The pictures everyone's been waiting for -- of Britney Spears and her baby -- were originally believed to be sold to the highest bidder to be published in a weekly magazine, but they're now scattered on various fan sites devoted to the singer. Six thumbnail shots of Spears posing with husband Kevin Federline and baby Sean Preston can be seen at sites such as Tangiblebrit.com, and appear to have been taken from a photo shoot with Mark Liddell originally meant for People. The magazine, however, says it never had any pictures of Britney and her baby, and never purchased any pictures of Britney and her baby, despite reports to the contrary that Spears had posed for the shots but changed her mind about releasing them afterward. ...

Katie Holmes is putting together a baby room and learning how to knit in preparation for the arrival of her little Cruiser, she told "Access Hollywood" on Thursday. The actress said that the pregnancy is "a dream come true." "I feel great, I've never been so happy," she said. "I'm beaming." As is her fiance, Tom Cruise, she said. "He is just so thrilled." But all the baby news has delayed the couple's plans to get married. "We don't have a date just yet," she told the entertainment news show. "There is so much excitement going on." ... Omarion is returning to the small screen for sweeps week, reprising his role as an apprentice in a hair salon on the UPN show "Cuts." His episodes air November 3 and November 10 at 9:30 p.m. ...

The same year Houston hip-hop made its mark nationally, the city's baseball team finds itself in its first-ever World Series. Now one of those rap stars has recorded a song supporting the local nine. Paul Wall has re-recorded a two-and-a-half-minute World Series version of his single "They Don't Know" that shouts out the Houston Astros and Minute Maid Park. Three weeks ago, Wall's ex-partner, Chamillionaire, recorded an Astros version of his debut single, "Turn It Up," when the baseball playoffs started. ... U2, the Foo Fighters, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Norah Jones are among the performers coming together for a tribute to Johnny Cash. The show, called "I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash," will also feature Shooter Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Alison Krauss, Dwight Yoakam and Jerry Lee Lewis singing Cash songs in between video clips of his career and life and footage from the upcoming Cash biopic, "Walk the Line," due in theaters November 18. The movie's stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, who play Johnny and June Carter Cash, will also be on hand to introduce acts. The special will be taped at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and broadcast on November 16 at 8 p.m. on CBS. ...

On Thursday, director George Lucas made a $1 million donation to the MLK National Memorial Project Foundation in Washington, D.C. The foundation has raised $40 million of the $100 million needed to build a monument to slain civil-rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. "Martin Luther King Jr. has inspired millions of people, and this memorial will ensure that his message endures for generations to come," Lucas said in a statement. Lucas will also be co-hosting the Bay Area "Dream Dinner" in San Francisco on November 19 in an effort to generate more awareness and money for the project. ... Joss Stone has joined up with North Shore Animal League America to help rescue and adopt pets left homeless by the recent spate of hurricanes. She's recorded a PSA urging public support for the campaign, which will be broadcast on more than 100 radio stations in the New York area. "It is so frustrating and heartbreaking that the animals seem to be the ignored victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," Stone said. "We need people to lend a hand and help these pets find loving, caring new homes." The League is also trying to reunite animals with their families by posting pictures of the pets on its Web site, searching missing pet databases, lining up foster care for unclaimed animals, and paying the cost of travel for pet owners to the New York City area for reunions. ...

When it comes to fans, there's no denying Kiss have some of the most dedicated. Some months back, members of the always-menacing Kiss Army issued a warning to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "Induct the hottest band in the world, or we will surround you." When Kiss were left off last month's list of noms, the Army took notice, and is now planning to make good on its threat by staging a protest rally around the Hall. A New York-based documentary filmmaker plans to capture the entire rally, set for August 5, 2006, on film for a future project on the Hall's snubbing of Kiss. ... On November 22, Death From Above 1979 plan to release the remix album Romance Bloody Romance, featuring songs from their debut, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, reworked by Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and producer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party). DFA do some of the remixes themselves and have included new songs, including "You're Lovely (But You've Got Problems)," and covers, including La Peste's "Better Off Dead," among the 13 tracks. The band is currently on the road supporting Nine Inch Nails, sprinkling in a few headlining dates in between gigs. ...

Bowling for Soup are rounding up all the songs they've done for movie soundtracks over the years and calling it Bowling for Soup Goes to the Movies. The collection, due November 15, will include songs from the soundtracks to "Scooby-Doo 2" and "Freaky Friday," the themes to "Jimmy Neutron" and "Gilligan's Island," and a never-before-released cover of Matthew Sweet's "Sick of Myself." ...

10.20.2005

Eve is four songs away from finishing her as-yet-untitled fourth album, due in February. "Swizz Beatz did a lot of stuff," Eve said Wednesday. "I'm now with Aftermath again, but Swizz is like my brother. Dre hasn't come in yet, but he will, he's the captain of the ship. It's definitely gonna sound different than anything anybody's ever heard [from me], but not in a scary way. It's just in a more mature way." ...

Eve was one of the many celebrities who hit Rock & Republic's fashion show as part of Los Angeles Fashion Week. Paris Hilton, Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham also caught the sultry show, which featured a Madonna/ Britney Spears-inspired kiss between two models. DJ AM spun at the afterparty. Also in attendance were several castmembers from "Laguna Beach," including Kristin Cavalleri, who revealed she's taking acting classes. "I like both comedy and drama, so we'll see," she said. "I've had a lot of meetings trying to decide my next career move. There's things we're talking about, but I don't want to jinx it." ... Nicole Richie doesn't think there's much hope for her and Paris Hilton to ever become friends again. Richie, who's on the cover of the November issue of Jane, told the magazine that the rift has been going on for much longer than has been reported. "We really haven't been friends in probably about two years," she said. Could there ever be a reconciliation? "No, not at this point. I know that Paris loves to talk about it and that stuff, but that's just not my style." ...

Madonna's done surprise club gigs in the past to promote her new albums, and Confessions on a Dance Floor will be no different, she promised during a recent sitdown with MTV News. She's already lining up gigs in London at G-A-Y and Camden Palace, where she played "a hundred years ago" (actually 1983, but who's counting?). But what about hitting a club in, say, New York or Los Angeles? "There could be, but I'm not going to say anything," she teased. "Shh!" ... Meanwhile, Madonna will presumably be more open when she celebrates the 60th anniversary of the United Nations on Saturday in Pasadena, California. Morgan Freeman is the honorary chairman of the event (for which Madonna sits on the committee), which is being billed as "supporting the U.N. vision" including "keeping peace throughout the world" and "encouraging respect for each other's rights and freedoms." ...

Bono rubbed elbows with President Bush during lunch at the White House on Wednesday. The U2 frontman was in town for a concert at Washington, D.C.'s MCI Center, and Bush invited the philanthropic rocker over for lunch to further discuss debt relief, AIDS, malaria and world trade, Bush's spokesperson, Scott McClellan, said. The two-hour meeting was a follow-up to the talks the duo had during the G8 Summit in Scotland this summer before the Live 8 shows. Bono and Bush ate in a private dining area off the Oval Office and the rocker received a tour of the grounds before he left. ... Michael Jackson, who was acquitted of child-molestation charges in June, has been called in for jury duty in Santa Barbara, California. A request for deferment has been filed on the superstar's behalf, his attorney Thomas Mesereau told The Associated Press, and he will most likely be let off from serving jury duty since he no longer lives in the United States. "All he has to do is show he has legal residency somewhere else and he will be exempted," Jury Commissioner Gary Blair told the AP. The singer has been keeping a low profile since his trial concluded this summer, spending most of his time out of the spotlight in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. ...

Shooting began on the outskirts of Los Angeles this week on "Somebody Help Me," the teen horror flick starring Omarion and Marques Houston. Chris Stokes, who manages the singers and directed them in "You Got Served," is directing from his own script. ... Back in the days when he was still known as John Gillis, White Stripes frontman Jack White landed himself an apprenticeship at Detroit's Muldoon Studio, an upholstery shop run by family friend -- and amateur drummer -- Brian Muldoon. In addition to reupholstering couches, the two began jamming out as a guitar/drums combination (sound familiar?). Fast-forward more than a decade, and White is a platinum rock star. And to say thanks for all the upholstering advice, he produced a single for Muldoon's band, a three-piece (along with his sons Hunter and Shane) called, well, the Muldoons. White then pressed the single as a limited-edition 7-inch and sold it at the Stripes' recent homecoming gig earlier this month. Oh, and he let the Muldoons open the show, too. ...

Ryan Dallas Cook, who played trombone for Orange County ska-punk outfit Suburban Legends, was killed in a hit-and-run accident Wednesday morning. According to the Orange County Register, the 23-year-old was riding a motorcycle along the Costa Mesa Freeway in Santa Ana, California, when he hit a dark-colored Hyundai. Cook was thrown from the motorcycle and struck multiple times by oncoming cars. He was dead by the time emergency-response crews arrived at the scene; the Hyundai fled the area. ... 311 have added 14 more dates to their current fall trek, extending the run -- which features the Exit and Alien Ant Farm as openers for its bulk, with Pepper, Zack Hexum, Blackalicious, Grasshopper Takeover, Shootyz Groove and Agents of the Sun on select dates -- through December 14 in Los Angeles. Before this week, the tour's dates ran up through November 23 in Lowell, Massachusetts. ...

"So You Think You Can Dance" is coming back for a second season, starting next summer, FOX announced this week. ... A federal court in Los Angeles temporarily stopped a Web site from advertising that it can teach people how to legally trade music, video games and movies that are still in theaters. The site, MP3DownloadCity.com, was ordered to stop promoting its service after the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against its operator alleging that the site fooled customers into believing that for $24.95 they could legally engage in peer-to-peer file-swapping, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. The FTC has warned customers who used the service to download copyrighted material that they are engaging in copyright infringement and has asked the court to have the site's operator turn over his profits and issue a permanent ban on the ads. The MPAA filed suit against six similar Web sites that "facilitate online movie piracy" last week. ...