George Michael on Sunday became the first pop singer to play a gig at the Paris Opera, with a special gala concert backed by a symphony orchestra for the AIDS related charity Sidaction.

The British star, on top form and fully recovered from a bout of pneumonia which forced him to postpone his Symphonica tour of the UK and Europe last year, filled the majestic 2,000-seat Palais Garnier, management said.

"Gangsta" rapper Snoop Dogg said Friday that a transformational journey to Jamaica during which he embraced reggae music may have saved his marriage and gave him a new, "family first" outlook.

The best part of the life-changing trip was "that my wife could come and see it happen," the singer said.

Veteran U.S. rock group R.E.M. is slamming Fox News for playing "Losing My Religion" in covering the Democratic convention, accusing the conservative U.S. broadcaster of "puff adder" reporting.

But Fox News hit back, saying it had used the hit tune entirely legally, and claiming that R.E.M. was seeking a "publicity fix" by issuing the protest.

There was intrigue — and Heidi Klum in barely there gold — as the lights, camera, action of reality TV hit Fashion Week Friday during the "Project Runway" show that will decide who wins the 10th anniversary season.

Eight contestants thanked their loved ones and shared their inspirations in the hour-long parade before the judges on the Lifetime series and a huge crowd at the Lincoln Center tents.

Porn producer Joe Francis should be forced to pay Steve Wynn more than $12 million for claiming that the casino mogul threatened to kill him and bury him in the desert, Wynn's attorney told a jury Friday.

Barry Langberg suggested the multimillion verdict during closing arguments in Wynn's slander case against Francis, who claims the casino creator threatened to hit him over the head with a shovel and have him buried in the desert over a $2 million gambling debt.

"Twilight's" newest vampire re-emerged in public Thursday night at the Toronto Film Festival.

Kristen Stewart made her first public appearance in nearly two months. The 22-year star went into lockdown mode after she publicly apologized for having a tryst with the married director of her last film, "Snow White and the Huntsman."

Arab cinema is witnessing a new wave of creativity in the wake of the Arab Spring revolts, said directors at the Venice film festival where some of the emerging talent from the region was on show.

Social themes that were previously kept bottled up are now making their way on film and the monopoly of older established directors is being whittled away as the repercussions of new freedoms are felt in many parts of the region.

British boy band One Direction scooped three top prizes Thursday at the MTV Video Music Awards, confirming their stellar rise on the U.S. music scene, while Rihanna won Video of the Year.

Rihanna's ex Chris Brown and edgy British singer M.I.A. were runners-up with two gongs apiece at the Los Angeles awards show.

Fashion's Night Out is a sartorial pub crawl through Manhattan at the outset of New York fashion week, a chance to scope out the trendiest boutiques with a champagne flute in hand and no pressure to buy.

On Thursday, it was also a chance to sample top model Karlie Kloss's gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at $5 a pop, with proceeds going to a foundation to combat hunger launched by a young member of the Bush political dynasty.

Prosecutors have charged Amanda Bynes with hit-and-run in connection with two traffic crashes in recent months.

Los Angeles City attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan (mah-TEHL'-jin) says the actress was charged Tuesday and is due for arraignment on Sept. 27.