Public to vote online for AMA nominees

Los Angeles – Beyonce Knowles, Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park and “American Idol” contestant Chris Daughtry’s band Daughtry each nabbed three nominations Tuesday for the American Music Awards.

Akon, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Young Jeezy, T.I. and “Idol” winner Carrie Underwood captured two nominations each.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 35th annual American Music Awards, to be broadcast Nov. 18 by ABC from the new L.A. Live entertainment complex next to Staples Center downtown.

The show’s producer, Larry Klein, said Daughtry, Celine Dion, nominees Fergie and Rihanna will perform.

Nominees were initially chosen based on record sales. Ballots were then sent to a national sampling of 15,000 people and the top three vote-getters in each category became nominees.

For the first time, members of the public will be able to vote for nominated artists online. Winners were previously selected by a national survey of some 20,000 people.

NBC Universal buying Oxygen Media

Los Angeles – NBC Universal said Tuesday it is buying Oxygen Media, a cable television network designed to appeal to women, for about $925 million.

“This acquisition increases our foothold in the advertiser-coveted young, upscale, female demographic,” NBC Universal President and Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said in a statement.

Oxygen was founded in 2000 by current Chairman and CEO Geraldine Laybourne, Oprah Winfrey and television producers Marcy Carsey, Tom Werner and Caryn Mandabach.

The network broadcasts syndicated sitcoms such as “Mad About You” and “Roseanne,” as well as several reality shows and movies geared to women.

It’s available in about 74 million homes and drew a record number of viewers in its most recent quarter, NBC Universal said.

Oxygen will be folded into NBC Universal’s entertainment cable division, which includes USA Network, Bravo, SciFi, CNBC and MSNBC.

David Spade donates to family of slain officer

Phoenix – David Spade has donated $25,000 to the family of a slain Phoenix police officer.

The 43-year-old comedian said that after reading about Officer Nick Erfle’s death last month, he was “hit out of the blue” by the shooting and the fact that Erfle had overcome cancer to return to duty.

“I’m from Arizona so I’m always a little aware of things that are going on there,” Spade, a Scottsdale native, told The Associated Press on Monday. “It just struck me as such a rough situation just because cops in general get kind of a bad rap lately and people forget it is the scariest job out there.”

Spade said he arranged for a money transfer into a bank account already established for public donations.

Spade said he hopes Erfle’s wife was able to use the money for the funeral or other expenses. “I just thought I would throw something in the pile,” he said.

Erfle, 33, was shot Sept. 18 on a busy street after attempting to arrest Erik Jovani Martinez. Martinez, a 22-year-old illegal immigrant who had been deported in March 2006, gave an alias to conceal an outstanding felony warrant. Unbeknownst to Martinez, the alias belonged to someone who also had an outstanding warrant.

Lohan says staying sober is main priority

New York – Lindsay Lohan is making plans for life after rehab.

The 21-year-old actress reportedly checked out of the Cirque Lodge, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Utah, on Friday. She had entered treatment in August after reaching a plea deal on misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges following two arrests.

“It was a sobering experience,” Lohan says in an interview with OK! magazine. “It was humbling. It made me look at myself, and all of the people, places and things in my life in a different way. I was in there for substance abuse, after all.”

Staying sober – and out of Los Angeles – is Lohan’s main priority.

“I’m staying in Utah until it’s time to shoot ‘Dare to Love Me,’ and then I plan on returning to Utah so I can stay focused, and avoid other distractions,” she tells OK!

When asked whether she’s worried about a relapse, Lohan says: “Of course I am! If I wasn’t I’d be living in denial. Temptation is always there but now I’ll avoid it the right way.”

It’s a girl for Nick Nolte and longtime companion

Los Angeles – It’s a baby girl for Nick Nolte and his longtime partner, Clytie Lane.

The baby, who hasn’t been named yet, was born Oct. 3 in Los Angeles. She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, the actor’s spokesman, Paul Bloch, said Tuesday in a statement.

Mother and daughter were doing well, he said.

Nolte, 66, has a son, Brawley, from a previous marriage. The baby is Lane’s first child.

Yoko Ono unveils Imagine Peace tower

Reykjavik, Iceland – Yoko Ono urged the world to give peace a chance with the unveiling Tuesday of the Imagine Peace Tower on Videy island on what would have been husband John Lennon’s 67th birthday.

The former Beatle was shot dead outside their New York apartment building Dec. 8, 1980, by deranged fan Mark David Chapman.

Ono was to be joined at the ceremony by the couple’s son, Sean Lennon; Beatles drummer Ringo Starr; and bandmate George Harrison’s widow, Olivia. Paul McCartney also was invited, but it wasn’t known whether he would attend.

The tower is a stories-tall beam of light that will radiate from a wishing well bearing the words “imagine peace” in 24 languages. The plan is for the tower to be lit each year between Oct. 9 and Dec. 8.