Martha Stewart Plays Down Newman Cancer Reports

Lifestyle queen Martha Stewart has dismissed talk of actor Paul Newman's deteriorating health, claiming he is "full of vim and vigor".
A Los Angeles Times article at the beginning of the week reported the 83-year-old star had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, prompting a media frenzy about Newman's health.
The actor and his representatives have been playing down cancer reports since the beginning of the year, when a U.S. tabloid claimed Newman had just six months to live - but his spokesman insists the star is "doing fine".
And Stewart, who sparked fresh fears for Newman this week when she posted a photo of the star on her blog looking frail and gaunt, is doing her best to play down speculation about her pal.
Writing on her website, she says, "He is still full of vim and vigor, he is still Cool Hand Luke to me, and of course, my Butch Cassidy!"

Game Takes Commanding Lead In 'Hottest MCs' Readers' Poll; Kanye West Only At #7

The winner (so far) by a landslide is ... the Game. Inactivity, not skill, caused the Brain Trust to leave Game off of the 2008 "Hottest MCs" list. The fans, however, have been speaking out via an online poll. A couple of weeks ago, MTV News started a poll where they presented 30 names of hip-hop stars and let the people vote as many times as they wanted to determine who the public felt was the hottest MC. Obviously, the fans' voting had no bearing in the roundtable results, but it's still fun nonetheless.

Our comments section has been working overtime to log your ongoing debates. A reader going by the name of Haterfree says, "How can Game be the hottest out when he barely put anything out?" But Presidant Breitner defends the front-runner, saying, "Come on, he took down the whole G-Unit."

Meanwhile, readers like paragon216 are upset over who didn't make the ballot: "How is it that Black Thought can drop 10 albums full of relentless lyrics, be #6 on Billboard right now (TODAY!) and not be on this list?"

A tally of more than 66,000 votes cast from 125 countries reveals that Game is currently #1 with 29 percent of the vote. Surprisingly, Styles P is holding it down in second place with 17 percent. The man the Brain Trust voted #1, Kanye West, is sitting at #7, a single percentage point ahead of Jay-Z, Joe Budden and T.I., who are all tied with three percent of the vote. Here are the current standings, but don't forget, the polls are still open. Make your voice heard by casting your vote and commenting in the MTV Newsroom Blog.

1. Game

2. Styles P

3. Lupe Fiasco

4. Nas

5. 50 Cent

6. Lil Wayne

7. Kanye West

8. Jay-Z

8. Joe Budden

8. T.I.

Now that you've checked out our "Hottest MCs in the Game" show, we want to know what MCs you're feeling! Keep the debate rolling by submitting your own top-10 list below or heading to YouRHere.MTV.com to upload your video reaction. And the hotness continues: You can check in on last year's top 10 and see this year's complete list on our "Hottest MCs" page.






See Also

• Jessica Simpson splits with footy star
• Shia LaBeouf admits Natalie Portman crush
• Nigel Kennedy slates abuse

Forge and Amen

   
Artist: Forge and Amen

   Genre(s): 
Other
   

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Discography:


   
 The Menace

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 8

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Elvin Bishop

Neil Young gets new honor -- his own spider

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians -- his own spider.


An East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, discovered a new species of trapdoor spider and opted to call the arachnid after his favorite musician, Canadian Neil Young, naming it Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi.


"There are rather strict rules about how you name new species," Bond said in a statement.


"As long as these rules are followed you can give a new species just about any name you please. With regards to Neil Young, I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."


Young, 62, is a veteran rock musician who rose to fame in the 1960s with the band Buffalo Springfield and later became a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, whose 1970 release "Deja Vu" has become a classic rock album.


The singer/songwriter, whose solo work ranges from older albums such as "Harvest" to newer CDs like "Living with War," has long been an activist for social and anti-war causes.


Bond discovered the new spider species in Jefferson County, Alabama, in 2007. He said spiders in the trapdoor genus, who tend to live in burrows and build trap doors to seal off their living quarters, are distinguished from one species to the next on the basis of differences in genitalia.


He confirmed through the spider's DNA that the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi is an identifiable, separate species of spider within the trapdoor genus.


Young is not the first musician to have a creature named after him. A species of beetle that looks as if it is wearing a tuxedo -- the whirligig beetle, or Orectochilus orbisonorum -- was named earlier this year after the late rock 'n' roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.


Reuters/Nielsen

'Idol' runner-up David Archuleta looks back

Seventeen-year-old "American Idol [ tickets ]" runner-up David Archuleta told reporters during a teleconference that he tried to brush off news reports about himself and his father during the competition in order to deliver his best performances. "I just wanted to stay myself and how I was at the beginning of the competition before all this happened," he said. "I wanted to keep who I was--the normal teenage David," Archuleta said. Celebrity magazines reported that Archuleta's father, Jeff, was banned from all backstage areas because of his intense behavior around his son. "In interviews and stuff [questions about my father] started coming up and it was just kind of strange because there were really weird things," Archuleta said. "I heard he refused to give me water or something like that. That's the weirdest thing. I mean, I'm 17 and if I want water I'm pretty sure I would just go get it anyway. Another thing was, like, he made me cry during one of the recording studios or something like that. I can't remember really. Just weird things like that. I'm old enough to have enough control over myself. Then, the next thing is he's a great guy. There isn't really anything he's done that's bad like the things that have been spoken about him. My whole family has been such a great support and they're the ones who've kept me grounded and allowed me to be who I am today. No one understands what I'm here for more than they do."As excited as he was to be on "American Idol," Archuleta admitted that he was relieved after the finale. A Utah native who was dubbed "Archie" by his competitors, the singer explained he felt more like he was competing against himself than fellow contestants. "Each week, and as the weeks went on, we had more songs each week to have to learn along with other things," Archuleta said. "With this final week, it was the busiest of all. It was hard to find time to even rehearse and stuff along with school and everything else going on. So, on that Tuesday night, I just tried to make sure I didn't regret anything I did, and so I think I did that. It was just such a relief to just feel good about what I did and the fact that that was the last impression I gave on the show. The competition is all over and now it's time to really focus on music."Music and school, that is. Archuleta said he would like to go to school to become an ear, nose and throat specialist if this music thing doesn't pan out. "I think school's really important," Archuleta said. "It was my main priority before this because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get anywhere with music, but I was still hoping for something. Even if music does turn out to go somewhere for me, you never know how long it'll last. So I just want to make sure I have something to back me up on that."But in the meantime, he's thankful for all his fans who voted for him to make him the runner up to winner David Cook. "I just want to thank them, first of all, just because it means more than anything to know that people are appreciating the hard work that we put into this," Archuleta said. "I want them to know that I'm just feeling great about it. The fact that Cook won, I think he deserved it so much. He just proved it week after week that he deserved to be the 'American Idol,' even early in the competition. He's such a great guy, too. ... I think we both gave it all. We just poured it all onto that stage on Tuesday night and we both feel really great about it."Archuleta and this year's other Top 10 finalists will be appearing on the upcoming "American Idols Live [ tickets ]" tour, which gets underway July 1.

Beavis and Butt-Head Heading For The Big Screen?

Beavis and Butt-Head Heading For The Big Screen?

Mike Adjudicate, the godhead of MTV's cult cartoon series Beavis and Butt-Head, has revealed that he's looking at delivery the duet to the big screen in a live action version."I used to hatred the idea for days, and at present I think perchance there's something thither," Judge told MTV Tidings.  "I feel like it's something I can buoy come back to and do."As for wHO will recreate the heavy metal loving guys, Judge suggests, "I infer Seann William Scott's rather got Butt-Head eyes.  A long time ago, Greyback Depp had said to me that he truly wanted to play Beavis."Despite the flick organism a sure-fire hit, Guess says he has a few reservations about the film expression, "Casting is bad sufficiency as it is. I don't know if I want to sit through a molding session trying to receive the live-action Beavis & Butt-Head."Exposure courtesy of MTV.

Phillippe addresses marriage rumours

Phillippe addresses marriage rumours

Doer Ryan Phillippe has spoken about his divorce from actress Reese John Witherspoon, denying allegations that he cheated on her.
The 33-year-old star told W cartridge that the end of his seven-year union left him in "the darkest, saddest place" that he had of all time been in.
The actor said: "On that point were a good four or basketball team months of non being able to get out of bed. It was the worst time in my life."
He continued: "You receive through it. It's a process that's not soft, but I get to a lesser extent and less sad around it every day."
Speech production approximately the grounds for the couple's break up, he said that the place was "far more complicated and far less interesting than it's made out to be".
He said: "To count and lookup for these salacious reasons, to pin it on a person, or a moment in someone's life, it's non realistic."
Phillippe too denied rumours that actress Abbie Cornish was responsible for the break up of his marriage.
"It was unfair for her to be called the name calling that she was, because it wasn't or so that.
"I don't intend an outside person behind always crusade a divorce. I had difficulties in my human relationship, and in my spousal relationship, long in front I e'er met her," the histrion said.




Mr. Serv-On