'Young and Restless' actor dead

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- British-born actor Michael Evans, who wooed Audrey Hepburn on Broadway in "Gigi" and was the best friend to a billionaire on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless," has died. He was 87.

Evans died September 4 from age-related complications, said his son Nick Evans.

From 1980 to 1995, Evans played Col. Douglas Austin, the friend of billionaire Victor Newman, on CBS's long-running "The Young and the Restless." Newman is played by Eric Braeden, who hailed Evans as "a total professional from the old English school, a gentleman through and through."

Evans made his London stage debut in 1948. In 1950, he came to Broadway for the short-lived play "Ring Round the Moon."

He went on co-star in the 1951 production of "Gigi" as the handsome Parisian who falls in love with young Gigi, played by Audrey Hepburn. The play, which made Hepburn a star, was based on the same novel by the French author Colette that was later turned into a Hollywood musical starring Leslie Caron.

In the late 1950s he played Henry Higgins in a touring production of "My Fair Lady," performing in the United States and abroad, including in Russia at the height of the Cold War. Evans also appeared on numerous TV shows, including "Dr. Kildare," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," "Hunter" and "I Spy," as well as in such films as "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Time After Time."

John Michael Evans was born in 1920 in Sittingbourne, England; his father had been a flier in World War I and his mother a concert violinist. The younger Evans served in the Royal Air Force in World War II.

Springsteen, band leave fans wanting more

It was 8:30 in the morning, not 8:30 at night, TODAY co-host Matt Lauer noted Friday, not a time when rock stars are famous for being awake, let alone coherent.

Yet there they were, rocking Rockefeller Plaza, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The Plaza was packed for the unprecedented live concert on TODAY, with many people camping out overnight to get prime viewing locations. And Springsteen didn’t disappoint, launching into songs even before the show began its broadcast at 7 a.m. EDT and continuing on and off for the next couple of hours, playing multiple encores, and being what he’s always been — arguably the best live performer in the business.

Lauer looked over the vast crowd and asked Springsteen what he thought of so many coming out so early to hear him sing.

“This is the same crowd you get for the dancing bears. They show up for anything,” Springsteen joked. Then, simply and humbly, he added, “I appreciate it.”

Later, addressing the crowd before another song, he quipped, “I must want to sell some records bad to be up here this early.”

At 58 years old, and four years after the band last played together on tour, Springsteen has reunited the band first formed in the early 1970s, when he was a kid growing up poor with big dreams on the Jersey Shore. Their new album, “Magic,” acclaimed as a return to his musical roots, is being released on Tuesday, Oct. 2, and the band is starting a tour of the United States and Europe — their first in five years — on the same day in Hartford, Conn.

Bono receives Liberty Medal for work in Africa

PHILADELPHIA - Accepting the Liberty Medal for his humanitarian work in Africa, Bono exhorted Americans to keep working to solve the world’s problems and spoke of those who are without freedom.

“When you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free,” the Irish rocker and activist said Thursday night as he stood steps away from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

“When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace ... well, then none of us are truly free,” he said.

Beyonce's show is off

It is learnt that the concert, which would have been the first by the sexy R&B singer in Malaysia, will not go on as planned, as many organisations are against it.

Pineapple Concert chairman Razlan Razali refused to comment but said that a statement would be issued today. The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage said it was unaware of the status of Beyonce's concert.

“We have not received any application from the organisers for her performance, so we don't know what is the present status of the concert,” said Central Committee for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artiste (Puspal) chief assistant secretary Siti Zaleha Baba.
However, in the last few weeks, rumours had been rife that the concert was called off as Beyonce had apparently refused to adhere to the government's dress code.

Beyonce is not the first international artiste to have been told to abide by the dress code. Earlier last month, pop star Gwen Stefani was also asked to tone down her dressing.

Despite initial protests from some groups, Stefani's concert went on and the singer performed wearing leotards and less revealing outfits.

masses mourn Pavarotti

MODENA, Italy (AP) -- Luciano Pavarotti's voice rang out a final time Saturday inside Modena's cathedral, as a recording of the great tenor singing with his father highlighted a funeral attended by family, dignitaries and close friends.

The coffin of Luciano Pavarotti leaves the Modena's Duomo after the funeral service.

Guests gave the tenor one last standing ovation when "Panis Angelicus," the 1978 duet Pavarotti sang with his father, Fernando, inside Modena's Duomo came to a close.

The duet was one of the most poignant moments of the funeral, which began with a moving rendition of Verdi's "Ave Maria" and a message of condolences from Pope Benedict XVI saying Pavarotti had "honored the divine gift of music through his extraordinary interpretative talent."

Thousands watched the invitation-only service from a huge television screen erected in Modena's main piazza, where a recording of the tenor's most famous works had boomed out during two days of public viewing.

Italy's air force precision flying team flew over the cathedral at the end of the service, releasing red, white and green smoke in the colors of the Italian flag.

Pavarotti's white maple casket, covered in sunflowers -- his favorite -- lay before the altar during the service, with his wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, looking on. Sitting nearby were Pavarotti's three daughters from his first marriage.

Also on hand were the Italian premier, Romano Prodi, U2 lead singer Bono, film director Franco Zeffirelli and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Also invited were Stephane Lissner, general manager of Milan's La Scala Opera House, where Pavarotti appeared 140 times, once receiving boos; and the Metropolitan Opera's former general manager Joe Volpe.

A message from Pavarotti's 4-year-old daughter, Alice, was read out during the service as Mantovani sobbed.

"Papa, you have loved me so much, I know you will always protect me. I will hold you dear to my child's heart every tomorrow," it said.

Pavarotti died on Thursday in his home on Modena's outskirts after battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year. He was 71 and was beloved by generations of opera-goers and pop fans alike for his breathtaking high "Cs" and his hearty renditions of folk songs like "O Sole Mio," and popular tunes like "My Way."

Tenor Andrea Bocelli sang Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" while the Rossini Chorus performed hymns throughout the service, which was celebrated by Modena Archbishop Benito Cocchi and 18 other priests.

Bulgarian-born soprano Raina Kabaivanska, a fellow Modena resident who had worked with Pavarotti, cried as she sang the "Ave Maria" from Verdi's "Otello" as the ceremony began. Flautist Andrea Griminelli played the "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck's "Orfeo e Euridice."

Cocchi said the presence of so many dignitaries at the funeral was a sign "of the esteem, of the affection and of the gratitude that universally surrounds the great artist."

Farefell to my belove fellow mate..... ... I will miss you....

from jeffayn ... ...