Danny Puff

NEW YORK (AP) They partied like it was 1999 the audience and the musicians at a Prince tribute concert at Carnegie Hall.

More than 20 performers including Elvis Costello, The Roots and the Waterboys paid tribute to the pop icon in a two-hour-plus concert Thursday night. They all joined together onstage to close the show with "1999."

Singer D'Angelo took the lead while putting his arm around Bettye LaVette, Chris Rock and Costello clapped hands side-by-side, and comedians-actresses-singers Maya Rudolph and Sandra Bernhard danced in a silly manner all while the crowd cheered on.

Many of the performers got into character as they sang signature Prince tunes. Soul singer Bilal was wild on "Sister," singing in various tones like a mad man and thrilling the crowd. Bernhard, in her leather pants, shimmery shirt and shiny shoes, impressed on "Little Red Corvette" as she skipped around onstage and belted high notes. And singer-songwriter Kat Edmonson captured the audience with "The Beautiful Ones," standing still and singing with only a pianist onstage.

It was one of the only times The Roots weren't backing up other performers throughout the concert, which raised $100,000 for music education programs.

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson jammed on the drums and even took photos of a pregnant Rudolph when she danced with one hand on her belly and the other stroking her hair. Rudolph, who sings Prince covers under the moniker PRINCEss with Gretchen Lieberum, screeched on "Darling Nikki" and didn't slow down while performing choreography in heels.

Few words were said to the audience, though Rock thanked the crowd "for coming" toward the end of the show.

He impersonated Prince, too, when reciting the lyrics to "If I Was Your Girlfriend" with sass. Comedian-actor Fred Armisen took on many roles: He recited lyrics from "Let's Go Crazy," played the drums while the Blind Boys of Alabama sang "The Cross" and offered light vocals during "It's Going to Be a Beautiful Night" alongside D'Angelo.

Most of the musicians wore black onstage, though LaVette rocked a purple blazer while singing "Kiss." Other performers included Eric Leeds, Nina Persson and Talib Kweli. Husband-and-wife Citizen Cope and Alice Smith sang a duet version of "Pop Life" and Booker T. Jones was joined by singer Diane Birch and members of the Young Audiences New York Youth Choir for "Raspberry Beret."

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Online:

http://www.carnegieprince.com/

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Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Filmmaker George Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars," has submitted a bid to build a "storytelling museum" in San Francisco to share his vast collection of contemporary paintings, illustrations and digital art.

Lucas has offered to construct the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum on federal land, run it and stock it with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art by the likes of Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish.

"What he finds most fascinating in these artists is their ability to capture an emotion and tell an entire story in one image," Lucas spokesman David Perry told Reuters.

Lucas' proposal was one of 16 bids to create a cultural institution in a former commissary at the San Francisco Presidio, a 1,500-acre national park within the city created after the U.S. Army left the post in 1994.

Other proposals received last week by the Presidio Trust include a New Deal museum, a color museum, a global observatory, a center for the study of cities, an environmental center, a sustainability institute, an innovation center and a center for the history of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"We all know that George Lucas is a creative genius, and we're very pleased that he's one of the contenders," said Craig Middleton, executive director of the Presidio Trust.

He said the trust would examine the proposals and solicit public comment until April, when it would whittle down the competition and hold public hearings on the top bidders.

Lucas, 68, built the Letterman Digital Arts Center as the Presidio's first permanent business. The arts center is the combined home of Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units.

Lucas sold Lucasfilm Ltd., his film-making venture founded in 1971, to The Walt Disney Co. for $4.05 billion in 2012.

Perry estimated the value of the proposed gift at $1 billion, including the artwork and more than $300 million to construct the museum at the Presidio.

STORYTELLING

The semi-retired Lucas described his proposed museum as "a dedication to cultural fantasy" in an interview with CBS This Morning.

"Part of the museum is designed to educate younger people into the idea of storytelling, into the idea of being able to paint your fantasies, which is what Star Wars' was," he said.

" Star Wars' was there to inspire young people to imagine things, to imagine going anywhere in the universe and doing anything you want to do and using your imagination to entertain yourself."

The museum would include five galleries, ranging in size from 4,500 to 8,500 square feet, a 200-seat theater and a 75-seat lecture hall. It would feature breathtaking views of the Bay, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lucas bought his first work of art, a page from one of Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge comic books, for $25 when he was a University of Southern California film student. Since then, he has amassed a collection of 150 years of what he calls "fantastical" art.

In a letter accompanying his proposal, Lucas described a childhood trip from his home in Modesto to the de Young Museum in San Francisco as life changing.

"I was drawn in by Norman Rockwell's ability to tell a complete story in a single image," he wrote. "It was then that I began to learn the art of visual storytelling."

Perry said Lucas has spent the last two years working on the museum proposal. "This is a gift," Perry said. "We're just hoping the people to whom we offer the gift say, thank you' and unwrap it."

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Joy Behar will be enjoying "The View" for only five more months.

The 70-year-old comedian is leaving the ABC daytime talk show at the end of the current season in August. The network said in a statement Thursday that it wishes Behar "all the best in this next chapter, and are thrilled that we have her for the remainder of the season."

Behar has co-hosted the show for 16 seasons. She was among the first co-hosts with co-creator Barbara Walters when the series debuted in 2006. The current panel includes Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.

In addition to "The View," Behar hosted "The Joy Behar Show" on HLN from 2009 to 2011 and currently hosts "Joy Behar: Say Anything!" on Current TV, which debuted last year.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Kelly Osbourne was hospitalized Thursday after fainting on the set of the E! network's "Fashion Police."

A spokeswoman for Osbourne told the cable network that the 28-year-old TV personality was awake, alert and in stable condition. She will be staying at the hospital overnight for observation as a precautionary measure. No additional details were provided.

Osbourne is the daughter of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and "The Talk" co-host Sharon Osbourne. She was profiled with her family on the MTV reality series "The Osbournes" and has appeared as a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars." She's currently a panelist on "Fashion Police" with Joan Rivers, Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos.

"She's fine," Rivers said in a video posted Thursday afternoon on the celebrity news site TMZ.com. "We just saw her."

Spokeswomen for Sharon Osbourne and Melissa Rivers, Joan's daughter and executive producer of "Fashion Police," declined to comment.

Kelly Osbourne's brother, Jack, revealed he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last year.

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Online:

http://www.eonline.com/shows/fashion_police

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A 24-year-old intern killed by an African lion at a California wildlife sanctuary died almost instantly after the big cat broke her neck, a coroner said on Thursday, amid media reports that the animal may have escaped from its pen to attack her.

The Cat Haven, a private sanctuary east of Fresno, remained closed on Thursday, a day after Dianna Hanson was killed by a 350-lb (160-kg) male Barbary lion named Cous Cous that attacked her inside an enclosure. Hanson was from the Seattle area.

"The young lady did not suffer because she died almost instantly from a fractured neck," Fresno County Coroner Dr. David Hadden told Reuters.

An autopsy conducted on Thursday showed bite and claw marks on Hanson from "the lion playing with the body like a cat would play with a mouse," Hadden said.

Hadden told several news organizations, including CNN and the Fresno Bee newspaper, that the lion may have used its paw to pry open a gate separating its pen from the larger enclosure to attack Hanson while she was cleaning it. But that could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters.

Hanson's death was the latest in a handful of high-profile incidents involving big cats in captivity in the United States in recent years, and comes less than six months after a man leapt into a tiger's den at the Bronx Zoo, sustaining multiple injuries.

Hanson's Facebook page showed pictures of her standing or sitting next to big cats, apparently in enclosures, and she had worked on a wild feline reserve in Africa. Her father has told a television station she liked to get close to big cats.

"I've always had a premonition this would happen," Paul Hanson told Seattle television station KING 5. "She really loved getting up close and personal with the animals."

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health sent two inspectors with questions such as whether the sanctuary allowed the woman to enter the enclosure, agency spokesman Peter Melton said.

"We'll find out exactly what she was doing and what her job duties were and whether she was following the procedures as they were supposed to be done," Melton said.

Cat Haven is a 100-acre (16-hectare) sanctuary in Dunlap, California, run by the group Project Survival. It was founded "to exhibit a variety of wild cats and engage public support for their conservation in the wild via specific projects," according to the park's website.

'IT'S DEVASTATING'

Dale Anderson, founder of the facility, told reporters outside the gates of his facility that he could not comment on the circumstances of Hanson's death or the safety protocols at Cat Haven. "Our whole staff is just ... it's devastating," he said as he broke down in tears.

Hanson, who graduated in 2011 from Western Washington University with a degree in biology, had spent six months in Kenya last year working on a wild feline reserve.

In 2011 and 2012, Hanson also volunteered in Seattle for the Snow Leopard Trust, which seeks ways to protect the endangered species, the organization said.

The 4-year-old Barbary lion that killed Hanson was of a species that is extinct in the wild, said Janice Mackey, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which oversaw the permit that allows the sanctuary to operate.

The lion had been handled by humans since it was weeks old, and was one of two Barbary lions at the facility. Several years ago, when it was a cub, Cous Cous also made an appearance on the talk show "Ellen," Mackey said.

The lion was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies as they tried to reach Hanson, authorities said. On Thursday, a necropsy was performed on the lion to determine if it suffered from any health problems that could have led to the attack, Mackey said.

Anderson, Cat Haven's founder, said the facility has been "incident free" since it opened in 1998, and California officials confirmed they had never responded to any emergency at the facility similar to Wednesday's death.

In 2010, a lion attacked a trainer at a glass-encased enclosure at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The trainer survived.

In another high-profile incident involving captive cats in 2011, the owner of a private menagerie released dozens of tigers, lions and other animals in Ohio, and then killed himself. The case led some animal welfare groups to call for a ban on private ownership of exotic animals.

The California Department of Fish and Game permits private animal sanctuaries only if their goal is scientific research or public education, Mackey said.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Keleher in Dunlap, California; Laura L. Myers in Seattle and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Demi Moore is seeking alimony from estranged husband Ashton Kutcher, according to divorce documents filed in a Los Angeles court on Thursday.

Kutcher, the star of CBS television comedy "Two and a Half Men," filed for divorce from the "G.I. Jane" actress in December 2012 after more than a year of separation.

Requesting financial support from Kutcher, 35, is an unusual move for Moore, 50, who was one of the top female earners in Hollywood during the 1990s. Her court filing did not specify an amount sought.

Kutcher and Moore both cited irreconcilable differences in their divorce papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. In Kutcher's filing, the actor said he would not seek spousal support but would not deny support to Moore.

Forbes magazine has estimated Kutcher earned $24 million from May 2011 to May 2012, making him the highest-paid TV actor.

Representatives for Moore and Kutcher did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Moore began dating Kutcher a few years after her split from actor-husband Bruce Willis, when Kutcher was a young star on the TV sitcom "That '70s Show."

Their relationship became tabloid fodder due to their 16-year age gap, and the couple married in September 2005 in Los Angeles.

Moore and Kutcher separated in November 2011 following six years of marriage, after a San Diego woman said she had a brief affair with Kutcher.

Kutcher is currently dating his former "That '70s Show" cast-mate Mila Kunis.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Cynthia Osterman)

(This story was refiled to fix typo in the first paragraph)

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Leonardo DiCapro says filming violent scenes like in "Django Unchained" doesn't deter him from wanting his movies to be great art.

The bloody revenge film about slavery before the U.S. Civil War has fueled some of the debate about whether Hollywood shows too much on-screen violence. DiCaprio portrays a ruthless plantation owner encountered by a freed slave and bounty hunter (Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz).

DiCaprio told reporters in South Korea on Thursday, "My philosophy has kind of always been the same: Pain is temporary, film is forever."

If he gives his films all the focus he can and the elements come together correctly, "you come out with a great piece of art."

The actor said it was his first visit to South Korea. "Django Unchained" opens there March 21.

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(Reuters) - Canadian teen pop star Justin Bieber tweeted that he was "getting better" after collapsing on stage from shortness of breath during a performance in London and being rushed to the hospital on Thursday.

Bieber's spokeswoman, Melissa Victor, told Reuters that the singer had fainted on stage at his concert at London's O2 arena and had been taken backstage where he took a 20 minute break and was given oxygen by doctors.

Bieber, 19, returned to the stage after the break and his representatives said he was OK. Victor said the "Boyfriend" singer ignored doctors orders and returned to the O2 Arena stage to finish the performance.

The singer tweeted to his 35 million Twitter followers following the incident, "thanks for everyone pulling me thru tonight. best fans in the world. figuring out what happened. thanks for the love."

His manager, Scooter Braun, told audiences at the arena after the singer's collapse that Bieber was "very light of breath, the whole show he has been complaining," in amateur videos posted on the Internet.

Bieber had not been suffering from any health issues prior to the show, the spokeswoman added.

Fans quickly began circulating the hashtag "#justintakeabreak" on Twitter after news of his collapse spread on the social network.

This is not the first time Bieber has collapsed on stage during a performance. He previously suffered a concussion during a concert in Paris last June after falling into a glass wall.

Bieber's London leg of his sold out "Believe" world tour hasn't been without its problems.

On Tuesday, the first of his four nights at London's O2 Arena, Bieber angered fans by turning up on stage nearly two hours late, blaming technical issues for his delayed performance.

Media outlets also reported that the singer, who celebrated his 19th birthday in London last week, tried to take 14-year-old Jaden Smith, son of actor Will Smith, to a club, where he was turned away, along with Bieber and his entourage.

Bieber took to Twitter and Instagram to vehemently deny the reports that he tried to take underage Smith to a club, saying instead that he was forced to leave the venue when the club's security guards club behaved aggressively towards his fans who were lined up outside.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy and Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers have picked up the baton from the White House in the effort to make it legal for cellphone users to switch their devices to any mobile carrier.

At issue is whether cellphone buyers, who often get new devices at a heavily subsidized price in return for committing to long-term contracts, should then be able to take their gadgets with them when they change carriers.

Opponents argue that the phones should be "locked," or prevented from moving freely across networks, because of the subsidies that carriers provide to buy the phones. The subsidies help get the devices into the hands of more people.

Senators introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday, the second in that chamber, adding to a similar effort in the House of Representatives that hopes to overturn the ban on switching imposed by the Library of Congress and took effect in January.

The White House on Monday responded to an online petition, signed by more than 100,000 people, protesting the ban. The Obama administration sided with the petitioners and said it would support "narrow legislative fixes.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has also encouraged a legislative solution, saying the ban raised "serious competition and innovation concerns." The FCC is also weighing regulatory or industry fixes, he said.

Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut together with Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced a bill that would direct the FCC to ensure the consumers could legally unlock their phones.

Democratic Rep. Anna Eschoo of California is expected to introduce a companion bill in the House.

Thursday's bill follows a proposal from another Democrat, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, whose bill unveiled on Tuesday would update the copyright law to allow unlocking of devices.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, and other lawmakers have pledged to back similar legislation, welcomed by consumer advocacy groups.

The wireless industry group CTIA has said that U.S. carriers already have "liberal, publicly available unlocking policies" and customers have easy access to full-priced unlocked devices in the marketplace.

But the online petition to the White House, signed by 114,322 people, argued that preventing "unlocking" reduces consumer choice and the resale value of phones, which can cost hundreds of dollars without subsidies from carriers such as AT&T Inc, Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

"Consumers should have flexibility and choice when it comes to their wireless service and they deserve to keep and use cell phones they have already purchased," Klobuchar said in a statement on Thursday.

The Library of Congress, which among other things is responsible for setting rules and deciding on exemptions related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, said on Monday the issue would benefit from further debate and that its intention was not to supplant public policy discussion.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Ros Krasny and Bob Burgdorfer)

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WATERLOO, Ontario (Reuters) - BlackBerry has gotten its new touchscreen mobile device on store shelves in more than 20 countries and is very encouraged by the traction that the smartphone is gaining, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said on Thursday.

The company's Z10, the first in a line of smartphones powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, is on sale in the UK, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, India, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa, among other countries. Launches in other countries are coming soon, said Heins.

A U.S. launch is due later this month.

"The feedback is very encouraging," Heins said at the Communitech Tech Leadership Conference in the company's hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo. "What has been a real surprise for us is that BlackBerry 10 as a platform and product is attracting users that are currently on other platforms."

"We are just five weeks into this. We have just one product out in 21 countries, so it is early indications, but we are encouraged by what we see and hear from our carrier partners," he told an audience of leaders of local technology start-ups.

Heins declined to give figures on Z10 sales, as the company is in a quiet period ahead of the March 28 release of its fourth-quarter results.

He said the high-end Z10 had surpassed BlackBerry's expectations in emerging markets like India, where cheaper entry-level devices are typically popular.

"I was surprised when we launched in India how well the Z10, which is a high-end device, sold," said Heins. "We shipped into the channel product that we thought would have been good for at least five days and I got an emergency call from our manager in India, saying that they were sold out in two days,"

"Now we are scrambling to re-load that channel."

BlackBerry, a one-time smartphone pioneer, has bled market share to the likes of Apple's iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy line and other devices powered by Google Inc's market-leading Android operating system.

In a make-or-break move to regain market share and return to profit, BlackBerry introduced the new smartphone to much fanfare in January, and said it was abandoning its old name, Research In Motion, and renaming itself BlackBerry.

A more traditional BlackBerry with a physical keyboard will go on sale next month.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Janet Guttsman and Steve Orlofsky)

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