ceremony, which was attended by over 800 people. Among them: Katherine Heigl, Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, Eric Dane, T.R. Knight and Justin Chambers, who has no idea what will ensue following his character Alex's steamy season finale kiss with Heigl's Izzie.

"We go back in three weeks," Chambers told The Associated Press before the festivities. "I have no idea what's going to happen. It's always so last minute that we really have no clue what's going to happen. I just want the writers to keep making an entertaining show. They always have a way or surprising us actors."

Other famous faces in attendance at the Butterfly Ball included emcee Chris Kattan, co-chair Rebecca Gayheart, Eva Mendes, Jason Lewis, Seth MacFarlane, Brett Ratner, Keyshia Cole, Patrick Muldoon, Amaury Nolasco, Eliza Dushku and Jason Segel, who honored Universal Pictures production president Donna Langley. The event was said to have raised over $1 million for Chrysalis.

___

On the Net:

Chrysalis

http://www.changelives.org/

Neil Young feels driven to work on electric car

2 hours, 53 minutes ago

Neil Young

Young has teamed up with Johnathan Goodwin, a Wichita mechanic who has developed a national reputation for re-engineering the power units of big cars to get more horsepower but use less fuel.

The two are looking to convert Young's 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible to operate on an electric battery. Ultimately, they said, they want the Continental to provide a model for the world's first affordable mass-produced electric-powered automobile.

"Johnathan and this car are going to make history," Young told The Wichita Eagle. "We're going to change the world; we're going to create a car that will allow us to stop giving our wealth to other countries for petroleum."

Young has poured about $120,000 so far into the project, Goodwin said.

What's more, the prototype power system worked during a 12-mile test drive of the car last week — albeit with a few glitches.

"She was awesome," Young said of the battery-operated car. "Her acceleration was incredible, she moved with hardly a sound; it was so quiet we could hear the wind through the tags of other cars."

The drive almost ended in disaster when Goodwin, who controls acceleration with a knob in the back seat, twisted it the wrong way while approaching an entrance ramp and the vehicle lurched toward the rear of another car. Young, in the passenger seat, was able to hit the brakes in time.

"Still needs work," said Goodwin, 37.

Young, 62, said he came across taped interviews of Goodwin eight months ago on the Internet, including a segment for the MTV show "Pimp My Ride." Goodwin's clientele includes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had Goodwin work on his Hummer.

Young said he set out wanting his car to be able to use biodiesel, but later asked Goodwin whether they could instead power it with batteries and use it as a template to make electric cars more mainstream.

"The technology to make a practical and affordable electric car has been around for a long time," Goodwin said. "There are all sorts of ways of doing it and all sorts of ways to work out how to make it work on a national scale."

For Young, the project may finally complete a mission he set for himself with his music.

"You know, I thought long ago you could change the world by writing songs," he said. "But you can't change the world by writing songs. Oh, you can inspire a few people, get some of them to change their thinking about something. But you can't change the world by writing songs.

"But we could change it with this car."

Wisteria Lane Survives More Drama, Ghost Whisperer Not as Lucky

Jovie Baclayon

Wisteria Lane

An ABC representative for the hit series Desperate Housewives tells E! News that there is "no damage to Wisteria Lane" from Sunday morning's massive blaze at the Universal Studios backlot, despite earlier rumors. The show's infamous neighborhood is housed on the property.

However, CBS' Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, may not have fared as well. A press executive for the studio tells E! News, "Preliminary reports say just two exterior sets were damaged."

They haven't received the full report yet but do not think the damage is extensive enough to delay production on the show.

Neither Universal's Citywalk nor theme park were damaged, but the park was shut down for the day. The MTV Movie Awards, hosted by Mike Meyers, is scheduled to go on as planned Sunday night at 5 p.m. in Universal's Gibson Amphitheatre.

At least 400 firefighters were called in to quench the at times 100-foot-high flames, which broke out around 4:45 a.m. and tore through a soundstage and several buildings and famous movie sets.

The King Kong exhibit, New York and New England streetscapes, television film vault and iconic Back to the Future set were extensively damaged. Four firefighters were also injured, although not severely.

Crews are bulldozing demolished buildings and heavy smoke continues to pour out of the fire, eight hours after it started.

'Sex' sells: Women give Carrie & Co. $55.7M debut

By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer

Sex and the CityKim CattrallKristin DavisCynthia NixonHollywood's box office

That was nearly twice the forecast by distributor Warner Bros., whose head of distribution, Dan Fellman, said he had hoped the movie might deliver a $30 million debut.

"Women power," Fellman said. "It was outstanding this weekend."

Analysts had figured Paramount's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" might stay atop the box office heap, but it slipped to second place with $46 million in its second weekend. "Indiana Jones" raised its 11-day domestic total to $216.9 million.

"Sex and the City" put up numbers never before seen for a movie aimed mainly at women, who do not tend to rush out in huge numbers for opening weekends the way males do.

"Sex and the City," released under Warner's New Line Cinema banner, had the best debut ever for an R-rated comedy, topping the $45.1 million opening of "American Pie 2."

The movie landed at No. 5 on the all-time list among R-rated films, behind "The Matrix Reloaded" ($91.8 million), "The Passion of the Christ" ($83.8 million), "300" ($70.9 million) and "Hannibal" ($58 million).

"This is a blockbuster for women. This was to women what `Indiana Jones' and `Star Wars,' let's say, are to men," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers.

The movie picks up four years after the series finale, in which Parker's Carrie Bradshaw and her Manhattan buddies left behind their randy ways to settle into monogamous relationships. In the film, they deal with family and commitment issues while still flaunting their bawdy humor and trendy sense of style.

Hollywood skeptics had doubted the commercial prospects for a movie adaptation of "Sex and the City," which ended its six-year run in 2004. Originally airing on premium cable channel HBO, the show had a loyal but limited fan base and held little appeal for young males, the backbone of the box office.

However, "Sex and the City" mania grew as the movie's release approached, with many women organizing girls-night-out parties to see it with friends on opening day Friday.

"That's why Friday was quite a frenzy," Fellman said. "There were women that came in and bought out entire theaters in advance and invited all their friends."

Women made up 85 percent of the audience on Friday, Fellman said.

The movie pulled in $26.9 million on Friday. On Saturday, however, it took a steep drop with ticket sales dwindling to $17.7 million. Most big films take in more money on Saturday than Friday, so the decline was a sign that the audience for "Sex and the City" could dry up quickly.

Still, the film was on its way to becoming a $100 million hit that could spawn more sequels.

The weekend's other new wide release, Universal's fright flick "The Strangers," debuted solidly at No. 3 with $20.7 million. It stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman as a couple terrorized by masked invaders at their vacation home.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullThe StrangersIron ManThe Chronicles of Narnia: Prince CaspianWhat Happens in VegasBaby MamaSpeed RacerMade of HonorForgetting Sarah Marshallhttp://www.mediabynumbers/

Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Mr. Rogers' memory lives on in scholarships

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
1 hour, 1 minute ago

Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship winners

"I find it such a blessing that someone's life work would be recognized like this," Joanne Rogers said of her husband, who died in 2002 at age 74.

The award recognizes programs or contributions that keep children's TV fresh. "Yo Gabba Gabba!", which encourages young viewers to sing and dance, is shown on the Nick Jr. and Noggin channels.

Fred Rogers' venerated public TV series "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" still airs, although Joanne Rogers would like to see them on more often and at more convenient times.

She said her husband's gift for being able to see through a very young child's eye remains relevant.

___

On the Net:

TV academy: http://www.emmys.org

Mike Myers kicks off MTV Movie Awards with dance

By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer
26 minutes ago

Host Mike Myers kicked off the live ceremony with a dance-off between singer Chris Brown at the Gibson Amphitheatre. There was no mention at the beginning of the show of the disastrous fire at the adjacent Universal Studios lot.

The MTV Movie Awards format allowed viewers to vote online for categories such as best kiss and best villain. Ellen Page won early for her turn in "Juno," taking home the golden popcorn for best female performance.

During the ceremony, Adam Sandler was set to receive the Generation Award, the show's highest honor, while Coldplay and the Pussycat Dolls were scheduled to perform.

Nominees for best movie included "Juno," "Transformers," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "I Am Legend," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" and "Superbad," which led the pack this year with five nominations.

A new category — "Best Summer Movie So Far" — will debut during ceremony. Nominees for that category were "Iron Man," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "Sex and the City: The Movie," "Speed Racer" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."

___

On the Net:

http://www.mtv/

Fire at Universal Studios destroys sets, videos

By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 31 minutes ago

Back to the FutureKing Kong exhibitmovies and TV shows

It was the second fire at the historic site in nearly two decades, leveling facades, hollowing out buildings and creating the kind of catastrophe filmmakers relish re-creating. This time around, thousands of videos chronicling Universal's movie and TV shows were destroyed in the blaze.

But Universal officials said that they were thankful no one was seriously injured at the theme park and that the damaged footage can be replaced.

"We have duplicates of everything," said Ron Meyer, NBC Universal president and chief operating officer. "Nothing is lost forever."

The blaze broke out on a sound stage featuring New York brownstone facades around 4:30 a.m. at the 400-acre property, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said. The fire was contained to the lot, but about 400 firefighters were still trying to put it out several hours later.

"It is one of the longest fires to extinguish because of its complexity and size," said county Fire Capt. Mike Brown.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Damage was expected to be in the millions of dollars.

The iconic courthouse square from "Back to the Future" was destroyed, and the famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox's character to travel through time was damaged, fire officials said. Two mock New York and New England streets used both for movie-making and as tourist displays were a total loss, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Darryl Jacobs said.

An exhibit housing a mechanically animated King Kong that bellows at visitors on a tram also was destroyed.

All three sites were either damaged or destroyed during another fire at Universal Studios in November 1990. That fire caused $25 million in damage and was started by a security guard who was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to arson.

Hundreds of visitors who had waited for hours outside the park gates were turned away after officials decided not to open the area. On a typical weekend day, about 25,000 people visit Universal Studios. NBC Universal said in a statement that the park would reopen Monday morning.

Mike Herrick of San Diego watched the fire on television from his hotel before deciding to return to Universal Studios for a second day with his wife.

"By gosh, we're going to go and get whatever we can out of it," Herrick said. On Saturday, Herrick rode the tram that winds around the studio lot, snapping photos of the King Kong attraction, among other sights.

The fire broke out along New York Street, where firefighting helicopters swept in for drops and cranes dumped water on the flames. A thick column of smoke rose thousands of feet into the air and could be seen for miles.

"It looked like a disaster film," said Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge.

Several firefighters suffered minor injuries. One firefighter and a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy were slightly hurt when a pressurized cylinder exploded inside the building housing the videos.

The streetscape that burned recently served as a backdrop in such films as "Bruce Almighty" and television shows including "Monk," "Crossing Jordan" and "House," said NBC Universal spokeswoman Cindy Gardner.

Miami Vicenine miles northWar of the WorldsWhen Harry Met Sally

The fire will not affect the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, which is to broadcast live Sunday night from the Gibson Amphitheatre in the adjacent Universal CityWalk, according to the music network.

Legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent dies at 71

By ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Writer
12 minutes ago

Yves Saint Laurent

Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's business partner for four decades, said he had died at his Paris home following a long illness.

A towering figure of 20th century fashion, Saint Laurent was widely considered the last of a generation that included Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and made Paris the fashion capital of the world, with the Rive Gauche, or Left Bank, as its elegant headquarters.

In the fast-changing world of haute couture, Saint Laurent was hailed as the most influential and enduring designer of his time. From the first YSL tuxedo and his trim pantsuits to see-through blouses, safari jackets and glamorous gowns, Saint Laurent created instant classics that remain stylish decades later.

Berge praised Saint Laurent as the man who marked "the second half of the 20th century" in fashion.

"Chanel gave women freedom" in the first half, and Saint Laurent "gave them power," he said on France-Info radio. Saint Laurent was a "true creator," going beyond the aesthetic to make a social statement, Berge said.

"In this sense he was a libertarian, an anarchist and he threw bombs at the legs of society. That's how he transformed society and that's how he transformed women."

When Saint Laurent announced his retirement in 2002 at age 65 and the closure of the Paris-based haute couture house he had founded 40 years earlier, it was mourned in the fashion world as the end of an era. His ready-to-wear label, Rive Gauche, which was sold to Gucci in 1999, still has boutiques around the world.

In October 2006, Saint Laurent slipped and fell outside a Paris restaurant during Fashion Week, suffering slight scratches but reminding fans of the perennially fragile designer's advancing age.

Saint Laurent was born Aug. 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria, where his father worked as a shipping executive. He first emerged as a promising designer at the age of 17, winning first prize in a contest sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat for a cocktail dress design.

A year later in 1954, he enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale school of haute couture, but student life lasted only three months. He was introduced to Christian Dior, then regarded as the greatest creator of his day, and Dior was so impressed with Saint Laurent's talent that he hired him on the spot.

When Dior died suddenly in 1957, Saint Laurent was named head of the House of Dior at the age of 21. The next year, his first solo collection for Dior — the "trapeze" line — launched Saint Laurent's stardom. The trapeze dress — with its narrow shoulders and wide, swinging skirt — was a hit, and a breath of fresh air after years of constructed clothing, tight waists and girdles.

In 1960, Saint Laurent was drafted into military service — an experience that shattered the delicate designer, who by the end of the year was given a medical discharge for nervous depression.

Bouts of depression marked his career. Berge, the designer's longtime business partner and former romantic partner, was quoted as saying that Saint Laurent was born with a nervous breakdown.

Saint Laurent returned to the spotlight in 1962, opening his own haute couture fashion house with Berge. The pair later started a chain of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutiques.

Life Magazine hailed his first line under his own label as "the best collection of suits since Chanel."

Berge has said that Saint Laurent's gift to fashion was that he empowered women after Chanel had freed them.

navy blue pea coatblack leather jacketSaint Laurent pantsuitsStade de France

Associated Press writers Rachid Aouli and Joelle Diderich contributed to this report.