Liza Minnelli collapses during show in Sweden

Liza Minnelli collapses
during show in Sweden

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Liza Minnelli collapsed after finishing a song during a performance in Sweden, and she was seen by a doctor at her hotel and then flew Thursday to the United States for medical treatment, a concert organizers said. Minnelli, 61, was performing in a Christmas show Wednesday in Goteborg, Sweden’s second-biggest city, when she collapsed while walking offstage, said Zlakto Nedanovski, a spokesman for the concert organizers said. “As she walked down the steps, she passed out,” Nedanovski told The Associated Press, adding that she did not return for the rest of the show. “She was taken immediately to her hotel, where a doctor was waiting,” he said. He said Minnelli was flown to the United States on Thursday on the advice of doctors there. Minnelli was performing with several Swedish entertainers in a show called “A Classic Christmas Night.” It was the fourth and final show in a series of four concerts in Sweden, Rosenberg said. Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland, won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in the 1972 film “Cabaret.” She won an Emmy for the 1972 TV special “Liza with a Z,” and Tony Awards in 1974 and 1978.

Robert Plant, Allison Krauss
announce concert tour

LONDON — It’s official: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will tour together next year. Plant, fresh off a hugely successful reunion concert with Led Zeppelin, and bluegrass star Krauss announced the European leg of their tour Thursday. It had been known that a tour was in the works, but both had been mum on details. Their new album, “Raising Sand,” was released in October, just about the time Plant, 59, and former Led Zeppelin bandmates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones confirmed they would play a one-time only show at a benefit concert for the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. The Led Zeppelin show, which took place Monday at the sold-out O2 Arena in London, drew rave reviews and sparked renewed rumors that the band — with the late John Bonham’s son Jason on drums — would tour. But first, at least, Plant will hit the road with the 36-year-old Krauss in support of their album, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart in the United States and has been widely praised. The duo will start the tour May 5 in Birmingham, England, and then move on to Manchester and Cardiff, Wales, before going to Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. The European leg will conclude in London at the Wembley Arena on May 22. No other dates have been announced, but Plant and Krauss have said they will also tour in the U.S.

Parker and Longoria
defend their marriage

NEW YORK — Tony Parker says he’s not a double dribbler. The San Antonio Spurs star and his wife, Eva Longoria, issued a statement Wednesday night defending their marriage against claims by a French model that she had an affair with Parker in September. “I love my wife,” Parker, 25, said in the statement from Longoria’s spokeswoman, Liza Anderson. “She’s the best thing in my life, and I have never been happier.” Alexandra Paressant made the allegations in an interview with celebrity gossip Web site X17. Anderson said in a separate statement Wednesday the claims were “completely, 100 percent false and untrue. All high-profile couples fall victim to these sorts of things in the course of their relationships.”

Rowling book fetches $4M

LONDON — A book of fairy tales created, handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling sold for nearly $4 million at auction Thursday. The buyer, London art agent Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, now has one of only seven copies of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” which is leather bound with silver mounts. The book originally had been expected to sell for about $100,000. The standing-room-only crowd at Sotheby’s auction house applauded as bidding topped the 1 million pound ($2 million) mark. The money will benefit The Children’s Voice, a charity co-founded in 2005 by Rowling and Baroness Nicholson, a member of Britain’s House of Lords.

Clooney, Cheadle receive
award for Darfur efforts

ROME — George Clooney and Don Cheadle brought their Darfur campaign to Rome on Thursday, where they received a peace award for their efforts to raise awareness on the humanitarian crisis in the region. The Hollywood actors have raised money and attention to stop a conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives and uprooted 2.5 million people since ethnic African rebels took up arms against Sudan’s Arab-dominated government in 2003. Clooney and Cheadle were presented with a bronze statue by Italian sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi.

Today’s birthdays

Jazz musician Clark Terry is 87. Former “60 Minutes” executive producer Don Hewitt is 85. Actor-playwright George Furth is 75. Actor Hal Williams is 69. Actress Patty Duke is 61. Pop singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson (Tony Orlando and Dawn) is 61. Entertainment executive Michael Ovitz is 61. Actress Dee Wallace is 59. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie McNeir (The Four Tops) is 58. Rock musician Cliff Williams (AC/DC) is 58. Rock singer-musician Mike Scott (The Waterboys) is 49. Singer-musician Peter “Spider” Stacy (The Pogues) is 49. Actress Cynthia Gibb is 44. Actress Natascha McElhone is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brian Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 32. Actress KaDee Strickland is 32. Actress Tammy Blanchard is 31. Actress Sophie Monk is 28.