Attention to weight gain of Zellweger amuses star

Attention to weight gainof Zellweger amuses star
BOSTON -- The attention Renee Zellweger has gotten after her up-and-down weight changes for the "Bridget Jones" movies has left Colin Firth bemused.
"It's not that unusual for actors to alter their appearance to play a part. But I think if I did it, it wouldn't get anywhere near the amount of attention," he told the Boston Herald on Sunday.
"It's absolutely fascinating to people that a woman would dare to do that -- particularly someone who's very attractive and has a Hollywood-based career. They must sort of see her as reckless or something."
Zellweger, who stars this week in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," once again packed on the pounds to play the British heroine she originated in 2001 in "Bridget Jones's Diary."
"The sheer level of fascination on the subject is really a symptom of how this issue affects people, particularly women who are in utter disbelief that anyone would consciously go the other way -- to actually try to gain weight -- is mind-blowing," said Firth, who reprises his role as Bridget's lawyer-boyfriend, Mark Darcy.
'70s pop star hopes to getcareer boost in Australia
CANBERRA, Australia -- British pop star of the 1970s Leo Sayer says he hopes to move to Australia to restart his career.
The London-based curly headed singer who had hits with songs like "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and "When I Need You" said he is disillusioned with the modern music industry in Britain.
Australian show business is "much more interesting and its much more inspiring so, yeah, it would be great to sort of kick things off for me again in Australia," the 56-year-old told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Canberra in a telephone interview from London. In Britain, he said, "they only want really young artists and they only want to have manufactured pop."
Sayer acknowledged that the music industries in Australia and the United States were similarly focused on youth and manufactured acts.
"You do have that, yeah, but you still respect your heroes," he said. "All the people that mean a lot to you musically are still kind of very much respected and that's good and that carries on."
Numbers at hisconcerts surprise Barry Manilow
DENVER -- Barry Manilow is a little freaked out to see tens of thousands of people singing along with him.
"Most of the nights I look up, and there are between 10,000 and 15,000 people out there," the entertainer told The Denver Post in Sunday's editions. "They can't all be fans from the '70s."
"I'm sure many of them are, and I'm very grateful that they've stuck with me that long. But between 10,000 and 15,000 people a night? I just have to believe there's another generation that has either been brainwashed by their parents or have discovered this catalog of music on their own."
The performer behind such easy-listening classics as "Mandy" and "Looks Like We Made It" is back with his 43rd album, "Scores: Songs From Copacabana and Harmony," primarily material that Manilow, 58, wrote and arranged in the past but never recorded.
Manilow said he wants to remind today's listeners that pop music requires great songwriting.
"Now what the singers are given is a good groove, a great-sounding record, some slang, and free rein to try and make it as interesting as possible," he said. "They do a brilliant job, but I feel that the craft of songwriting has taken a nose dive."
Notable death
Pete Jolly, jazz pianist and accordion player known for his disciplined work as a studio musician as well as his improvisational skills in live performances, has died. He was 72. Jolly, whose composition "Little Bird" was nominated for a Grammy in 1963, died Saturday at a hospital in Pasadena, Calif., of complications of bone marrow cancer and an irregular heartbeat.
Today's birthdays
Actor Norman Lloyd is 90. Actress June Havoc is 88. Jazz singer Chris Connor is 77. Singer Patti Page is 77. CBS newsman Morley Safer is 73. Singer Bonnie Bramlett is 60. Singer Bonnie Raitt is 55. TV personality Mary Hart is 54. Playboy Enterprises chairman and chief executive Christie Hefner is 52. Actress Alfre Woodard is 51. Singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones is 50. Singer-actor Leif Garrett is 43. Actress Courtney Thorne-Smith is 37. Actress Parker Posey is 36. Rock musician Jimmy Chaney is 35. Actress Roxana Zal is 35. Singer Diana King is 34. Actress Gretchen Mol is 31. Actress Tara Reid is 29. Actress Azura Skye is 23. Actor Chris Rankin is 21. TV personality Jack Osbourne ("The Osbournes") is 19.