People talk

Sharon happy to have Ozzy back home

NEW YORK -- Ozzy Osbourne is back home after injuring himself in an all-terrain vehicle accident in England more than a month ago. His wife, Sharon Osbourne, told her talk-show audience Thursday that her husband had returned to their house in Beverly Hills, Calif., the previous night. The 55-year-old metal star was in a coma for eight days after the Dec. 8 crash. He fractured his collarbone, eight ribs and a neck vertebra in the accident.

Foxx, sister plead innocent in fracas

NEW ORLEANS -- Comedian Jamie Foxx and his sister pleaded innocent Friday to charges from a fight with police officers and security guards last year at Harrah's New Orleans Casino. The two were arrested April 26 after police said they and a group of their friends refused to show identification at the door, then entered the casino and refused requests to leave. The actor and his sister were charged with two counts each of battery on a police officer causing injury, a felony, and one count of disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor.

Broken toe takes LaToya out of rehearsals

LOS ANGELES -- LaToya Jackson broke a toe while rehearsing for a music video for her upcoming single "Just Wanna Dance," her business partner said. Jackson was rehearsing in Las Vegas on Saturday when she broke the big toe on her left foot, Jeffre Phillips said Thursday. She will be "out of commission" for 10 to 12 days, Phillips said. Jackson, 47, had planned to travel to Santa Maria Friday to support her brother during his arraignment on child molestation charges, Phillips said, but canceled the trip because "she is in so much pain. Her foot is so swollen."

Rapper Beenie Man recovering from crash

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Grammy-winning deejay and dancehall rapper Beenie Man was recovering after undergoing surgery for injuries he suffered in a Jamaica car crash, his manager said Friday. The 30-year-old rapper broke two ribs and punctured a lung, but doctors at St. Joseph's Hospital said Friday he had "improved significantly," said manager Patrick Roberts. In 1999, Beenie Man, whose real name is Anthony Moses Davis, signed with Virgin Records. "Art and Life," his first album for the company, won the Grammy Award for best reggae album in 2001.-- From wire reports

'Jeffersons' actress gets star on Walk of Fame

LOS ANGELES -- Isabel Sanford, best known as Louise Jefferson or "Weezie" on the CBS sitcom "The Jeffersons," moved on up to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sanford, 86, was joined at the ceremony Thursday by about 300 fans, family members and friends, including "All in the Family" and "Jeffersons" creator Norman Lear and Marla Gibbs, who played the Jeffersons' maid Florence. Sanford made her feature film debut in the classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," before co-starring with Sherman Hemsley for more than 10 years in "The Jeffersons," a spin-off of the popular series "All in the Family." In 1981, Sanford became the first black woman to receive an Emmy for best actress in a comedy series.

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BOSTON -- He's conducted all over the world, but James Levine says when it came time to choose an orchestra to lead, he was drawn to Boston.

"It's a great orchestra, it has a great tradition, a great commissioning tradition, a great hall, a great community, an audience that supports it properly," Levine said of the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Thursday as he discussed his future as the symphony's newest music director.

At a concert Thursday night, the orchestra performed Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, Mozart's Symphony No. 31, "Paris," and "Partita" and "Micomicon," two pieces 95-year-old composer Elliott Carter wrote for the BSO.

Levine was named music director of the BSO in October 2001, replacing Seiji Ozawa. The 2004-05 season begins Sept. 30 with a guest conductor replacing Levine, who will be in New York honoring commitments with the Metropolitan Opera.

Levine will conduct the following BSO concert Oct. 22. He has a five-year commitment with the symphony, and will continue his conducting duties at the Met, where he debuted in 1971.

He's the 14th music director in the BSO's 123-year history and the first American-born conductor to hold the position.

"It's an American orchestra. The American orchestras as a group have not always been in their best shape. They go through difficulties. One of my functions as an American musician, it seems to me, is to do something constructive for that, the same way we try to do something constructive for the young musicians that come along," he said at a news conference at Symphony Hall.

Levine, a Cincinnati native, began studying piano at 4 and made his debut with the Cincinnati Symphony at 10 as a soloist playing Mendelssohn's D minor piano concerto.

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On the Net:

http://www.bso.org/

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GENEVA (AP) -- Former "Baywatch" star Carmen Electra has won control of the Internet name www.carmenelectra.com in a ruling by a United Nations panel.

An arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organization ordered the transfer of the domain name to the 31-year-old actress, who had complained that it was being used in bad faith to divert Internet traffic to a commercial site, Celebrity1000, WIPO spokeswoman Samar Shamoon said Thursday.

The ruling upheld Electra's complaint against the company that registered the name -- Network Operations Center of High Prairie, Canada.

Arbitrator Jon Lang said he had no response from the company, but he assumed it "does derive a commercial advantage from the Web site, particularly in view of the advertisements contained in it."

Lang said use of the Carmen Electra Web address "creates a likelihood of confusion that its site is sponsored, endorsed or affiliated" with her.

Electra, who was born Tara Leigh Patrick, said she'd adopted the name Carmen Electra 10 years ago.

Lang noted that a U.N. panel also had held in favor of James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan against the same Web address registrant.

A number of celebrities have already won the Internet version of their names back from Network Operations Center -- also known as Alberta Hot Rods -- or the man who controls it, Jeff Burgar.

They include Michael Crichton, Kevin Spacey, Pamela Anderson, Celine Dion and Bruce Springsteen. On Tuesday, the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien won a similar case against the same operation.

Anyone can register a domain name for a few dollars, which has led to so-called "cybersquatters."

The U.N. arbitration system allows those who believe they have the right to a domain to get it back without having to fight a costly legal battle or pay large sums of money.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Police Detective Greg Medavoy, Gordon Clapp's character on the television drama "NYPD Blue," will soon get his rear end exposed.

The episode, scheduled to air in March, "is shrouded in secrecy," ABC said Wednesday. But Clapp, who campaigned for such exposure in a piece he wrote for the New York Post in June, promises "it's new ground."

The 55-year-old actor plays one of the few detectives on "NYPD Blue" who hasn't been seen in the buff. Co-stars Dennis Franz, Mark Paul-Gosselaar and Charlotte Ross have all had their behinds displayed on the show.

"NYPD Blue" will return to its Tuesday time slot (10 p.m. EST) in February.

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On the Net:

http://www.abc.com

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Turning on the television Thursday nights felt a bit weird for "ER" star Noah Wyle, who took a few months off from the NBC medical drama last fall.

"It's very disconcerting to watch 'ER' and not see myself in it," he said Wednesday. "I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. I could enjoy it, you know, from an objective point of view, but I really felt left out."

Wyle is the only "ER" actor to stay all 10 seasons, remaining as George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Julianna Margulies and others moved on.

"This is the longest relationship of my life," said the 32-year-old actor, who's signed to stay with the show through 2005.

"And like any long-term relationship, you have ups and downs and falling in and out of love. Obviously, it was hard when each and every one of the original cast members that I started the show with left. And I thought about leaving at various times."

Why did Wyle decide to stay?

"The money, probably," he said.

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On the Net:

http://www.nbc.com/ER/index.html

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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Billy Crystal says he felt the itch again -- and that's why he's back as host of the Oscars.

The Academy Awards will be shown Feb. 29 on ABC, and it will be Crystal's eighth time as host. He last hosted in 2000.

"Last year I felt the itch to do it," the 55-year-old comedian said Thursday. "The war had hit, I wanted to be in the limelight. I wanted to feel that extra pressure."

Steve Martin, last year's host, did an excellent job, Crystal said. But when producer Joe Roth approached him this year, he agreed. It's about three months work to prepare, compacted this year because the broadcast is a month earlier than usual.

"To say it's not nerve-racking is ridiculous," Crystal said. "Once I say, 'yes,' I have a headache until I say, 'Good night, everybody."'

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On the Net:

http://www.oscar.com

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Actor Michael Madsen and "The Fast and the Furious" star Michelle Rodriguez came to town this week to tout their latest roles as a tough twosome involved with an international car smuggling ring.

But they weren't talking movies at Tuesday's invitation-only event; they were talking video games -- specifically Atari's upcoming "Driv3r," which is slated for a March release.

Madsen is the voice of Tanner, who's trying to break up a car smuggling ring headed by Rodriguez's character, Calita.

"I played with it a little bit. A little ad-lib," said Madsen. "I brought some humor to it. I didn't want the character to be just one- dimensional. I tried to make him human."

Rodriguez said she's not content limiting herself to films, and described the gaming world as "humongous."

"I think if you limit yourself to doing one thing, you're a dork," she told The Associated Press.

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Anders Franzen, head of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, will head east to become director and vice chairman of the Swedish Royal Opera.

Sweden's Culture Ministry announced Franzen's appointment to the position of the Stockholm-based opera company Thursday.

For the first time in the Royal Opera's 230-year history, Franzen will serve as both director and vice chairman of the state-funded cultural attraction, which stages hundreds of performances annually.

Franzen, who previously oversaw Swedish symphonies in Malmoe and Norrkoeping, is replacing Bengt Hall, who will become the new culture director in Malmoe.

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On the Net:

http://www.operan.se

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SEATTLE (AP) -- Seattle Symphony music director Gerard Schwarz, a champion of contemporary U.S. composers, has been nominated by President Bush to the National Council on the Arts.

Schwarz, who's in his 19th season at the symphony, will serve on the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts until September 2006 if confirmed by the Senate.

Since Schwarz came to Seattle, the orchestra has released more than 85 recordings and has become one of the most prolific in performing and recording contemporary American music with 10 CDs nominated for Grammy Awards.

He is a co-founder of the New York Chamber Symphony and spent 25 years as music director, concluding in 2002. He was music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York from 1982 to 2001, and is in his third season as music director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in Scotland.

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On the Net:

http://www.seattlesymphony.org/