Golden Globes cancel traditional show

Los Angeles – The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Monday that the traditional Golden Globe Awards ceremony has been canceled and will be replaced with a news conference format.

The move came after striking writers threatened to picket the event.

“We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived of seeing many of their favorite stars celebrating 2007’s outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television,” said Jorge Camara, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “We take some comfort, however, in knowing that this year’s Golden Globe Award recipients will be announced on the date originally scheduled.”

The show had been set to air on Sunday.

Faced with a threat by actors to boycott the ceremony rather than cross picket lines, the association and NBC were forced to adopt another approach for the ceremony.

Marker to honor Elvis Presley’s birthplace

Tupelo, Miss. – A Mississippi Blues Trail marker will be placed at the birthplace of Elvis Presley today.

The ceremony will honor Presley for his contribution to Mississippi and America’s blues heritage.

He was born in Tupelo on Jan. 8, 1935. Presley died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 16, 1977. He first encountered the blues in Tupelo, and it remained central to his music throughout his career.

His early recordings helped revolutionize popular music with a unique mix of blues and country music, which led many rock ‘n’ roll artists to follow his lead.

“By all accounts, Elvis Presley was the single greatest influence on modern-day rock ‘n’ roll in America, and much of his musical inspiration drew on the Mississippi blues,” Gov. Haley Barbour said in a statement Friday.

Dr. Phil pulls the plug on his show about Spears

Los Angeles – Television’s “Dr. Phil” McGraw has pulled the plug on plans for a one-hour show that was to examine Britney Spears’ latest public meltdown.

In a statement posted Monday on his Web site, McGraw said the 26-year-old pop star’s situation was “too intense” for him to go forward with the show. He didn’t say whether he planned to reschedule.

Spears was hospitalized Thursday night after a child custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline resulted in an hours-long standoff with police. On Friday, a court commissioner gave sole physical and legal custody of 1-year-old Jayden James and 2-year-old Sean Preston to Federline.

McGraw said he met with Spears for an hour Saturday before she left the hospital.

Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban expecting a baby

Los Angeles – Nicole Kidman is pregnant, the actress’ spokeswoman confirmed Monday.

In a brief statement, publicist Catherine Olim said Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban are expecting a baby and “the couple are thrilled.”

Benazir Bhutto memoir to be released Feb. 12

New York – A memoir and policy book by former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, finished only a week before her assassination, will be published Feb. 12 by HarperCollins.

The publication of “Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West” has “the full support of her family and advisers,” according to a statement issued Monday by HarperCollins.

“No one could have known that these would be Benazir Bhutto’s final words, and somehow that makes them carry even more weight, especially at a time like this,” said HarperCollins Executive Editor Tim Duggan. “This book is her legacy.”

Bhutto, a rival of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, died Dec. 27 in a suicide bombing and shooting in the city of Rawalpindi. Bhutto was a pro-U.S. moderate who had vowed to fight Islamic extremists if elected in an upcoming parliamentary vote.

The book will include an afterword by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and her three children.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck returns to ‘The View’

New York – Elisabeth Hasselbeck took her newborn son, Taylor Thomas, to work Monday.

It was her first day back on ABC’s “The View” since going on maternity leave more than two months ago. She gave birth to Taylor Thomas at an Arizona hospital Nov. 9.

Hasselbeck and co-host Sherri Shepherd took turns holding him. He cried at first, but was generally well behaved on his first-ever live TV appearance. The camera focused on his face several times as the audience oohed and ahh-ed.

Hasselbeck, 30, joked that she calls herself “the dairy queen” because she’s breast-feeding.

“You don’t even look like you were pregnant,” Shepherd told her. “You are so tiny.”

Hasselbeck, wearing a waist-concealing dress with a floral pattern, responded: “Wear a print.”

Country singer’s family marketing Kerosene wine

Lindale, Texas – How about a sip of Kerosene?

That’s one of the wines being marketed by Miranda Lambert’s family that are named for her songs.

The 24-year-old country singer’s latest single will be released Jan. 15. That’s when two new wines will be available – Gunpowder & Lead and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – also Lambert song titles.

There’s also a blush wine called Electric Pink, named for one of her guitars.

The Lambert family teamed with LouViney Vineyards of Winnsboro to offer the wines.

Beverly Lambert, Miranda’s mother, says the Red 55 Winery gets its name from her daughter’s first truck, a red 1955 Chevy. She said the winery is attracting tourists to the town of Lindale.