Actor Hackman chosen for special award

LOS ANGELES -- Gene Hackman will be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at next year's Golden Globe Awards.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hosts the ceremony, announced Thursday the star of "The Conversation" and "Crimson Tide" will receive the honorary award for his career of nearly 80 films.

Hackman, 72, won a supporting-actor Oscar for 1992's "Unforgiven" and a best-actor Oscar for 1971's "The French Connection." He also has Golden Globe Awards for those films and a comedic actor honor for last year's "The Royal Tenenbaums."

The DeMille award will be presented at the 60th annual Golden Globe banquet Jan. 19 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The event will air live on NBC.

Supermodel joins cause for Holocaust Memorial

BERLIN -- German supermodel Claudia Schiffer has lent her voice to a television campaign seeking donations for Germany's still-unrealized Holocaust Memorial.

During its first two weeks, the ad featuring Schiffer has caused a spike in visits to a Web site for the citizen's initiative to raise money for the project. Organizers said Friday it will be another two weeks until they know whether donations have increased.

Schiffer approached the foundation after seeing a billboard campaign in Berlin. But she said she didn't want to appear in the commercial to keep the focus on the campaign, which has raised about $600,000.

The stark advertisement shows words associated with the project rapidly crisscrossing the screen. In her voiceover, Schiffer tells fellow Germans that the memorial is one of the most public ways they can confront the legacy of the Nazi era.

Rapper Eminem claims MTVEurope awards

BARCELONA, Spain -- Eminem was the big winner at the MTV Europe Music Awards, taking trophies for best album, best male singer and best hip-hop artist.

Kylie Minogue, Linkin Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers each won two prizes Thursday night. MTV Europe said the ninth annual show was broadcast to a billion people around the world. Some 13,000 fans gathered in Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi arena to see live performances by Eminem, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams and other musicians.

-- From wire reports