Michael Jackson ended up in the emergency room instead of the courtroom last Tuesday due to a sudden case of the flu. Jury selection for Jackson’s child molestation case will be postponed until Feb. 22 due to his illness, according to Judge Rodney S. Melville. Fans and members of the media formed a crowd of about 50 people outside of the Marian Medical Center once it got out that Jackson had been admitted as a patient. Hospital officials took precautions to prevent the public or the media from entering the hospital and creating a disruption. Jackson was later released from the hospital the next day and is expected to fully recover.
In other music news, Christian Aguilera may not have gotten a Grammy this year, but she does have something else to smile about. Aguilera got engaged to her boyfriend of two years Jordan Bratman, a music executive, on Valentine’s Day. An artist who was honored at this year’s 47th Annual Grammy Awards was the late Ray Charles, who received eight trophies. His “Genius Loves Company” won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, among others. Other Grammy winners included Maroon 5, who beat out Joss Stone and Kanye West for the Best New Artist award, Green Day’s “American Idiot” wining for Best Rock Album, and John Mayer, whose “Daughters” won Song of the Year.
With The Academy Awards soon approaching, a group of individuals are trying to get recognition for all the hard work they contribute to movie making-stuntmen. Four different stunt organizations are asking the Academy to consider creating a Best Stunt Coordinator category for the Oscars. “Stunt performers are the only faction of the movie industry that must literally risk their lives for the sake of their art,” said a joint statement from the groups in The New York Times. “The talent and expertise that is required of a stunt coordinator to be both creative and safe is enormous and highly deserving of academy recognition.”
Veteran stuntmen like Jack Gill have been trying to get this category added since 1990, proving that adding a new Oscars category isn’t an easy task. The most recent category added was Best Animated Feature in 2002.
In TV news, the unfortunate suicide of boxer Najai Turpin has hit close to home. The contestant of the upcoming NBC reality show “The Contender” was reported dead last Monday in Philadelphia. The show revolves around a series of boxing competitions, and the footage of Turpin that has already been recorded will still be used come the show’s premiere on March 7. Turpin was 23 years old.
Lisa Thompson can be reached at lisa526@temple.edu
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